Courseware Development

Final Eight

2011-10-31T12:20:00.002-04:00

To my readers:

We are now down to 8 Courseware Development groups due to the following reasons:

Nuvvo has been apparently deactivated
Konnects has apparently gone to a paid-membership-only platform

Please continue to join and participate in the other groups as desired.

Thanks - Ted

WizIQ Blog

2011-10-24T17:04:00.003-04:00

To all of you who are interested in the WizIQ online learning system:

I am happy to report that they have started a blog - please visit this blog - it contains many interesting articles!

I've also added this blog to the Blogroll,

Just Don't Overdo It

2011-10-03T14:22:00.004-04:00

Some of you are on Facebook. Most of you who are on Facebook probably like to play games - usually, the price is right (free!). As long as you don't overdo it, I highly recommend The Sims Social from Electronic Arts - you can learn a lot from this game (wow- eLearning!):

The object is to enhance your property (indoors and outdoors), and to maintain it. You learn cooperation because without the help of Facebook friends who also play, you will get nowhere.
You learn organization because various things you buy have to be put in their proper place.
You learn maintenance because various items need to be cleaned and/or repaired, and outdoor spaces need to be kept weed-free.
You learn budgeting because you have coins and points that can be spent in a variety of ways.
You even learn a bit about relationships, i.e., what type of in-game friendships you should have, and should not have, depending on your actual relationships, both online and real-world!

Have fun, and remember, it's only a game!

More Do-it-yourself eLearning

2011-07-03T13:21:00.002-04:00

Recently, my vehicle wouldn't start, so assuming the battery had drained, I decided to jump-start it with another vehicle. I followed these steps:

Googled 'how to jump start a car'
Visited this site
Printed the relevant pages
Successfully did the jump-start
Drove the vehicle, parked it, tried to start it again, and the battery drained again

It then became apparent after inspecting the battery that the battery probably needed replacement. To disconnect the old battery, and connect the new one, I followed these steps.

Googled 'how to disconnect a car battery'
Watched this YouTube video
Disconnected the old battery and took it to the store
Had them test it, and, after confirming its demise, bought the new battery
Googled 'how to connect a car battery'
Watched this YouTube video
Installed the new battery, drove the vehicle, parked it, and it started OK!

The moral of this story is not that I got my vehicle running again - it's that eLearning is all around you, even in this informal form!

pcLearning4U Newsletter

2011-05-17T18:38:00.003-04:00

To my readers:

As some of you know, I am growing my personal computer training business, pcLearning4U. As part of these efforts, I have started a free email newsletter. The next edition of the newsletter will be published shortly, however, due to anti-spam rules, I have to limit delivery to subscribers.

The good news: subscribing is easy - just click this link and the form will walk you through the very easy subscription process - hope to see you on the list!

Thanks - Ted

eFront eLearning blog

2011-04-12T12:29:00.004-04:00

I've added the eFront blog to the Blogroll, authored by Christopher Pappas. This is a very good eLearning blog, which features, among other things, Christopher's list of the top eLearning and workplace learning blogs. From the blog, you can also do other things such as subscribe to the eFront newsletter and like the eFront Facebook page.

I urge all my readers to take a look at this site and participate as desired!

LinkedIn 1000!!

2011-04-03T11:28:00.002-04:00

I am happy to report that the LinkedIn Courseware Development Group has reached 1000 members!

Also:

There is increased interest in the Nuvvo group
I'm adding new people to the Twitter list as often as I can find them

As usual, your input into this blog is greatly appreciated!

Thanks - Ted

The LinkedIn Group is Closing in on 1000 Members, but...

2011-02-28T11:57:00.003-05:00

And this is a big but, folks - the other Courseware Development groups are generally not growing at all.

The good news is that my business, pcLearning4U, is slowly improving. The result of this, however, is that I don't have as much time to manage and contribute to these groups. Therefore, I would greatly appreciate your input into the following:

1. I'm going to keep LinkedIn alive (obviously!), also Facebook and Twitter (due to the popularity of these platforms). I'm thinking of shutting the rest down - please make your case for keeping any of the others alive.

2. I'd also like your thoughts regarding items to post to this blog - this is not a one-man show.

Thanks in Advance - Ted

eLearning Guild Facebook Page

2010-12-17T18:27:00.003-05:00

For those of you who are members of the eLearning Guild, or otherwise are interested in the Guild:

The Guild is moving its Facebook presence from a group to a page, and they are encouraging people to "like" their page.

For more information, please see this Facebook message.

GoToMeeting

2010-11-05T12:07:00.002-04:00

To everyone:

I am thinking of using GoToMeeting to do some remote training. Have you used this application for eLearning? If so, what are your experiences? Also, have you used GoToWebinar and/or GoToTraining?

Please post your comments here. For more information, click here.

