E-Learning Provocateur

JUNE 27, 2011

Is there a difference between learning and development? I ruminated over this question for a number of years as a Learning & Development professional, but without much progress. I could never draw a clear line between the two, so I considered the “D&# in “L&D&# to be a simple tautology. That was until a colleague of mine recommended I read Making the Case for a Developmental Perspective by Dr Suzanne R Cook-Greuter.

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Develop Simulations Leadership Roles 189

E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

I read The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore today and I was gobsmacked. The e-book is filled with glorious pictures, marvellous animations and engaging interactivity. Of course, this isn’t the only title that takes advantage of its medium. For example, Rob Brydon has added audio and video components to his autobiography Small Man in a Book , while the textbooks on the Inkling app include animations, quizzes and social study tools.

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Picture Lectora Audio Sound 187

E-Learning Provocateur

APRIL 27, 2011

In my previous post, 14 reasons why your multiple-choice quiz sucks , I listed typical clangers whose only purpose is to render your assessments ineffective. If they’re the bad and ugly aspects of MCQ design, what’s the good? To answer that question I hit Google and a couple of academic databases, but mostly in vain. It may be due to my poor researching skills, but I found very little empirical evidence of best practice multiple-choice quizzing.

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Questionmark Resources Social Networks Taxonomy 187

E-Learning Provocateur

JULY 25, 2011

It is with much pride that I share the news that I have won the LearnX Best Learning Leader Blog award! This is a very prestigious award in the Asia-Pacific region, and I am honoured to nominated let alone be selected. Congratulations to my fellow winner in the category, Ainslie Hunter, who authors the excellent blog Courses That Matter. I wish to thank everyone who nominated me.

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E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

Evaluation is notoriously under done in the corporate sector. And who can blame us? With ever increasing pressure bearing down on L&D professionals to put out the next big fire, it’s no wonder we don’t have time to scratch ourselves before shifting our attention to something new – let alone measure what has already been and gone.

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Evalution Metrics Examples Statistics 180

E-Learning Provocateur

MARCH 1, 2011

Several weeks ago, I deposited a cheque for £122 into my local bank account, but it was paid in as $122. Anyone familiar with the foreign exchange rate will know this left me out of pocket. So the next day I went back to the bank, and I was lucky enough to speak to the original teller who had processed the cheque. He assured me that he would fix it, and he’d call me when he was done.

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Twitter Customer Service Social Media Services 175

E-Learning Provocateur

OCTOBER 25, 2011

A provocative question was posed at the latest Learning Cafe : Does the learning department spend disproportionate effort on leadership development? To me, it makes good business sense to facilitate the development of effective leaders in the organisation. Leadership is a driver of culture, which in turn is a driver of engagement, which in turn is a driver of performance.

Leadership 170

Leadership Develop Comparison ROI 170

E-Learning Provocateur

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

In my role, I get contacted by sales representatives all the time. They flog rapid authoring tools, simulation software, learning management systems, mobile platforms, content libraries, courseware development, project management… the list goes on. I’m not complaining. I appreciate everyone needs to put food on the table. And besides, many of my friends and family are (or have been) sales reps.

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Sales Tips Authoring Tools Simulations 169

E-Learning Provocateur

AUGUST 16, 2011

A little while ago, someone tweeted his awe of the fact that over 600 million people are connected to each other on the one platform, ie Facebook. This got me thinking, are all these people really “connected&# …? I’m sure you’re familiar with the Six Degrees of Separation principle. It holds that on average, anyone is only 6 personal relationships away from anyone else.

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Social Networks Social Network Network Social 168

E-Learning Provocateur

JULY 12, 2011

In my previous post, Learning vs Development , I connected Cook-Greuter’s bidirectional view of development to the two sides of the L&D equation: horizontal growth representing the “L&# and vertical transformation representing the “D&#. While the former refers to the traditional notion of learning as the acquisition of knowledge and skills, the latter is a more powerful concept.

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Scanning Augmented Reality Simulations Virtual World 168

E-Learning Provocateur

DECEMBER 25, 2011

I have really enjoyed following the recent argy bargy between Larry Sanger and Steve Wheeler. From a learning practitioner’s point of view, it raises issues of pedagogy, instructional design, and perhaps even epistemology. Having said that, I think it all boils down to the novice-expert principle. As a novice, you don’t know what you don’t know.

Cognitive 166

Cognitive Pedagogy Expert Instructional Design 166

E-Learning Provocateur

MAY 24, 2011

Someone asked me recently where they can learn more about customer-facing social media; or in other words, social media used to engage externally with customers rather than internally with colleagues. I’ve always considered this an example of “e-learning&# because – if you do it right – you are educating people. They just happen to be outside of your organisation.

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Social Media Case Study Media Social 166

E-Learning Provocateur

JUNE 1, 2011

I don’t find CeBIT very interesting. I’m not really an IT geek, so for me it’s a bit of a yawn fest. However I still like to go to the expo. Amid all the server boxes and data storage units and networking solutions and management systems, I usually find a few gems that make my attendance worthwhile. And this year was no exception. Here are the 8 things I found most interesting… 1.

