But our loyalties towards mobile learning cannot be questioned! For all you mobile lovers, dig in to know about the top trends in mobile, cool iPhone Apps for educational purposes and studying aboard, and tons of iOS Apps for freelancers.

Find it all here in our Weekly Digest – a collection of our top 22 links from the week gone by, each accompanied by a quick brief.

Need to quench your thirst for the latest in learning, technology and media links further? You can dig into our previous lists here.

1. Mobile Trends: The Future Guide To The Best Predictions For 2011
Find the most interesting and relevant trends, anticipations and predictions about the mobile world and how these will affect any web site publisher work in 2011.

2. Engaging Learners with Emerging and Connective Technologies
It is time for schools to foster learning environments that empower learners with the tools that allow their voices and ideas to touch the world; embrace their choice of path, creation, and representation of their learning; and provide them with environments to support the development of 21st Century habits. Read to know how schools can engage learners with emerging and connective technologies.

3. Training Evaluation: A Mug’s Game
Training more efficiently is a mug’s game. Managers and workplace performance professionals should focus on Working Smarter, by helping people learn and develop socially.

4. How Effective is Your Training? Focus on Measurements that Matter
Just as logging after-school reading activities is no measure of a child’s reading comprehension, neither is a post-training quiz if it’s incapable of measuring anything meaningful or performance-related. Read this post to understand how you can write better quiz questions.

5. A Quick Guide To Attitudinal Training
If you’re involved in creating a course with the explicit or subtle goal of changing an attitude, you might be wondering how to go about doing this. Attitudinal training is one of those under discussed topics, because most of us are focused on intellectual skills.

6. The Future Of Learning
What is the future of education? With the upsurge in ownership of smart mobile devices such as iPhones, Androids and Blackberries, the rapid social penetration of touch screen computers such as iPads, and an increase in the purchase of Kindles and other e-reader devices, the future of learning is definitely smart mobile.

7. The Human Factor: Delivering Training to Multi-Taskers
Don’t look now, but your learners are multi-tasking. Regardless of the age group your class belongs to, the delivery mode of your training, or how carefully you’ve constructed your lesson, in today’s world, it’s rare to gain your learners’ full attention. Know how to deliver training to these multi-taskers.

8. 5 Traits Of The Super Learner
How strong is your capacity to learn? Can you leap complex concepts with a single bound? Master a new language faster than a speeding locomotive? Roll your eyes at hyperbole without even blinking? Know if you fit into the mould of a super learner.

9. 90 Awesome iOS Apps for Freelancers
Find over 90 apps that will empower you as a freelancer to get more done when you’re away from your computer. Whether you’re a designer, writer, consultant or anything else, you’ll find tons of helpful tools.

10. 100 Awesome iPhone Apps for Studying Abroad
Gone are the days when studying abroad was more of a worry than an opportunity to see new things, people, and places. These days, all that the student needs is common sense, a destination, and an iPhone. So set up an international plan, and download these iPhones apps, then prepare yourself for the adventure of a lifetime.

11. 10 Ways Technology Supports 21st Century Learners in Being Self-Directed
Life in the 21st century provides a whole new world of opportunities for self-directed, passion-driven, personalized learning. Here are 10 ideas every teacher should consider when supporting learning for students today.

12. E-Learning Early Indicators
Putting the rumors about ‘LMSs being almost dead’ to rest, here are five indicators that will give you insights into what to expect from an LMS in the future. Featuring amongst the ‘Best Product Debut at TK11’ is Upside2Go, our revolutionary platform for mobile learning. Read it all here.

13. HTML5 Will Be Done in 2014, What Comes Next?
Even though many are already using the still-unfinished language to code complicated web apps, the web’s governing body made the transition official by announcing that HTML5 will be complete by 2014.

14. The Ultimate Guide To Using iPads In The Classroom
You’ve heard of the iPad and seen it in action. But what purpose would it serve in the classroom? You might be surprised.

15. Educational iPhone Apps for Small Business Owners
With more people using smartphones, companies can take advantage of mobile training options. Here are a few possibilities to consider.

16. Report: Blended Learning Could Hit Or Miss
Blended learning has the ability to transform education, according to a new report – but if certain guidelines and practices aren’t ensured, blended learning could become just another add-on to an archaic system on its way out, the report warns.

