e-learning design, development, and trends

e-learning representations are getting more visual and entertaining by use of broadband technologies.

In January 2003, the International Data Corporation (IDC) predicted that web-based training (WBT) in the US will total $18 billion in 2005, up from $4.2 billion in 2001. eMarketer’s e-Learning Report
(July 2003) predicted that the US corporate e-Learning market will
quadruple over the next five years to reach over $16 billion by
2005/2006.

Top eLearning Tools for 2008

TOP 11-20

UDDI (universal
description, discovery and integration) A virtual yellow pages for Web
services that lets software discover what Web services are available and
how to hook up to them. See Web services.

VOIP.
Phonecalls over the Internet. When you conduct a meeting with Centra or
Groove, people from all over the world can speak with one another with
NO PHONE CHARGES. The technology is not yet out of the woods; unable to
reach someone at Cisco last year, a colleague explained, “Oh, she’s
testing one of our VOIP phones. She never receives her calls.”

Warchalking.
Marking the location of open wi-fi connections to the net on the sidewalk
or wall in chalk.

WSDL
- Web services description language. If UDDI is a virtual yellow pages,
WSDL is the little blurb associated with each entry that describes what
kind of work the Web service can doâ??say, that it can give you access
to a database of ZIP codes.

Web log.
AKA blog. Try this one.
“If journalism is the first draft of history, then blogging is sometimes
the first draft of journalism….” says Ed
Cone.

Web
services. Standards that enable interoperability on applications
on the net. Includes XML, SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL. More

Wireless learning.
Tell me once again. If my cell phone craps out at random intervals, how
will a wireless modem enable me to cut the cord?

Workflow Learningâ?¢Also,
Workflow-based Learningâ?¢. Term coined by researcher Sam Adkins to
describe the sort of learning the real-time extended enterprise
requires. The merger of work and learning in Enterprise Application
Integration. Seen Workflow Learning Institute. Term is trademarked by Internet Time Group.

XML.
eXtensible Markup Language. Like HTML but more flexible because you can
redefine tags to say whatever you want. Instead of <H1>, you might
have <duration> or <invoice>. This enables computers to talk
with one another without pesky human intervention.

For learning objects, XML is equivalent to
the labels on cans at the supermarket — it’s lets you determine what’s
inside without opening the package. This enables an object-level Learning
Management System to assemble strings of learning objects into

Learner-centric. Organize
things for the good of the learner, not the instructor and not the institution.
The core tenet of eLearning.

Learning. To gain knowledge or information of; to ascertain by inquiry,
study, or investigation; to acquire understanding of, or skill; as, to
learn the way; to learn a lesson; to learn dancing; to learn to skate;
to learn the violin; to learn the truth about something.

LMS or Learning management system. eLearning infrastructure. At the simplest
level, a tracking system. LMS’s range from simple course-by-course registration
systems to humongous, real-time databases that deal with personalization,
learning prescriptions, job competencies, and parsing learning objects.

LCMS.
Learning content management system. An LCMS is a multi-user environment
where learning developers can create, store, reuse, manage, and deliver
digital learning content from a central object repository.

Learning
object. A machine-addressible “chunk” of
learning. When labeled with metadata, an eLearning system can mix and
match learning objects to create individualized learning experiences.
Controversy swirls around the question, “How large is a chunk?”
A course is too large — that’s yesterday’s object. A couple of sentences
is too small — you would lose the context that provides meaning. Think
five or ten minutes.

Learning service provider. Delivers eLearning - including learning
management — over the Internet. A learning ASP. Focus in-house IT on
core processes; outsource eLearning to an LSP.

LOMBARD.
Lots Of Money But A Real Dickhead. Coined by The Economist. Sometimes
applied to vulture capitalists.

Low-hanging
fruit: In an apple
orchard, itâ??s the apples on the low branches. In business, itâ??s
the easy sales to get. Problem: You run out of low-hanging fruit long
before you become profitable.

Megasite. On the Web, a destination site
that links to other worthy sources of information.

Meme.
A self-replicating idea that propogates through people and networks, much
like comptuer viruses. A thought-gene. Coined by Richard Dawkins.

