K. A. Moody

THE BEIIAVIOR of most individuals is influenced by concepts of "roles." 1 be father, consciously or unconsciously, is influenced in his behavior toward his children by a generalized pattern of "father" behavior his society has come to expect. From the doctor, the clergy-man, the school teacher, etc. society ex pects fairly well-defined patterns of be-havior.

Role Playing Can Be Effective

ADL Learning App Challenge 2014The ADL Initiative is hosting its third annual Learning App Challenge. This year, ADL is inviting app developers to submit mobile learning apps designed to support education, training, or performance support.The objective of the challenge is for contestants to create an app that will help learners acquire knowledge and understanding by manipulating tasks, simulations, or situations that require students to critically evaluate what they are learning.The judges will evaluate the apps and select the challenge winners based on the following criteria:how well the app provides a learning solution to a stated problemtechnical quality of the appuser experience and usability.Extra points will be awarded to Apps that integrate with an existing ADL project, capability, or research focus.Challenge winners will receive a certificate. The challenge will be open for submissions until  September 2, 2014. There is no cost for entering.Learn more at www.adlnet.gov/learning-app-challenge.Tell Your Story with Adobe’s New Voice AppAdobe has launched Voice, a free multimedia iPad app that creates narrative, animated videos.  It features real-time motion graphics, audio sweetening, and HD video output without the need for photo or video experience or design training.Adobe Voice is designed to substitute for and enhance PowerPoint-style deck presentations by placing the emphasis on both audio and visual elements. It’s targeted to small businesses, educators, and students who want to create an original message with artistic flair.Built on the foundation of After Effects motion graphics, Voice facilitates the creation of animated videos that inform and persuade. Though the final story is output in video format, Voice does not work with video per se, rather presentations are a mix of stills, schematics, text, recorded voice and background audio tracks. You touch the screen to record voiceovers one line at a time with background music automatically added.Learn more at http://getvoice.adobe.com.Intrepid Launches Corporate MOOCIntrepid Learning has announced the release of its Intrepid Agile Corporate MOOC solution. The product is inspired by academic MOOCs (massive open online courses), but is designed specifically for use in corporate environments."We believe that corporate MOOCs have the ability to radically change the way we deliver and experience learning in the corporate environment," said Sam Herring, CEO of Intrepid Learning. "Corporate MOOCs have the ability to solve very specific business problems, such as educating customers and partners, identifying and acquiring new talent, and deploying learning solutions at scale."The MOOC offers learners an opportunity to experience the Intrepid Agile Corporate MOOC solution firsthand. At the end of the three-week MOOC, participants would be able to:articulate the value proposition of MOOCs to an organizationidentify the critical elements that make a corporate MOOC successfulformulate a corporate MOOC strategydevelop a high-level MOOC design for their organization.In conjunction with the product launch, Intrepid Learning is scheduled to host a massive open online course (MOOC) educating corporate leaders about the value of corporate MOOCs as a solution to solve key business challenges. The MOOC is scheduled to begin on June 9.Learn more at http://intrepidlearning.com/preregister-corporate-mooc.Totara Offers Free Downloadable Version of LMSTotara Learning Solutions announced a significant change to its open source distribution strategy—offering Totara Seedlings, an unsupported version of the popular software. Since its launch in 2011, TotaraLMS has been offered as a distribution of the popular education platform, Moodle. For a low-cost subscription fee, customers receive the benefit of code support and maintenance, security updates, error correction, patch updates and a continuing stream of new innovations supported by Totara Learning Solutions.Richard Wyles, Totara’s chief executive, said that he has always seen his company as an extension of the Moodle community. “We believe Seedlings is the most effective way to do that, compared to our previous direct approach such as our work on open badges for Moodle,” he said. “It might not have been clear just how much we do in the open source realm.”He added that Seedlings is a great way for software developers to get to know the company and engage in its project, and for potential customers to evaluate the features including upcoming versions.“We don’t believe in dumbing down our community version to bait customers into buying our enterprise edition,” he said. “Seedlings is the beta version containing our very latest innovations.”As the name implies, Totara Seedlings contains young, even experimental code, so it’s not suitable for use in a production setting, Wyles added.Learn more at http://www.totaralms.com/feature-a-benefits/seedlings.New Analyst Report Examines Growth in E-Learning MarketA new report by Global Industry Analysts says technology advances are fueling interest and participation in e-learning. The report notes that the rise in Internet users, expanding use of smartphones and tablet phones in both personal and corporate environment, and digital content solutions mean “gaining popularity” for e-learning technology.“The trend brings to fore the accelerating irrelevance of traditional knowledge delivery systems in this digital era, and the resulting shift in focus towards dynamic Internet-based interactive learning systems,” said the GIA report. “The role of technology innovations in driving new opportunities in the e-learning market and in providing better learning experiences for users cannot be undermined.”The “standardized nature of the Internet” gives manufacturers the ability to create scalable products that can be deployed by any type of customer without the need for investing in additional specialized equipment, the report explains. “Market growth is expected to be fueled by the introduction of 4G communication technology with its high internet access speeds and broadband capacity,” the report concludes.According to GIA, “Growth in the market is also forecast to come from increasing acceptance of mobile learning in the corporate world as a result of cost benefits, growing base of mobile workforce, proliferation of mobile computing, and changing employee learning styles and the resulting need for a parallel shift in patterns of engagement in workplace learning. Also, growing adoption of second screen learning is helping m-learning emerge as a supplementary addition to existing educational tools and strategies.”Learn more at http://www.StrategyR.com.