Thanks - Ted

Prezi

2010-09-13T13:17:00.003-04:00

I'm trying out the free version of Prezi, another presentation tool. Prezi allows you to put together simple presentations using a canvas (rather than successive slides), and pointing to and zooming on various parts of the canvas. The editing mechanism is a bit counter-intuitive (it uses an attached-bubble mechanism similar to mind-maps and fractals). The paid version probably has a lot more features. Will keep you posted.

Twitter List added to Group Scoreboard

2010-09-12T10:53:00.002-04:00

To all:

Due to lack of activity in tweetworks, I've added the Twitter eLearning list to the Group Scoreboard. The tweetworks group still exists.

If you want to be on the Twitter list, please contact me via Twitter (tedkopp).

Thanks - Ted

Need a Job? Have a job to post? Use LinkedIn?

2010-08-30T08:41:00.004-04:00

To all my blog readers:

Did you know that LinkedIn groups now contain Jobs sections? The Courseware Development group job board is now open for business!

Note that this board just got started - if you have any courseware or eLearning-related positions, you are encouraged to post them on the board! If you are looking for such a position, feel free to look at the posted jobs (check back frequently), and follow up as desired.

Please contact me if you have questions.

Thanks - Ted

Blogger Search

2010-08-26T11:52:00.003-04:00

Blogger has added a search feature! Just type in your search criteria in the box just below the Group Scoreboard and the search will return results in this blog, items linked from this blog, the blogroll, and the web!

The results will appear just above the most recent blog post. To close the search results, click the X at upper-right of the results.

Have fun!

Quizinator

2010-08-12T17:55:00.003-04:00

I'm now trying out another free test-creation tool - Quizinator, courtesy of Kim Komando. More to follow as I create some demonstrations.

For more information, click this link.

If he's high on eLearning, shouldn't everybody be?

2010-08-10T18:35:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of Coggno and TechCrunch, some interesting comments from Bill Gates:

In Five Years The Best Education Will Come From The Web

Enjoy!!

Blogger Comment Moderation Now On

2010-08-04T15:29:00.006-04:00

To my readers, and fellow Bloggers:

Per suggestions in How do I block Chinese Spam Comments, all comments on this blog will now be moderated. As usual, all appropriate comments regarding courseware and eLearning are welcome and encouraged!

Thanks in advance for your understanding.

Ted

The Big 12 is now 10, and the Big 10 is now 12

2010-06-20T22:48:00.002-04:00

and the Pac 10 is now 12, and, uh, some of these may be 16 soon, and, whatever blah blah blah.

Anyway, the 12 Courseware Development groups are now 10, due to the elimination of the Twine groups by Evri, and by a lack of response from BrightFuse as to why the CwDev group was eliminated.

If not already a member, please join and participate in one or more of the CwDev groups.

Thanks - Ted

English Only, Please

2010-06-01T11:57:00.003-04:00

To everyone:

My apologies to those of you who don't speak English, but due to the proliferation of inappropriate comments posted to this blog in non-English languages, I must enforce an English-only rule.

Thanks for your understanding. Comments are welcome, but please keep them clean and relevant.

Best regards, Ted

IT4ALL

2010-05-31T11:38:00.009-04:00

OK, folks, enough with the gloom and doom already...

IT4ALL (Integrating Technology for Active Lifelong Learning) has moved off of Ning (presumably due to pricing issues) and now has its own site! From the About page:

IT4ALL website was established on November 22, 2006 as an open and not-for-profit website. Initially, the site was built around Moodle, a course management system with the name, Integrating Technology: Exploring New Domains (IT-END). On August 2009, IT-END started offering Moodle for Teachers (M4T) workshops and took on a new look and name: Integrating Technology for Active Lifelong Learning (IT4ALL).

Today, IT4ALL Moodle provides free online workshops in professional development, formal and informal education, collaborative instruction and learning, and lifelong learning. The workshops are run by experienced online facilitators who volunteer their services. Access to the pages on IT4ALL Moodle is free and open to all. The site carries no advertising, nor do any of the links to other sites involve sponsorship or payment. The site currently has a one time registration fee of $39 for some of the workshops. However, scholarships are available to anyone who cannot afford the registration fee.

In addition to the IT4ALL Moodle workshops, IT4ALL has expanded and now includes a social network, a IT4ALL Wiki, individual and group mentoring services, web hosting, consultation, and support.

The aim of the the social network is to build a community of learners and educators for the purpose of connecting and engaging people of all cultures in collaborative lifelong learning.

The web hosting is an additional service IT4ALL provides for educators and organizations who wish to create courses using Moodle, Joomla, Forums, Blogs, and MediaWikis. The team at IT4ALL also provide specialized web hosting & installation of VLE, ongoing support and consultation on technology and pedagogy related subjects.

