Tony Karrer

DECEMBER 14, 2010

Over the past few years, I spend part of December going back through my blog to recap a bit of what some of the key things I’ve learned over the course of the year. I’ve been doing this the past few years, for example: Learned about Learning in 2009. And every year I use this as a Big Question – see: Learning 2010. A lot of it is thinking through where my thinking has changed over the course of the year.

Text-to-Speech 200

Text-to-Speech Compliance Training Diversity Training SharePoint 200

Tony Karrer

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

I just read George Siemens post Will online lectures destroy universities? He makes the point that despite articles like Why free online lectures will destroy universities – unless they get their act together fast : Statements like “universities are obsolete” or “universities are dying” are comical. And untrue. Universities are continuing to grow in enrolment and general influence in society.

Lecture 141

Lecture Corporate eLearning Internationalization Creative Commons 141

Tony Karrer

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

This post is part of the series on Text-to-Speech (TTS) for eLearning written by Dr. Joel Harband and edited by me. The other posts are: Text-to-Speech Overview and NLP Quality , Digital Signal Processor and Text-to-Speech , Using Text-to-Speech in an eLearning Course , Text-to-Speech eLearning Tools - Integrated Products , Text-to-Speech vs Human Narration for eLearning , and Using Punctuation and Mark-Up Language to Increase Text-to-Speech Quality.

Text-to-Speech 119

Text-to-Speech License Cost ADL 119

Tony Karrer

NOVEMBER 11, 2010

Clayton Wright has done his amazing list of conferences again this year and has asked me to post again. Past years eLearning Conferences 2010 , eLearning Conferences 2009. You can contact him at: crwr77@gmail.com. This list is focused mostly on the first half of the year: January to June 2011. And it covers a broad range of types of topics. Please note that events, dates, titles, and locations may change; thus, CHECK the specific conference website.

eLearning Conferences 217

eLearning Conferences Conference Blended Learning Cyber Security Training 217

Tony Karrer

SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

This is fourth post in a series on Text-to-Speech (TTS) for eLearning written by Dr. Joel Harband and edited by me (which turns out to be a great way to learn). The other posts are: Text-to-Speech Overview and NLP Quality , Digital Signal Processor and Text-to-Speech , and Using Text-to-Speech in an eLearning Course. If this topic is of interest, then also check out the Big Question this month: Voice Over in eLearning.

Text-to-Speech 191

Text-to-Speech eLearning Tools Integrate Authoring Tools 191

Tony Karrer

AUGUST 31, 2010

I’ve recently been working with Sameer Bhatia the CEO of ProProfs as I was going through an evaluation of various online tools that support easy, fast, low-cost testing and quiz tools. He helped me pull together the following evaluation of a few different solutions: ClassMarker Quia ProProfs Google Docs Forms Creator, and Quibblo. Evaluation Criteria For the specific need I was looking at, I was looking for the following out of a solution: Cost : Is the tool free or very-low cost to use?

Low Cost 168

Low Cost Comparison Quiz Cost 168

Tony Karrer

AUGUST 11, 2010

This is stupid but struck me funny. I did a search for rapid eLearning and the following is a screen shot showing the results with arrows added for one that I really don’t understand. There have to be all sorts of great jokes about what this implies about Rapid eLearning, Articulate, etc. By the way, I had logged out at the time. It’s NOT because of personalized search. eLearning Technology.

Rapid eLearning 112

Rapid eLearning Search Google eLearning 112

Tony Karrer

AUGUST 10, 2010

I wanted to follow-up 19 Tips for Effective Online Conferences with some additional resources that relate to this topic. I primarily used the eLearning Learning and Communities and Networks sites and used Conference , Online Facilitation of Conferences , Online Interaction in Conferences , Moderating Online Interaction , and others. 28 Web Conference Training Tips - eLearning Weekly , July 10, 2009 Learning to use web conferencing technology is pretty easy, but there is a lot more to training vi

Conference 199

Conference Web Resources Social Networks 199

Tony Karrer

JULY 13, 2010

I’m involved in several discussions around how to use Wikis as part of learning solutions. I wanted to collect a few resources around this topic for use in these discussions. So, of course, I went to eLearning Learning and I looked at Wiki , Collaborative Learning with Wikis , Wikis and eLearning 2.0 , Wikis Corporate eLearning , Social Learning with Wikis , Wiki Security and a few others.