Tech Headlines for May 2014

Infographic on Europe’s Mobile Learning MarketDocebo’s recent report, “Learning on the Go--Tips and Trends in M-Learning” examines the mobile learning market in Europe. Its research finds that in 2013 there were 403 million unique mobile subscribers, which is set to increase to 417 million by 2017. Also, there were 24 countries in Europe with a mobile penetration rate above 100 percent, and in Eastern Europe an aggregate growth rate of 14.7 percent. For more highlights, check out the infographic below, or download the free report.  Find more education infographics on e-Learning InfographicsTrainingIndustry.com Identifies Top 20 Gamification Companies TrainingIndustry.com continuously monitors the training marketplace looking for the best providers of gamification services/technologies in support of corporate learning and development. Its first annual Top 20 in Gamification list is designed to help buy-side organizations in their searches for the right gamification training partners. Selection to the latest Top 20 Gamification Companies was based on the following criteria: features and capabilities of the gamification products/servicescompany size and growth potentialquality and number of clients/users geographic reachawards, recognition, and competitive differentiation. Due to the diversity of services included, no attempt is made to rank the top companies. Here they are in alphabetical order.  Allen Communication Learning ServicesAxonifyBreakaway GamesBTSCustom Learning Designs (CLD)Designing Digitally, Inc.EnspireGamelearnG-CubeGlobal Training Solutions, Inc.GP Strategies Content DevelopmentKnolscapeNIIT Enterprise Learning SolutionsPerformance Development GroupProfitAbility L&D Services LLPQstreamRaytheon Professional ServicesSaffron InteractiveSweetRush, Inc.Tata Interactive.To learn more about each company, go to the TrainingIndustry.com website. New List of “Movers & Shakers” in E-Learning Now in its sixth year, the latest annual list of the “Top 10” most influential people in the corporate e-learning sector—in the World, North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Asia-Pacific—contains the names of 38 people. Of these, 23 are men and 15 are women.This year, the top spot on three of the lists has changed hands – for the first time since 2010 for the North America and World lists, with Elliott Masie now slipping one place to second. Each list sees movement in positional terms, but last year’s leaders in Europe and the UK retain their positions. Those whose influence in this field appears to have grown most during 2014 include:Craig Weiss, who has taken over top spot in the World and North America listsChristopher Pappas, rising to number three in both the World and Europe listsLaura Overton, who not only consolidated her position at the top of the UK list but also makes her debut in the Europe and World listsAll the lists have three new entries this year, reflecting changing attitudes among the lists’ judges—drawn from around the world—towards what now constitutes an “influencer.” The current key determining factors for being an influencer in the corporate e-learning field are said to be:willingness to share knowledge (peer-to-peer learning)—not just opinions or selling products—typically via social media, especially LinkedIn and Twitterpublishing case studies and research on how to achieve improved outcomesinnovation.According to the judges focusing on the Asia-Pacific sector, talking about “typical e-learning” is no longer good enough. Practitioners are looking for information on innovation, new ways and new technologies in considered, cost-effective, meaningful implementations.This could manifest itself, throughout 2015 and beyond, via increasingly closer relationships between HR/ learning & development and Internal Communications departments, as more organisations make greater use of enterprise social networks (ESNs) for informal learning.These “movers and shakers” lists are compiled from a corporate online learning perspective, on the basis of a person’s perceived current influence on the online learning industry—as a practitioner, commentator, facilitator and/or thought leader. In such a subjective area, opinions will always differ—and its guaranteed that the judges’ decisions will not meet with universal acclaim—but these lists represent the views of a number of key people about the personalities who lead the corporate online learning world.World ListCraig Weiss - an e-learning analyst, expert, author, speaker and thought leader who is CEO of E-Learning 24/7 (Position last year: 2)Elliott Masie - head of The MASIE Center, a New York think-tank focused on how organisations can support learning and knowledge within the workforce(Position last year: 1)Christopher Pappas - Greece-based founder and CEO of the eLearning Industry's Network elearningindustry.com (Position last year: 8)Tom Kuhlmann - one of the world’s best known e-learning designers (Position last year: 3)Laura Overton - a speaker; member of ELIG, and managing director of Towards Maturity, a not-for-profit company that provides research and online resources to help organisations deliver effective learning interventions at