December 31, 2012 Leave a comment
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.
November 26, 2012 Leave a comment
This is the opening to a white paper on game-based learning I’ve written which you can download here.
”A game is a problem-solving activity, approached with a playful attitude.” – Jesse Schell, Professor of Game Design at Carnegie Mellon University
“Games are the most elevated form of investigation.” – Albert Einstein
In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in using video game techniques (or ‘gamification’) to make non-game applications more fun and engaging. Gaming strategies can now be seen in a wide range of contexts including business (gamified marketing campaigns and loyalty programmes), health (the gamification of fitness through programmes like Wii Fit and Nike+), government (the application of ‘nudge’ tactics and behavioural economics) and the military (war games and simulations). So whether you enjoy playing games or not, it’s important to understand how they’re shaping the world we live in.
The concept of game-based learning is not new. Effective teachers and instructors have always understood the power of games to motivate and inspire. From using chess to develop strategic thinking; Backgammon and Monopoly for mental arithmetic; Scrabble for spelling and vocabulary; to sophisticated driving and flight simulators – games make learning fun. The buzz word of the moment – ‘gamification’ – has simply reactivated interest in how games can increase learner engagement and influence behaviours.
In this white paper we’ll look at how game-based techniques can energise online learning programmes. Throughout the paper we’ll provide examples of game-based learning that has made a positive, measurable impact. Some techniques (such as immersive 3D virtual environments) require substantial levels of investment, while others can be produced quickly and cost-effectively with just a little imagination, planning and game-based thinking. If you’re interested in gamifying the provision of learning in your organisation, this white paper will give you some useful food for thought.
Easy to understand and remember
In the same way that the novel defined 19th century culture, and cinema was the dominant art form of the last century, video games are the most influential medium of our time. And what do all three media tap into? The human fascination with stories, characters and goals.
Many online learning courses fail to engage because they transmit too much information in an uninvolving and decontextualised way, i.e. screen after screen of dense text, diagrams and bullet points. So why not take a lesson from game designers and reimagine your training course using a compelling story? As well as being more fun and engaging, research shows that stories are much easier to remember than text and bulleted lists. Let’s take a look at some examples…
Download the full Power Up! white paper now.
August 22, 2012 Leave a comment
I wrote a white paper about mobile learning for Brightwave recently, which is designed to answer the following common questions:
You can download the full paper from the Brightwave website. Here’s a short sample…
Over 70% of the world’s population now have a mobile phone and by 2014 mobile internet is set to overtake desktop internet usage. As Bob Dylan rightly observed:“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”, but let’s give you a quick update on the forecast for m-learning. Recent research from the eLearning Guild shows that m-learning implementation plans are growing significantly year-on-year, with 65.7% of respondents planning to do more m-learning in 2012.
So why is m-learning becoming so important to organisations?
We believe the opportunities offered by m-learning are immense, in terms of providing learning at-the-point-of-need and by taking advantage of functionality (e.g. camera, GPS, Augmented Reality and social media integration) which cannot be matched by desktop computers. By providing content via the broadest range of channels, organisations are also able to connect with more staff than ever before and accelerate time-to-competence. M-learning also ties in with a shift away from formal courses to just-in-time performance support which embeds learning in the workflow.
Download the white paper now.
March 8, 2012 Leave a comment
The following post was first published on the Brightwave website.
Brightwave’s recently published green paper, E-Mosaics: agile learning for the workplace, provides a fresh take on blended learning and emphasises the importance of high-impact communications, bite-sized e-learning, social media and user-generated content.
We ran a seminar on E-mosaics at the Learning Technologies conference in January which generated lots of great questions and discussion. One of our audience members asked: ‘Why do you think so many people are self-directed learners at home but not at work?’ This question really hit the nail on the head. Most of us are active learners at home, whether it’s doing quick research on Google/Wikipedia or going to YouTube for ‘how to’ videos on DIY, cooking, sports, video games, playing a musical instrument – or whatever your hobby or interest might be. But something changes when people return to work.
