My thanks to my sister who posted it to her Facebook wall.

And, no, I haven’t been the “bloop-bloop” person. I call in early!

“Hi, who just joined?”

Enjoy…

Tweet

Featured Panel: iPad – Game Changer or Just Another Tablet?

Panel Members:

• Paul Clothier, TapLearn
• Bill Rankin, Associate Professor, Abilene Christian University
• A.J. Ripin, Director, Moving Knowledge
• Brent Schlenker, Program Manager/Emerging Technologies Evangelist, The eLearning Guild
• Greg Smith, Chief Information Officer, George Fox University
• Carmen Taran, Executive Coach, Rexi Media
• Joe Welinske, President, Writers UA

First, a Few Words from Me

I am owned by an iPad. And, I’m an Apple fangrrrl. However, I am also “agnostic” when it comes to operating systems and manufacturers. I truly believe that our learners will let us know which mobile devices and OSes are “the ones”… not Adobe, not Apple, not Google… the learners will be the judges, and I feel we all need to be “multilingual” when designing and developing mobile learning. That said, I am a HUGE FAN of the iPad. I’m convinced that tablet-based learning will rock our worlds, and it was a fun, guilty pleasure to have attended this featured panel with fellow iPad fans.

Okay, now for my rapid-typing note while everyone spoke. I typed on my iPad, using the Notes application.

Session Notes

Bigger screen. Instant on. iTunes ecosystem. Tansparent media. Kid and grandparent friendly. Simplicity. They are marketing to eBooks and to web surfing. Instant information.
By year end, there may be 25 tablets. How will iPad fare?

Android platform has a complex platform, not as easy to use platform as Apple’s.

The openness of Android is part of it’s problem. Who do I develop for?

iPhone development kit is easy to figure out.

iPad and Microsoft: it’s not an Intel device, cannot run MS Office.

iTunes ecosystem is billions of dollars, and developers have been waiting for a mobile device to take advantage of it; MS is behind the curve.

iPad and mlearning… Potential to be a true digital book, not an eBook, but a full, multimedia digital book, an anatomy book, for example (images, video, etc.), along with social networking. It’s a shareable device… Great for collaboration. Scrabble app.. The iPad is the board and your iPhone is the tray of pieces. Ways of rethinking how we create design and develop learning. Recent upgrade to the Scrabble app actually turns the board.

The iPad is the gateway to the cloud. Rutgers… Syllabus, accessing it. It also can keep people more on tasks because it is so easy to do, to move from state to state. Don’t have to disconnect it from other peripherals, for example.

The body interacts with it, with the gestures. Its larger screen is intuitive, easy to use.

It needs front and back cameras for social collaboration, and creation and sharing of media.

George Fox U gave incoming freshman the option to get an iPad over the MacBookPro, and 10% chose the iPad. But it doesn’t print. There is no file system. Has to be tethered to iTunes. However, iPad has the potential to be amazing in the univ classroom.

Abilene Christian Univ iPod Touch means less engagement than the iPhone. The social and entertainment options gives them educational value. The iPad doesn’t fit in pockets, so they don’t offer the iPad, faculty are testing it. Sees potential for media creation and sharing. SketcchBook Pro, for example.

The Wired app is lovely and catastrophic. It’s not really text. It comes out of InDesign 5. It is a big image, can’t interact with the text. Can’t use gestures. Fear that swipe would replace “click Next” as in elearning.

The iPad is high design, and it is leading in tablet interface design. Innovative ways to exploit the gestures and full features takes time and money, just keep this in mind. Numbers app is well designed, for example, but you will pay $10 for it.

What mlearners will want…
Bookmarking is critical. Copy and paste. Sharing. Transparent interface that appears when you need it and goes away to give you more creative space.

They also want esthetics, beauty in design. iPad can deliver this.

Accessibility features.. Apple has built accessibility into SDK for disabilities.

Disk storage.. Is the iPad for the cloud? Currently, it is clunky because of iTunes but you can use Dropbox or GoodReader. But it’s not easy for non-power users. But because the files are saved in the app used to create it, it resides there. A bit easier to find it instead of trying to remember where u saved it.

