Tech4learning

An App for Your Leadership Diet

My own plans in the mobile learning space will kick off with DIY rapid content development, but I'm already looking for early entrants into the generic m-learning market. There's not much out there yet - not surprising given the still fledgling nature of this delivery channel, although that's set to change as the year progresses - so I'm looking first in the app world, given the fact that app development has already succeeded into facilitating cross-platform content creation.

This afternoon, while browsing the Ken Blanchard website, I uncovered How2Lead for my iPhone.  When I came to download it, I was really surprised to see that there wasn't a single review for this app (at least not in the UK iTunes App Store). Admittedly the app was only released on 5 February 2011, but I hope that more people take advantage of it.

The well-executed idea behind the app is that it's a feed of valuable (and always up-to-date) content from the Ken Blanchard Companies.  

The app integrates a number of feeds:

• LeaderChat - a weekly blog for managers and leaders
• Twitter - from across The Ken Blanchard Companies
• Ken's Blog - Mr Blanchard's blog: How We Lead
• Coaching - blog postings from The Coaching Source Blog, authored by various coaching experts
• YouTube - the videos from Ken Blanchard's YouTube video channel
• Government - a blog for managers and leaders in the government sector
• New Leaders - up-to-date postings written by a group of young leaders to support new leaders

And this is not a quickly thrown-together mash-up, as so many content-integrators can be, but a well-designed app that is easy to navigate and soon had me drilling down into the wealth of related resources referenced in the various feed items.

Not only is the content topical and bang up-to-date, but it's full of great self-study learning resources, especially within the YouTube video assets.  And above all, it's all free!

I'll be posting its first UK review shortly!

 

FLVs on the Web - in a Flash!

I am in the process of moving from Adobe Connect Pro to Webex Training Center and needed to find a home on our LMS for the numerous recordings of our training webinars.

Now it's an easy process to download offline versions of your Adobe recordings from their site, but they end up in the FLV format which isn't immediately playable elsewhere unless they are wrapped in some code.  Not having these skills, I posed my dilemma on a number of e-learning discussion forums and received some useful suggestions, but nothing that would expedite the process.

So I started to dig deeper on the web and discovered this great tool, which after a successful test via our LMS, I had no hesitation in purchasing for just $50.

SocuSoft Web Video Player is an easy-to-use yet powerful application for creating web videos with an embedded player which can be placed directly into the webpage.

In just three (and a bit) steps I was able to grab my FLV files, place them in a customised player (I needed to adjust the size of the player to fit the 1024 x 768 Adobe recordings' dimensions) and publish a folder of content that was easy to upload into my LMS.

If you have more time, you can select different player templates and personalise these still further.

There is also a video converter application built in if you need to change the format of your imported video.

Experts on Your Desktop

I've posted about YouTube-like solutions before, but mostly where the idea is you make them yourself or choose from the efforts of others.

Instead Expert Lectures offer a bespoke video e-learning platform, offering material in the form of a hybrid between YouTube video-style and webinar.

They currently offer content in the following areas:

• Accountancy
• Business Skills
• Finance
• Human Resources
• Lifestyle
• Marketing
• Microsoft Dynamics AX
• Sales

The content is provided by a network of providers, currently numbering ten.

From their site you can browse their growing catalogue and review synopses of the different video-based sessions and watch a brief sample.  The videos are broken down into chapters for easier viewing. I got the impression that some were originally recorded live, but edited for this media aftewards.

The ones I previewed would have cost me between £25 and £75 to purchase and I'd have access to them for a year. This fee would also give me access to downloadable supporting materials.  Some of the sessions also offer optional tests to check understanding.

As well as buying access to individual sessions, you also choose from collections of videos brought together in packages.

Zentation - the Fusion of YouTube and PowerPoint

In my last posting I commented on how sometimes having two visual channels in use, in particular the video feed of a presenter, alongside their slideshow, can have a detrimental impact on the learner's ability to take in the messages.

