Keeping Employees Engaged - eLearning Alternatives

In the September/October 2008 issue of ELearning Magazine there was an article title Motivating Employees with Online Learning. The article focused on the low employee retention issue faced by FedEx Express with it's "frontline employees." The article mentions this issue was addressed in 2004 and continues on to discuss some of the key "factors" according to HR Development Manager Karl Guenther. The article then talks about the next steps taken, thenthe solution that was implemented, and finally the outcome as of 2006.

The "factors" that Karl Guenther points out in the article can be true for any large corporation. Because FedEx has over 290, 000 employees, it made recognizing and fixing those "factors" more challenging. The factors mentioned were:

• Productivity - Most employees were permenant part-timers and not eligible for "on the clock" training and if they weren't working they weren't productive.
• Motivation - This lack of eligibility caused employees to be less enthusiastic about self developing.
• Marketability - The current program only allowed for those with higher education more promotional chances or career opportunities.
• Resource Contraints - Because of the lack of finances and/or time availability, the employees didn't seek company educational opportunites.
• Low Awareness - Employees just didn't know about existing educational offerings such as "Skill soft" or "Tuition Reimbursement."

In the end, FedEx created the College Credit Consurtium, which works with 17 colleges and universities throughout the U.S. By creating this consurtium the program offers things like:

• Free college credits for sucessful completion of e-learning courses.
• Deferred billing.
• Ability to skip terms without penalty during peak work seasons.
• Flexible degree progams.
• Custom curriculum development.

According to the article this blended approach to employee education has shown an increase in employee participation and ultimately employee retention. In 2006 the article states that participation was up to "15,000 employees" which is about "75%" of the FedEx Express division. This out of the box approach to e-Learning should be a model for other midsized to large corporations to help retain the talent they have.

The Debate on Instructional Design Models

I know I've mentioned this site in class, and I'm sure Dr. Nicholson has as well, but in case you haven't checked it out already, I thought I'd post a bit on Elliott Masie's LearningTown.

Elliott Masie is an instructional design guru-founder of the MASIE Center, and essentially the go to guy when it comes to cutting edge learning development and best practices.

LearningTown is a huge online forum that brings together people from all walks of the instructional design and technology industry. Members have individual profile pages and use the site to network, participate in threaded discussions, message each other, share resources, and join groups of like minded professionals. As part of a class activity in Dr. N's eLearning Concepts and Techniques course, we all joined the site and did some perusing and investigating.

There are tons of interesting discussions on nearly any topic related to instructional design and technology you can think of, but the one that stuck with me the most was a question posed by Elliott Masie himself: Do We Need A New Instructional Design Model?
Follow the link to follow the discussion.

Various professionals talk here about the "real world" of instructional and course design, what works, what doesn't, and how the industry is changing. It's a great way for students and professionals to keep a finger on the pulse of the industry, pose questions to a large community, or just read a lot of interesting opinions and resources.

What's the Best CMS?

Having just created a course in Joomla, I am curious about the other content management systems. This CMS was difficult to work with mostly because I had a lack of training. From the way it sounds, udutu would have been much easier to work with. Joomla also had several templates from which to choose and start. Changing things around did not so much require knowledge of programming languages, but rather an understanding of the infrastructure. There are so many interactive things I wanted to incorporate but did not know how and could not have learned on my own in a timely manner. So, this post is more or less to pose a few questions: Which content management systems you have used and which have been easy to work with? Which ones were best for interactivity?

Repurposing Tools

Somehow or other, the wonderful and convoluted maze of hyperlinking led to me elearnity, which is a UK-based consulting service for corporate learning innovations. Like most corporate entities with an online presence, elearnity maintains a blog. I confess that I find most corporate blogs to be boring regurgitations of corporate speak, designed to market to a target audience. The Rapid E-Learning Blog, for instance is so biased in how it filters in comments, and while I enjoyed my first 6 months of reading it, eventually I realized that it's author was basically just writing variation after variation of leveraging Powerpoint and how great that is for a tool like Articulate. I realize the author is employed by Articulate, so some marketing copy is bound to be on the blog, but if you already know how to do some great things with clipart and the pixel real estate of Powerpoint, and you can appreciate a good job aid over a full course, the Rapid E-Learning blog gets old pretty quickly.