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E-Learning Provocateur

AUGUST 29, 2011

I’m a big fan of the Powerhouse Museum. In a world in which everyone loves to bang on about emerging technology, relatively few ever do anything about it. The PhM, however, has the guts to give it a go. So I was excited to stumble upon their Augmented Reality browsing of Powerhouse Museum around Sydney app for Apple and Android. I love history, I love augmented reality, and I own an iPhone – so a combination of all three proved irresistible.

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Augmented Reality Photo Photography iPhone 161

E-Learning Provocateur

JUNE 22, 2011

I’ve never been comfortable with attributing digital influence to the number of followers someone has on Twitter. To me, it’s more a measure of your longevity on the platform. The longer you have been on Twitter, the more followers you will have collected over the years. Sure, the quality of your tweets and other variables will have an effect, but simply comparing the raw number of followers among tweeps is not really comparing apples with apples.

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Twitter Metrics Plateau Toys 161

E-Learning Provocateur

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Since I wrote my article last week about critical theory , I have been more attuned to the messages being propagated by my peers. For example, some of them have been blogging and tweeting about the role of social media in driving the pro-democracy protests in Egypt. I see I’m not alone ( here and here ) in being a little less inclined. The truth, I suspect, is that the protests in Egypt have been catalysed by the amassing of the population for prayer.

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Social Media Media Social Social Networks 156

E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Well I have finally bitten the bullet and published a selection of my blog musings in paperback form. The book is entitled E-Learning Provocateur: Volume 1 and my intent is to provoke deeper thinking across a range of themes in the modern workplace, including: • social media. • learning theory. • pedagogy. • instructional design. • learning styles. • blended learning. • informal learning. • mobile learning. • augmented reality. • virtua

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Blended Learning Augmented Reality Cloud Computing Pedagogy 153

E-Learning Provocateur

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

The Nobel Prizes will be announced next week in Norway and Sweden. Despite a few controversial decisions over the years, the awards have retained their international prestige for well over a century. In honour of the event, I have created a simple learning object that showcases the Nobel Laureates from my own country: Australia’s Nobel Laureates.

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Learning Objects Learning Objectives Interactive SWF 149

E-Learning Provocateur

AUGUST 2, 2011

A little while ago I attended the latest Learning Cafe in Sydney. The theme this time around was Learning in a cost conscious environment. We’ve all seen it with our own eyes: when a company hits hard times, its training budget is one of the first casualties. Bob Spence rightly pointed out that the training function is often seen as a cost rather than an investment.

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Social Networks Wiki Budget Social Network 149

E-Learning Provocateur

JANUARY 11, 2011

The title of this article is self explanatory, so here goes… 1. Death by PowerPoint. If you mean “death by bullet point&# then say that instead. PowerPoint is just a tool. A poor tradesman blames his tools. 2. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. …if we’ve never met. LinkedIn even tells you “Invitations should only be sent to people you know personally&#.

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Social Networks LinkedIn Facebook PowerPoint 149

E-Learning Provocateur

MAY 17, 2011

Debra Ellis asked recently: Does social media belong in Marketing or Customer Service? I replied whimsically that the way I see it, asking who in the organisation owns social media is a bit like asking who owns the photocopiers. Marketing and Customer Service (not to mention others such as Media Relations) each have their own contribution to make for the success of the group.

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Social Media Customer Service Media Analysis 146

E-Learning Provocateur

MARCH 24, 2011

Hot on the heels of being nominated for a Best Australian Blog award at the Sydney Writers’ Centre, I have also been nominated for the Best Learning Leader Blog award at LearnX Asia Pacific. Thanks again to everyone who has nominated me, and I’m sure any further nominations wouldn’t go astray!

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Blogging Learning 146

E-Learning Provocateur

JANUARY 24, 2011

The other day my friend told me she cried during Toy Story 3. I haven’t seen it myself, so I don’t know the nuances of the plot. But I do know it’s a cartoon! It amazes me how a story – though fictional and visually artificial – can affect human emotion. It’s no wonder then that a real story can impact us even more deeply.

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Toys Performance Custom Learner 146

E-Learning Provocateur

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

The recent historic events in Egypt remind me of the Peaceful Revolution in East Berlin in 1989. In both cases I believe the protest movement was catalysed by the church, whether directly or indirectly. While the imams in Egypt reportedly implored their faithful not to take to the streets, the pastor of Leipzig’s Church of St Nicholas actively encouraged non-violent uprising via weekly “Peace Prayers&#.

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Second Life Social Media Social Networks Facebook 142

E-Learning Provocateur

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Wow! 2011 was a big year of writing for me, with 2 self-published books and over 40 blog posts. My books are available on Amazon , and I have listed the year’s blog posts below for your convenience. Thanks for reading! Social media. • Social media extremism. • Smash your wall. • My Twitter hero. • Who owns the photocopiers?

