The Challenge

Learning about Instructional Design basics was easier said than done. I found it very difficult to pick-up concepts from our team training sessions, and I needed to learn at my own pace.

The Lifesavers

I decided to try my luck online. In my quest for awareness, I came across quite a few resources that helped me learn about the basic concepts of Instructional Design and ELearning. I have listed some of them below for my fellow rookie Instructional Designers.

• www.elearninglearning.com – eLearning Learning is a collection of blog posts and articles all around eLearning.  It uses the Browse My Stuff technology to create this topic hub.  Topic Hubs are sites that aggregate content from a variety of sources, organizes that content around keywords in the topic domain.
• www.jarche.com – Harold Jarche’s blog is a great place to get introduced to ‘Informal Learning’.
• www.c4lpt.co.uk/blog/ – Jane Hart provides news, resources, ideas and new thinking about social media for working and learning, from the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (C4LPT). She also aggregates postings from her other blogs: Jane’s Pick of the Day and Social Media for Working and Learning.
• www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes – Karl Kapp’s blog discusses issues concerning learning, e-learning and transferring knowledge from retiring baby boomers to incoming gamers. The goal is to share information and knowledge to create a better understanding of learning design.
• www.elearningtech.blogspot.com – Tony Karrer’s blog is a great place to learn about emerging trends in eLearning technology.

A Wonderful New World

The internet is a treasure trove of learning resources. Keep exploring, and you never know what you’ll stumble upon.

The post Beginner Instructional Designers – In Pursuit Of Awareness first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

1. Mobile Web, Native App Use Increases at Night
It’s none-too-shocking news, but well worth noting: a new study of over 10,000 smartphone users has indicated that mobile Web and mobile application usage increases during the evening and night time hours. Meanwhile, more traditional types of communications attract increased attention during the day.

2. Ten Top Technology Tools for Teachers
Lists 10 top technology tools that are all free, easy-to-use, easy-to-access and can be used in any subject, at any age to enhance the learning experience.

3. Survey: Mobile Learning At A Tipping Point
According to a recent national survey, access to mobile technology in the classroom has more than tripled among high schools students in the past three years – and even more interesting, parents say they are more likely to purchase a mobile technology device for their child if it’s for classroom use.

4. Predictions and Hopes for Elearning in 2011
Lists 22 predictions and 14 hopes covering diverse topics including: mobile learning, analytics, accreditation, open educational resources, quality of e-learning, perceived quality, accountability, faculty development, and many calls for collaboration.

5. 40% of All Tweets Come From Mobile
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo revealed that 40% of all tweets come from mobile devices, demonstrating mobile’s increasing importance to the social media.

6. 100+ Online Resources That Are Transforming Education
Most education innovation is centered around a short list of fundamental ideas. This post walks through nine clusters of education tech companies.

7. Why Low Performing Schools Need Digital Media
What if young people were encouraged to view their mobile phones, cameras, and iPods as learning devices and tools for critical citizenship and engagement in their communities? This article discusses how the initial impact of technology in low performing schools can help break the ice between resistant students and reluctant teachers.

8. 30+ Ways to Use Foursquare In Education
Foursquare is a smartphone app that is quickly becoming one of the most popular and useful geo-networking tools for general social networking and for promoting business. Read on for great ways to use Foursquare in education.

9. Leveraging Virtualization Technology for e-Learning
Technology continues to make our lives as training professionals both easier and more challenging. This article talks how one can leverage virtualization to enhance the quality of training offerings, both in the traditional classroom environment and as part of synchronous and asynchronous e-Learning.

10. Talking Instructional Design to Non-Instructional Designers
If you are a learning designer/instructional designer, these five things can help when you meet with clients.

11. 100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better
From downloadable podcasts to just-for-iPod study guides and applications, learning on the go has never been easier. To find out about the many different ways you can transform your iPod into a learning device, check out this article.

12. Social Gaming Market to Surpass $1 Billion
The rapid rise in popularity of social networking sites as a venue for casual gaming since Zynga released FarmVille in June 2009 will make social gaming a billion-dollar business this year, eMarketer estimates.

