Communication and Learning

I remeber when cordless phones first arrived. I refused to buy one; instead, I concocted a very long cord from the wall and the receiver. I could travel from my apartment to the laundry room and not miss a bit of my conversation.

This is around the time I bought my first computer and then experienced chatting via AOL communities.

I was one of the "last" to adopt a cell phone. I decided to go get one after a night out and I certainly should not have driven home. If only I had a cell phone. Today, I do not leave home without it. My cell is my dear friend.

Fast forward to last year. A dear friend sent me text messages and I flat refused to ever "text." In December 2006, I met a guy and he was a texter. I did not get it. And then, I did. I have been an avid texter since then. The guy did not last, texting did.

I used to tell people to leave a message on my answering machine. After several years, I stopped even listening to messages. Rather than call me at home, I advised people to email me.I unplugged it and even when I had it on last year, I never listened; I opted to check my caller ID. My next step was to tell friends to call me on my cell. I still use this as a communication of choice. But...if you really want to tell me something, text me. Sure it takes time to get the hang of it, but it is faster than calling and making small talk or leaving a message.

So what is my point? The way we communicate has changed and continues to evolve. There are some who claim kids are losing social connections. I say, these are the ones who have not. eLearning is part of our social fabric. Love it or hate it. What is on the horizon? Already educators are starting to use BLOGs and WIKIs. What will eLearning look like in 5 years? What can we expect?

The Real World of eLearning

The purpose of my BLOG is to share my professional experience, highs/lows, what I read and my reactions.

I plan to share documents I use in an attempt to streamline my development. Anyone who stumbles upon my BLOG, please feel free to jump in and share/advise me and or others who visit.

My goal is to have an open community for those of us who love eLearning and strive to increase our knowledge, skill set and satisfy our end users.

My experience as an instructional technology graduate student was superb. I was fortunate to have great instructors and experience well designed online courses. My preparation did lack an important element--eLearning in the real world. For those of you in ISD, I am sure I read many of the same authors that you have. I did not encounter any research conducted within the corporate sector; all research was purely academic. Is this fair to graduate students?

I have found and read numerous texts which are not strictly academic. I think ISD programs are missing a key and crucial element. Many students will transition into corporations post graduation. Are they ready?

Do students learn:

• How to select a LMS
• What are the industry standard multimedia tools
• How to design a compelling interface that sustains attention and does not cause cognitive overload
• How to use branching
• How to incorporate gaming--cheap and fast
• How to create an eLearning project plan
• Conduct a user acceptance test
• Manage and incorporate project team feedback
• Use multimedia in case there is not a dedicated specialist on the team
• How to use white space effectively