Wiki 192

Wiki Case Study Resources Social Networks 192

Tony Karrer

JUNE 30, 2010

This is the second post in a series on Text-to-Speech for eLearning written by Dr. Joel Harband and edited by me (which turns out to be a great way to learn). The first post, Text-to-Speech Overview and NLP Quality , introduced the text to speech voice and discussed issues of quality related to its first component – the natural language processor (NLP).

Text-to-Speech 109

Text-to-Speech Examples Digital File Size 109

Tony Karrer

JUNE 23, 2010

My posts around the Beginning of Long Slow Death of Flash and my post from a CTO perspective that I Cannot Bet on Flash for new development stirred up quite a bit of response. A lot of it said quite correctly that HTML5 is not there yet. And that Flash provides things that you can’t do in HTML/JavaScript. However, there are some pretty amazing things you can do without Flash.

Flash 110

Flash Flash to HTML5 Conversion Authorware HTML 110

Tony Karrer

JUNE 22, 2010

Inc. Magazine published an article The Best Industries for Starting a Business In 2010. Not sure what to make of most of the article, but they did include Exam Preparation and Tutoring as one of the top ten. Parents always want their kids to do better on tests. A large number of adults returning to school are also looking for an edge. Given the low barrier to entry, this field is competitive.

Online 111

Online Market Music Predictions 111

Tony Karrer

JUNE 17, 2010

As you probably know, eLearning Learning has been steadily growing and is now one of the top eLearning sites on the web. I wanted to let you know about an exciting development for eLearning Learning that’s being announced this morning in the eLearning DevCon Keynote. Garin Hess and the team from Rapid Intake has stepped in to help me keep the site going both from an effort and financial standpoint.

Rapid Intake 100

Rapid Intake Google Buzz eLearning iPad 100

Tony Karrer

JUNE 8, 2010

This post is a new kind of thing for me. Dr. Joel Harband wrote most of this post and I worked with him on the focus, the content and a little bit of editing - actually I couldn't help myself and I edited this a lot. So this is really a combined effort at this point. As you know, Text-to-Speech is something that's very interesting to me and Joel knows a lot about it as CEO of Tuval Software Industries maker of Speech-Over Professional.

Text-to-Speech 149

Text-to-Speech Quality Virtual Classroom Voice 149

Tony Karrer

MAY 20, 2010

I was asked what the biggest traffic sites are in eLearning that were not vendor specific sites. This was from a marketer trying to reach eLearning professionals. My quick answer was that Jane Hart’s site , eLearning Learning and The eLearning Guild would be among the top. But I really didn’t/don’t know the answer. I did promise I’d do some research and post what I found.

Site 123

Site Brandon Hall ASTD eLearning 123

Tony Karrer

MAY 17, 2010

Based on the recent Big Question - Learning Technology 2015 – I received an interesting question: "Tony, what do you think of environments like Second Life? Do you think these have a great future in the world of learning for adults?" This is a topic I’ve talked about a few times. Probably before you begin to read my predictions, it’s worth looking at: Second Life Learning Videos where I’ve collected a few different examples of learning in Second Life.

Environment 137

Environment Second Life Virtual World Simulations 137

Tony Karrer

MAY 6, 2010

Earlier this year I questioned why there was Still No Flash on the iPhone and iPad. It’s become quite clear that Apple (Steve Jobs) is going to block putting Flash on these platforms. Today the big news is Scribd Switches to HTML5; Adobe To Make Tools for HTML5. As a Part-Time CTO , I am continually making choices about what platforms to use, what do we build for, how do we integrate with social networks, etc.

Flash 157

Flash Flash to HTML5 Conversion Social Networks Flash Player 157

Tony Karrer

MAY 4, 2010

I was hoping that Ning was going to come out with a inexpensive plan that would support the different Ning sites that I have a hand in. They do have Ning Mini at $3/mo, but it only allows 150 members. That’s not going to work for: LearnTrends LA CTO Forum Work Literacy I’ve read a bit about alternatives, but each will require a bit of work. Harold Jarche is trying to figure it out for the Work Literacy site.