17. Employee Engagement Matters for eLearning
According to most definitions, an “engaged” employee is a high-quality performer who takes personal responsibility to work toward the success of an organization. How can organizations foster a culture of employee engagement? Read this article to know more.

18. Video Games to Enhance Learning
Learning experience can be made more enjoyable by creating video games into which educational content and assessment tools have been surreptitiously added – and to incorporate such games into school curricula. Know how other schools are carrying it out.

19. Graphics for eLearning: Why and Where I Buy Them
Think finding appropriate graphics for your eLearning courses is eating up a major chunk of your time? Here are different types of images and places where you could find them, in half the time.

20. eLearning startup Opportunities : eLearning Technology
If you were going to do an eLearning Startup – where would you focus? Or if you are doing an eLearning Startup – what is it? Know the different opportunities present in the eLearning domain for startups.

21. The 2010 Mobile Year in Review
comScore presents the inaugural Mobile Year in Review report, a look at the top trends in mobile throughout 2010 and their implications for the coming year. The report looks across the U.S., EU5 and Japan, providing insights on the dynamic mobile ecosystem.

22. A Few Good Online Survey Tools
Online surveys can be a huge help in understanding what your constituents think and how successful your programs are, without breaking your budget. Here are few good online survey tools.

The post 22 Top Learning, Technology & Media Links: Weekly Digest – 14 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

1. 100 Web Tools to Enhance Collaboration
Collaboration tools let you create, edit, share, discuss, engage, communicate and collaborate with others in a meaningful way that helps us learn from each other. Here’s a list of 100 web tools to enhance collaboration amongst us.

2. From e-Learning to iPad: How to Adjust the User Interface
This article focuses on one of the most important criteria for online instruction effectiveness – the interface. Lists 5 questions you should consider before designing an UI for your iPhone or iPad.

3. How can e-Learning, or computer based training, be more effective?
Discusses how eLearning, something that has been touted as a saviour, can be really made somewhat and/or more effective.

4. Seven Technologies That Will Rock 2011
Lists 7 technologies that will continue to engage (and enthrall) us in 2011.

5. Internet Surpasses Television as Main News Source for Young Adults
This article talks about Pew Center Research study reports, which states that the Internet is now the main national and international news source for people ages 18-29.

6. Where to Find Free eBooks for Children Online
Lists free ebooks for children which you can view online.

7. Math That Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad
Spending money on tablet computers may seem an extravagance. Read this article to know why some educators say they are more than just a cool new toy.

8. Will’s Learning Landscape Model
Will Thalheimer has developed the Learning Landscape Model. Here’s a 13 minute video explaining it.

9. The Benefits of Blended Learning Explained
Blended learning — a strategy that combines online and classroom learning activities and resources to reduce in-class seat time for students in a face-to-face environment — can be a tremendous boon for a university. This article states and explains ways to convince administrators, faculty, and students of the value of blended learning.

10. 15 Fabulous Blogs Should Follow By Game Addictive
These days games are sprouting up everywhere just like animated movies. This article mentions some of the best online destinations to know about the hot happenings of the video games industry.

11. 11 Ways to Learn in 2011
The opportunities for online learning have grown tremendously this past year. Interestingly, there seem to be more ways to participate in active learning. Here is the official list of eleven exciting ways you can learn online in the coming year.

12. 100+ Google Tricks for Teachers
From super-effective search tricks to Google tools specifically for education, to tricks and tips for using Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, this article lists over 100 tricks that will surely save you some precious time.

13. Looking Back, Looking Forward
Lists some notable events and developments (among many others) in 2010, and based on them makes some predictions for the coming 12 months.

14. Turning a Tablet Into a Board Game
This article talks about a game that successfully marries digital and analog games, by using the first physical device to digitally interact with the Apple iPad.

15. Galaxy Tab Review: Android Hitchhiking its Way to Tablet Success
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is the first major tablet to ship with Android. This article reviews the tab to learn if Android is ready for prime time on tablets.

The post Top Learning, Technology & Media Links: Weekly Digest – 8 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

1. 7 Predictions for the Gaming Industry in 2010
The video gaming industry made great strides this year. Here are 7 predictions for what to watch in 2011.