Obviously motivation and incentives are a factor (and cumbersome Learning Management Systems can be a barrier!) but I think the culture of many organisations, sometimes unwittingly, discourages people from taking learning into their own hands. The traditional command and control structure of the corporate world results in many people equating ‘learning’ exclusively with ‘training’ i.e. something that is done to them, rather than something they can do for themselves. Hopefully the E-Mosaics concept and the work that Clive Shepherd, Jane Hart and others are doing will help organisations improve how they support work-based learning and development.
E-Mosaics green paper: E-Mosaics: agile learning for the workplace
E-Mosaics seminar slides: E-mosaics: agile learning for the workplace in 2012
February 15, 2012 Leave a comment
Karl Kapp’s brilliant series of posts on the Learning Circuits site are a must-read for anyone interested in game-based learning. It certainly stirred things up on the usually sedate LC comments pages with several readers arguing against the dark side of gamification and the risk of treating people like lab rats. Kapp draws an interesting distinction between ‘gamification’ (perceived by some as being manipulative, through the misuse/abuse of reward schedules) and ‘game-based thinking’ (the motivational and instructional power of gaming). And his conclusion is hard to disagree with: “Regardless of what you call it, more game-based thinking can only improve the current state of mind-numbing, page turning e-learning–not harm it.”
Award winning playwright Lucy Prebble’s feature ‘Gaming is an artform, just like theatre’ also provides some interesting insights into how video games can stimulate creativity and lateral thinking. Of course, all of this is heresy to doom-mongers like Baroness Susan Greenfield who make a good living filling up column inches at the Daily Mail on how video games are set to destroy civilisation as we know it. But the games industry is so diverse now that all the good and bad things it’s accused of can be justified with relevant examples, just like cinema, books or television. I guess that goes to prove what a mature and interesting medium it’s become.
January 14, 2012 1 Comment
Nowcomms.com published the Top 100 ranking websites in eLearning and learning technology earlier this week. The list was calculated by crunching together individual rankings from Google PageRank, Moz Rank, Alexa, Hubspot‘s Web grader and Compete, so provides a good indication of each company’s presence on the Web. I thought it might be interesting to see how the list of top 10 UK e-learning companies in terms of web ranking compares with the top 10 revenue-wise (based on the last published list I’ve seen)…
Top 10 bespoke e-learning companies: web ranking
1. Kineo
2. Epic
3. Learningpool
4. Tata Interactive
5. Saffron Interactive
6. Edvantage Group
7. Brightwave
8. Line Communications
9. Caspian Learning
10. Redtray
Top 10 bespoke e-learning companies: revenue
1. Line Communications
2. Kineo
3. Epic
4. CM Group
5. Cognitive Arts
6. Redtray
7. Brightwave
8. Saffron Interactive
9. Assima
10. IMC
The real outlier here is Line Communications who are top of the pile in terms of revenue but only number 7 by web ranking in the UK (and a humble 74 in the full Nowcomms.com list; while Kineo, their nearest rivals in terms of revenue, make the global top 10). Time to invest in some SEO advice, guys?! I guess the other conclusion to be drawn is that well established e-learning companies in the UK can enjoy strong turnover without having an equivalent web presence, as most revenues are derived from their status as approved suppliers for FTSE100 companies. However, if these companies want to grow they’ll need to win business from both overseas and new companies in the UK, so higher web rankings and brand recognition will be a real advantage in the long term. Kineo’s franchises in the USA (combined with their unique name) have clearly given them the edge in terms of Google ranking.
Also, it’s important to remember that web ranking and turnover are just two measures of success and give no indication of quality, customer satisfaction, growth potential, profitability, etc. As we all know, biggest isn’t always best!
January 5, 2012 Leave a comment
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk hired me to manage the design, development and delivery of their new online learning services for start-up businesses, which went live at the end of 2011. I wrote this case study about the project for E-learning Age magazine.
Starting a business can be one of life’s most exciting, liberating and rewarding experiences. But working for yourself can also be nerve-wracking, as you need to learn quickly how to promote your business, manage your finances, keep customers happy and meet your tax obligations.
My New Business provides start-ups with the core educational support they’ll need to succeed in the first 18 months of trading. With over 200 specially commissioned videos and e-learning courses on a wide range of start-up topics (including business planning, finance, marketing and tax), My New Business is one of the biggest government-backed online learning initiatives of the last 10 years. In this article I’ll outline the high-level project objectives and describe how the videos and e-learning were designed to meet the needs of the target audience.
