Top 99 Workplace eLearning Blogs August 26, 2009
Posted by B.J. Schone in eLearning.Tags: Blogs, eLearning, InstructionalDesign, Learning, Training
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Tony Karrer recently posted a list of the Top 99 Workplace eLearning Blogs over on his eLearning Technology blog. This list is based on the blogs that are used to power the eLearning Learning site, which is a great aggregator of information.
Tony’s list was inspired by a recent post over on the Upside Learning Solutions Blog that listed the Top 47 eLearning and Workplace Learning Blogs. (And I’m happy to say eLearning Weekly made both lists!) Be sure to check out these lists to find some new sources of info.
I read dozens of blogs, but here are some of my favorites that I read on a regular basis. They are in no particular order:
- The Bamboo Project Blog
- The E-Learning Curve Blog
- Harold Jarche: Learning and Working on the Web
- In the Middle of the Curve
- eLearning Technology
- Social Media in Learning
- Engaged Learning
- elearnspace
- Making Change blog
- Upside Learning Solutions Blog
- elearningpost
- Workplace Learning Today
- Learnlets
- Don’t Waste Your Time…
- Learning Visions
- The Social Enterprise Blog
(I will be updating my blogroll soon to include these sites.)
Do We Still Know Our Audience? July 24, 2009
Posted by B.J. Schone in eLearning.Tags: audience, demographics, eLearning, InstructionalDesign, Learning, Training
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This article is a guest post by Steve Pena, Instructional Designer and Implementation Consultant, SyberWorks, Inc. Thanks, Steve!
We’re all fond of saying “Know your audience.” But how many of us track our audiences’ rapidly changing demographics? If you’re like me, it’s not a daily action item. But I just received a reminder of how much the audience for my work (and perhaps yours too) may change in the coming decade.
Every year since 1998, Beloit College has published its entertaining and revealing “Mindset List,” ® which “…is an effort to identify the experiences that have shaped the lives-and formed the mindset-of students starting their post-secondary education this fall.” And Beloit has dubbed the latest class (of 2009-2012) the first “Net Generation.” In only four years, these students will join our work force, and according to Beloit’s mindset list:
- Drink electronic media like water, and breathe broadband communications like air.
- They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
- GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
- Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
- Caller ID has always been available on phones.
- The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
- IBM has never made typewriters.
To these, I’d add:
- AT&T has never enjoyed a telephone monopoly.
- They do much of their phoning for free over the Web.
- The Web has always existed.
As each college year begins, this list is a good reminder of how dramatically and rapidly our future e-Learning audiences are changing. And as Beloit reminds us about this year’s group:
“The class of 2012 has grown up in an era where computers and rapid communication are the norm… These students will hardly recognize the availability of telephones in their rooms since they have seldom utilized landlines during their adolescence. They will continue to live on their cell phones and communicate via texting. Roommates, few of whom have ever shared a bedroom, have already checked out each other on Facebook where they have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole world.”
This means a lot for the e-Learning community. The class of 2012 may not be the first to habitually seek much of its information from Web blogs, Wikis, Google, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. And it won’t be the last.
This doesn’t mean that we must immediately revamp the way we create and deliver e-Learning (or as some are now calling it: “Emerging Learning”). But it does remind us that:
- New electronic channels and Web media are opening every year for our products, services, and promotional information.
- The world’s next “movers and shakers” will increasingly expect us to deliver content over these new channels, and will seek out our content and services there.
- They won’t allow themselves to remain bored for long by e-Learning materials that don’t grab and hold their interest.
And these are things we all should keep in mind, regardless of how we do things today!
About the Author:
Steve Pena is a Senior Instructional Designer and Implementation Consultant at SyberWorks, Inc., Waltham, Mass.
28 Web Conference Training Tips July 10, 2009
Posted by B.J. Schone in eLearning.Tags: Design, Development, eLearning, InstructionalDesign, technology, Training, Webinars
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This article is a guest post by Mary Polley-Berte, Director of Customer Support & Training, SyberWorks, Inc. Thanks, Mary!
Companies and organizations today use web conferencing in many aspects of their organizations-to conduct meetings, collaborate on projects, demonstrate products and services, and more. Learning to use web conferencing technology is pretty easy, but there is a lot more to training via web conference than just putting on a headset, dialing up an audio-conferencing bridge, and logging onto the application.
This article offers some helpful tips specifically targeted to web conference training:
- Even though you are using web conferencing to deliver training, the training content itself must still be planned and crafted just as carefully as if it were for a traditional classroom session or e-Learning course.
- When developing PowerPoint slides to use in web conference training follow these guidelines:
- Simplify content.
- Use a large, bold, simple font like Arial.
- Have no more than 6 to 8 lines of text per page (fewer are better).
- Make no more than 4 to 5 training points per page (fewer are better).
