Learnlets

Secondary

Clark Quinn’s Learnings about Learning

Search Results for: top 10

Coaching in games

by Leave a Comment

Much of intelligent tutoring system (ITS) work focuses on creating deep domain models of a particular task, creating essentially an expert system, and then coaching students as they navigate that domain.   Valerie Shute and Jeffrey Bonar did something different a number of years ago, building a tutoring model/system that tutored your exploration and experimentation strategies and layered that same model on top of exploratory environments for optics, electric circuits, and economics.

I always thought you could do the same in a game environment.   That is, if you had a game framework that you built games in, with structured representations such as definable maps and actions that could be taken, you could similarly coach learning/research skills instead of the domain.   It’s about looking at how people explore and trial things.   I even tried to get funding to build it, but sadly wasn’t successful for whatever reason (probably several reasons).   We did build a coaching engine into Quest that followed the principles, checking your search, not your domain knowledge (as well as monitoring your levels to give hints), so I knew the approach was viable.

Yesterday, I saw that they were putting ads into video games, and was reminded that we now have the game environments (e.g. Unreal engine) with generic structure to not only to take live feeds into games, but sufficiently generic that a coaching engine could be added.   It’s doable.   It’s far more interesting than putting ads in games!   Who’s, ahem, game?

Planning and panic

by 1 Comment

All morning, a crew has been systematically demolishing our kitchen (one learning: it’s hard to concentrate with regular sounds of destruction in close proximity).   This is as planned.   We’ve wanted a new kitchen since we had experience with the one that came with the house.   It was on our ‘todo’ list (heck, it was on my wife’s *can’t wait* list), but hadn’t risen to the top until the old refrigerator died.   The space in the cabinets for the old fridge wouldn’t fit any new model, so we were forced into kitchen renovation.   We got a new fridge standing elsewhere in the kitchen, and started planning the project.   By we, I mean my better half. She took this on with zeal, because she’s really wanted it.

One of the first things was finding a kitchen designer.   Now, when we were looking to buy our first house, we talked to lots of realtors.   They’d *listen*, and then show us something completely unlike what we had set as constraints.   It was aggravating!   When we moved back to the US and were looking for a new home, we were connected with a realtor who did listen, and were extremely grateful.   A match is everything. So she was thrilled when she found a designer who listened, looked, asked questions, and asked her/us to consider tradeoffs.   I’m learning that the match between customer and contractor is as important as the match between contractor and task.   Which applies to me and my business as well.

She did a lot of leg work (thankfully), but involved me in crucial decisions.     We’re both researchers, the type who subscribe to and read Consumer Reports, with complementary strengths in concept and detail.   She got the industrial-strength range she wanted by testing with paper cut-outs of her pans to find the smallest that would accommodate her cooking. I like to cook too, but not as elaborately (I’m a fan of ethnic one-pot meals, e.g. jambalaya), and would’ve been happier with less, but her work convinced me.   (I’m reminded of when Don Norman mocked up his new kitchen in cardboard and practiced workflow before settling on a design.)   I managed to secure a reddish wood stain and a dark green countertop, and a light tile that will complement both.   We spent quite a bit of time playing with dishwashers, range hoods, as well as ranges.

The planning is paying off, but there are always more details.   Last night we worked late (we worked all day, and she worked harder than me) clearing out our stuff from the kitchen, as it was more work than we’d expected.   We also were getting things organized for six weeks of eating microwaved meals on disposable tableware. It’s just too hard to figure out how to do dishes in bathroom sinks, bathtub, and toilet.   At least I got paper and not foam. There’s more, as we’re losing two rooms of the house (not only the kitchen, but another to accommodate appliances/cabinets as they wait for installation), so it’s relocating things (putting up new shelves, for instance), moving computers around, etc.   It doesn’t help that we’re both pack rats (every home needs one thrower-outer) and the house doesn’t have enough storage space.   My office is quite, er, cosy right now!

Still, we weren’t quite prepared for the interruption in our lives. It’s only day one, so this first heavy demolition is promised to pass, but there’ve been some adapation on both parts.   They’ve found out that my wife’s a wee bit protective of the front yard landscaping she’s spent weeks on installing, and shouldn’t leave torn out windows on plants, while I’ve discovered that you can put zippers on plastic sheeting!

It’ll be a learning experience for the whole family (the kids left this morning for school before things really got going), and will require some adaptation and flexibility.   We’re looking forward to cooking our first Thanksgiving (US, happy holidays to my Canadian compatriots!) in our new kitchen (fingers crossed).   However, it’s also fascinating, and hopefully we won’t come up with too many surprises (tho’ some are also expected).   It’s a catalyst for lots of changes (new sofa, entry way lighting will be precipitated as well).   I’ll try not to bore you with any but the important learnings, but it will be occupying a bit of my mindspace for the next six weeks or so.   With planning, flexibility, and teamwork, we expect to get through this.   Fingers crossed!

First eLearning?

by Leave a Comment

This month’s Big Question from the Learning Circuit’s blog is, basically, where do you begin?   Of course, that begs the question: what do you already know? Design, ID, a tool, ?

However, it appears that the question sort of assumes a preexisting master’s in ID/IT.   Which, if it’s done well, includes several different tools, lots of ID, a whiff of interface design, some experience prototyping different types of interactions (sync, games, etc), and one major project with project planning, prototyping, testing, and production.   Which, of course, is a dream.

Regardless, I’d recommend Clive Shepherd’s 30 60 minute Master’s (NB: you have to open an account), my own 7 Step Program (PDF) on the reading side.   Then I’d recommend taking a topic and storyboarding, testing, refining, prototyping, testing, and refining.   All before you actually start building.   I don’t really care how you prototype: it can be PPT, raw html, whatever.   Or a rapid elearning tool, but don’t put hands to a development tool ’til it’s mapped out on paper (you don’t want to prematurely converge on what the tool makes easy until you’ve figured out the best design).