Sometimes however, a corporate blog throws you a curve ball and comes up with something really interesting.

In this case, the elearnity blog suggested tapping into the power of viral marketing and using it as a learning tool. Specifically, the author noticed SplashCast, which creates "embeddable entertainment." The full text of the blog post can be found here.

What interested me about the post wasn't so much SplashCast as it was the idea of repurposing tools that have already proved their success. We're often on a race to find the newest, most cutting edge web 2.0 tool, and there's certainly a lot to be said for bringing these tools and their innovations to learners, but what about using something else, that's already proved effective or even addictive, and using it for eLearning rather than its intended purpose? Kind of like repurposing a game for elearning, but in this case, taking the ideas behind viral marketing, and repurposing the marketing tool for socially transmitted education.

Pedagogy and Webagogy

The Masie Center has developed a book titled 701 e-Learning Tips to provide e-Teachers and e-Developers basic ideas for creating a successful learning learning experience. Some of the topics in the book include:

1. Getting Started: The ABC’s of “e"
2. Content, Content (Not ToMentionContent)…How To Best Design & Deliver It
3. The Name Of The Game: Integrating & Rolling Out Learning Solutions

My favorite chapter was "Pedagogy and Webagogy". This section provided tips such as:
1. Use a webcam when you are delivering.
2. Hold virtual office hours for students to contact you.
3. Offer spaces for small groups to learn together. Build a team atmosphere.
4. "Get the e-Learning to be the e-Teacher" to keep high levels of engagement.

Instructional Design in Second Life

Hijack Alert!

My post today contains a link to another blog called "knowledgework." While I am posting to a specific post in that blog (here), the blog itself is also a valuable resource--for the same reason ours is! The postings there are often very similar to ours in content and type. There is a lot on elearning there.

This specific link is to a post about instructional design in virtual worlds. I found this while looking for some last-minute wiki info. Basically, the blogger found the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) location in Second Life to have some effective instructional design techniques built into their SL space. Anyone with a SL account may want to search the ASTD space and give it a look.

HP's Free Online Trainings

I recently read a Wall Street Journal article that mentioned free online training videos posted on Hewlett Packard's site. The videos range from training on HP software, Microsoft products, IT training, and much more. I found free videos for project management topics as well, which can be very useful for small businesses and beginners in the field of IT. For users not in the IT field, there are loads of helpful videos that cover a wide range of topics. Some of the interesting (and very helpful) topics I have found include: Linux (3 courses), firewall basics, and Wireless Networking with Bluetooth. Hope you find something useful.

iQity

I was recently contacted by Teresa Berry, contributor of iQity eLearning blog found on this website. She said she learned about our class blog through readers referring to our posts (Keep up the good work everybody!) and she wanted me to check out her blog. iQity was developed by Altair Learning Management, a company that kicked off online learning in our neighboring state, Ohio. I checked out their website and was immediately blown away by the beauty of it. My Bachelor degree in Art Studio has me conditioned to first see the aesthetics of a website, the contents second, but I was equally impressed with what they're doing. The company created a Learning Suite for schools that offers tools such as a virtual classroom, homeroom, lecture halls, gradebook and online assessments. The user interface is customizable allowing both teachers and individual students to create a look for their classroom that reflects their interests and school pride. I love the idea of this. We, as eLearning students, know what it is like to stare at a "dull" interface and understand the importance of the design
aspect as it relates to online learning. I also came across an interesting blog post about "The Great Worldwide Star Count," funded by the National Science Foundation. The idea is to get as many volunteers worldwide to check out a constellation in the evening sky and report how many stars they see. The reports are then used to map global light pollution (fellow amateur astronomy buffs know what a pain light pollution can be!) Teachers: There is still time to get involved in the count. Check out the activity guide. It looks like a really neat exercise that children would really enjoy. It teaches them a nice mixture of astronomy, global positioning using a Geocoder and reporting their findings with online technologies.
Be sure to check out the iQity website & blog and watch the iQity Learning Suite video to learn more about this amazing company.