So it's not surprising that I'll raise this as a consideration when talking about Zentation - a beta product at the moment - that allows you to synchronise your PowerPoint slides with a YouTube video.  In fact, if you've never thought about this issue or seen an example, then do take a look at the many sample Zentation presentations and judge for yourself.  In particular, after a short while, does your eye gravitate to the video feed of the presenter or do you try to block that out, to just focus on the commentary over the slides?

To use the service you first of all have to upload your video to YouTube. You'll then need to log into Zentation and create a new Account and "Add a New Presentation."  Once you've entered the details of your YouTube video, you next unload your slide and use their ZenSync too to provide precise start timings for each graphic in your presentation.

The service is free is you allow your presentation to remain in the public domain.  Otherwise, for a private presentation, which I'm sure will be the case for many in the corporate learning and development space, you can take out a paid subscription.

Quiet in the Studio, Please!

Once again, my posting features a video-based solution and one that also made me ponder about applying good instructional design (or at least media overload prevention) into video-based learning content.

Instant Video Presenter offers an out-of-the-box kit to enable a subject matter expert to quickly put together a video programme which can be viewed online.  The key element of this "kit" is the green-screen cloth that you pin behind you as you address the camera.  As if you were giving a weather forecast, you can then project whatever image you want onto the green-screen cloth, changing this as required during your "to camera" shots. 

A typical image might be the slides from a PowerPoint slideshow.  You'd need to make sure you kept your text and graphics to one side of each slide, otherwise you'd be in danger of masking your content, of course.

But this is when I started to think about the impact on the learner.  Having recently observed a webinar where the presenter was constantly on the screen, enthusiastically getting his message across, alongside his slides, the participants commented that it was tough to both watch the presenter (whose arms were quite distracting at times) and focus on the slide content.  Of course, I knew this would most likely be the case, as it is a known fact that if your learning content presents two forms of visual media (i.e. a video feed of the presenter and his slides) along with the need to listen, the brain finds it very difficult to process this.  It's much better to have just the slides with a voiceover, as here we are using just one visual channel and one audio channel.

So for me, whereas Instant Video Presenter looks to be a great resource, I think the presenter needs to carefully consider what content they use as their backdrop. 

But do take a look at their great demo video, together with their thoughts on how this kit can be used for employee training.  There is also a free (marketing) "white paper" about the their so-called "learning 3.0", which provides some interesting data and thoughts.  And the pricing is really competitive too, so this solution will not break the bank.

A Complete "Skill-Builder" Blend

Now I'm a big-picture thinker (INTJ in the MBTI world) and in my ideal world, completeness is the key to success (and global domination, but that's for another day).

So I was very impressed to discover the Rapid Skill-Builder solution from the Worldwide Center for Organizational Development.

I discovered them from an e-learning perspective but - as part of their "completeness", their solution is also available as an m-learning solution and t-learning (yes, t-learning - or trainer-led).

Essentially, via either a face-to-face route (short 2-3 hours workshops), or one via e-learning or a mobile device, you can offer your employees a complete competency development programme that literally covers every topic you would hope to find.  You could seamlessly blend the different methods too.

Whichever route you take, the formats are the same, with video scenarios used to demonstrate the theory and either trainers' notes or audio narration to deliver the facilitation aspects.  Consistent supporting materials help both the trainer and learner through the material.

The material has also been validated by the UK's Institute of Leadership and Management, an organisation I particularly respect, having worked with them in previous roles.  In fact, the material can be studied as part of more formal accredited programmes.

The pricing is transparent and very attractive, especially as you are offered a complete out-of-the box skills and competency development approach.

This is definitely a solution worth investigating if you have a clean sheet and are looking to introduce blended learning into your learning and development strategy.