2. The Ultimate iPhone Guide: 60+ Essential Resources
The iPhone had a great year in 2010. Here’s a roundup of all the iPhone coverage this year.

3. Most Popular Android Posts of 2010
More apps, more users, and more upgrades for all kinds of phones—2010 was a good year for Android. Here’s the most popular of the Android-centered stuff.

4. Virtual classrooms: Online education is changing school hours, buildings, interactions
Online education has gathered steam in the past decade. But in the next 10 years, experts predict, it will have a profound influence on every aspect of education. This article talks how online education would influence the size and shape of buildings, the hours they operate and the types of interaction students have with teachers and classmates — whether across the room or across the state.

5. Technology in the Classroom should include these 7 Learning Tools
Lists and explains 7 technology tools that should be standard technology in the classroom.
Read it here

6. 2010: The Year Technology Replaced Talking
From texting at dinner to posting on Facebook from work, the connectivity revolution is creating divided attention, not to mention social angst. This article highlights how despite all the technology that makes communicating easier than ever, 2010 was the year we stopped talking to one another.

7. E-Books Outsell Paper Books On Barnes & Noble’s Online Store
Electronic book readers are a nascent but growing electronic category, and companies have so far been reticent to say exactly how many are selling. This article talks about Bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc., which recently declared that its line of Nook e-reading devices are the biggest-selling items in its history, and added it sold nearly 1 million e-books on Christmas Day.

8. Ten Myths about Video in e-Learning
In our world of e-Learning, video has become an important element in the mix of all the modalities we use as practitioners of the art of online instruction. But much of the advice and common wisdom about this medium simply gets it wrong. This article debunks the 10 myths about video in eLearning.

9. Lets Understand the Mobile Phone Market, installed base and smartphones vs dumbphones
Mobile author Tomi Ahonen gives stats-filled analysis of the handset market.

10. 18 Cool Things People Do On Twitter
There are many other things that people use Twitter for. It can stretch from getting real time news to catching bicycle thieves. We always thought it was the users who have made Twitter what it is today. This article lists 18 cool things that people do on Twitter.

11. The Top 8 Future-Tech Stories of 2010
What will the future bring? We got a taste of what’s to come in 2010. Take a look back at some of the hottest new tech of the past year.

12. No Web Access at Home for 2M Poor Pupils, Warns Charity
E-learning Foundation fears gap between rich and poor at school will widen unless more get home internet access.

13. The App List: What’s Going on my iPads
Lists all applications in Education and Mobile Learning that you need to install to start off with your iPad project.

14. 65% of Internet Users Paid for Digital Content
This article states facts from a recent Pew Internet survey which indicates that approximately two-thirds of Internet users — 65% — have paid to access or download digital content.

15. Don’t Declare Victory For Android Just Yet
If 2011 is the year of Android, how come so many Android manufacturers are hedging their bets? This article raises some important points against Android and says that smartphone battle is far from over. Rather, it’s just the beginning.

The post Top Learning, Technology & Media Links: Weekly Digest – 7 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

1. How To Revamp Your Learning Model
There’s a lot of talk these days about informal learning vs. formal learning. This article advocates the development of an Informal Learning Environment (ILE) to work in tandem with a Formal Learning Environment (FLE) to support both the learning process and its administration.

2. eFront: Free Storyboard Templates For e-Learning
A list of free storyboard templates for e-Learning.

3. How Do You Define 21st-Century Learning?
The term “21st-century skills” is generally used to refer to certain core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving. In this article, 11 education experts define 21st-century learning from their own perspectives.

4. People Spend As Much Time On Mobile As Reading Newspapers And Magazines
The time spent on mobile devices is now the same as time spent reading print newspapers and magazines combined. The average American spends an estimated 50 minutes a day staring at his cell phone, versus 30 minutes reading a print newspaper and 20 minutes reading a magazine. This article talks about many such startling statistics.

5. Perhaps We Should Keep Some Information In Our Heads
Using analogy of GPS while driving, this article debates whether externalizing all our knowledge, rather than storing it in our heads, is a good idea.

6. New Study Urges Colleges To Develop E-Learning Strategies For Higher Education : JISC
The use of mobile technologies and a more innovative use of existing institutional systems such as virtual learning environments will be increasingly important to colleges that provide higher education according to a new JISC funded study.