Flash
Not a problem, the Flash issue. With the mobile web that delivers content based on devices may not be a problem. Think in 6-12 months it may not be an issue. HTML5 is actively being enhanced. The touch feature is what needs to be addressed. Flash is too mouse driven with hover features. The need is for a WYSIWYG program that makes it easy for you and your SMEs to create cross-OS, devices mlearning. It might take a couple of years. It’s a transition. Pushes our creativity.

You and your organization are thinking about mlearning or mobile learning. Should you implement it as a part of your learning and performance initiatives this year, next year, or ever? One of the first steps to take is listen to those who have already begun the journey. Qualcomm in San Diego, California, shared a few of their experiences at mLearncon from their mlearning journey.

If at First You Don’t Succeed…The mLearning Journey at Qualcomm

Qualcomm Speakers (you can find them on LinkedIn… connect and ask them your questions):

• Barbara Ludwig, Manager, Learning Technology
• John Polaschek, Manager, Learning Technology

Session Notes

Mobile apps like Hotseat (Purdue) and .Count the Yard.

Qualcomm Lessons Learned. “qualcomm’s Adventures in Mobile”
Mobile trend is get in-get out. Learners don’t want traditional learning.
Get in for information and then leave.

Sources RuderFinn.com

Mobile Intent Index.
M used for finance and advocacy, not used for creative expression.

MobiThinking.com. Global Mobile Stats. More and more users will be accessing the web via the mobile phone.

Qualcomm used Brew to create their first app for negotiations peer support.
Tips and reminders. Then went web based with a learning portal, acronym DB, search.

Then they used SMS also.

A lot of their Employees were getting email via mobile devices.

WordPress blog used with mobile plugin … Their employees read and write from their mobile devices. Is behind their firewall so mobile device needs a VPN to access the blog. They are trying to get Single Sign-on. WordPress blog used by Summer interns, 800, they collaborated about their experiences and it created a close community.

Now the blog is used as a mobile portal.

Social Learning
People don’t want learning on their phones but they want to connect with people who can answer questions. (Yammer). Worked well as a back channel for questions during large meetings.

Jive.
A social networking or collaboration tool. Has become the hub for their management skills course. Reading lists, tasks, forums, breakout groups for assignments. Jive has a mobile client for mobile devices. All of that content is now available via their phones.

Tracking, right now LMSes aren’t doing a good job for mobile. Not yet.

Top Seven Challenges:

7. Diversity of devices and platforms (are targeting smart phones) ( or could be web based or an app)
6. Lack of mobile ready content. (skill soft, elementk)
5. Contract issues. Renegotiate for mobile content.
4. LMS integration. No one is really ready for mobile. Ask if you care. How importent is it to track and report.
3. Phones, personal vs. Company issued.
2. IP/CCI leakage… And personal devices. Best approach is communication to keep intellectual property protected.
1. Security.

On 22 June 2008, I was born in Second Life. For the newbies out there, “RL” means Real Life and “SL” stands for Second Life. My avatar’s name is JayCee Galicia. JayCee, obviously, for my initials in RL, and Galicia from the list of 20 SL last names made available to me when I registered. Why did I choose Galicia? Well, it’s my favorite province in Spain. And, that’s another story for another post.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you (drum roll….): JayCee Galicia!

The first Group I joined was the ASTD Forum, established by the American Society for Training and Development. Unfortunately, they get together during lunch hour Pacific Time, and I’m at work with no computer access to Second Life. One day, I may bring my laptop and go to Starbucks, or some place where I can WiFi into the ASTD Forum at noon to meet the Forum members.

Here’s JayCee Galicia in SL’s Welcome Island, the first sim a newly born avatar awakes in after registration and login are successful.

The blond avatar to the right mentored me through my first hour. He and his wife have a lovely sim that is now my home base. They are from British Columbia, Canada, and they run a business in Second Life:

Paektu 23, 117, 91 (Mature)
A Stained Glass: Antique Furniture Antiques Clothing

Rick Hudson and Candace Hudson are very warm, welcoming people. They host about 300 avatars total, mostly newbies, and they do not allow role plays. If you teleport to their location, you must be who you are in RL. Below, you see me in front of a blazing fireplace with an inspiring view of the … Canadian Rockies?