Metadata.
Information about information. Often, “metatags” that describe
what’s inside a chunk of learning. Generally machine-readable. Analogous
to a barcode on an incoming shipment.

Meta-Learning.
The process of learning. Learning to learn is a major component. See Meta-Learning
Lab.

Meta-tags
- Descriptive labels applied to media assets, pages, information objects
and/or learning objects that describe the object so it can be managed
more effectively. Machine-readable.

M-learning.
Mobile learning. Learning delivered or augmented by an untethered
device, for example by cell phone, WiFi PDA, wearable with headmounted
display, or wireless tablet.

Moblog.
Combination of “mobile” with “blog,” moblogs are websites where people
can post pictures taken with mobile phones in real time.

Nurnburg funnel.
Source of the metaphor of training being akin to pouring knowledge
into a person’s head.

Ontology.
The capstone of the Semantic Web. XML describes what the data is. RDF
explains what the XML tag means in our context. An Ontology describes
how all the pieces fit together.

Paradigm drag. When old thinking holds back new.
From David Gelernter’s Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology.

Peer to peer.
When the PC is both client and server, able to swap resources directly
with other PCs. Resources? Files, songs, videos, processor cycles, disk
space. This wil be big for self-organizing teams.

Performance. The goal of learning. AKA productivity, results. It’s relative
to context. Decide what constitutes performance, then design the learning
to support it.

Performance support.
Learning imbedded in work. Microsoft’s talking paperclip and ‘Wizards’
that guide users through applications are examples.

Permalink.
A permanent marker
or reference point to a certain document on the world wide web. Most
commonly used for weblogs, news sites and newspapers. A permalink is denoted
through the use of a symbol (pound sign, arrow, dot), date of content
creation, the word permalink or image.

Personalization. Learning opportunities tailored to the learner’s background,
style, previous knowledge, etc. ‘Mass customization’ and ‘1:1 marketing’
applied to learning. Results are saved time, accelerated learning, more
wheat/less chaff, phenomenal performance gain.

Portal.
1. Synonyn for entry screen. Widely hyped 1998-1999 because anyone can
imagine the utility of an in-house Yahoo. 2. Transactional portal. A front-end
which lets you do as well as see things.

Problem.
Sometimes, a way of blinding oneself to new opportunities. Dr David Cooperrider
says â??Once we describe something as a problem, we assume that we
know what the ideal is - what should be - and we go in search of ways
to close any â??gapsâ?? - not to expand our knowledge or to build
better ideals.�

Pronoia.
The belief that the world is conspiring to make you happy and successful.

RDF -
Resource Description Framework. A dictionary and thesaurus for XML tags
that sits between XML and an ontology.

RLO -
Reusable Learning Object. A discrete chunk of reusable learning that teaches
one or more terminal objectives.

RSS
- Real Simple Syndication, among other definitions. A format for syndicating
blogs.

Search learning.
When you learn from perusing Amazon, looking up topics on Google, or paging
through business magazines on the airplane.

Semantic Web.
Will enable computers to talk with one another. How we will address “the
difference between information produced primarily for human consumption
and that produced mainly for machines. At one end of the scale we have
everything from the five-second TV commercial to poetry. At the other
end we have databases, programs and sensor output. To date, the Web has
developed most rapidly as a medium of documents for people rather than
for data and information that can be processed automatically. The Semantic
Web aims to make up for this.” Tim Berners-Lee in Scientific
American.

SCORM. Sharable
Content Object Reference Model. Standards are very popular; that’s why
there are so many of them. SCORM is the Federal government’s standard.
It seeks to track and manage courseware developed by various authoring
tools using a single system. The objective is to bring together diverse
and disparate learning content and products to ensure reusability, accessibility,
durability, and interoperability. Built on the work of AICC, IMS, the
IEEE, and others. See www.adlnet.org
for the latest. Coming under fire for narrow focus on self-directed learning
as well as for military backing.

Shelf-life.
Knowledge is perishable. Some suggest it be labeled with pull-dates, like
cartons of milk. (And others point out that spoiled milk may have been
put in the eLearning bottle to being with.)