workHarold Jarche - the Canada-based ‘thought catalyst’, writer and blogger who is also chairman of the Internet Time Alliance (Position last year: 5)Patti Shank - founder of Learning Peaks, and an internationally recognised expert on, and advocate for, the pragmatics of the design of information and instruction to help people do what they need to do (Position last year: 6)Rebecca Stromeyer - owner of ICWE, which runs Online Educa, as well as E-Learning Africa (Position last year: 7)Sahana Chattopadhyay - Consultant and Deputy Head at Tata Interactive Systems and writer of the ID and Other Reflections blogSunder Ramachandran - blogger and also head of sales training at Pfizer in Mumbai, with over 11 years’enterprise learning space experience North America ListCraig Weiss - an e-learning analyst, expert, author, speaker and thought leader who is CEO of E-Learning 24/7 (Position last year: 2)Elliott Masie - head of The MASIE Center, a New York think-tank focused on how organisations can support learning and knowledge within the workforce (Position last year: 1)Tom Kuhlmann - one of the world’s best known e-learning designers (Position last year: 3)Harold Jarche - the Canada-based ‘thought catalyst’, writer and blogger (Position last year: 5)Patti Shank - founder of Learning Peaks, and an internationally recognised expert on, and advocate for, the pragmatics of the design of information and instruction to help people do what they need to do (Position last year: 6)Aaron Silvers - a designer, technologist, and strategist responsible for helping to bring into being learning technologies, notably SCORM and Experience API (otherwise known as ‘Tin Can’). He leads the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee charged with the international industry standardisation of Tin CanDebbie Richards - Texas-based president of Creative Interactive Ideas, designing, developing and delivering adult learning programs with measureable impactCathy Moore - e-learning blogger. (Position last year: 4)Tony Karrer - CEO and consulting CTO of TechEmpower, based in California, USAJay Cross - a writer, commentator and speaker (Position last year: 7)Europe ListRebecca Stromeyer - owner of ICWE, which runs Online Educa as well as E-Learning Africa (Position last year: 1)Richard Straub - the secretary general of the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG), an advisor to the EU on all things to do with e-learning (Position last year: 2)Christopher Pappas - Greece-based founder and CEO of the eLearning Industry NetworkHelge Scherlund - the Denmark-based writer and blogger on e-learning topics (Position last year: 3)Armin Hopp - founder and president of Speexx and a member of ELIG (Position last year: 4)Laura Overton - a speaker; member of ELIG, and managing director of Towards MaturityThea Payome - editor of the Germany-based CheckPoint eLearning ezine and website (Position last year: 5)Iva Matasi - CEO at Consulio, Inc., a Croatia-based consultancy, specializing in online learning technologies, connecting EU experts with EU research funds(Position last year: 9)Dr. Ladislava (‘Vlad’ka’) Knihova - a key champion, user, and publisher of e-learning applications within the corporate and academic sectors in the Czech Republic (Position last year: 8)Donald H. Taylor - speaker, blogger, and online technologies punditAsia-Pacific ListSahana Chattopadhyay - consultant and Deputy Head at Tata Interactive Systems and writer of the ID and Other Reflections blog (Position last year: 7)Sunder Ramachandran - blogger and also head of sales training at Pfizer in Mumbai, with over 11 years’enterprise learning space experienceRyan Tracey - e-learning manager at AMP, Advisory Board member at eLearn Magazine, reviewer at the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, author of magazine articles and writer of the E-Learning Provocateur blog. (Position last year: 6)Anne Bartlett-Bragg - managing director Asia-Pacific of the Ripple Effect Group, executive director of the Learning Technologies User Group and contributor to the Ripple Effect Group blog (Position last year: 5)Abhijit Bhaduri - author and also chief learning officer of Wipro; based in Bangalore, IndiaAmit Garg – co-founder of Upside Learning, m-learning evangelist, international speaker, and contributor to the Upside Learning Blog (Position last year: 1)Manish Gupta- CEO of G-Cube Solutions, an e-learning products and services company; director of Vivo Collaboration and speaker on performance support, experiential learning, gamification, and just-in-time learning (Position last year: 8)Joyce Seitzinger - author of the Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers, an international speaker and writer of the Cat’s Pyjamas blog (Position last year: 4)Manish Mohan - senior vice president at NIIT, a mentor at e3cube and writer of the Learn and Lead blog (Position last year: 2)Michelle Ockers - Sydney-based organizational learning practitioner, currently working for Coca-Cola AmatilLists of additional influences are available at http://www.hotblog.co.uk/boblittlepr/2015/01/02/the-sixth-annual-top-ten-e-learning-movers-and-shakers.

K. A. Moody

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