7. Seven Things I Learned This Year : eLearning Technology
This article by Tony Karrer lists and explains 7 things that have changed his thinking over the course of the year.

8. 10 Ways Social Media Will Change In 2011
With more than 550 million people on Facebook, 65 million tweets posted on Twitter each day, and 2 billion video views each day on YouTube, social media has become an integral part of our connected lives. But this is just the beginning. This article enlists new developments that will shape the very fabric of our behavior, culture and identity in 2011.

9. Project Based Learning: Explained
This simple video makes the essential elements of PBL come alive and brings to light the 21st Century skills and competencies (collaboration, communication, critical thinking) that will enable K-12 students to be college and work-ready as well as effective members of their communities.

10. Almost Half Of Mobile Users Use Internet More Than Apps
Apps are all the rage and many marketers are jumping on the bandwagon. However, promotions and experiential agency Moosylvania discovered mobile websites might be a better bet for some.

11. Does Android’s Growth Spell The End Of Blackberry?
This article debates the fall of Blackberry as the impact of Android’s growth ripples across the mobile landscape.

12. Why Your Smartphone Will Replace Your Wallet
Credit card companies, mobile phone carriers, and startups are all invested in mobile contactless payments and NFC. But exactly how the digital wallet will become main stream is still up in the air.

13. Augmented Reality Marketing In 2010 And Beyond
The explosion in smartphone sales has challenged the imaginations of creatives to come up with marketing ideas tailored for the mobile space. Along with location-based marketing, augmented reality applications really came into focus for many brands, from luxury companies to small businesses in 2010.

14. Facebook Brings Facial Recognition To Photo Tagging
Facebook photos is getting a new feature that automatically suggests who users should tag in photos based on facial recognition technology.

15. What Does Learning Look Like?
This article lists some of the best responses to a pile of random images that were presented to each group which asked them to pick one and relate it to their learning for their year.

The post Top Learning, Technology & Media Links: Weekly Digest – 5 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

1. Taking Cues From Industry: Using Casual Games For Learning At DAU
The use of games in education and training is quickly becoming a mainstream practice. This article talks about Defense Acquisition University (DAU) where games have grown from being closely aligned with both the learning objectives and the context of the acquisition workforce to the launch of the first Department of Defense casual gaming site.
Read it here

2. eLearning Conferences 2011 : eLearning Technology
List of eLearning Conferences scheduled in the first half of the year -January to June 2011 – covering a broad range of types of topics.
Read it here

3. Characters
Discusses use of characters in eLearning courses including ideas for their use and additional resources.

4. Nuts And Bolts: How To Evaluate eLearning
Far more time is spent on other phases of design and delivery than on evaluation. This article looks at several approaches to carrying out evaluation of training, including evaluation of eLearning.

5. Get Serious About Social Learning By Focusing On What Matters
Social learning has taken on a kind of religious fervor among learning practitioners during the past couple of years—and not without good reason. This article underscores the criticality of social learning strategy formulation, community design, rewards and incentives, content quality, and benefits tracking.
Read it here

6. The Best Android Browsers
This article gives a rundown of the best third-party Android browsers, all of which are free and available in the Android Market.

7. 28 Education And Technology Keywords Or Hashtags To Follow On Twitter
Compilation of a nice mix of education, learning, technology, higher education and social media keywords or hashtags to follow on Twitter.

8. 100 Incredibly Useful You Tube Channels For Teachers
Lists 100 of the best You Tube channels most worthy of attention, as they feature plenty of solid content appealing to their respective audiences and actively try to make viewers smarter.
Read it here

9. 63 Great eLearning Posts And Hottest Topics For November 2010
Compilation of 63 of the best eLearning posts; also lists the hottest topics for November 2010.
Read it here

10. A Study Of Trends In Mobile Design
A part of a new eBook Mobile Design For iPhone And iPad, this article showcases the variety of methods in which some of today’s most popular websites provide an interactive and (hopefully) useful mobile experience for their end users.
Read it here

11. 5 Innovative Classroom Management Tools For Teachers
Didn’t get into teaching for the administrative tasks? This article lists five virtual tools that can help you complete them more efficiently.
Read it here