13. Predictions for e-Learning in 2011
At the start of each year, eLearn Magazine’s editors, advisory board members, and other contributors predict what changes are afoot for the coming 12 months. Here are some predictions for 2011.

14. Why innovation makes executives uncomfortable
If you have labored under the assumption that others see innovation as a valuable capability and commodity, here’s an article that will disabuse that notion.

15. How The World Spends Its Time Online
The web is diverse and users obviously log on for different reasons. From reading news, socializing on social networks, email and search, advertisers are always trying to understand where people usually spend their time on the web. This infographic depicts how.

The post Top Learning, Technology & Media Links: Weekly Digest – 9 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

1. Future of Learning Technology – 2015
Predicts what the future holds for Learning Technology. Also, takes a quick recap at what we have witnessed in the last 5 years.

2. Is HTML5 Ready for eLearning Development?
Debates if HTML5 is ready to compete with Flash for eLearning Development on grounds of browser support, cross platform/browser compatibility, audio/video support and development tools.

3. Web 3.0 – The Semantic Web Video
Provides a succinct way to understand what Web 3.0 is all about.

4. The LMS – Will It Survive?
Debates if LMS is looking at its own end or does it still add enough value to a company’s training/learning function.

5. Does An LMS Actually Manage Learning?
Debates if a Learning Management System can actually be called a Learning Management System.

6. 30 Top Online Resources For Instructional Designers To Keep Up With
Lists top 30 blogs and websites that would help Instructional Designers would be interested in. Some of them focus exclusively on how to create better learning experiences, others offer tips and tricks on how to improve efficiencies or manage clients better while some explain technological aspects that Instructional Designers should be aware of.

7. Updates From HTML5 From Google I/O
Narrates some important announcements made at Google I/O event which will make HTML 5 development easier across different browsers.

8. Do We Learn Differently Now?
Debates if human learning has changed with the advent, penetration and increasing ubiquity of computing technology.

9. Sir Ken Speaks About A Learning RevolutionA nice TED talk about the need for a ‘learning revolution’ by Sir Ken Robinson. Poignant at times, funny at some – well worth the 17 minutes.

10. CloudCourse – Is It Really A Learning Platform?
Debates if CloudCourse, an internal learning platform and a course scheduling system launched by Google, is really a Learning Platform.

The post May 2010 Monthly Roundup: 10 Most Popular Posts first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

As an instructional designer, you start by learning a whole lot of theories and models. You refine your understanding of these models as you use them in different situations and projects. After a few years you realize that instructional design is more an art rather than just pure science – it is a skill honed with experience, and can’t really be narrowed down into a set of guidelines that will fit every situation. Not every qualified instructional designer is able to create great learning experiences.

The domain is itself constantly evolving with the advances in technology & tools and and a better & deeper understanding of how we learn’. Learner profiles are gradually changing (for instance, more people use smart phones that let them access information on the Internet at any time) and organizations themselves are moving through the stages of workplace learning. The role of learning designers is beginning to change from being creators of learning interventions to creators (and facilitators) of learning environments. The very nature of the domain, evolution of technology, and the changing role of instructional designers makes it difficult but essential to keep learning and quite simply, to keep up.

Here is a list of top 30 blogs and websites that Instructional Designers would be interested in. Some of them focus exclusively on how to create better learning experiences. Others offer tips and tricks on how to improve efficiencies or manage clients better. And some explain technological aspects that Instructional Designers should be aware of.

1. Adventures in Corporate Education by Gina Minks
2. aLearning Blog by Ellen
3. E-Learning Curve Blog by Michael Hanley
4. e-Learning Leadership Blog by Ethan Edwards
5. eLearning Roadtrip by Ellen Wagner
6. Free as in Freedom by Sumeet Moghe
7. Informal Software
8. Information Is Beautiful by David McCandless
9. Making Change by Cathy Moore
10. Synthesizing Education by Aaron Eyler
11. The eLearning Coach by Connie Malamed
12. The Rapid eLearning Blog
13. Understanding Graphics by Connie Malamed

(Shameless insert) And of course there are a few interesting resources on this very blog as well – you can find them under the Instructional Design category: Upside Learning Blog/Instructional Design.

The post 30 Top Online Resources For Instructional Designers To Keep Up With first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.