Mobilemind

These are exciting times for learning & talent management systems and for Adobe Flex. A few weeks ago at LMS 2007, Elliott Masie addressed what he saw as the powerful potential of Flex for visualization of enterprise learning and human performance information. As a follow-up, the Masie Center is working with Learning Consortium members and vendors to create a powerful proof-of-concept that demonstrate web services integration of enterprise applications. This proof-of-concept project will demonstrate how applications like HR, LMS/LCMS, ERP, CRM can be integrated for a "performance dashboard" to visualize related information from these systems, and even allow for taking action that spans applications.

Now, weeks after kicking-off this project Adobe has announced that Flex will become open source, over the course of 2007, under the Mozilla Public License.

I'm working around a Blogger issue, so here is the rest of the entry.

Donald Clark- Plan B
Well thought, well researched information and opinions on learning and education. Here's a GREAT example that cites John Locke's thoughts on education and references William James too- Habitual Learning (h-learning). Recently (and informally) dubbed a premiere learning "debunker", he clearly puts thought, time and research into his posts.

Karl Kapp- Kapp Notes
I've known Karl for almost 10 years through Dr. Tim Phillips and the Bloomsburg University Corporate Advisory Council. Karl and I bonded over our shared background with major consulting firms, and interest in instructional design. He recently published an intriguing book on gaming (Gadgets, Games & Gizmos for Learning) that puts forth the notion of certain generations or epochs of computer/console gamers, as well as ramifications and possibilities for learning and training.

Mark Oehlert- e-Clippings (Learning As Art)
Hmm, what can I say except, "Mark is out there. AND he brings it back to share with you." Tons of quick thought, deep thoughts and connections that can be applied to learning, training, development and technology. He is the first one I remember meeting who was genuinely and deeply interested and passionate about using Second Life for learning and training.

John Dowdell- JD on EP
I read John's blog daily to keep up on relevant techmemes, trends and key Adobe news. As a community manager and corporate blogger he provides lots of interesting connection and insights on the blogosphere, journalism and techno-social trends come along the way too. Plus you've got to love obscure references to Donald Duck artists and terms for non-verbal acknowledgment.

Steve Makofsky- The Furrygoat Experience
I started reading Steve's blog years ago when I got hooked on an RSS Reader he wrote for PocketPC. He's since moved into Microsoft and then out of Seattle and into Yahoo. I like the technology themes and random relevant insights of his blog. From him I learned of Kathy Sierra's blog (and subsequently recommended that VNU get her as a speaker for Training Directors Forum). Steve also reacquainted with Bruce Tognazzini whose book (Tog on Software Design) I had read years earlier.

Labels: blogs, learning

UPDATE: Google Blogger is totally crappy about providing any feedback other than failure, so I'm breaking this into 2 posts. Validating the HTML of the posts with the W3C and Dreamweaver validator is useless; Blogger just silently fails with a blank screen.

I perceive much of my own value as being a node in a network. The connections I make and the connections that pass through are valuable. I like to share them. Here are a few of the blogs I'd like to share with you and some of my personal editorial comments that may help you.

Clark Aldrich- Elements of Interactivity If you want to apply simulation to professional development, then Clark IS the man. Fantastic on-going posts on the ASTD Learning Circuits Blogand his own blog are great reading, thought provoking and encouraging for those who want to use more simulation to increase training effectiveness and performance.

Jay Cross- Internet Time Blog My summary about him? Foresight + Insight + Raconteur + ?? = Jay Example Entry: Now What Invited to speak about"Informal Learning Goes Mobile" at the Seriously Mobile Summit, Jay realizes they "get it" already and moves on.

The audience had already drunk the web 2.0 KoolAid. I pushed them to think about the implications several years out. As a starting point, I eliminated talk about devices. The previous week, when talking with a dozen very sophisticated learning technologists about mobile, the conversation rapidly devolved into complaints about unreadable screens and buttons too small for beefy fingers. Moore's Law will take care of those in short order, so we started as if it already had...

more to come

Labels: blogs, learning, simulation

Yesterday at LMS 2007, Elliott showed a bit of the "shift happens" presentation about the changing world for learners and the job market. It's been posted and talked about all over the web, but I am re-posting/linking here for the benefit of attendees. Here's a brief summary drawn from the original post and a link to it (PPT available there).

The Fischbowl: Did You Know?:So, instead, I decided to take David Warlick up on his idea of telling the new story. I put together a PowerPoint presentation with some (hopefully) thought-provoking ideas. I was hoping by telling some of these 'stories' to our faculty, I could get them thinking about - and discussing with each other - the world our students are entering. To get them to really think about what our students are going to need to be successful in the 21st century, and then how that might impact what they do in their classrooms. It would also help the faculty that are not currently participating in my staff development join the conversation.

There is also a great, tighter 6 minute version posted here:

Labels: events

I've added this month's ITEC conference to the Elearning Events Calendar (thanks to Mark Tomlinson of ACNS for the invite & reminder). I also added I/ITSEC and a few other shows and events. Later this week I'm at LMS 2007 and in the coming days, I'll add a few more Masie Center events, and see what I can do to flush out the Fall trade show schedule in further detail.

Labels: events