Objectives
Business Link produced the content for the My New Business site in partnership with two of the UK’s bespoke educational video and e-learning specialists, Thomson Reuters and Epic. The high-level objectives for the content development teams were to:
User requirements
My New Business has an extremely diverse target audience – all UK-based pre-starts and start-ups – and the Business Link site as a whole receives over 20 million visits each year, so the potential audience for the new online learning content is huge. To ensure the content was tailored to user needs, we took the following action:
After reviewing the data, user feedback and workshop materials, Epic and Thomson Reuters produced a detailed consultancy report which scoped the overall learning requirements and made recommendations for change. The report also provided a comprehensive description of the project lifecycle, including programme governance, project structure for each content area, standardised development/approval processes across all content areas, and change control procedures.
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are the most important people in any online learning project team. There’s no point creating a course with the production values of a Hollywood blockbuster if the core content isn’t focussed on delivering learning objectives, crammed full of valuable information and factually accurate. As SMEs can make or break an online learning project, it’s vital to select the right people and manage them carefully. Business Link’s Web Content Managers worked closely with over 90 business and tax experts from across the UK to gather relevant source materials and provide Epic and Thomson Reuters with detailed feedback on video and e-learning scripts and prototypes. In order to share work-in-progress e-learning materials with our geographically dispersed SMEs quickly, we used a cloud-based file sharing service, Huddle, to host videos and e-learning prior to site launch.
Treatment types
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk has long been recognised as a comprehensive and trusted knowledge base for all things business-related and has a large and loyal audience in the UK and abroad. However, during our initial customer engagement sessions, we found that many users felt that the site was too ‘text-heavy’ and key start-up information was difficult to find. We took this feedback onboard and made the decision to present start-up information in a variety of formats, including a range of video and e-learning object types, as well as plain text, in order to broaden the appeal of the website. All start-up content on Business Link is now accessible fast, via three main access points – the Starting Up Theme page, the personalised ‘Recommended Start-up Tasks’ tool, and the Learning Directory.
Video and e-learning treatments on the revamped Business Link site include:
Delivery platforms
A robust technical infrastructure is critical to the delivery of high volumes of media-rich learning content over the Internet. All videos on the My New Business are distributed through Brightcove, the world’s leading cloud-based video platform. Brightcove smart players automatically detect the user’s device and bandwidth, and then output video in the most appropriate file size and format. This means that videos on the My New Business site are truly cross-platform compatible and can be played on PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone and Android mobile devices by users with both high and low bandwidth connections. All Flash-based e-learning objects on the site are launched and tracked through the Xtensis SCORM content management system, which has previously been used by the National Learning Network (NLN) to successfully deliver one of the most substantial and wide-ranging collections of e-learning materials in the UK to over 10,000 registered users in the higher education sector. Both Brightcove and Xtensis provide powerful reporting tools which will allow Business Link to closely monitor video and e-learning usage on a daily basis.
Evaluation
So how will the overall impact of My New Business be measured? Ultimately the site will be judged on its ability to provide effective and practical educational support to new businesses which helps them to succeed. While it’s far too early to draw any firm conclusions, the initial usage reports from Brightcove and Xtensis are encouraging and show a strong uptake of e-learning and video materials by Business Link customers, with content on generating business ideas, choosing the right legal structure and business planning proving to be especially popular. Feedback via Business Link’s social media channels in the first few weeks since launch has also been very positive, with users praising the engaging and easy to use nature of the new content. Business Link will conduct a detailed user engagement survey in 2012 which will capture customers’ reactions to the My New Business site, including questions on how the new learning content has helped change behaviours, in terms of fostering good business and compliance habits. Syndication of content through partner sites will extend the reach of the materials and provide additional sources of feedback. HMRC is also intending to commission an independent evaluation of all its education channels in 2012, including My New Business videos and e-learning tutorials.
My New Business is one of the biggest free repositories of online learning content in the UK, so the results of these evaluation activities will be instructive for the e-learning industry as a whole. Wide-scale and free-to-access online learning initiatives are rare in our industry so it will be fascinating to see how the general public responds to this kind of resource.
