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Covert Communication #2

December 13, 2012 By Brian Dusablon Leave a Comment

Game Over? New Study Says Gamification Not Built To Last
There’s a lot of buzz around the word “Gamification”. More and more organizations are throwing badges and other game elements in their programs. But is gamification an approach that can keep up with business objectives? This new study explores why it may not be. (Ernie Smith)

Accessibility in Learning
All content—web, e-learning, or other—should be accessible. Whether or not you are required by law to meet Section 508 requirements, you should make it a universal design rule to meet basic accessibility standards. Not because you want to avoid a lawsuit, but because it’s the right thing to do. (Brian Dusablon)

Selecting a Digital Curation Tool
In today’s world of ever-growing digital content there is a seemingly infinite amount of information available. Finding what you need, when you need it, is increasingly challenging. Fortunately, there is help: digital curation. (David Kelly)

The Tin Can API – A Non-Technical Analysis
If you’ve been to a learning conference in 2012, chances are you’ve heard something about Tin Can. Tin Can (also known as The Experience API) is looking to change the way we track learning. In this excellent post, the technical jargon of the API is is set aside so that it’s benefits can be simply explained. (Gary Woodill)

20 Things to Remember About Forgetting
Even though it’s used all day and night, we are usually not aware of our memory’s processes until they fail. Yet remembering and forgetting are crucial phenomena underlying learning. (Connie Malamed)

Why I am Scared About How the Tin Can API Will Be Sold To Businesses
This is what I’m excited about. It’s not about the same, useless information we’ve been tracking, it’s about allowing creative folks to actually DO the things they dream up. (Tim Martin)

Check out the Ninjas LIVE at TechKnowledge

E-Learning Project Management in the Cloud
Brian Dusablon and Trina Rimmer
February 1st – 9:45 am to 11:15 am

Twitter 101 for Learning Professionals
David Kelly
January 30th – 10:45 am to 12:00 pm
January 30th – 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm

Curation: Beyond the Buzzword
David Kelly
February 1st – 9:45 am to 11:15 am

What is Tin Can and Why Should I Care?
Kevin Thorn and David Kelly
January 31st – 10:45 am to 11:45 am

How to Communicate w/ the Visual Cortex: What Learners Don’t See
Kevin Thorn
January 30th – 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm
January 31st – 1:45 pm to 3:00 pm

Free, Open, and Available: Tools and Techniques for E-Learning
Stevie Rocco
January 31st – 3:15 pm to 4:15 pm

Covert Communication #1

November 1, 2012 By Brian Dusablon Leave a Comment

Recommended Reading

Ninjas are always honing their craft, and one of the ways the Learning Ninjas sharpen our skills is by reading, and sharing valuable articles and publications. Here are some of our favorites from the past week, curated for you by Learning Ninjas.

Responsive E-learning for a Multi-Device World
I love this video on responsive design for learning content. Not all content and content delivery methods are right for all devices. It’s nice to see a key player in the learning industry focusing on responsive design. We should be leveraging emerging web technologies and techniques, not avoiding them. – Brian Dusablon

Let’s Stop Pretending
There are a great number of myths and poor assumptions made by learning and performance professionals. In this excellent post, Craig Wiggins calls out a number of them, and includes a number of linked resources to dig deeper into why we should stop pretending. – David Kelly

About Creative Commons
This is a great explanation of what Creative Commons licensing is, and how you can license your own work under a CC-license. While the perspective is definitely that of the content creator, the individual seeking to find and use materials for free will also find this information useful. Watch the short video, too–it gives a succinct and accurate overview! – Stevie Rocco

DemoFest 2012 Hangout
Sharing rocks, so for me, the highlight of each year’s DevLearn is eLearning DemoFest – an event where dozens of designers and developers gather to show off their work to industry peers, gain access to constructive feedback, and experience different design perspectives. If the thought of publicly presenting your work sounds intimidating, then watch this brief video to hear tips and pointers from past presenters (myself included) about what it’s really like to put yourself out there – and why you need to do it. – Trina Rimmer

Learning Live Conference – Curated Backchannel
There was a vibrant backchannel at the Learning Live Conference that took place in London earlier this month. This post curates the many resources that were shared during the event. – David Kelly

Check out the Ninjas LIVE at DevLearn

From The Trenches: Building eLearning in the Real World
Brian Dusablon and Trina Rimmer
October 30th – 8:30 am to 4:30pm

The Secret Sauce to Better Storyboarding
Kevin Thorn
November 1st – 3:00pm – 4:00pm

Curation: Beyond the Buzzword
David Kelly
November 2nd – 8:30am – 9:30am

Quote of the Week

“Be the disruptor, not the disrupted”
– John L. Hennessy, President of Stanford University from ‘The Coming Tsunami in Educational Technology’

Learning from the Web World: Paper Prototyping

October 8, 2012 By Brian Dusablon 3 Comments

I thought it might be useful to do a few posts on usability testing, with a discussion on how each method of testing contributes to the e-learning world. Whenever you’re testing, it’s best to have testers that approximate (or, better yet, who are part of) the intended users of the learning. The beauty of this type of testing is that you can find most of the issues with testing only 5 users or less (see http://www.measuringusability.com/five-users.php). This week, I’m going to cover the basics of paper prototyping for e-learning.

Paper prototyping is a common method utilized in the human-computer interface world – but how often do we use this method for testing learning designs with real users? I recommend paper prototyping as a cheap, easy-to-implement way to detect usability problems, scope issues, and any issues with information architecture. So how do you get started with paper prototype testing?

Paper prototyping isn’t difficult, but you do have to do some preparatory steps.

First, you will need a list of the common tasks users may need to “do” in your interface. This might include finding information, passing a quiz, or completing an activity. If you have actual users, you may also ask them what other tasks they might expect to complete with the interface.
Next, you have paper versions (these can be sketches) of what you expect the learning module or course to look like. It should include a menu and any buttons that are going to be part of the interface. Each piece of paper should have a rough sketch of where you would go if you clicked any button. Thus, if you have a “Next” button, then you would have another piece of paper that has the interface if the “Next” button were pressed.
A rough sketch of an interface
A paper prototype of a mobile interface

Finally, you give the users the task they are supposed to complete, such as “Find the information about when the next training is to take place” and hand them the home screen. The user should point to where they would click, and then you replace the first paper with whatever they might see if that button/link were pressed. This process continues, while the tester notes issues or other difficulties with the interface. The user is also asked for feedback.

This kind of collaborative testing doesn’t take long, is cost-effective, and can find some obvious issues with interfaces. In addition, it offers the designer and developer the opportunity to hear from the users regarding what they prefer in the interface they may be using. Why not try it for your next project?

More information on paper prototyping: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/paperprototyping/

Next post, we’ll take a look at the different ways to use card sorts to organize content for e-learning. I hope you’ll plan to stop by!