SOAP - simple object access
protocol. Describes how one application talks to a Web service and asks
it to perform a task and return an answer. SOAP makes it possible to use
Web services for transactionsâ??say, credit card authorization or
checking inventory in real-time and placing an order. See Web
services.

Synchronous.
[pretentious] Live event.

Tacit/explicit
knowledge. Tacit knowledge is knowing how; it’s impossible
to transfer to it you in words. Explicit knowledge is the opposite —
you’re reading it right now.

Technophilia.
The belief that technology will solve all ills. Especially prevalent during
the dot-com delusion, fostered by Wired magazine.

Timing. The
first 90% of a development project takes 90% of the time. The remaining
10% also takes 90% of the time.

Training. An attempt to impose learning, often more at the convenience
of the provider than the learner.

Explicit knowledge
Knowledge that’s easy to communicate. (Opposite of “tacit knowledge.”)

Gap
analysis.
Figure out what to do by assessing the gap between where you
are and where you want to be. Most people then begin building from the
present into the future. We favor looking at the step right before the
ultimate one and backing toward the present one step at a time.

Hitnosis.
Obsessively checking your web counter to see if the number has changed.

ILT. Instructor-led training, generally a workshop.

IMS -
A standards body developing and promoting open specifications for facilitating
online distributed learning. Its traditional emphasis surrounded meta-tagging
specifications

Informal/formal learning. Formal learning is a class, a seminar,
a self-study course — everyone recognizes it as learning. Informal learning
is over the water cooler, at the poker game, asking the guy in the next
cube to help out, collaborative problem solving, watching an expert, or
sharing a terminal for eLearning. More than half of corporate learning
is the informal kind.

Instructional design. A
systems approach to designing a learning experience. Heavily promoted
by DoD investment, formal instructional design is currently under attack
for fostering slow development, a printed-paper mindset, and insufficient
attention to informal learning.

Internet time. The accelerated timeframe of the
new economy brought on by eBusiness and the Internet. A year of Internet
time may equal seven years of calendar time. Or more. Or less.

Intangible.
Something that cannot be perceived by the senses. Accountants and financial
types only grudgingly concede that some intangibles have value, and they
find it in things like brand names and patents. Because you can’t immediately
sense a person’s capability, a customer’s loyalty, or a relationship with
a supplier, accountants say these things have to value.

Job aid. Cheat sheet. Checklist. Process map.
Generally, a piece of paper that helps you do your job.

Just-in-time learning.
Getting the right knowledge to the right person at the right time.

K Log.
Knowledge blog. A euphemism used by corporate types who don’t want to
be typecast as mere social bloggers.

Kittyblogger.
A person who uses their blog to write about their cats or equally interesting
topics.

Knowledge Management (KM). Whatever you want it to mean.

ADL. Advanced Distributed Learning, an initiative originally established by the U.S. Department of Defense and now a collaboration between government, industry, and academia. The purpose of the ADL is to ensure access to high-quality education and training materials that can be tailored to individual learner needs and made available whenever and wherever they are required. The ADL maintains a set of guidelines under the acronym SCORM to accomplish their purpose.

AICC. Aviation Industry CBT Committee. The granddaddy of standards bodies. Originally formered to set guidelines for the aviation industry, AICC concepts are the foundation for subsequent work by ADL, IMS, and others.

Andragogy. Word coined by Malcolm Knowles to describe how adults learn — which is different from how children learn (”pedagogy”). I’m beginning to suspect pedagogy denigrates children and that andra is the gogy to go with for all. Main points are:

1. What’s in it for me?
2. Let me decide how I’ll learn it.
3. Where does this fit in relation to the other stuff I know?
4. Sell me on learning this.
5. Remove the obstacles from my path, please.

Asynchronous. [pretentious] Any time you like, e.g. watching a rerun on your VCR.

Bandwidth is a description of how much information can squeeze through a data pipe. Your intranet has high bandwidth; your dial-up connection is low bandwidth. Also used anthropomorphically, e.g. “He has low bandwidth” is equivalent to “He is a taco short of a combo plate” or “Her elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top.”