Why Am I in Second Life?

Because I want to see what professionals from both the academic and the corporate sides of the learning world are doing in a virtual world. Training (Learning) is going on in Second Life, and I want to experience it. Why? Because I believe that one day, I will be facilitating a learning event inside a virtual world. Others are doing it, and I want to give it a try as well.

Why? Well, as my blog’s tag line says: I’m “Always Learning”, and I want to keep up with the learning world!

(Besides, it’s a ton of fun! I can FLY in Second Life, er, I mean, JayCee Galicia can fly!)

If you are in Second Life, please add me as a Friend.

For the ultra-newbies, to learn more, visit:

www.SecondLife.com; see also www.LindenLabs.com

Update – Later the Next Day….

Karl Kapp, who’s in my Blogroll, keeps his pulse on Second Life, other virtual worlds, and how organizations in both the public and private sector are training their learners successfully “in world”. Please visit his post: Practice Makes Perfect in Virtual World (27 June 2008).

Another SL Resource (7/9/2008)

Through Karl’s kind comment below, I followed the link to SL Trip Tips, a great “in world” resource!

More to come on SL in future posts!

Seriously, even though this is not a video but a Slideshare.com presentation, I was very impressed by it.

Bernadette Daly Swanson, a Librarian at the University of California at Davis, has published an engaging and informative presentation on how academic and public libraries effectively use SL. (Her faculty page.)

Take a look at her presentation….

| View | Upload your own

Confession & Who’s Having Fun Now
When I was in high school, and even through my undergraduate college years, I wanted to be a university librarian. I was young and single, then. People discouraged me from that career choice. They told me the job didn’t pay well, and that librarians didn’t have much fun.

“Who wants to check out an encyclopedia?” they’d say, hinting that I wouldn’t get asked out on dates if I was a Librarian. I didn’t want to be perceived as a walking encyclopedia back then.

Well, from my current vantage point of a non-Web 2.0 and non-elearning 2.0, traditional corporate training department sitting behind a firewall fortress, with regulatory and network security folks constantly on watch….Bernadette and her fellow librarian avatars are having a ton more e-learning 2.0 fun than I am!

Hmmm…but, according to her presentation, the research indicates that all learning professionals will be involved in SL in the near future. I look forward to that day, as long as the learners actually learn. But, I’m not going to wait until I get the official mandate.

It’s Time for SL
It’s time I visit SL despite my full schedule. Why? Bernadette’s presentation has kicked me over the edge out of complacency because, as a Librarian, she’s having way more educational fun than I am in my somewhat traditional, corporate world. (I coulda been a Librarian; look at what I’m missing out on!)

And, like Bernadette, because I believe that SL will be a part of the general training world sooner than the regulators and network security folks might want. The needs of the business and of the learners will require it. As blended learning begins to replace first-generation e-learning, I believe SL will replace Webinars. So, good-bye WebEx, Citrix, Adobe Connect…hello Second Life (or a behind-the-firewall, purchased version)!

That means I need to prepare myself to gain the skills and tools I’ll need to be a virtual-world facilitator.

Besides, we’ll all have nice physiques like the Librarians’ avatars without going to the gym!

Note: I haven’t researched the Librarian career field lately. Just for fun, I went to Flickr.com to try and find a photo of a fuddy-duddy librarian. Ohmygosh how things have changed!

21st Century Librarians on Flickr.com

Sigh. They are having way too much fun. At least I’m “Always Learning”!

Update! Alternatives to Second Life

Look what Karl Kapp has posted on his blog…a list of “behind-the-firewall” virtual world companies! Woo-hoo!

http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2008/06/alternatives-to-second-life.html

Thanks, Karl! I am also adding you to my Blogroll.

Wow, Another Update!

And, I just found Dr. Tony Karrer’s post on SL videos that show you how others use SL for their learning activities. I can’t wait for the weekend!

http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2008/06/second-life-learning-videos.html