12. Tablets, Compared
This interactive guide can help sort through and compare the various offerings in Tablets. Right from Apple iPad to Dell Streak to Samsung Galaxy Tab, it covers all the information you need to know on these mini computers.
Read it here

13. Flash Player 10.2 Will Be A Game-Changer
Upon the solid groundwork laid by the Flash Player 10.1 release, Adobe continues to innovate by adding some incredible new features to the runtime in a beta of Flash Player 10.2. This article highlights two, in particular – Native Custom Mouse Cursors & Stage Video Hardware Acceleration.
Read it here

14. HTML5 And CSS3 For The Real World
This article talks about the new HTML5 and CSS3 features that are included in IE9 Beta. It highlights how creating websites and apps for IE9 Beta will make things more scalable, more efficient, and more maintainable than ever before.
Read it here

15. Best Social Media Enabled Smartphones Of 2010
Lists the best social media smartphones of 2010.
Read it here

The post Top Learning, Technology & Media Links: Weekly Digest – 3 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

We advocate the need of openness at Adobe especially for their Flash runtimes. Adobe has some great development tools like Flash Builder, Flash CS5 which target the runtimes – Flash Player and Adobe AIR. Although Adobe has a range of open-source projects they haven’t yet fully “opened” both the Flash runtimes.

Adobe has released SWF specifications till its version 10. And that kicked off some of open-source Flash player implementations like Lightspark and Gnash. The pace of development, however, is really very slow. Lightspark, which has just released its latest version few days back, looks promising with its OpenGL based rendering. Also there are implementations like Frash and Smokescreen that are attempting to run Flash content on unsupported devices like iPhones and iPads.

Last month Adobe also announced next release of open-source Flex SDK, code named Hero. Among others, the main targeted feature is the support for multi-screen development, which is in line with their ongoing open-screen initiative. However, the development is tightly coupled with the unreleased Flash runtimes, and hence builds would not be available to open-source community till the latest runtimes are officially released.

In my opinion, by making the runtime development open-source, Adobe can concentrate on development tools as well as can focus on drafting innovative features to be supported by runtimes. The open-source community on the other hand can try and tackle the ways to implement runtimes to be supported on various computing devices and architectures.

The eLearning developer community will anyways benefit from open-source developments around Flash. Traditionally eLearning courses are one of major consumers of Flash platform, mainly because of ubiquitous Flash runtimes. But the community has been in major chaos as Apple denied deploying apps developed using Flash IDE. The developers have been checking other ways to offer/deploy learning content on the devices not supporting Flash. I think that would change if Flash runtimes were open-source and available for such devices, at least partially implemented.

The post Future Of Flash Is Open Source first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

– When do I use it?
– What do I like about it?
– What do I not like about it?

For many tools, the answers are as expected. Again, the fact surfaces that not all tools are perfect but each tends to be targeted for specific use cases. The mind map can help learning professionals choose the right authoring tool for  their requirements and expectations.

I’ve been  wandering around the web to find the right authoring tool for  specific use cases. While searching I realized that many learning professionals often confuse between their requirements and the specific features offered by the chosen tool. For example, a feature that lets users  “import” existing PowerPoint presentations into the authoring tool is different from authoring and publishing eLearning content from within  PowerPoint (using a plug-in toolbar). While some try doing freeform authoring through a template-based authoring tool. However, both methods have different workflows and properties.

Here are some features that eLearning professionals generally expect from authoring tools –

• They should have an intuitive interface – preferably WYSIWYG – allowing easy authoring and simple functionality.
• Should be easy to control and manage graphic styles across course to enforce style guidelines and branding.
• Localization processes using the tool should be easy and fast.
• Should be able to import/export content (like PPT, DOC, or simple HTML), and allow for edits after import.
• Should be able to import external Flash SWF as well as audio and video in variety of popular formats.
• Standard and customizable compliance. (SCORM 1.2, 2004, AICC)
• Should be able to publish course in various formats. (web, LMS, CD-ROM)
• Functionality of some kind for offline tracking if courses are not being delivered from any LMS.
• Ability to capture reviewer notes in context to the pages – one useful feature of collaborative authoring.