Bipolar thinking. The tendency to see everything in black and white when faced with shades of gray.

Blended. Current rage in eLearning circles. Means using more than one learning medium, generally adding an instructor component to web-based training. Duh! Blended is only a revelation for people who had been trying to do everything with just one tool – the computer. Classroom teachers having been blending various means of learning – lecture, discussion, practice, reading, projects, and writing, for example — for eons.

Blog. An easily updated personal website, generally updated daily and expressing. See About Blogs or look at a sample.

Blog digest, blogathy, blogerati, blogger bash, blogger ecosystem, bloggeral, blogoverse, blogistan, blognoscenti, blogapottamus, blogorrhea, blogosphere, blogroach, blogroll, blogspot, blogstipation, blogule, blurker. See Blog Vocabulary.

Boiling the ocean. Trying to cure all problems at once, often with a single tool.

Broadband. Unscientific term for sufficient bandwidth to receive streaming video and sound. Usually refers to bandwidth equal to or greater than DSL or Cable Modem speed.

Career Limiting Move. It refers to any incident that puts a roadblock in your career path. “Jack spilled coffee on the boss. It was a major CLM.”

Certification. Pass the test, get a certificate. This started with technical subjects, e.g. Certified Novell Engineer and Microsoft Certified Professionals. Cisco offers a progression of certificates that reminds one of the ranks in Boy Scouts. Since there’s no authority legitimizing the certifications, expect a continuing proliferation of these things. Certifications simplify hiring decisions; on the downside, they encourage “studying to the test.” For $500, I can get you an Certified Internet Time Professional ranking.

Chat. Real-time communication, text or voice. Generally, messages disappear when the session’s over. Otherwise, you’re probably having a discussion.

c-learning. Classroom learning. Used to be just “learning,” but now we need to differentiate c-learning from eLearning.

Collaborative filtering. Example: Amazon tells me that other people who like the books I like are buying a particular book.

Community. A group of people united by a common purpose who share information and knowledge with one another.

Community of Practice. An informal group that shares values, perspectives, and ways of doing things. The motivation to learn is the deisre to participate in a “community of practice.”

Complexity. It’s a nonlinear, interconnected world and you will never figure it out. Shit happens.

Content. What’s being learned, information. If it doesn’t cause change, it’s not information. The challenge is how to get the right content to right person, at the right time. This involves media choice (e.g., paper versus on-screen), speed, delivery cost, relevance, learner motivation, and other factors.

Context. The environment of content. Who’s talking? When? Why? Content and context are like inside and outside: you can’t have one without the other.

Content management system (CMS). A CMS supports the creation, management, distribution, publishing, and discovery of content from cradle to grave. A CMS helps users find what they’re looking for. It also separates content from presentation. See StepTwo Designs.

Course. Rigid unit of learning, generally expressed in days and ‘led’ by an instructor. Opposite: ‘Just enough.’

Dead-tree media. Paper-based publications.

Dynamic information. ‘Real time.’ Current, up to the second. Instead of reading pages prepared in advance, the pages are assembled on the fly, incorporating current information and taking into account current needs.

eLearning. Also e-Learning. Best practices for learning in the new economy, implying but not requiring benefits of networking and computers such as anywhere/anytime delivery, learning objects, and personalization. Learning on Internet time. Often includes ILT.

A-D | E-K | L-T | U-Z

For those who doesn’t want to design web pages with tables!
CSS Layout templates
Blue Robot

Using Flash 8 External Interface API for communication between flash content and host application (browser, C# application etc.) is elegant way but, Flash - JS Integration Kit still useful for Flash Player 7

The Flash / JavaScript Integration kit makes it possible to seamlessly communicate between Flash and JavaScript. You can call JavaScript functions from Flash, and ActionScript functions from JavaScript.11

Supported Browsers:
* Windows IE 6.0
* Windows Firefox 1.0
* Windows Opera 8.0
* Macintosh Opera 8.0
* Macintosh Firefox 1.0
* Safari 1.2.4 and 2.0
* Linux Firefox 1.0.4

Download Kit from osflash