Interview with Tony Karrer on Informal and Social Learning

Be sure to listen to the latest Kineo podcast with Dr. Tony Karrer. Steve Lowenthal interviews Dr. Tony Karrer to get his thoughts on informal and social learning in the enterprise.

And while you’re there, check out Kineo’s complete audio series, including interviews with such e-learning notables as Jay Cross, Laura Overton and Clive Shepherd.

Will the Real eLearning Industry Please Stand Up?

When we talk about the “industry”, we (and by “we”,  I of course mean those of us in the industry) often refer to it as if it’s this monolithic thing that you can touch. 

The Industry.

Ummm.  Yeah.

So.  What is the eLearning Industry?

Is it the vendors? --  The LMS companies, the custom content developers, the off-the-shelf content creators.

Is it the tools we use to create eLearning?

Is it the companies and people who create those tools? – Adobe, Articulate, Microsoft, etc.

Is it the pundits and bloggers? – the names we know and associate with eLearning – Jay Cross, Ellen Wagner, Tony Karrer, Brent Schlenker, [insert your  name here].

Is it the associations?  -- the eLearning Guild and ASTD.

Is it the research organizations that produce the industry reports?

Is it the companies that give out the awards?

Is it the companies who use eLearning to train their employees?

Is it the Learning & Development/Training departments within all of those companies?

Is it the little companies who don’t even have training departments but still have a lot of training needs?

Is it the schools who use eLearning to teach their students?

Is it the teachers at those schools?

Is it the non-profits who create eLearning for their members?

Is it the institutions that issue the certificates and degrees in ID and whatnot?

Is it the professors who teach at those institutions?  The students who come out of them?

[What did I miss?] 

The point is – and I don’t really know what the point is – the point is, that’s a whole heck of a lot of perspectives. 

The eLearning Industry.

***********

This post  and a few others have been itching to be written for a couple of weeks now.  Since I had the opportunity for a nice schmooze fest after the eLearning Guild ID Symposium in Boston. 

I didn’t attend the sessions, but I DID get to eat a nice Arctic Char at Jasper White’s Summer Shack with the likes of Ellen Wagner, Brent Schlenker, Steve Martin and Kay Wood. 

And then Dave Ferguson incited me further.  He was going to talk about Canada in reference to this rant.  C’mon, Dave.  I dare you.

Photo credit:  Liverpool Street station crowd blur by victoriapeckham

eLearning Brand Name Recognition?

The eLearning industry is a weird beast. It's not really one beast at all. Maybe it's a whole bunch of beasts. Or maybe it's a fruit bowl instead. Whatever your analogy...

A few weeks ago I did a very informal query on Twitter, asking people what were their favorite eLearning brands. Or maybe the question was, what brand names come to mind when you think about eLearning?

Responses varied, but this is what came back:

• Captivate
• Articulate
• Camtasia
• SnagIt
• Ning
• Fireworks
• Adobe
• Lectora
• Google
• And the eLearning Guild got a few mentions

Granted, this was a moment in time on Twitter, so we're probably talking about a particular sector of the universe that replied to my question...but...nonetheless...what stands out about this list?

I see a listing of products and tools. No service companies. No eLearning development houses. Clearly says something about the state of the fragmented eLearning market -- mostly small shops providing services or companies doing it in-house using all of the aforementioned tools.

What does this mean? What brand names come to your mind when you think eLearning?

3D & Serious Games

My company has some experience doing 3D modeling and simulations for government clients, so I found this recent acquisition of this 3D learning company by Lockheed Martin quite interesting. The equation of 3D graphics with "serious games" is something to note.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be acquired by such a behemoth, nor would I want to focus solely on government contracts. I can't stand all the paperwork.