Tired old elearning? Want some ideas? Free Webinar!

Join me this Tuesday, January 22 at 1:00 eastern for a free webinar hosted by Training Industry and Brainshark.  I'll share some tips and strategies for spicing up your eLearning designs - simple tips for better writing and more thoughtful interaction that don't have to blow your budget.

Yawn Proof Your eLearning without Busting the Bank

Hope to see you there!

One Learning Designer's Look Back at 2012

So we've wrapped up 2012 with a few ribbons and bows and have sent it on its way.  It was a big year.

Some of my professional and personal highlights from 2012 (not that you asked):

Growing Kineo US

Our Kineo US team has continued to grow and flourish.  While I still work out of my home office in the Boston area, our office in downtown Chicago now boasts a full host of project managers, instructional designers, ace graphic artists, top notch developers, our Totara LMS support team, as well as marketing and support personnel.  It's an exciting journey and I'm proud to be part of the Kineo family.

So what did I learn from all that? Well, keep on keeping on.  Virtual working is great, but it's also really wonderful to hang out in the office with my team mates.

Clients & Project Work

Of course, none of that growth is possible without our growing and amazing client list.  I've had the opportunity to work on a huge range of projects this year, from virtual classrooms to leadership academies.

And what could have been a boring course on information security won a Brandon Hall Gold Award for Compliance Training. Just a little proud of our team!

So what did I learn from all that? Well, that learning and development always provides something new to learn. New technologies, new approaches.  There's really no getting static in this field unless you just stop trying.

Conferences

Going to industry conferences is where it's at as far as I'm concerned.  I love connecting and learning and breathing learning stuff with really smart people.  This year was no let down.

The year started off with me wrapping up my stint as the planning committee chairperson for ASTD TechKnowledge 12.  I was this close to doing onstage karaoke in front of the entire TK crowd -- it's hard not to let Vegas get into your soul. You can see the proof here.

In March, I ran a pre-conference session at the eLearning Guild's Learning Solutions called The Accidental Instructional Designer.  Loved, loved, loved that.  So much, in fact, that I'll be doing it again this March!

I helped facilitate two ASTD Learn Now Conferences -- one in April and the other in July -- where we focused on real application of social, mobile, and performance support.  Working closely with Justin Brusino, Bob Mosher, Conrad Gottfredson and Chad Udell -- amazing!

At DevLearn in November, I had a great time with my session: Putting the Design Back in Instructional Design. This session had me out of my comfort zone -- I was reading and researching it for the six months leading up to it.  How's that for some informal learning with a clear goal in mind?

So what did I learn from all this conference speaking? Well, that yes, I can talk in front of 1,200 people and somehow pull it off without looking or sounding like a complete idiot.  That I need to slow down more when I talk and let people absorb it a bit (thanks to Lance Dublin for that feedback!) 

Writing 

I appeared in actual paper print this year for my first time with an article published in ASTD's T&D Magazine. As much online blogging and writing as I've done in the past 7 years, it was still a thrill to see my words in an actual magazine.

Not only that, but I got interviewed for an article on training that appeared in Delta Sky Magazine.  You know, an inflight magazine that you randomly read while enroute from O'Hare to SFO or something. Weird, right? In print and in the air! (This is where people can start making jokes about the mile high club or something).

My article, The Accidental Instructional Designer, appeared on the Learning Solutions site in January.  OK -- it's not a paper magazine, but I think it's one of the best industry news sources out there so I was thrilled just the same.

My blog has suffered a bit this year as my writing has ended up elsewhere.  But be sure to check out Kineo Top Tips to which I'm a regular contributor.

So what did I learn from all that? Well, that people actually like to read what I write. And that I really love it.  And that I just need to keep on writing...I've got quite a few unfinished articles and ideas floating around that I need to pull together and get out there.  It's like giving birth sometimes.  And also like releasing an idea into the wild.

Getting Sporty

I used to be a competitive swimmer, so getting back in the water to race brings back strange feelings for me.

This July, I swam the swimming leg of a sprint triathlon in my now hometown of Littleton, MA.  Of all the relay swimmers, I was the first one out of the water and my team finished fifth.  Pretty cool if I do say so myself.  And apparently I am saying that myself.  This inspired me to start running in earnest and a few days later I started a couch to 10k running program. I've got my mind thinking about doing the entire triathlon this July...

So what did I learn from all that? Well, exercise really does make me feel better. And that sometimes you can just decide to do it--and then you go ahead and do it.

City & Guilds

Big news for those of us who proudly fly the Kineo banner! We're now thrilled to be a part of City & Guilds, a UK force for 130 years with a focus on vocational training and support for employers all over the globe.  As part of City & Guilds, our goal: "to become the global workplace learning company." You can read more about our acquisitions on our website.

