E-Learning Provocateur

MAY 2, 2022

Despite its honesty, the humble phrase “I don’t know” is widely feared. From the fake-it-til-you-make-it mindset of consultants to the face-saving responses of executives , we puny humans are psychologically conditioned to have all the answers – or at least be seen to. Of course, demanding all the answers is the premise of summative assessment, especially when it’s in the form of the much maligned multiple-choice quiz.

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E-Learning Provocateur

APRIL 4, 2022

I’ve never understood the rationale of the 80% pass mark. Which 20% of our work are we prepared to do wrongly? It might explain the universally poor state of CX that companies are evidently willing to wear, but it’s arguably more serious when we consider the acronym-laden topics that are typically rolled out via e-learning, such as OHS and CTF.

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E-Learning Provocateur

MARCH 7, 2022

Well that was unexpected. When I hit the Publish button on Not our job , I braced myself for a barrage of misunderstanding and its evil twin, misrepresentation. But it didn’t happen. On the contrary, my peers who contacted me about it were downright agreeable. (A former colleague did politely pose a comment as a disagreement, but I happened to agree with everything she stated.).

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E-Learning Provocateur

JANUARY 31, 2022

Despite the prevailing rhetoric for the Learning & Development function to be “data driven”, data for the purposes of evaluating what we do is notoriously hard to come by. Typically we collect feedback from happy sheets (which I prefer to call unhappy sheets ) and confirm learning outcomes via some form of assessment. In my experience, however, behavioural change is reported much less often, while anything to do with business metrics even less so.

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E-Learning Provocateur

JANUARY 4, 2022

Little did I know in March last year that the Learning & Development Leadership Summit would be the only in-person event that I would attend until the L&D Symposium in November! The summit was held in downtown Sydney – immersed in the hustle and bustle of the city, and convenient to boot. In contrast, the symposium was held in the gorgeous Hunter Valley – far enough away from the bright lights to be a hassle to get to, but free of the daily distractions of “work” – allowing u

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Conference Simulations Augmented Reality Forum 235

E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

When I pressed the Publish button on Roses are red , it capstoned a year of semantics for me which spilled over into this year. In addition to my annual list of conferences in Australia for digital educators, I applied my cognitive surplus to another nine posts that dive deeper into the murky waters of meaning. In Double defence I pondered the defensive value of so-called “skills of the future”, while in Skills of the present I recognised their value for offense.

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Cognitive Assessment Skills Press 189

E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

As my home state emerges from lockdown, I reflect over the many months of confusion during the pandemic. My fellow citizens were confounded by brain benders such as whether to wear a mask inside a ride-share vehicle; what qualifies as an “essential” item; and when one may travel beyond 5km from home. No confusion over the Dine & Discover voucher scheme, however, whereby residents apply for $100 worth of credit to fund eligible recreation activities.

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E-Learning Provocateur

AUGUST 31, 2021

Australia’s performance in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was impressive, even for a nation that considers barely scraping into the top 10 a national cause for concern. What was surprising this time around was the proportion of gold medals to total medals – a whopping 37% – which of course makes all the difference in the final tally. Don’t get me wrong, I consider any medal a tremendous victory (exemplified by the Boomers’ historic bronze) but there’s no doubt the one most

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E-Learning Provocateur

AUGUST 8, 2021

There was an aspect I omitted from my previous post, Space invaders , in which I covered the spacing effect as a means of maximising long-term retention. Zsolt Olah picked it: interleaving and – ironically! – I judged it a bridge too far to include in the same post and so decided to split it out across a second one. You’ll see why… Interleaving.

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E-Learning Provocateur

JULY 4, 2021

Sometimes, out of the blue, one of my blog posts really hits the mark. Such was the case recently with Great and small in which I had a go at redefining our pedagogical terminology. While the post only attracted a few comments – cheers Neil , Dani and Rob – my friend Helen Blunden observes that barely anyone does that any more. To her point, I was contacted via other means by readers who wanted to thank me for sharing my semantics with them.

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Cognitive Simulations Quiz Learning Space 356

E-Learning Provocateur

MAY 3, 2021

I find it strange when a blogger doesn’t approve my comment. I consider comments the life blood of my own blog, and whether they be positive or negative, classy or rude, they all add to the diversity of the conversation. If your fragile ego can’t handle that, don’t blog. I recently submitted a constructive comment to a particular blog post, twice, and it never eventuated.

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Assessment Education Knowledge Course 177

E-Learning Provocateur

APRIL 5, 2021

English is a funny language. Coloured by countless other languages over centuries of war, politics, colonialism, migration and globalisation, many words have been lost, appropriated or invented, while others have changed their meaning. In Australian English for example, fair dinkum means “true” or “genuine” Linguaphiles speculate the phrase originated in 19th Century Lincolnshire, where “dinkum” referred to a fair amount of work, probably in relation to a stin

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E-Learning Provocateur

MARCH 1, 2021

The meaning of the phrase skills of the future is variable. Like so many other terms in our profession, its definition depends on who you ask. According to my own heuristic, a “skill of the future” is a capability for which demand will grow disproportionately over the next 5 years. (While the future extends beyond this timeframe, I typically see any crystal balling for it too fantastical to be useful.).