This is a very good social network! For more information, please visit the IT4ALL website. Thanks, Nellie!

BrightFuse

2010-05-31T11:35:00.003-04:00

The BrightFuse Courseware Development Group has apparently temporarily disappeared. Note that both the Evri and BrightFuse CwDev links will not work properly until when and if these matters are resolved.

Twine has been absorbed by Evri...

2010-05-31T11:17:00.004-04:00

And the twines (semantic networks) created by individuals (such as the Courseware Development Twine) have apparently disappeared. I have a request into Evri to see if this information can be recovered.

Please click this link for more about Evri.

LearnHub --> Nuvvo

2010-04-30T17:41:00.003-04:00

Old name: LearnHub

New name: Nuvvo

Please see the Nuvvo site for details. The Courseware Development group link was changed accordingly - see the Group Scoreboard (this group is otherwise unchanged).

I tried hard but...

2010-04-01T11:18:00.001-04:00

No WAY could I do better than these!

Latest Courseware Development News

Speak Softly, but Tweet Loudly!

2010-03-21T09:43:00.005-04:00

The squeaky tweet gets the grease! After posting a message within the Tweetworks CwDev group that I intended to abolish the group due to lack of interest, I got the following response from Mark Langford, head and founder of Tweetworks:

"Don't go anywhere my friend! The new Tweetworks release is happening very soon."

This kind of personal interest is rare, and appreciated. I did follow up with a request for more information on what is in the new release, and what the advantages are over Twitter lists. However, I thank Mark very much for his response, and the Tweetworks group will continue to exist, hopefully with a lot more members.

More about Mark can be found at this link.

Harsh Realities - Some Groups Will Go Away

2010-03-08T11:11:00.004-05:00

To all:

I am happy to report that my "real life" has gotten a lot busier, however, as a result, several inactive Courseware Development groups will be discontinued. By "inactive", I refer both to membership counts and to lack of member posts.

The following groups will go away:

Konnects
Xing
Tweetworks (to be replaced by something else Twitter-oriented)

I want to thank the members of these groups for their participation!

Ted Kopp, Courseware Development Group Manager and Blogger

Graphic Design for the Rest of Us

2010-02-10T14:16:00.007-05:00

The situation: Desire to do some graphic design for eLearning and other purposes

The problem: Don't have a lot of spending money - purchased software is muy expensive, especially anything Adobe®

The solution: Free / open source software (what a concept!)

I've been testing out the following, similar to the Adobe product listed first:

Illustrator: Inkscape vector graphics editor

Photoshop: Gimp Gnu image manipulation program

Some of the images I add to this blog in the future will be created and/or modified using one or both of the above.

Try these yourselves and have fun!

Get Spacey!

2010-01-22T10:43:00.005-05:00

To all:

The Courseware Development Group has been started on MySpace, one of the original social networks. To join and/or look around, please visit the group at this link. Hope to see many of you there!

Thanks - Ted

Blog Enhancements

2009-12-14T16:26:00.003-05:00

To my readers,

I've added a couple of enhancements to this blog:

Quote of the Day, from The Free Dictionary: This is their daily quotation (appears at right of this blog under my LinkedIn Profile). There are other pieces of code on this site that can be added to a website/blog (games, word exercises, etc.) - look under Webmasters for Free Content.

Followers - this blog can now be followed via Google Friend Connect (appears at right of this blog under the Quote of the Day).

Thanks, Manishankar!!

Twitter eLearning List

2009-11-30T14:50:00.006-05:00

To all Twitter Users:

Twitter now has lists, which are in effect subgroups of your followers that you set up for a particular reason (and a follower can be assigned to more than one list). Lists can be public (and can be followed as if they are Twitter users themselves), or kept private.

For example - I set up a public list that shows the Tweets of my followers (people and companies) who are interested in eLearning:

@tedkopp/elearning

Please feel free to follow the list and/or me - if you do follow me, and are interested in eLearning, I'll add you to the list!

It's the Latest, it's the Greatest, it's the...

2009-11-03T21:50:00.005-05:00

LearningExpress Library! If you are a member of your local public library, you may have free access to LearningExpress. This site has a lot of online training, in diverse subjects such as courses for students (elementary school through college), MS-Office products (2003 and 2007), job search help, even US Citizenship preparation!

One glitch that they are supposedly going to fix - you can't save your place in the MS-Office courses, so you need to keep track of your own progress. Otherwise, these courses seem very comprehensive. If you are doing a computer class, it does help to have access to two computers - one to take the class, one to actually try out what you are learning.