So what did I learn from all that? This one is still new so haven't had much time to absorb.  But I think it's that exciting alliances can come from unexpected places!

So what's up for 2013?
Well, there's that triathlon that I may have just publicly committed myself to...

I'll be speaking at loads of conferences, with ASTD TK 13, Learning Solutions, and ASTD ICE coming ahead in the nearer future.

Hoping to write more, more, more.

Hoping to push myself more, more, more.

And -- to slow down a bit too and be more mindful....(check out my Learning Resolution on the Open Sesame blog.)

Thanks for being with me in 2012 and looking forward to more more more in 2013!

DevLearn Conference Video: Putting Design Back into ID

At DevLearn this year, the eLearning Guild taped a number of sessions and has made them available to members.

I was honored to have my session recorded: Putting "Design" back into Instructional Design.  eLearning Guild members can access the video archive on the eLearning Guild's website:

The eLearning Guild: Putting "Design" back into Instructional Design

If you do take the time to watch the video, I'd love constructive feedback and ideas for how I can improve this session for the future!

Thanks for watching :)

Joe Sabia – opening keynote at Brainshark #sharkmeet12

Joe Sabia – opening keynote at Brainshark #sharkmeet12

Video maker

TED Talk

http://joesabia.co

Joe follows viral culture.

What could be transferred to business communications? From the world of viral video?

Think about a presentation you’ve given in the past month.  Based on the principles Joe is going to talk about, how might you integrate those principles?

CDZA – creating videos for this music channel.

Keeping people on the edge of their seats…don’t reveal it all at once.

Joe starts off and shows us two videos on detecting extra solar planets.  Two methods:

Take 1 – talking head,  dull voice over. But more information. If you watched it 10-12 times you might get more out of it.  Facts, but dense.  Dry and boring.

Take 2 – exciting visuals, more memorable. Made reference to pop culture to pull people in. But all over the place and distracting.

 Neither really very effective.

Two questions any presenter must ask:

How do you present info in a way people will learn?

How do you present info in a way people will pay attention?

How do you present info in a way people will learn?

1. Brevity
2. Clarity (no confusing graphs!)
3. Relevant aesthetics – no pictures of hotdogs and bunnies!

So how do we get people to pay attention?

Joe looks at videos and internet culture. What compels us to send the video around of the cat falling into the fish tank?

Right now, SO much content out there. So what do we share and why?

Benefits of connectivity

Unprecedented access to info

Global connectedness

Work from anywhere!

But there’s a darkside…

Makes it so damn hard to pay attention to anything.

Easy to be addicted to all the stuff that's out there.

Joe shows an Excel spreadsheet that looks like Facebook – so you can use this at work and no one will know!

Attention is a valued commodity.  Keep in mind that people probably have 15 tabs open on their browser and that Facebook Excel page…

Use creativity to stand out and capture that attention!

Six things that might be interesting…to apply to presentation world? Not trips or tricks, but perspectives in grabbing attention.

 1. Dessert and vegetables

The Huffington Post – it’s reliable. Huge headline, big photos. Serious politics up tight. But then you go down and there’s John Hamm without a shirt. The mullet approach to news – business up front, party at the bottom. Get your veggies at top ad your dessert at the bottom. We all love dessert.

Sitting in class (veggies) vs. recess (dessert).

Barry Schwartz – great with the dessert and veggies.

Dessert is a moment of escapism. Makes the veggies more memorable.

As long as dessert is on the table – doesn’t matter if in beginning, middle or end.

2. Cultural references as dessert

The power of cultural references

Cultural love – analogizes information, baked-in familiarity. Shows you have a pulse on culture.

Obviously, challenges to do this in culture world.  But how can you connect back to cultural references?

3.  Interactivity

“tone of voice is personality expressed through words”

tests, evals, url slides, polls.

“Liking” on Facebook – you’re showing the world your view and doing marketing for another organization.

How do you get people to interact without clicking their mouse? But get them to move their body behind the computer screen?

Skittles Lick the Rainbow video.  Touch the space. Touch the screen.  Get your hand licked by a cat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnwEntgHyFI

Passive isn’t as good as active.

4.  Your Space as a Playground

Think outside of the walls of your classroom.  (shares a video of a classroom teacher who has a ppt on screen that “comes alive”).

In a presentation world, your confined to a box.  Your PPT box.  Don’t see it as a box, see it as a universe.

Choose your own adventure – an interactive Facebook experience.  In the first comment for a photo, you click a link to go off…

5.  Unscientific Research

“What happens when you put an android, winpho7, iphon 4 – what grills faster?” (youtube video) – cooked three phones on a  grill.  Over 1 million views.