Time Intensive...Planning Intensive

Over the past few years, I have developed a much greater awareness about the use of technology in the classroom. Educators have become really good about adding technology to the lesson, but we are still in the process of mastering effective uses of technology. Mastering effectiveness seems to really be hitting home this semester! I thought I would be able to integrate good instructional practices through the development of an electronic course, but I have realized that I am far from mastering the effective practices of online instruction!

As I begin to develop my blackboard course, I realize that it is really difficult to incorporate the many instructional strategies I use as a classroom teacher in order to engage and enhance the learning of my students. My instructional strategies are not the only thing that goes by the wayside as I develop an "online" course. The ability to plan a few days with a degree of flexibility is completely gone! To sit down and develop an entire course that will keep my learners engaged so that they learn is a much more difficult task that I thought it would be. I must admit that the process requires me to really identify the objectives of the course and the main points of information that I MUST get across to the learners. I need to know the end before I really begin!

I can truly say that getting a grasp of developing online courses has added a new dimension of insight to the roles of the teacher in traditional learning. The concept of planning is something that is done in traditional schools, but it seems to take the back seat in most cases. Most student teachers long for the day they graduate so they no longer need to write the lengthy lesson plans as units, but maybe this is something that should be forever written in my book!

Storytelling game - adaptation

When reading over one of the postings on storytelling, I read the familiar opening "Once upon a time." This was not a terribly surprising phrase to stumble upon, but it reminded me of a card game with the same title. The game is now more than ten years old, but the methodology is timeless. And my remembering it is, perhaps, timely for a discussion of group storytelling as a mode of learning. From the Atlas website:

Once Upon a Time
The Storytelling Card Game

Named to GAMES Magazine's Best Family Card Game section in 1997, Once Upon a Time is a game the entire family will enjoy. The players create a story together, using cards that show typical elements from fairy tales. One player is the Storyteller, and creates a story using the ingredients on her cards. She tries to guide the plot towards her own ending. The other players try to use cards to interrupt her and become the new Storyteller. The winner is the first player to play out all her cards and end with her Happy Ever After card!

I have played this game and it is great fun. This concept of storytelling is, of course, not at all new. To make it relevant to e-learning I have been kicking around ideas for possibly making digital "cards" that would have story elements pertaining to whatever the subject matter is for a given lesson. Any suggestions?

And yes, last name is D, but I apparently was mixed up. Besides I wanted to post this anyway!

eLearning for Kids

This eLearning website offers free courses for kids of all ages on a Global level. The non-profit site categorizes the courses by topic and by age-range (ages 5-12). eLearning for Kids offers courses on Math, Language Arts, Science, Computer Skills, English Language, and Health and Life Skills. I thought this site was a very useful tool for parents looking for extra education for their children or lessons prior to beginning school. I thought it was remarkable what this company is doing for the education of our children. . . . for free! There are many ways to "donate;" click here to find out how.

Open Source tools for e-Learning

Since the advent of computers, technology is on a rise, we see a variety of new applications, gadgets, new tools and lots of amazing stuff coming out of talented minds. There are a wide range of free tools available on the web, its available for free, all you need is a computer and an internet connection.
When it comes to content I like using Google to search most of my content as it gives a wide range of information,also i am fond of blogs as they have great source of reliable information. I would go to the wikis or Wikipedia to know about new material or stuff i am not familiar, as they are simply a superb source of information.
Where as it comes to a course management between a selected group moodle is the best place. Also there are other options like drupal, Plone, Joomla and CivicSpace.

For synchronous communications there are different methods of communication like Skype and Gizmo.And for authoring the open source applications like Xerte and Flex give added advantage to build informative content.
Lastly, the social networking, though i am not a fan of this approach and don't encourage people to get more into this because of high rate of risk involved, in spite of its own limitations, its a decent source for collaboration activities.