Ning 114

Ning Alternatives LearnTrends Forum 114

Tony Karrer

MAY 4, 2010

The Big Question for May is Learning Technology 2015 – it asks what we expect workplace learning technologies to look like in 2015. I definitely want to include Performance Support as part of the discussion. In a post on my CTO Blog , I talked about Match Performance Support ,the performance support that goes along with many matching solutions such as in eHarmony.

Performance Support 113

Performance Support Support Performance Cognitive 113

Tony Karrer

APRIL 20, 2010

I received some interesting questions (and you know I love questions) from someone doing eLearning industry market research around trends in simulations, games, social learning. They said they would be fine with me posting my thoughts. I’m sure they’d love to get thoughts from others as there’s likely not enough data around this stuff to be super comfortable making business decisions.

Simulations 123

Simulations Trends Games Social 123

Tony Karrer

APRIL 13, 2010

I had an interesting conversation the other day about whether there’s that much new going on in eLearning here in 2010. The general sentiment around the room was that many workplace learning organizations were focused on nuts-and-bolts training, and that there was little innovation. I’m probably not the best judge of whether there’s innovation going on because: People call me when they want to do something innovative.

Innovation 111

Innovation Compliance Training Google Wave PKM 111

Tony Karrer

APRIL 5, 2010

As part of last month’s big question Open Content in Workplace Learning? , I’ve been trying to find out more about specific answers to Creative Commons Use in For-Profit Company eLearning. I was contacted by someone out of the Creative Commons organization, but in going back and forth with them, we realized that I was looking for legal interpretations which they clearly can’t do.

Creative Commons 144

Creative Commons License OCW Compliance Training 144

Tony Karrer

MARCH 30, 2010

Last week I had a presentation around using Social Media and Web 2.0 tools to improve your performance as a knowledge worker. One of the questions that always comes up is: How do I find more information to help me get started? The answer is that this information is a bit hard to come by. There’s a lot out there, but it’s often hard to find information that helps you get start.

Knowledge Worker 106

Knowledge Worker Social Media Media Knowledge 106

Tony Karrer

MARCH 4, 2010

Background / Requirements I’m just starting consulting with a company that has a single course (might eventually be broken into a few different course) that needs to be delivered to an audience of 600-1000 partners as part of a larger certification process. Thus, they need to be able to report back out who’s completed the courses. Courses will be authored using a Rapid Authoring Tool.

Association Learning Management System 100

Association Learning Management System Compliance Training LMS Association LMS 100

Tony Karrer

MARCH 1, 2010

I’ve been facilitating the Big Question on ASTD’s Learning Circuit’s blog since sometime in 2006. Last month’s big question was Instruction in a Information Snacking Culture? The question was all about how we consume and work with information: People seem to be spending less time going through information in depth and less willing to spend time on information.

Big Question 105

Big Question Twitter Behavior Blogging 105

Tony Karrer

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

Most of my experience has been in adult learning and performance. Recently I’ve been working with a startup that provides content and tools to teens and is sold through high schools. The first course is fairly well defined and is based on a couple of books/workbooks that have been used offline. What’s been interesting to me is that it’s been hard to find just the right person to help them with designing interactive exercises and writing content in order to bring this to life online.

Interactive 100

Interactive Write Blog Instructional Design Social Networks 100

Tony Karrer

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

There has been fantastic comments around Learning Management System Easy of Use. This post was based on an inquiry that I received from someone who manages their current LMS implementation that is based on Moodle with some customization. They do customer training around products that the company sells. They are doing a combination of virtual classroom training (via WebEx) and self-paced eLearning.

LMS 117

LMS Virtual Classroom Moodle WebEx 117

Tony Karrer

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

I’ll have more coming on this topic, but today someone asked me how to approach is going through an LMS selection because the general feeling was that the existing LMS was too hard for users to use. In this case, it’s customer training around products that the company sells. They are doing a combination of virtual classroom training (via WebEx) and self-paced eLearning.