Streaming Video - and Keeping it Simple

One of the key elements of today's Web 2.0 world is the dramatic expansion in video-sharing websites, such as YouTube.  I've commented before on how trainers have been using this site and others like it (often set up specifically with learning in mind) to enhance their training programmes.  But I've also remarked about some of the legal complexities surrounding the use of third party content in this way.

So risk averse trainers have picked up on the new digital video offers from companies such as DTVuk and Video Arts, whereby you can guarantee that the content you'll be accessing will be A-OK to use.  Each of these suppliers has their own business model for this service, based on the number of users and/or downloads.  These approaches have their merits, depending on your requirements.

But I've just discovered that Scott Bradbury has simplified the online video model even further.  As they say on their website, "The idea is so simple".  For just a one-off fee of £995, you can stream digital versions of all the DVDs of theirs that you own, all from a simple customised website.

Now given how I'd like to use video within a blended learning programme - pre and post-work viewing selected sections, supported by more in-depth viewing in the classroom - this seems like a really flexible model.

On-mobile Learning

The title of the posting came to me in a flash - and having Googled the term and not found any other mention of this phrase, if it ever takes off, you heard it first here, folks! After all, if we have online learning, why can't we have on-mobile learning?  Of course, the jury is still out on whether mobile learning will take off,  As there are so many platforms in use, e.g. Blackberry, Apple iPhone, Windows Mobile and Symbian, course developers are struggling to determine which to support.

But various content providers are beginning to make their materials available for deployment on one or more of these platforms and it was interesting to see the launch of an "on-mobile" library from OnPoint Digital. 

Now I've been keeping an eye on OnPoint Digital, but because of their US-focus, I've not really been able to mention them on this blog.  For instance, their flagship CellCast dial-in service - to the best of my knowledge - will only prove (cost) effective Stateside.  It's worth pointing out that UK-based custom e-learning developer, Saffron Interactive, has also considerable experience in this area too, with it's i-Cast service.

With their new CellCast Mobile Library, OnPoint Digital have partnered with many of the aforementioned providers to offer their mobile learning content through an e-commerce portal site.

Content has been sourced from 50 Lessons, SkillSoft, Soundview Executive Book Summaries to name probably the best-known.  You can browse their catalogue, now numbering over 500 titles, before previewing and making your selection; then purchasing it for downloading to a mobile device or (and I'm guessing again this is more for American users) listening to podcasts via a mobile phone call.

The subject matter includes leadership and management skills, sales and marketing, as well as IT skills (in particular how to get the most from your Blackberry - a good use of mobile learning) and other personal effectiveness topics.  The content is available as video clips, podcasts and even animated slideshows, which I've covered before as a possible m-learning format.

The content can be run through all the main platforms, although you may need to download and install a "widget" to be able to playback the object.

With initiatives like this, hopefully on-mobile learning will be given a good chance to develop.

Igniting PowerPoint

I've recently mentioned the fact that it's now possible to create podcasts based on narrated PowerPoint presentations.  Since first commenting on this, I've stumbled on another great tool in this market place. 

Scate Ignite 4 is a very versatile product that can convert all manner of resources into web-based and mobile learning objects.

It comes in three versions, from a straightforward, but nonetheless comprehensive home package, through to a SCORM compliant corporate version, complete with simulations and assessments.

Some very useful demos - created in the tool, of course - help to show off the various features.

When it comes to deploying the podcasts or e-learning modules, then it's easy to post these to their sister igniteCAST hosting service.

Learning in Motion

A short while ago, I commented on some video e-learning that had been developed for Vodafone. 

The company behind that custom work has now moved into the generic market and has released a range of video modules covering a number of different soft skills topics, such as selling and presentation skills.

Learning Motion offer not only video clips that can be delivered to the desktop or even mobile devices, but they are also supplied with assessments and tutor or user guides.

And a great way to preview the content is to visit their YouTube page, such as the clip below.

It's great to see this market continuing to grow. With more and more mobile devices now being able to run high quality video, I can see this form of m-learning developing at a fast pace.