If you've tried a LearningExpress class, please post your thoughts here.

pcLearning4U is Open for Business

2009-10-23T12:53:00.003-04:00

To my loyal readers, and anybody else who hath stumbled upon this blog:

As part of my efforts to learn more about learning (and to obtain additional dirty filthy lucre, moolah, dinero, etc.), I have founded pcLearning4U, a new company dedicated to bringing individual personal computer instruction to Richmond, VA people of every age.

Instruction topics include computer basics, introduction to MS-Office products, and uses of social media, among others.

Please visit the pcLearning4U Site for more information. If you are a Facebook user, please also visit our Facebook Fan Page and become a fan!

Thanks - Ted

Jammed Garbage Disposal

2009-10-12T13:44:00.003-04:00

You may be asking, what does a jammed garbage disposal have to do with eLearning?

Well, folks, we had just bought a new disposal a couple of years ago, and a narrow glass bottle fell into the darn thang, and it jammed, so instead of calling the plumber (or even the store I bought it from), I consulted the Internet (the "e" part) and Googled "jammed garbage disposal" for solutions (the "Learning" part).

Found this link - this in effect was the courseware. Among other things, I learned that the humming sound was the circuit breaker keeping the motor from overheating - in other words, electricity still flowed into the unit. They then suggested that I turn the central hex opening at the bottom of the unit to manually turn the motor and see if I could loosen the obstruction. Problem - I didn't have the correct size Allen wrench to do this. Solution - I found a sorta L-shaped thingy for a replaceable-head screwdriver that just happened to fit the opening.

So then I started to try to turn the motor, and the dang thing wouldn't budge. Then it budged a little. Then a bit more. Then a bit more as I heard a grinding sound as I turned it - hoping I was grinding the glass piece by hand, rather than stripping the gears. Tried running the disposal - still nothing but a humming sound. Finally, the thingy spun in a complete circle w/ no resistance, turned on the water, turned on the disposal - success! Last but not least, it handled cat food and coffee grounds as good as new.

Lessons learned:

eLearning is all around you
Feels good to not have to spend the money to call a repairman!

Domo Schola Doctrina Gratis

2009-09-04T22:46:00.005-04:00

Yo, has your favorite blogger gone way around the bend? Heck, no - I just want to call your attention to a very interesting article in Popular Science's September 2009 issue:

Home Schooled - Free University

The author, Josh Dean, attempts to craft his own curriculum based on the online offerings of several universities (including one you may have heard of, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and other sources. He "went" to his "college" for a month.

Among other things, Dean describes MIT's OpenCourseWare program, which offers over 1800 courses online, for free, not for credit. Of course, if you want tangible items, such as textbooks, you have to pay for them. He also describes taking Romanian from a company called Before You Know It and how it won't help him on a future trip to Ecuador, how two college graduates tried to cobble together an "alternative grad school" from MIT's OCW, and his adventures in learning computer languages.

Finally, be sure you read Dean's five Free Online School Rules at the end of the article! Note also that the online version of this article includes links to MIT's OCW, and to nine other sources of free online courses that PopSci likes.

The Malware Warning is GONE

2009-08-05T12:21:00.005-04:00

As some of you may know, any attempt to link to this blog during the last week was met with a redirect to a Malware Message page.

After much frustration, including requests for help on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., it finally dawned on me to do the following:

The malware message page included an option to check a box to proceed anyway, at my own risk. In no way am I recommending that you do so in a similar circumstance (this is completely up to you), however, since I have very good confidence in my security software, I took the chance. Also, the malware was being reported on a linked-to site (blog.designers-x.com), not this site.

I then looked for the offending site, found it on the Blogroll, and removed it from the Blogroll. All is working OK now - yay!

The Group Scoreboard is now also up-to-date.

Thanks for your patience - Ted

P.S. - if any of you know the owners of the designers-x site, please notify them that they have a malware problem.

LinkedIn Courseware Development Subgroups

2009-06-27T18:47:00.003-04:00

now has subgroup capability! As a result, I am considering adding some subgroups to the LinkedIn Courseware Development Group.

Please feel free to post any subgroup suggestions here. Thanks for making this group very popular (as of this posting, there are over 700 members)!

iMoodle and Moodlers - New Ning Groups

2009-04-16T18:05:00.004-04:00

I just joined two new Ning-Based Moodle groups: iMoodle and Moodlers - the badges are below:

Visit iMoodle

Visit Moodle - Moodlers

All the usual Ning features are here, including setting up a "My Page" specific to each group. If you are already in other Ning groups, you can join without building an initial profile. If you like either or both of these groups, join and invite others!

NineHub - Moodle - BannerFans

2009-04-08T12:04:00.002-04:00

Announcing the latest greatest fantastilicious Moodle course!

NineHub is a very good site for building Moodle courses. BannerFans is a very good site for building banners. Why not combine the two? The result is:

BannerFans Banner Creator - Introduction

Please try this course, and put all suggestions and comments in the course's Discussion Forum. Hope you enjoy!