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E-Learning Provocateur

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

In a past life I worked with a fellow named Jim who was very good at what he did. As what I would term a “trainer”, he was well versed in face-to-face delivery and widely respected in the business as a subject matter expert. He had also racked up quite a tenure at the company, so he was considered something of a stalwart. In my own role, though, I could see what Jim couldn’t: the incoming wave of e-learning.

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E-Learning Provocateur

JANUARY 4, 2021

Let’s try that again. Just as we were gearing up for another year’s worth of cutting edge insights and showcases, the coronavirus had other ideas. While some of the digital learning conferences I had listed for 2020 went ahead as planned, others pivoted to virtual delivery, while the rest were ironically postponed or cancelled. Although in this country we remain confident in vaccination and elimination, the genie is out of the bottle and this year we’ll see an unprecedented num

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E-Learning Provocateur

DECEMBER 7, 2020

I dislike grammar jokes, pedants, and Oxford commas. That’s my jovial way to end a year that will be remembered as a tough one for a long time to come. I found blogging a welcome distraction, so much so that in addition to my annual list of e-learning conferences in Australia (which took a beating!) I churned out no fewer than ten thought pieces.

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Augmented Reality Articulate Summary Evalution 234

E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

In Roses are red , I proposed definitions for oft-used yet ambiguous terms such as “competency” and “capability” Not only did I suggest a competency be considered a task, but also that its measurement be binary: competent or not yet competent.

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E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

It seems like overnight the L&D profession has started to struggle with the definition of terms such as “capability”, “competency” and “skill” Some of our peers consider them synonyms – and hence interchangeable – but I do not. Indeed I recognise subtle but powerful distinctions among them, so here’s my 2-cents’ worth to try to cut through the confusion.

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E-Learning Provocateur

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

I once had a conversation with a man who scared me. It was over 20 years ago, and I remember him being quite a lovely fellow. He was simply proud of his son earning his PhD. What scared me was his conviction that in order to keep up in the imminent future, an undergraduate qualification would not be enough; one must earn a postgraduate qualification.

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E-Learning Provocateur

OCTOBER 5, 2020

I’ve blogged in favour of digital badges in the past, not because they’re colourful motivators – which arguably they are, at least for some people – but because they represent an achievement. While the robustness of the criteria for earning a badge may be challenged, as may be the assessment of meeting said criteria, the concept holds true: a badge must be earned by demonstrating that you have done something.

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E-Learning Provocateur

JULY 14, 2020

From $7 billion to nearly $14 billion. That’s how much the spend on leadership training by American corporations grew over the preceding 15 years, according to Kaiser and Curphy in their 2013 paper Leadership development: The failure of an industry and the opportunity for consulting psychologists. Over that same period we witnessed the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the implosion of Enron, and of course the Global Financial Crisis.

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E-Learning Provocateur

JUNE 22, 2020

Years ago, I remember taking a tour of what was then one of those newfangled “innovation labs” A hive of Design Thinking , it was crawling with serious young people in jeans and t-shirts scribbling on walls and rearranging herds of post-it notes. In an otherwise old-fashioned financial services organisation, it was an impressive tilt towards modernisation and true customer centricity (beyond the warm and fuzzy TV commercials).

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Micro-Learning Assessment Design Course 243

E-Learning Provocateur

APRIL 6, 2020

Few things in the L&D profession attract as much disdain as the Level 1 evaluation survey. Known colloquially as the “happy sheet”, the humble questionnaire is typically considered too onerous, too long, too shallow, and it gives whiners a platform to complain about the sandwiches or the air conditioning. And yet a long time ago, someone told me something that has stuck with me ever since: you don’t want to not do it.

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Evalution Learning Environment Score Survey 225

E-Learning Provocateur

MARCH 23, 2020

Busted any ghosts lately? About this time last year I published one of my most popular blog posts, 20 real-world examples of Augmented Reality , in which I shared examples of what people in the real world are currently doing with this emerging technology – in contrast to the promise of what we could be doing. I’d like to share with you half a dozen other examples that I’ve stumbled upon since then.

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Augmented Reality Examples Virtual World Apple 246

E-Learning Provocateur

JANUARY 7, 2020

The iconic “2020” has dawned. What does it mean for digital learning? Let’s find out… International Conference on E-Learning and Distance Learning. Sydney, 30-31 January 2020. International Conference on Virtual and AR Simulations. Sydney, 14-16 February 2020. Blended Learning & Innovation Summit. Sydney, 24-27 February 2020. iDESIGNX.