GOOD ONLINE COURSE DESIGN

The elements of good online courses are foreign to anyone who hasn't been exposed to them, obviously. But what about the student of online course design who is confused on whether the course he or she designs is good? Doug Madden of Honolulu Community College (HCC) lists the 17 Elements of Good Course Design. He discusses the Introduction of an online course to its' evaluation. The Faculty Development site at HCC posts the tag-line: "THE MOST COLORFUL, COMPREHENSIVE, EXCITING, AND AWARD WINNING, FACULTY DEVELOPMENT SITE ON THE INTERNET"

Check out his list.

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/online/web-elem.htm

More Free Tools

This blog seems to be undergoing a bit of a trend in open source software and things available via creative commons. I thought I'd share some interesting tools I've been reading about recently- all of them free.

Csounds: sound design, music synthesis, and signal processing for Mac, Linux, and Windows.

Plone is open source content management that easily allows you to organize web content for group projects and communities.



Plumi is a little piece of software that works with Plone, once you have Plone up and running.
Plumi allows you to create your own video sharing site! Currently, developers are even working on functionalities that will allow users to upload and download to/from Plumi sites using mobile devices.




For Chris Davis, in response to one of your previous posts- the Open Clip Art Library. This library is user supported- submit your own clip art and contribute to an archive of Creative Commons images, or download clip art when you need some.



Not really open source software, or creative commons assets, blip.tv is a really interesting site that provides learning and hosting resources for web shows and web storytelling. Newbies can learn the craft, and the more experienced web show producers can hone their craft. Free accounts are available, and their tools are good for Windows and Macs.


If you've never been to the Internet Archive, you simply have to go. Home of the Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive is a huge, digital library that is dedicated to providing access to all sorts of digital collections.

Software Essentials for the Modern Educator

Today I came across a link to Judy Brown's website. In bright red letters, I read the words, "I have been working on mobile learning and tools specific to mobile learning," and I was hooked! Although the page was not about mobile learning, it still had a lot of great information relating to Web 2.0 tools. She listed an amazing site that would be useful for any educator because it provides a wide variety of software tools that educators want to use for free; or at least, most of them are free!

Visit the "Software Essentials for the Modern Educator" page to find new tools that may be helpful to you as an educator.

*gasp* It's gwap!

Many learning games can claim to help an individual become more adept at learning a concept or task, but "gwap" is one of the few games that claim "You're helping the world become a better place" just by playing it. Gwap is actually an acronym for "Games with a purpose." Gwap claims that "By playing our games, you're training computers to solve problems for humans all over the world."

"Let's take the ESP Game for example. You and a partner see the same image and are asked to type in a tag for it. When you agree on a tag, you move on and are awarded points. After just a minute of play, you've agreed on six or seven tags. We record those six or seven tags and associate them with the images. Everyone benefits! Now a search engine will have a better idea of what's in those images."

Therse games were created by Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science, whose aim is to entice humans into playing simple games that will help computers get smarter. It is the brainchild of computer scientist Luis von Ahn.

“We have games that can help improve Internet image and audio searches, enhance artificial intelligence and teach computers to see,” he explains. “But that shouldn’t matter to the players because it turns out these games are super fun.”

The reason for this? Humans can still solve many problems that computers haven’t yet figured out. The thinking is that Gwap may help bridge that gap.

You play most of the games in teams of two and you and your partner choose which picture is better and you’ve both got to agree. You can’t talk to each other during the game which makes it hard. This game, although seemingly just for fun and giggles, garners a lot of useful data which can then be used to improve search, security, or simply problem solving.

Play Gwap!