A Blogroll is not something you get at the bakery

2009-04-06T20:35:00.004-04:00

Do you have, or know of, any good blogs related to courseware development? If so, please post them here, and if they appear to be relevant to this blog, I'll add them to the Blogroll (located just below the Blog Archive).

Thanks in advance for your contributions!

deLearning - the new Learning

2009-04-01T10:31:00.004-04:00

Dear Readers,

It is my sad duty to inform all of you that eLearning has been abolished, effective immediately. After a careful review by some of the most well-respected minds in business and academia, this decision was made, for the good of mankind and other forms of life.

To undo the abject harm caused by the use of computers in the learning process, a new technique has been developed: deLearning. This technique will encourage all people to ditch the convenience of online learning to go back to doing things the way they were done for thousands of years. An application has already been placed with the United States Treasury to use some of the stimulus money to acquire old abacuses, slide rules, and other non-energy-expending (think green!) devices from museums and return them to active use. Also, as part of this new program, bean counters everywhere will have to use real beans. Last but not least, everyone will be taught how to use their fingers to count again (those with disabilities will be accommodated).

deLearning support groups will be set up. These will meet (in person, of course!) in small groups - a typical introduction will go something like this: "My name is Ted and I learn stuff over the computer" - the rest of the people will respond, "Hi Ted". Computer deprogrammers are also encouraged to attend these meetings to help the members overcome this gripping addiction.

Finally, since deLearning is in its infancy, please feel free to post any suggestions here that the Committee may be able to use to fine-tune the process. It is April now - all ideas are appreciated, from wise folks and from Fools.

Your humble blogger, Ted

LearnHub Courseware Development Community

2009-03-26T12:44:00.004-04:00

LearnHub (which I first mentioned in this blog in April 2008) now has its own branch of the Courseware Development group. Please take a look around and join if interested. Also, if you would like to contribute lessons (including PowerPoint presentations) and tests to the community, please feel free to do so (I put a test there as an example - those of you who looked at the previous blog entry may be familiar with it!).

Is There an Emmy for Best New Group on TV?

2009-03-26T11:56:00.005-04:00

Yup - we're TV stars now - how about that one, folks! Thanks to Mike Langford, Mr. tweetworks, the tweetworks branch of the group was mentioned on Tweetworks TV, Episode 46! In particular, we're mentioned just after the 12-minute mark of the 19-minute show. Cool!

While you're there, you may want to listen to the entire broadcast, as well as some of the other episodes (this is all part of Mike's blog - links to other episodes, as well as other parts of the blog, are available on the Episode 46 site).

Enjoy!

eLearning is so big, it has its own Planet?

2009-03-26T11:06:00.005-04:00

E-Learning Planet is a new eLearning site started and run by a fellow who goes by E-Learning Tyro. This Chennai, India-based site has a lot of very interesting features, including some lessons!

Take a look around and post your thoughts here - if you have any suggestions for additions and/or improvements, please email or tweet Mr. Tyro. Thanks!

eLearning Research - Brandon Hall

2009-03-25T12:05:00.006-04:00

This company is an excellent source of eLearning information. You can subscribe to their free newsletter, which gives you free access to some of their reports. So far, I've looked at the eLearning 101 and Learning Technology Products 2009 reports, and found those to be very interesting and informative.

There is also a Facebook Group for those of you on Facebook who are interested in this subject.

MyLinkingPowerForum

2009-03-11T12:20:00.003-04:00

For those of you who are members of Vincent Wright's groups: a branch of the Courseware Development Group has been set up on MyLinkingPowerForum.

Please look around and join if interested!

Thanks - Ted

tweetworks Courseware Development Group

2009-03-09T12:46:00.003-04:00

For those of you on Twitter: since Twitter doesn't have a Groups capacity in its own right, I've set up a branch of the Courseware Development Group on tweetworks - please click this link to join, or to just look around. Thanks - Ted

LinkedIn eLearning Groups

2009-03-07T12:18:00.003-05:00

Did you know that, in addition to the Courseware Development Group, there are several other groups on LinkedIn that are related to eLearning? Here are just a few (the ones that I belong to):

I hope you find these useful!

Twitter

2009-02-19T18:17:00.004-05:00

Are any of you using Twitter for eLearning purposes of any type? If so, please explain as a comment to this post.

Thanks - Ted.

Personal Experience: HP Learning Center

2009-01-23T18:08:00.004-05:00

I recently took a free online class via Hewlett-Packard's Learning Center: JavaScript: web programming basics. Although the class was not very detailed, it did give a good overview of various aspects of using JavaScript, in a reasonable amount of time (it took me about four hours to complete). Also, the price was right!

The Learning Center now has over 100 free classes, including those that deal with Microsoft products. If you take any of these classes, please feel free to post your comments here!