- Use plain backgrounds that contrast well with the text without clashing.
- If possible, avoid complex animations (i.e. no spinning text, etc.).
- Establish one person as the point of contact, (POC) for communicating with their group of attendees. Provide all information to this one person and let them communicate it to their own people.
- Provide an outline of objectives for attendees prior to the conference.
- Test all aspects of your presentation ahead of time. (Enlist the help of an online facilitator or a student for these tests.):
- Check your phone lines and headset, and replace weak batteries with full new sets.
- Though most web conference technologies automatically run a short program to install and test your machine, open your own test conference and run your presentation. Confirm that your machine won’t freeze up because of low PC memory or connection speed.
- Check any online exercises, tests, or polling questions you have planned for the session.
- Run through the presentation twice, to both check its timing and leave ample time for questions and answers.
- If student answers are being stored in a database or a learning management system (LMS), determine how they will be scored, saved, and accessed later.
- Are you using an electronic whiteboard? Check to see how its images will be stored. Will your students need them later? How can they access this material? Is it something you can post in a reference area on your training LMS?
- If you are going to demonstrate with examples, try to keep them relevant to the audience. It’s easier for people to learn when material is presented through examples that make sense to them.
- Check how much background noise your system produces. Stage the actual conference in a quiet place, where you can control any heating or air conditioning noise. Be careful about rustling papers. And never eat anything or chew gum during the conference.
- Will a host introduce you or will you have a guest presenter during the web conference? If so, you’ll need to run through all of things discussed in item 5 with the other participant.
- Do you or your guest tend to run long? If so, you may want to use cue cards. Or use a second computer (or laptop) as a time clock, to signal when someone is running long.
- Limit each session to 60 – 90 minutes. Longer sessions are not productive.
- Limit your audience. When possible, keep the number of people attending small. (No more than six people are best.)
- You might want to ask your technical people to set up a dual monitor configuration on your PC (or laptops) for you, so that your presentation appears on one display (as others are seeing it), while your delivery screens and notes appear on the other.
- If appropriate, check time zones before scheduling the web conference. You’d be amazed how often even experienced trainers forget to do this.and end up opening a conference at the wrong time.
- Related to item 15, check in advance to make sure that dates and times appear correctly in all meeting listings and notification messages. Confirm that the dates and times you define are communicated consistently to all participants.
- Check ahead of time that all online links through which students can join the web conference will work… whether they are delivered to learners in an LMS message, via email, or on a web page.
- If any learners are located in other organizations, try a test connect into their facilities well before the actual conference. Though rare, their IT departments may need to change some firewall settings before you’ll be able to communicate in.
- Have more than one Web Conference option ready to use. Then, if some participants can’t connect, you can create a new conference on the spot, with different conference tools.
- Generally, you do not want people to join a web conference until it is actually open for business. Depending on the system you use, you may be able to enforce this with a student display that says: "Cannot join until…"
- Before starting, ask your POC if everyone is present and if it’s OK to begin.
- During the actual conference, check in periodically by asking questions of the attendees. For example: "Does that make sense. Are there any questions so far? Can you think if an example where you might use this __________." This helps to ensure the attendees are attentive, and to see if they have any questions. Silence is a sign that the information is not being understood.
- Try to stay "on course" but allow for flexibility. Often questions asked will take you to another topic area and may require more explanation than allowed in the allotted time. Try to answer all questions and offer to follow up with more information offline, or in another conference, when time is limited.
- When you get close to the end, if you feel like you might run over or need a few extra minutes to finish up, stop and check with all participants. Be considerate of others’ schedules.
- Provide training exercises on the topics discussed.
- Plan ahead for how you will close the session. Thank everyone for their time and attention, leave time for any closing comments or information, discuss next steps (if any), and review how you can be contacted (if needed).
- Follow up with your learners after their web-conference training. This could be by email or perhaps even through a test to gauge their understanding of the material.
- Keep a log of all training and notes. It can help improve your future training.
About the Author:
Mary Polley-Berte is Director of Customer Support & Training at SyberWorks, Inc., in Waltham, Massachusetts. Mary is a graduate of Boston University and resides with her family in New Hampshire.
Want to write for eLearning Weekly? July 4, 2009
Posted by B.J. Schone in eLearning.Tags: InstructionalDesign, Learning, Training, technology, Blogs, eLearning, Writing, Blogging
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Up to this point, I’ve used eLearning Weekly as my own personal blog to talk about my experiences with learning and technology. I’d like to open up the format for others to contribute so we can all benefit from different perspectives. If you are interested in writing for eLearning Weekly, please email me at 
. I’m open to most topics related to learning and technology. I will allow vendors and consultants to contribute if and only if they contribute new ideas and perspectives. I will not allow people or companies to push products or services to my readers.
eLearning Weekly is read by thousands of people each month. This could be a great opportunity for you to get visibility and engage in dialog with peers around the world. I look forward to your contributions!