Virtual Classroom 100

Virtual Classroom LMS Moodle WebEx 100

Tony Karrer

NOVEMBER 11, 2009

Based on my post yesterday on Missed Opportunities , I received a really interesting email. The basic gist of the email could be summarized as: Don’t we have enough tools for now? At some level, this seems like a great question. We are already swimming in tools and new tools arrive faster than we can understand them much less try them. It seems somehow reasonable to simply say, let’s stop looking at new tools for a while and just get better with what we already have.

Tools 102

Tools Knowledge Worker eLearning Tools Methods 102

Tony Karrer

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

There has been really great response to both Recommended End of Year eLearning Tools Spending? and this month's Big Question: Presenting the Value of Social Media for Learning. For both, lots of ideas that I never would have been able to provide on my own. I may be pushing my luck, but I received another question that I thought was a good question. By way of background, this person is a teacher/trainer who is bright and has lots of great experience teaching and training different adults across d

HTML 100

HTML Social Media Big Question Brain 100

Tony Karrer

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

I received a question today that I really wasn't sure how to answer and thought that lots of folks might have thoughts around this. Here's the question: I have some extra budget money and I need to invest in software and hardware that will help me create cutting edge, top shelf eLearning programs. I already have these software programs: Articulate Suite '09 Adobe Master Suite CS3 (Not sure that I really need to upgrade to CS4) Camtasia & Snag It Are there any other must have software program

eLearning Tools 100

eLearning Tools Tools eLearning Camera 100

Tony Karrer

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Great post by Dion Hinchcliffe - Twenty-two power laws of the emerging social economy where he discusses what Steve Balmer calls “the new normal”. Balmer talks about how a reset of economic expectations during the downturn has created an environment that is putting pressure on business to do more with less. Some of the specifics of this transformation are captured in the following graphic: This is lines up really well with a lot of what I discuss in Business of Learning and Trends in Learning.

Long Tail 100

Long Tail eLearning 2.0 Portal Corporate eLearning 100

Tony Karrer

OCTOBER 14, 2009

I received an inquiry from a reader and I'm hoping that people can chime in on their thoughts. It relates to my post about eLearning Costs , which bases cost estimates on seat time of the eLearning course. So, the basic question is: We current provide a two day (16 hour) classroom training course for our employees. We are planning to prepare an e-learning course based on this classroom course.

ILT 104

ILT Convert Compliance Training Brandon Hall 104

Tony Karrer

OCTOBER 13, 2009

I've had a similar discussion several times over the past few months. These discussions center on what requirements should go into an LMS RFP and more broadly how the LMS should really be integrated into the organization. Initially, the conversation was about having learning content appear on the enterprise portal. Many LMS vendors provide portlets, gadgets or widgets that allow for access of learning content (most often meaning courses and courseware) through the corporate portal.

Portal 100

Portal Integrate Social Networks SumTotal 100

Tony Karrer

OCTOBER 7, 2009

I must say that many back-to-school nights are a bit painful. For those of you who are not familiar with this, it's an evening where you go to the school (without your children) and the teachers tell you a little bit about how they will approach the year. This year, I attended three different back-to-school nights for my three children (elementary, middle school and high school).

Blogging 108

Blogging System Classes Portfolio 108

Tony Karrer

OCTOBER 6, 2009

As way of background for this month's big question - , I went to eLearning Learning and looked up Multitasking. Found some great posts. But the basic gist is that Multitasking Generally is Bad for Work and Learning Clive Shepherd - A challenge to the multitask assumption tells us: According to work conducted at Stanford University and reported by Constance Holden in Science NOW Daily News under the heading Multitasking muddles the mind , "cognitive performance declines when people try to pa

Multitasking 117

Multitasking Cognitive Summary Write Blog 117

Tony Karrer

OCTOBER 5, 2009

I've known Nancy White and John Smith for quite a while. Nancy has been my go to person for all things Communities and Networks and worked with me to create Communities and Networks Connection. So naturally when Nancy and John (with Etienne Wenger) put out the book Digital Habitats; Stewarding Technology for Communities I was very excited. And I've got to say that I agree with the recent comment in a post I saw: Whenever I get stuck I’ll contact my friends at CPSquare: Etienne, Nancy and John.

LearnTrends 167

LearnTrends Free Digital Wiki 167