One more feature which is not required in most cases but would be much of help to advanced authors – is some way to extend/customize tool functionality through programming. For example, for a course published through Articulate, if I’d wanted SCORM tracking with a different behavior, I might be able to achieve that using the SDK provided by Articulate.

Please note, I haven’t considered full-fledged development tools like Adobe Flash, for which some amount of technical proficiency is required.

What other features/functions you would expect from the eLearning authoring tools you would be or are using?

The post Expectations From eLearning Authoring Tools first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Before beginning to develop mLearning on their own, they should keep in mind some technical considerations. Earlier we’ve mentioned some tools that can assist you in mLearning applications. However, each one needs a fair bit of knowledge and skills before they can actually implement solutions using these tools.

However, to alleviate such difficulties, there are some rapid authoring tools available that can create mLearning without needing to acquire the technical skills. Here are some authoring tools that claim to let authors develop content targeted at mobile devices.

HotLava LMA (Learning Mobile Author)

It lets you create single authored source content deployable across multiple formats and supported devices. It has recently partnered with OnPoint Digital, Inc.

• • Supports major types of images, audios, videos, bulleted/numbered lists and text integrated in the form of templatized format, tests, quizzes, polls/surveys.

• Simple form-based content authoring with support for interlinking the content.
• Content can be directly deployed on device OR can be delivered via web.
• Web delivered content can be tracked and managed through their proprietary mobile delivery and tracking system (MDTS).
• Supported mobile platforms are all the Java supported phones, Windows Mobile, PocketPC, Palm and virtually all those that have XHTML web browser – including iPhone and iPod Touch.

Chalk Pushcast

Chalk Pushcast lets you author mLearning through a plug-in

for MS PowerPoint, targeted specifically for BlackBerry smartphones.

• Uses familiar freeform authoring of PowerPoint.
• Content is published to BlackBerry Enterprise Server and external stakeholders.
• Published content can be accessed through Pushcast Player installed on user’s BlackBerry smartphone.
• The Pushcast Player takes care of tracking and reporting to server.

Lectora

Although  Lectora doesn’t have implicit “publish to mobile” option, one can easily configure and publish their titles (authored courses) to be viewable on mobile web browsers.

• Lectora and Lectora Online provide templates specifically designed for iPhone and iPad.

  
• The iPhone templates can also be used for publishing content for smartphones having screen width of 320 pixels. However, one should be careful while selecting compatible multimedia content (audio, video, images) for the targeted mobile platforms.
• Recently they have also released free template sets for the iPad which one can use for iPad content authoring.

Other tools, like Articulate and Content Point also claims to publish for mobile. But their output format is in older versions of FlashLite – which is now available only on devices like the Nokia N95 and Windows Mobile. I don’t consider these significant authoring tools for mLearning development yet. Maybe eventually Flash based tools will gain significance for mLearning provided Flash gets supported by major smartphones and mobile platforms (save the iPhones and iPads).

If you know of any other tools that output mobile compliant content, leave a comment. We’d really like to evaluate and consider those. Thanks!

The post Rapid Authoring Tools For Creating mLearning first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

The main reason was that such simulation tools are not always used for developing just any type of learning but focused on training content creation for a specific software application or system.

The software simulation in turn, can be divided into screen capturing tools and interactive simulation development tools. However, it’s matter of debate that whether software simulations can be considered as part of EPSS. I’d like to leave the discussion around EPSS and software simulations to the experts in the eLearning industry.

As the name suggests, the screen capturing tools are used to capture and record whatever is visible on the computer screen inside a recordable area. It captures the mouse movements, clicks and on screen changes along with any narration audio which can be recorded through attached microphone lively and in sync with the capturing screen. Annotations, instructions etc are automatically generated based on the user’s action while in recording. The tools generally provide facility to later on edit the recordings before publishing the output. The editing is sometimes important for making the content more meaningful and to chop down any unnecessary parts. However, some tools may not provide full editing so as to facilitate just-in-time authoring and publishing. The published output is typically in the form of the video viewable over web as well as on desktop. If you want then the tool can also bundle the standard tracking features with the published output so that one can directly upload the output – called a screencast – to any standard compliant LMS to deliver to the intended learners.