Podcasting and Technology Budget

In November, I will be going to a mathematical conference for two days, and already I am wondering what to do to continue my students’ learning when I am gone. I certainly have nothing against leaving substitute plans, but from experience, if the substitute shows up, he or she is often not certified in mathematics. This is not so much a problem when I leave a detailed description of the algebra needed to solve some problems. However, no matter the depth of the explanation, I cannot expect someone to come in and understand the lesson I have prepared for AP Calculus; this is not a required course to graduate. Since time is short, and concepts are many, I do not want students to be stagnant. The wonderful idea of podcasting may just suite me for this absence in the classroom. On eLearningnews.net, http://www.elearningnews.net/view_news.php?news_id=1063 ,I found an article that states:
'Podcasting for Learning in Universities' offers a model for podcasting, describes how podcasting is used in universities worldwide and has a practical step-by-step guide to producing podcasts for education. It also shows that:

• Students benefit from podcasting making resources easier to use, accessible, reusable and more fun
• Lecturers benefit as podcasting is easy, quick and DIY

Clearly, I’d be excited to use this technology if I knew our network could support it! This brings me to a question: how much is appropriate to spend on technology each year in a school district? I’d love to hear your opinion!

eLearning for Life and Death Decisions

This post is just anecdotal, based on recent experience with a new job. When Dr. Kapp guest spoke during a class I had (can't remember which class now), he described scenarios where Second Life would be ideal: train firefighters to make decisions or learn a language by having to order food in that language in a virtual restaurant.

I thought a while about the firefighter example- what a great way to establish a foundation for concepts and decision making, before implementing the expensive and potentially dangerous simulation where a firefighter uses real equipment, or reacts to real problems.

Currently, the company I work for is developing a trade show exhibit to teach anesthesiologists more about a product that monitors the level of anesthesia in a patient. Effective anesthesia has multiple components: muscle paralysis, loss of memory, loss of consciousness, and no pain, among others. There have been instances where people have recalled the surgery, which is a problem. Imagine being aware of what's happening to you during surgery, but unable to speak or react, because muscle paralysis precludes you from speaking or moving!

The trade show simulation being developed has potential to be a regular training tool, and not simply an advertising tool, should the client choose to go that route. The learner gets to sit in the chair of the anesthesiologist, where he/she is introduced to a scenario that includes patient details. The anesthesiologist then takes over monitoring the anesthesia level, and is presented with a dilemma somewhere along the path, which he/she may ignore or respond to. Upon completion of the simulation, the learner gets feedback based on decisions and actions taken.

The best part about the whole simulation is, it combines eLearning with "real world" actions. Anesthesiologist actions on syringes and vaporizers are fed into software which then calibrates the user interface accordingly. The user interface can provide feedback and learning scenarios. A great example of using an eLearning approach when you want somebody to have familiarity with concepts and decisions before going into an event live.

Classroom 2.0

We have Web 2.0, but what about Classroom 2.0?

Classroom 2.0 is a wikispace that educators and anyone else interested in learning more about web 2.0, collaborative and transformative technology tools. I thought the space created a nice network for sharing and learning new technology tools. It was really neat to see how they created a Classroom 2.0 experience by allowing people to offer online “classroom” sessions about various topics. These “class” sessions use Elluminate to create the learning environment. Coming up today, September 22:
“Successful and unsuccessful managers are often distinguished by their ability to motivate others. In this session, Bhushan Bhatia, an expert management trainer tells you how you can motivate others. He will touch on the topics: what are soft skills, concept of motivation, types of motivation, various theories of motivation and how to motivate people to make things happen.”

Visit the schedule page to learn about offerings in the future, or to join the network and offer your own “class” session.

Facebook for the CIA and FBI

A new social networking website, known as A-Space, was released on September 22, 2008 for the use of the CIA and FBI. A-Space will be used to share information as well as opinions of those issues between intelligence personnel with proper security clearance.

The goal of the A-Space is to protect the United States by assessing all the information available to the spy agencies.

The information on A-Space is highly classified and will not be available to the public. This will allow analysts to share data that they have never been able to share before.

So, now when the boss tells them to start using Facebook at work don’t get worried they are slacking off…they are social networking in the secret world of spying!!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/09/05/facebook.spies/index.html

--Lynn