Rapid E-learning

The recently attended eLN conference on Rapid Development(RD) - Dumbing down or Gearing up? was an interesting event all through. The event started off by an hour discussion by Clive Shepherd on RD and an exercise of what should be important when designing content in a rapid way.

Case studies of successful implementation of rapid development were presented by Nick Shackleton-Jones from BBC, Benjamin Short from PWC and Hanif Sazen from Safforn Interactive. They shared best practices and few methods and points to remember. The important tips mentioned included deciding the structure of the course/ module/ program, a well planned project sheet, working out the format & quality and having a clearer picture of the process.

Steve Rayson from Kineo talked about the most commonly used tools which were - Mohive, Atlantic Link,Breeze, Lectora, Flash, Captivate and Articulate. He also mentioned that there were many tools being developed every minute and any tool can be used to create content depending on the availability and requirement. This was followed by a healthy debate - the motion before the conference was " We believe that rapid design and development processes represent as much a threat to the eLearning community as they do an opportunity." Arguing against the motion were Steve Rayson and Mike Alcock. Arguing for were Phil Green and Richard Naish. The debate culminated with the delegates votes and it went in favour of against the motion.

A fascinating argument throughout the day was that for rapid development you don't always require IDs, the SME is equally efficient and sometimes even better. A point, which concerned me.

Finally the icing on the cake was a pre recorded webcam conversation with Tom Kuhlmaan followed by a live interview. He discussed how rapid development is gaining importance and the success of his blog amongst many other topics. The point worth considering was his mention to be cautious that the e-learning community doesn't become an elitest group but a group which mingles with the other processes of creating effective learning.

My conclusion: RD is definitely useful for creating certain content and in certain situations however it is not an answer for all e-learning. SME's are very important people in driving the project forward but to say that an ID is not necessary is a point I would have liked to seek some more clarification into.

Learning and Skills Group conference

The follow up conference by Learning and Skills Group held on 30th May was brilliant. It focussed on topics I was interested in and could relate to. The conference was held in an unconventional style with following sessions:

Speaker sessions
Café sessions
Practical workshops
Theoretical workshops
Interest groups

I attended 1 speaker session on 'Appropriate mechanisms for peak performance' by Jonathan Kettleborough , 2 café sessions ( Creating and designing effective e-learning by Patrick Dunn) (The role of the brain in learning with technology by Tamas Makany) and 1 Practical workshop on Association- episodic instructional design by Neil Lasher). Very interesting examples and ideas were discussed, some thrown at us to have a play with. The speaker session was interactive as well.

I enjoyed the conference which again provided me an opportunity to network, discuss and share ideas.

Elearning event

Today was indeed a day well spent. I just got back from an eLearningNetwork event on "building learning communities".

The speakers had the experience of building learning communities and maintaining the same. The event was focussed on the importance of having a learning community and many spoke of how it can be achieved.

Case studies were presented by the Royal Carribean Cruise ( training team), National College for School Leadership,Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London Gifted and Talented, Barry Sampson and the event closed with an interview of Laura Overton.

I agree to the importance of having a learning community but am much too aware of the issues involved in implementing it. Another hurdle will be to keep the community live and going. The community will work very well in organisations focusing on learning or imparting learning in any way but to get it started elsewhere will be a challenge. However, I shall try and do my bit and only time will tell how successful I've been.

Any comments/ discussions more than welcome.