Now-a-days with the advent of technology, one can start recording their screens for small just-in-time screencasts, without needing to download and install any software. Screenr is one such great tool, which in collaboration with Twitter also eliminates the need of third party delivery platform. Camtasia Studio is a typical example of sophisticated screen-capturing tool which along with a bunch of features includes the facility to automatically insert callouts and annotations based on user’s actions.

However, a screencast is not necessarily interactive. Except the playback controls, one cannot interact with the elements shown in the video. However, to achieve a better impact and to assess the learner performance, it is important to let learners try out functions through a simulated application software environment for which training is to be given. In this case one needs a tool that does much beyond simple screen capturing. Such tools do provide facilities to develop guided simulations, wherein the learner is guided through a set of steps to achieve a specific objective in the application training. The context-based feedback lets learner latch onto the minute details of the application in question. Unlike screen capturing tools, the published output is not just a passive video, but is in a fully interactive format such as Flash SWF. Such tools also provide facility develop the course just out of several screenshots of application if the access to the application is not available.

Adobe Captivate is one such popular tool for developing guided or exploratory software simulations. Here we just wrote about the Adobe Captivate CS5 which is the part of recently released Adobe eLearning Suite 2.

In the past I was involved in development of some courses where we didn’t have chance but to use Adobe Flash to develop the guided application simulations. However, such development would not be considered as rapid authoring. Because in these cases, one would need to create all the interactivities and environment simulations manually – to maintain required fidelity.

I’d like to hear your experiences with application simulation and screen capture tools while developing such type of courses.

The post Rapid eLearning Through Software Simulations And Screencasts first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

My answer was simple – it hasn’t.

Human learning hasn’t fundamentally changed over the last fifty years. Our ability to learn is something honed over several hundred millennia, it’s what set us apart from the primates in the first place. Our ability to store and transfer extra-genetic information has pretty much remained the same, bound by language itself, and simply because of biological boundaries imposed by our physiology. We can only ‘learn’ in ‘this’ way and ‘so’ much. While you hold that thought, it’s good to think that the technology is on the cusp of providing an ‘infinite’ amount of information. While we use personal computing devices currently (the PC, laptop, phone, media player, game consoles, etc.), research into neural interface devices is progressing at a rapid, perhaps even alarming rate.

It’s only a matter of time before we accept technology based artificial implants as being a natural way to enhance our biologically limited perception and cognition. While I won’t debate the ethics of this, which is another matter altogether, what we’re seeing is a revolution in the way humans view computing and just as importantly computing views humans; this shift is truly and fundamentally life-changing. So if the human brain will take thousands of years to evolve physiologically to match the demands of ‘infinite’ information, it’s only natural that an intelligent humans seeks to address that by the use of technology in some form or the other.

We’ve always used technology to escape the bounds of human physiological limits. Take writing itself as a technology, because your voice can only travel so far, the wheel which fundamentally changed transport because humans legs could only go so far, and so on. Each major technological step has supplemented humans potential, it could not have been otherwise. However efficient and adopted in a variety of ways, these technologies supplanted human physical capabilities, and not the perception-cognition complex itself. The much-touted ‘cloud’ computing paradigm coupled with mobile devices and the huge information source that is the internet is technology that can change that.

The evolution and growth of the internet and personal computing devices is a massive technology shift, because I feel at some point eventually, it will like I mentioned before, supplement the human perception-cognition complex. It’s already done that to some extent – see how often in the day we run to Google for little bits of information that are necessary to perform tasks ranging from the mundane to the highly creative, synthetic activities. Computing is invading our lives in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. We are scheming of an internet of things, want wearable computing , and synthetic but highly believe computing experiences; we expect much from what is rudimentary technology yet.

What that could ultimately mean is that there is no need to learn whatsoever. Imagine a world where each individual digitally narrates their activities and experiences, perhaps automatically, and where that captured experience can be shared freely by whosoever wishes. For a learning designer like myself, that’s the ULTIMATE solution, technology that enables the sharing of experience itself. Better than any simulation or temporal/spatial presentation of content ever. Yes, perhaps its futuristic; and may even sound scary considering the gamut of human emotion.

Such technology promises to fundamentally change human civilization, just like writing or the invention of the wheel did. But learning itself ? that’s hardly changing, we are only adding and co-opting tools and media to assist learning at a phenomenal rate.

The post Do We Learn Differently Now? first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.