Happy New Year!!

2008-12-31T10:39:00.003-05:00

To My Readers:

I hope you are enjoying this blog, and that you have a great 2009!!

Best regards, Ted

Ted Kopp
Blogger
Courseware Development Group Manager

IT Toolbox: e-learning-select group

2008-12-16T19:19:00.002-05:00

Many of you know that IT Toolbox is a very rich and active IT-oriented community site. Among the many groups there is one devoted to eLearning, e-learning-select.

This group has many interesting discussions on it, for example, development product comparisons such as Blackboard vs. Moodle. Also, this group is in the Knowledge Management area of IT Toolbox - if KM interests you, there are a lot of other KM-oriented groups that you can join!

Learning eLearning at eLearning Learning

2008-11-25T19:16:00.003-05:00

eLearning Learning is a very interesting eLearning-related community (surprise!) led by Tony Karrer of TechEmpower. To reach a subset of this community dedicated to Courseware Development, click the community logo located on this blog at right, directly below the About Me section.

As usual, please post all comments here - thanks!

New Tools for Learning Club

2008-10-27T17:45:00.003-04:00

Very interesting UK-based Ning site - in their own words:

The New Tools for Learning Club works like a Book Club. Every month we'll look at 5 new, upcoming or unrecognised tools and discuss their use for education, training or performance support. The tools will either be free or free trials of commercial tools.

Check it out and comment here!

Work Literacy and eLearning Guild Update

2008-09-25T17:40:00.005-04:00

Work Literacy's Web 2.0 for Learning Professionals is a Ning network that supports the following effort (as described on the network's Home Page) - please take a look around and sign up if interested:

Sponsored by Work Literacy and the eLearning Guild from September 29 through November 7, 2008, this network will be THE place for you to learn about Web 2.0 and how social media tools can be used by learning professionals.

The goals of the event are to:

* Introduce you to new tools and methods for work and learning
* Discuss implications of these tools for learning professionals
* Prepare you to participate in DevLearn in new ways as an attendee or as a spectator.

LinkedIn Discussions!

2008-09-11T10:04:00.005-04:00

now has discussions within its groups! Assuming that you are already a member of the LinkedIn Courseware Development Group, go into LinkedIn, click Groups, scroll down to Courseware Development, and click Courseware Development (the group name itself).

The group Overview page appears, which allows you to start a new discussion directly. You can also click the Discussion tab - you can also start new discussion here, as well as add comments to existing discussions.

As you know, the LinkedIn group is by far our largest branch, and I urge all members of this group to consider adding useful and interesting discussion items!

Light the Fuse!

2008-08-28T00:05:00.003-04:00

As you may have noticed, the Courseware Development Group now has 10 branches! The latest branch is on the BrightFuse network.

What is BrightFuse? It is a new business social network with an emphasis on position-seeking (it is affiliated with CareerBuilder). BrightFuse recently added Groups capability, and since the majority of my contacts on this net are eLearning-related, I created the CwDev group there.

Therefore, if you are interested in eLearning, and are looking for a new job, assignment, gig, etc. (or for someone to fill one), I recommend that you join the BrightFuse CwDev Group!

LinkedIn 50-Group Limit

2008-08-21T11:23:00.007-04:00

Greetings!

You may have noticed that the LinkedIn Courseware Development Group membership total has temporarily started to decline. LinkedIn has imposed a rule that no member can belong to more than 50 user-created LinkedIn groups. As a result, a lot of members have had to discontinue their membership in some groups, ours among them.

To anybody affected by this (either by the above, or by being unable to join our LinkedIn group) - please do not fret! There are eight - that's right, eight - other Courseware Development groups! If interested in this subject, please feel free to join one or more of these groups - just click the appropriate link under the Group Scoreboard on this blog.

Thank You, Ted
Courseware Development Group Manager

Rosetta Stone and Video Professor

2008-08-04T12:43:00.005-04:00

Am I the only one out there who is constantly bombarded with TV ads for Rosetta Stone and Video Professor? Methinks not:

Has anyone out there tried either of these products? Like? Dislike? Why?
Do you think of either of these as eLearning? If so (or not), what are your reasons?
Are you developing, or planning on developing, courseware similar to either of these?

Let's get a lively discussion going here!

Ted's first Moodle course!

2008-07-04T17:22:00.001-04:00

To the contributors to, and the readers of, this blog:

When you get a chance, please take a few minutes out of your busy day and take my first course written in the Moodle environment:

How to Write an Interesting Blogspot Post

If you are not a Moodle member already (specifically, if you are not part of Nellie Deutsch's Moodle - thanks, Nellie!!), you can register for free - you will then be directed to the course site above. The Topic Outline (Cover Page) will appear.