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Conference Simulations Learning Distance Learning 45

E-Learning Provocateur

DECEMBER 2, 2019

Well that’s my excuse, anyway. 2019 has been a tumultuous year for me, so I haven’t been able to write as much as I have in previous years. Nonetheless, I hope the few articles I was able to publish proved useful and worthwhile. Here they are again in case you missed them or fancy a refresh… 20 real-world examples of Augmented Reality.

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E-Learning Provocateur

APRIL 8, 2019

Micro-learning is so hot right now. But I’m not going to deliberate over its definition. If you’re into that, check out Shannon Tipton’s Microlearning: The Misunderstood Buzzword and 7 Deadly Myths of Microlearning. Nor am I going to try to convince you to jump on board, or abandon ship. Instead, I’m going to consider firstly how micro-learning might be used in a corporate training context; and secondly, pivot towards something slightly different.

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E-Learning Provocateur

MARCH 3, 2019

Over the course of my career, I’ve witnessed a slow but steady shift away from formal learning to informal learning. Of course, remnants of the “formal first” philosophy still exist, whereby every conceivable problem is attempted to be fixed by a training solution, typically in the form of a course. Over time, the traditional classroom-based delivery of such courses has increasingly given way to online modules, but that’s merely a change in format – not strategy.

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E-Learning Provocateur

DECEMBER 9, 2018

Is it just me or is every year a “big year”…? Well 2018 marked a decade of blogging by yours truly, and that alone is something that I’m proud of. Throughout the highs and lows that life gifted me this year, I was able to share another 8 thought bubbles in addition to my annual list of conferences. I call them my Crazy Eight and I recall them here for your enjoyment and critique… Battle scars – We can’t fight an “ism” with yet more ism. 25 mo

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E-Learning Provocateur

SEPTEMBER 23, 2018

I’m both a science nerd and a history buff, so naturally I’m fascinated by the history of science. When I visited Bern several years ago, the Museum für Kommunikation was at the top of my “to do” list. This captivating institution is dedicated to the history of technology-mediated communication, from the cuneiform tablets of the Sumerians, through the gamut of the postal service, telephony, telegraphy, radio, television, computers and the Internet.

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E-Learning Provocateur

JULY 15, 2018

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. I’m fascinated by this quote that Henry Ford may or may not have uttered. In The best of both worlds I promoted Design Thinking as a means of using customer insights to inform strategic decision making. However, as the above quote suggests, customers don’t know what they don’t know.

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E-Learning Provocateur

JUNE 10, 2018

There’s no point landing the perfect plane at the wrong airport. That’s an analogy someone shared with me several years ago to explain Design Thinking, and it has resonated with me ever since for two reasons. Firstly, it exposes the solution-first approach that pervades the corporate sector; and secondly, it challenges our obsession with perfection.

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Examples Agile Design Sample 247

E-Learning Provocateur

MAY 13, 2018

There are two sides of the innovation coin in corporate learning & development: technology and pedagogy. The former is rather obvious and is often conflated with the term innovation. Futuristic hardware and magical software that educates everyone at the press of a button are tempting “solutions” Some folks call this mindset Shiny New Toy Syndrome, and by golly, it’s a pandemic.

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E-Learning Provocateur

APRIL 26, 2018

On this day 10 years ago, I pressed the “Publish” button on my first ever blog post. It was a welcome message pitching my corner of the World Wide Web as “a forum to share my thoughts and ideas about everything e?learning, to explore new tools and technologies, and to highlight trends and changing behaviours in the online world.” I initially titled my blog Ryan 2.0 – hence the URL – because “on a personal level, it represents my next big step in our evol

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E-Learning Provocateur

MARCH 4, 2018

A couple of years ago I started up Virtual Reality Working Out Loud Week to promote real-world applications of virtual reality. The inaugural #VRwolweek unearthed 20 real-world examples of the emerging technology, and the enduring popularity of that blog post tells me that we are hungry for more. Loath to disappoint, I hereby present 25 more real-world examples of virtual reality, drawn from this year’s and last year’s events.

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E-Learning Provocateur

FEBRUARY 4, 2018

There’s an ugly trend on Australian television that’s been going on for quite a while. I hoped it would fade away but it only seems to be getting worse. I’m referring to the ever-increasing number of commercials that depict males as incompetent fools who are put straight by their female companions. Maybe it’s been happening in your country too.

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E-Learning Provocateur

DECEMBER 10, 2017

2017 was a whirlwind for me. I started a new job in a new sector, made loads of new friends there, learned heaps, and finished said job 10 months later before starting another one back in financial services. I haven’t had much of a chance to scratch myself! As a consequence, I haven’t blogged as frequently this year as I have done in previous years.

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