Apply human, unscientific views - -ask people – raise hands.

Information for a captive audience.

Offers convincing, offbeat evidence.

Shows passion.

6. Power of Surprises

Your world may not allow for a lot of this absurdity.  There is a time and a place for fun. 

Replace the word fun with the word surprise.

Tania Luna – her company is called “Surprise Industries” – she consults with corporates. Give people the unexpected.  Stand out from everyone else.

In primates, surprise intensifies emotion by 300-400%.

That element of surprise makes us talk about it and share it.

Surprises can be a lifestyle.

Joe likes to pay for things with $2 bills.

Surprises make everything better.

How does this work with presentations?

Make a pact – put one surprise in your presentation. (But don’t give anyone a heart attack or completely inappropriate – know the boundaries).

Look at the presentations that people are doing that you want more of.  Think of your own ways to do these things.  Be inspired by what other people are doing “good artists borrow; great artists steal.” ~Picasso

When it comes to presentation making – be the 1%--stand out from what everyone else is doing.  Don’t let the corporate world corporatize you out of your creativity.

Putting the Design back into Instructional Design #DevLearn

Here are my slides from my presentation on Thursday, November 1, 2013 at the eLearning Guild DevLearn conference in Las Vegas.

Putting Design Back into Instructional Design from cammybean

Thanks to a great audience -- we had lively conversation and great food for thought!

DevLearn 2012 Wrap Up #devlearn

Wrapping up a few days in Las Vegas for this year's eLearning Guild DevLearn 2012 conference.  I could NOT miss Halloween with my kids, so flew in Thursday afternoon.  So I missed a lot, but still had enough time to talk my head off and soak in a lot of elearning goodness.

Shortly after I arrived, I jumped on stage to participate in a panel with Koreen Olbrish, Janet Clarey, Jane Bozarth, and Jeannette Campos on New Emerging Tech. Great format as we pulled Jeannette in from Skype and Jane on Twitter.  Koreen handed us a new topic every five minutes-- from QR codes (hot or not?) to 3D printers.  

At 3:00 I presented a concurrent session on Putting the Design Back into Instructional Design (slides forthcoming!) I had everyone closing their eyes and imagining "good design" - forks and phones and Harry Potter rides came to mind.  Not surprisingly, eLearning examples were not the first thing to pop into people's minds.  We talked a lot about Design with a big D and then came back to elearning and what we can all do to be better DESIGNERS of elearning.  

The afternoon/evening was all about DemoFest.  I shared a demo of an example of our new Responsive Elearning Design Framework - all HTML5.  If you want to know more about RED, check out a webinar presentation that Steve Rayson did last month.  

The downside of presenting something at DemoFest is you can't wander around and see what everyone else is doing.  I did get to check out some interesting work at the next table over that Reuben from EdCetra Training showed off:  a responsive onboarding program developed as an "app store.  Each app is a short onboarding exercise and the whole thing is built off the TinCan Experience API. 

Which leads me to Tin Can. You couldn't walk through the conference this year without tripping over one...

So Friday morning I listened to a panel on TinCan - "Everything you ever wanted to know..." And while it may not have answered everything I want to know about the new Experience API and what many are calling "the new SCORM", it was useful to hear some real world examples and listen to the questions of real developers who are trying to figure out what the impact of this will be.  There's a lot of hype about TinCan at the moment...and a lot of confusion.  My message to people: no need to panic.  This will take time.

Then I sat in on a session with Sharon Boller (@sharon_boller) on converting a PC based elearning course to an iBook. I've been playing around with iBook Author recently and think it could really meet the needs of a lot of what gets produced as elearning these days. Sharon did a nice job presenting their design process and the finished output.  Learn more about their project and download a demo from the Bottom Line Performance site.

The closing keynote (and so sorry I missed Wednesday's fire breathing keynote!) wrapped up with a hilarious eLearning Guild documentary. The final speaker, Dayna Steele, urged us to find our inner rock stars and to be nice to each other.  Karma pays off, man.

Of course, the most memorable bits of the conference are the informal hallway chats, the late night beer of elearning conference, and the Las Vegas experience.  Last night, I saw The Beatle's LOVE -- a Cirque du Solelil extravaganza.  Talk about experience design! 

So thanks to the eLearning Guild for putting on another memorable conference.  

I'm off to catch a plane home now!  See you on the other side.

Is Your Elearning Interactive?

If you missed my recent webinar on interactive elearning, have no fear!

Answering the question, "did you record the webinar?" Why, yes. Yes, we did.  Watch the 60 minute webinar on Youtube.

And answering the question, "will your slides be available?" Why, yes. Yes, they are.

Interactivity in eLearning from cammybean