Please start with Chapter 1, Introduction - then proceed sequentially, or skip around (especially if you've already proceeded in sequence). When you're ready to test your skills, do the Review Exercise (Chapter 9).

Chapter 10 is the Course Forum - please leave all comments in this forum. "Version 2.0" of this course will depend on the feedback I get.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

Oodles of Moodles

2008-06-15T13:46:00.003-04:00

Moodle is an open-source system for creating courses. I am in the process of creating a course right now - when it is ready, I will publish it and announce its location.

Click Moodle.org for more information.

Twine - 100+ Group Members!

2008-06-07T12:28:00.005-04:00

Congratulations to the Courseware Development Twine for becoming the 2nd group to exceed the 100-member mark!

Orkut CwDev Community

2008-06-03T13:07:00.007-04:00

The Courseware Development Community is now available for those of you on Orkut (Google's social network). If interested, please click the link under the Group Scoreboard.

Will this be a banner year for you?

2008-05-25T20:43:00.003-04:00

Do you need to create banners for your courses? Check out BannerFans! This site has a lot of very good features, and is free (of course, read the Terms of Service for what's permitted).

As usual, please post comments here.

By the way, I created the graphic accompanying this post using BannerFans.

Become one of the Townspeople!

2008-05-23T12:05:00.004-04:00

LearningTown is a new Ning network started by Elliott Masie, noted training expert. This network is dedicated to learning, and has many members and groups that are eLearning-oriented.

Please take a look around, and if interested, sign up! Once signed up, you are encouraged to join the LearningTown Courseware Development Group by clicking the L'town link on this blog, under the Group Scoreboard.

For more on Elliott Masie, please click this link.

Some Antics are Better Than Others

2008-05-15T21:27:00.005-04:00

I (along with a lot of others) am currently beta-testing Twine, a new network which, to quote their site, is "powered by semantic understanding".

Again, per their site, "Twine automatically organizes information, learns about your interests and makes connections and recommendations. The more you use Twine, the better it understands your interests and the more useful it becomes.". For a good definition of a semantic network, please see this Wikipedia entry.

One good feature is the group setup (groups are referred to as twines). Postings to one twine can be shared with another twine, if you're a member of both twines in question.

Please note that to join Twine, you either have to click the Register for Beta link on the Twine home page (this may put you on a wait-list due to Twine's popularity), or someone has to invite you (that's how I got in - if interested, contact me via email, LinkedIn, etc. - I have a few invites).

Last but not least, if you do join Twine, please also join the Courseware Development Twine (the link will be posted shortly under the Group Scoreboard).

As usual, please post your comments here.

Check out these groups!

2008-05-08T19:40:00.004-04:00

Not quite "grouped out" yet? Take a look at the following groups, and if interested, join!

Ecademy: e-Learning Club
InterNations: e-Learning
MyManagers: Leaders in Learning
Stepoff: eLearn Community

As usual, please post your comments here.

LearnHub - New eLearning Site

2008-04-18T19:37:00.006-04:00

LearnHub, which I recently joined, is an interesting new site for creating and publishing eLearning-related materials, including courses, lessons, and tests.

LearnHub also functions as a professional / social network - you can connect to other members, participate in forums, and join communities of interest.

Please give it a try! For my first piece of work, I created a test (Fun Test about Tests) that you can go ahead and take (access via my profile). Note that this site is not a substitute for more sophisticated tools, but it is excellent for mock-ups. As usual, post your experiences here, including anything you've created that you want to share with the group.

Have fun!

Do I Have Your Attention?

2008-03-31T13:35:00.005-04:00

Now that I've got your attention, I'd like to discuss the subject of attention with respect to the creation of eLearning materials. Getting the learner to pay attention can be very difficult for various reasons, among them:

Lack of interest in the subject matter (for example, a course mandated by the employer that is relevant to very few employees)
Feeling that the material will be of no use to the person's job or career
Distractions outside of work
Lack of sleep (this one is big!)

Please post what you have done, or are planning to do, to increase the amount of attention that is paid to your courseware. Also, you may want to join the following groups that are dedicated to the subject of attention:

Facebook: Attention Economy
Plaxo: Ronald Wopereis - What is Attention?

If you know of other good links on this subject, please post them here, too.

Other Blogs of Interest

2008-03-20T18:52:00.002-04:00

This new blog area contains links to other blogs that may be of interest to the readers of this blog. You can find this area at right, just below the Blog Archive.

Please take a look at these blogs, and post any comments here. Also, please post any suggestions for other blogs that you would like to see listed.

Are you content with your content?

2008-03-17T22:58:00.005-04:00

Are you content regarding your content, or are you a content malcontent? Either way, check out the Content Wrangler Community.

I just joined this Ning community yesterday, and already have met several very nice people who are into eLearning development. The look and feel of the site is very good, and the membership seems quite knowledgeable. I definitely recommend this community to any of you who have an interest in content development and/or management!

