Gathered Intel #10

This Week at Learning Ninjas:

We have been designing scenario-based elearning with multi-level feedback loops inside of Storyline, and talking about how important the ecosystem is as we build interactive training and performance support solutions. If we don’t identify and capture enough of the right information from our content, we’re not doing our jobs. We need systems that enable more than just tracking completions. We’re also working on configuring a new online community of practice for the World Health Organization and CDC.

If you’re not aware, there’s a new Curatr MOOC on the Experience API (xAPI) that started this week. You can still sign up and participate, and we’re available if you have any questions.

We’ve also launched our first iteration of eLearning Reviews, a quick and easy way for you to get a thorough review of your elearning course or performance support solution. Learn more about this new product, and we’d love to hear your feedback.

What We’re Reading:

Let’s Face It, Compliance is Not the Same as Learning – Clive Shepherd
“My main concern is the effect that compulsion has on the learning process. In fact, it’s clear to me now that compliance changes everything.” Indeed. We’ve gone so far down the compliance rabbit hole, can we make it back out?

Data Driven Design in the Real World – Smashing Magazine
L&D can learn a lot from marketing and web design when it comes to data-driven design. These industries have been using data to drive design for many years. In this article you will get a good introduction into data driven design including some nice examples.

10 Twitter Accounts Every Entrepreneur Should Be Following – Entrepreneur
We all have lots of people we follow already, but if you are looking for new insights these are some folks to follow. They give great advice and provide inspiration on a daily basis. If you are an entrepreneur or just want to follow some inspirational people, here are a few to look at.

Learning Communities with Purpose – ATD
A great article from Aaron Silvers and Sarah Gilbert on developing a Community of Developing Practice (CDP). The article provides an overview of what a CDP is and how it works. It also provides a real world example of how the Public Health Informatics Institute Academy is using a CDP.

Taming Big Data with Smart Contexts – Paper.li Blog
A great post on making sense of collected data. While the article focuses on the data collected by Paper.li, there is an easy correlation that can be made to learning. The article made us think about ways we could use context for better learning eco-systems.

How To Be an L&D Mythbuster – Cathy Moore
This ties in nicely with the recent announcement that Adam Savage will be keynoting DevLearn later this year (we’ll be there, by the way, for xAPI Camp and hopefully a workshop and some additional sessions). “We work in organizations that believe harmful myths. We’re pressured to work as if the myths are true, and we can’t or don’t take the time we need to keep our knowledge up to date and combat the myths.” So many myths persist in our industry today. It’s time for them to stop.