Social Networks 138

Social Networks Social Media Augmented Reality Toys 138

E-Learning Provocateur

MARCH 15, 2011

Last week I attended ElNet’s Workplace E-learning Congress in Sydney. As per my tradition, I will share my 1-line takeaways with you here, and I am more than happy to discuss them further. Simply add a comment! Please note my 1-liners don’t necessarily reflect a synopsis of each presentation. Instead, they represent something specific that I found particularly worthwhile.

Social Networks 130

Social Networks Confluence Simulations Virtual World 130

E-Learning Provocateur

MARCH 21, 2011

W00t! I’m a Best Australian Blogs nominee! Thank you to everyone who has nominated me. If you haven’t nominated me but you enjoy my blog – or at least it provokes your grey cells – I could always do with further nominations… Nominate. My name: Ryan Tracey. My email: ryantracey [at] three [dot] com [dot] au. My URL: [link]. Thanks!

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Blogging 125

E-Learning Provocateur

OCTOBER 11, 2011

I had so much fun creating Australia’s Nobel Laureates , I decided to create another simple interactive learning object. This one’s called On the Money and it pays homage to the great people who feature on Australia’s currency: On the Money. Launch the learning object. Download the files. This time I used Adobe Captivate 5.5. I’m still getting used to it, but I see the residual rollover effects have been fixed.

Learning Objects 121

Learning Objects Adobe Captivate Captivate Learning Objectives 121

E-Learning Provocateur

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

In my role, I get contacted by sales representatives all the time. They flog rapid authoring tools, simulation software, learning management systems, mobile platforms, content libraries, courseware development, project management… the list goes on. I’m not complaining. I appreciate everyone needs to put food on the table. And besides, many of my friends and family are (or have been) sales reps.

Sales 113

Sales Tips Authoring Tools Simulations 113

E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

A person’s respect for Klout is directly proportional to their Klout Score.

Score 156

Score Personal Personalization Digital 156

E-Learning Provocateur

DECEMBER 25, 2011

I have really enjoyed following the recent argy bargy between Larry Sanger and Steve Wheeler. From a learning practitioner’s point of view, it raises issues of pedagogy, instructional design, and perhaps even epistemology. Having said that, I think it all boils down to the novice-expert principle. As a novice, you don’t know what you don’t know.

Cognitive 100

Cognitive Pedagogy Expert Instructional Design 100

E-Learning Provocateur

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Wow! 2011 was a big year of writing for me, with 2 self-published books and over 40 blog posts. My books are available on Amazon , and I have listed the year’s blog posts below for your convenience. Thanks for reading! Social media. • Social media extremism. • Smash your wall. • My Twitter hero. • Who owns the photocopiers?

Social Networks 100

Social Networks Social Media Augmented Reality Toys 100

E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

Evaluation is notoriously under done in the corporate sector. And who can blame us? With ever increasing pressure bearing down on L&D professionals to put out the next big fire, it’s no wonder we don’t have time to scratch ourselves before shifting our attention to something new – let alone measure what has already been and gone.

Evalution 100

Evalution Metrics Examples Statistics 100

E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Well I have finally bitten the bullet and published a selection of my blog musings in paperback form. The book is entitled E-Learning Provocateur: Volume 1 and my intent is to provoke deeper thinking across a range of themes in the modern workplace, including: • social media. • learning theory. • pedagogy. • instructional design. • learning styles. • blended learning. • informal learning. • mobile learning. • augmented reality. • virtua

Blended Learning 100

Blended Learning Augmented Reality Cloud Computing Pedagogy 100

E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

I read The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore today and I was gobsmacked. The e-book is filled with glorious pictures, marvellous animations and engaging interactivity. Of course, this isn’t the only title that takes advantage of its medium. For example, Rob Brydon has added audio and video components to his autobiography Small Man in a Book , while the textbooks on the Inkling app include animations, quizzes and social study tools.

Lectora 100

Lectora Picture Audio Sound 100

E-Learning Provocateur

OCTOBER 25, 2011

A provocative question was posed at the latest Learning Cafe : Does the learning department spend disproportionate effort on leadership development? To me, it makes good business sense to facilitate the development of effective leaders in the organisation. Leadership is a driver of culture, which in turn is a driver of engagement, which in turn is a driver of performance.

Leadership 100

Leadership Develop Comparison ROI 100

E-Learning Provocateur

OCTOBER 11, 2011

I had so much fun creating Australia’s Nobel Laureates , I decided to create another simple interactive learning object. This one’s called On the Money and it pays homage to the great people who feature on Australia’s currency: On the Money. Launch the learning object. Download the files. This time I used Adobe Captivate 5.5. I’m still getting used to it, but I see the residual rollover effects have been fixed.

Learning Objects 100

Learning Objects Adobe Captivate Captivate Learning Objectives 100