Kudos - LinkedIn CwDev Group - 100+ members

2008-03-12T20:48:00.006-04:00

Congratulations to the LinkedIn Courseware Development Group for reaching the 100-member mark!

eLearning can be fun - really!

2008-03-04T11:43:00.005-05:00

What have you done to make the training you create more enjoyable for the learner? How do you balance fun vs. silly? How do you keep things from getting too juvenile, or too boring, for adult learners?

Please post your thoughts (including any links and graphics) here.

Industry Trends

2008-02-27T11:55:00.007-05:00

Where do you feel the eLearning Industry is going in the short term? Long term? How is this going to affect the development of courseware? Is everything going so mobile that all courses are going to be presented on cell phones? Only kidding - I hope!

You get the idea - please post your comments here, including any interesting links.

Development Tools - Experiences

2008-02-15T19:13:00.005-05:00

There are numerous tools that people use to develop courseware. These include Dreamweaver, FrontPage, Lectora, Toolbook, Flash, PowerPoint, Photoshop, FireWorks, Javascript, and others (as well as combinations of some of these).

Please post your experiences here, good and bad, with the tools you use, or have used.

Professional Groups and Societies

2008-02-11T22:14:00.001-05:00

There are a number of groups and societies available for those people who are interested in eLearning. Among these are:

ASTD (American Society for Training & Development)
eLearning Guild
ISPI (International Society for Performance Improvement)
SALT (Society for Applied Learning Technology)
STC (Society for Technical Communication)

Please click the desired link above for more information.

LatitudeU: Teach the World

2008-02-08T15:26:00.001-05:00

is the world's first open training community where any person or organization can learn, teach or share knowledge for free or fee. We believe that everyone has something to teach and many things to learn. LatitudeU is an online community that easily brings those who want to teach together with those who want to learn:

Take a look around
Join LatitudeU
Want more? Join the Yahoo LatitudeU Group

Welcome to the Blog

2008-02-06T11:23:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Courseware Development blog - please suggest anything that is relevant to this subject!

You are also invited to join one or more of the Courseware Development groups listed below:

Courseware Development

Final Eight

WizIQ Blog

Just Don't Overdo It

More Do-it-yourself eLearning

pcLearning4U Newsletter

eFront eLearning blog

LinkedIn 1000!!

The LinkedIn Group is Closing in on 1000 Members, but...

eLearning Guild Facebook Page

GoToMeeting

Prezi

Twitter List added to Group Scoreboard

Need a Job? Have a job to post? Use LinkedIn?

Blogger Search

Quizinator

If he's high on eLearning, shouldn't everybody be?

Blogger Comment Moderation Now On

The Big 12 is now 10, and the Big 10 is now 12

English Only, Please

IT4ALL

BrightFuse

Twine has been absorbed by Evri...

LearnHub --> Nuvvo

I tried hard but...

Speak Softly, but Tweet Loudly!

Harsh Realities - Some Groups Will Go Away

Graphic Design for the Rest of Us

Get Spacey!

Blog Enhancements

Twitter eLearning List

It's the Latest, it's the Greatest, it's the...

pcLearning4U is Open for Business

Jammed Garbage Disposal

Domo Schola Doctrina Gratis

The Malware Warning is GONE

Blogroll - Keeping it Fresh and Tasty

LinkedIn Courseware Development Subgroups

iMoodle and Moodlers - New Ning Groups

NineHub - Moodle - BannerFans

A Blogroll is not something you get at the bakery

deLearning - the new Learning

LearnHub Courseware Development Community

Is There an Emmy for Best New Group on TV?

eLearning is so big, it has its own Planet?

eLearning Research - Brandon Hall

MyLinkingPowerForum

tweetworks Courseware Development Group

LinkedIn eLearning Groups

Twitter

Personal Experience: HP Learning Center

Happy New Year!!

IT Toolbox: e-learning-select group

Learning eLearning at eLearning Learning

New Tools for Learning Club

Work Literacy and eLearning Guild Update

LinkedIn Discussions!

Light the Fuse!

LinkedIn 50-Group Limit

Rosetta Stone and Video Professor

Ted's first Moodle course!

Oodles of Moodles

Twine - 100+ Group Members!

Orkut CwDev Community

Will this be a banner year for you?

Become one of the Townspeople!

Some Antics are Better Than Others

Check out these groups!

LearnHub - New eLearning Site

Do I Have Your Attention?

Other Blogs of Interest

Are you content with your content?

Kudos - LinkedIn CwDev Group - 100+ members

eLearning can be fun - really!

Industry Trends

Development Tools - Experiences

Professional Groups and Societies

LatitudeU: Teach the World

Welcome to the Blog