Email me at if you have questions or to submit ideas. Thanks!
P.S. – I will continue to write for eLearning Weekly, too. I’m not leaving. 
How to Get the Most Out of a Conference May 7, 2009
Posted by B.J. Schone in eLearning.Tags: conference, Conferences, DevLearn, DevLearn2009, eLearning, eLearningGuild, InstructionalDesign, Learning, productivity, ProfessionalDevelopment, Training
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Conferences have been on my mind quite a bit lately. I will be presenting a session on mobile learning at the Corporate University Summit in a couple weeks in Chicago, and I’m getting ready to submit a proposal or two for DevLearn. So you can see why I was pleasantly surprised today when I ran across an excellent blog post on how to get the most out of a conference. The post is by Dan McCarthy, and he wrote it over on his Great Leadership blog. Here’s a summary of his suggestions:
- Choose your conference wisely.
- Take time to to explore and experience the surrounding area.
- Try to suspend your judgement, be open minded, curious, and open to possibilities.
- Watch your diet and stay fit.
- Force yourself to network.
- Don’t be one of those attendees that race up and down the trade show isles with a shopping bag, avoiding eye contact with the vendors, and grabbing handfuls of useless junk.
- Keep a running list of ideas, insights, and action items; your key take-a-ways from each day.
- Have fun, but be on your best behavior.
- Ship your stuff back to your office.
- Don’t forget to thank your manager for allowing you to attend.
- Share something with your team or coworkers.
- If you can, offer to be a presenter, break-out facilitator, discussion moderator, or any opportunity to get involved.
Read Dan’s full post, How to Get the Most Out of a Conference, for more information on each of his suggestions. And if you see me at a conference, please stop and introduce yourself!
Additional resources:
Ten Commandments of eLearning Design April 25, 2009
Posted by B.J. Schone in eLearning.Tags: Design, Development, eLearning, InstructionalDesign, Learning, technology, Training
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Cath Ellis has a great post outlining her Ten Commandments of eLearning. These basic principles, if adhered to, can make a huge difference in whether or not a project will be successful. These principles apply whether you are designing an eLearning course or introducing a new tool for your learners (ex. a blog, wiki, discussion board, etc.).
Here’s a summary of the Ten Commandments, but be sure to read Cath’s post for detailed information on each of the items:
- Put the pedagogy (not the technology) first
- Be aware of workloads and work patterns (yours and theirs)
- Balance risks with safety
- Balance obligations with rewards
- Make ethics a priority
- Model good practice
- Make expectations clear
- Establish patterns and stick to them
- Keep spaces available for students to use and shape to their own needs
- Use/develop protocols
Read the full Ten Commandments of eLearning.
Are You a Learning Guru? April 18, 2009
Posted by B.J. Schone in eLearning.Tags: Design, Development, Jobs, InstructionalDesign, Learning, ProfessionalDevelopment, eLearning, employment, learninggurus
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I recently had the pleasure of meeting Karen Boyle, the founder of LearningGurus.com. Learning Gurus is essentially a staffing agency for professionals in the learning and technology field. Karen has over 15 years experience in corporate, government, and education settings, and she specializes in the learning and development/training industry. She started Learning Gurus to help place people in jobs, and at a time like this her services are even more critical.
I heard about Learning Gurus a few weeks ago, and I was surprised to learn that Karen was based just a few miles away from my office in San Diego. Karen and I met for lunch, and she filled me in on her philosophy and reasoning for starting Learning Gurus a few years ago. I was very impressed; Karen is in this to help match great people with great jobs, not to get rich. And Karen’s background in training and development plays a huge role: She’s able to match the right people with the right jobs. That’s a key difference when comparing Learning Gurus to other staffing agencies.
I would highly recommend that you submit your information to Learning Gurus to be considered for jobs (it’s free). I’m very happily employed right now, but in this economy, it’s always smart to be aware of great services like this. And if you have a need for learning/technology talent at your organization, you should also get in touch with Karen.
Here’s a more thorough description of the services offered by Learning Gurus, from their web site:
Learning Gurus provides top-notch Workplace Learning Professionals for your learning and development initiatives. Our staffing and employment agency provides contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire services. Our nationwide network of Learning Gurus design and develop training and performance solutions for corporate, government, and educational institutions. Whether you need a instructional designer for a 1-month project or you’re searching for a new Chief Learning Officer, we’ve got the guru for you! Our gurus specialize in the following areas:
- Instructional Design & Development
- Facilitation & Instructor Led Training (ILT)
- Performance Analysis & Needs Assessment
- Project Management
- eLearning, Web-Based Training (WBT)
- Multimedia/CBT Development
- Technical Writing & Documentation
- Quality Assurance & Evaluation
Visit LearningGurus.com for more information.