For production, there are lots of tools out there. Apparently Udutu is free to author in, and there are lots of tools out there, SmartBuilder, Lectora, etc.   Whatever your org already has it’s mitts on.   Of course, if you’ve gone more creative in your design, you might need to actually work in, say, Flash.

But get the design right first; as I say, “if you get the design right, there are lots of ways to implement it, but if you don’t get the design right, it doesn’t matter how you implement it!”

What’s old is new again…

by Leave a Comment

When I was an undergraduate, I became excited about the connection between computers and learning.   My uni didn’t have a relevant degree back then, but I could design my own if I could get a faculty member to be my mentor.   I found Hugh Mehan and Jim Levin (very lucky on my part), and got to work on their experiment using email as an alternative to classroom discussion.   This was in 1978, and there was no internet, but we had the ARPAnet and off we went.

We found some interesting things, suchas that asynchronous responses were more thoughtful, compared to the IRE (inquire-response-evaluation) format of face to face.   And, messages could handle more than one topic at the same time. However, the overall dialog cycle took longer. Our results and some recommendations were published in 1983.

Imagine my surprise to hear an academic in an interview remark how he discovered that some folks who didn’t interact in the classroom, did find a voice in an online environment.   That was another of our findings, but only 20 years before this online learning expert got going.   I guess sometimes you can be too far ahead of the times…

That’s actually not to the academic’s discredit; it’s a reliable problem for interdisciplinary studies.   In HCI (interface design), you’d get someone from computer science opining about something new to them that was old hat in psychology, and vice versa.   Learning technology is the same way; bringing together techies, learning psychologists, and more, and it’s

I actually got quite a lot of mileage straddling the HCI and EdTech fields, as EdTech had lots to learn from some of the HCI work going on, such as iterative prototyping methods.   There was similarly valuable work going the other way, too, as I’d suggest that some of the more cutting edge psychological stuff (e.g. activity theory) was first explored by the ed community.

The problem is somewhat exacerbated by the different journals: there’s no one clearing house.   Back then we published in Instructional Science.   Now it might be BJET, or Education Technology, or ETRD.   The point being, it’s not easy to track what’s been done before.

So, what’s the point?   I reckon it’s to be eclectic and read broadly, look for inspiration everywhere you go, keep an open mind, go to lots of conferences (e.g. hope to see you at DevLearn) talk to lots of people, and actively looking for the application potential of new ideas.   At least it’s an exciting place to play!

Free Web 2.0 Learning course!

by Leave a Comment

This is worth touting.   Michelle Martin, and Harold Jarche of Work Literacy, assisted by Tony Karrer, in conjunction with the eLearning Guild, are hosting a free   Web 2.0 workshop.   Spread over six weeks leading up to DevLearn, there’s a topic a week, and tasks to accomplish depending on your bandwidth, and a community, etc.

The more I explore web 2.0 applications for organizational learning (and innovation, execution, etc), the more opportunities I see.   The technologies are really a core part of the performance ecosystem, and I am increasingly excited about the possibilities.

I haven’t met Michelle (hope to at DevLearn), but know enough of the Guild, Tony, Harold, and her writings to be able to highly recommend this.   The price is right, the topic is essential, the crew is top-notch, how can you go wrong?

(Really) Mobile Games

by 1 Comment

There have been some interesting experiments with location-specific games (see the work David Metcalf talks about), but this article really is interesting, talking about GPS equipped phones.   I recall an early game for the Treo that placed aliens around you virtually (laid the images over your camera image), and you had to pan around with your Treo, spot, and shoot them. This is much more.

Now, imagine the learning potential: games for onboarding that have you and your cohorts running around the campus or plant and solving puzzles; having to try to sell to virtual customers, and tracking their effectiveness in both space and time; the rest are left as an exercise for the reader (I’m on vacation, after all… :) ).   A topic for the Summer Seminar Series next week?

Going Mobile

by 3 Comments

I found out that where I’m going this week didn’t have coverage by Sprint. We’d be in the mountains (‘rustic’ cabins) but there is power, and I didn’t want to be completely out of touch as I was a couple of weeks ago.

I’d been waiting a year and half since my two year contract had expired, but wasn’t completely happy with any new mobile phone solutions.   At first I hoped the iPhone was the solution, but it wasn’t quite ready for primetime.   As a Palm fan (simplicity, solidity, great story about it’s design), the Centro was appealing, having full PIM (notes & ToDos as well as contacts and calendar), cut/copy/paste, a real keyboard, lots of apps, etc, but the browser’s weak, and no GPS or wi-fi is kind of a bummer.   The Treo 800W is mighty appealing, except for Windows Mobile.   I just *can’t* go there.   It’s got to be dead reliable.   Blackberry‘s just too closed for me, and Symbian‘s too odd (these are mobile OSs).

So, the iPhone 3G appealed (ok, maybe I’m an Apple fanboy, but I was a grad student in an interface design group when the Mac came out, and you had to love the leadership in user experience which has stayed market leading from then ’til this day), and the fact that ATT does claim to have coverage in the area was the kicker that got me to go wait in line Friday morning.   And, yes, I know that the iPhone 3G does not have full syncing PIM yet, nor copy/paste.   But it’s software upgradeable, and all the hooks are there. So, we’ll see.

So far, my experience is mixed.   The screen is simply awesome, and the interface is quite cool. It does sometimes take a lot of work to get to various things. It’s got a non-standard jack, so suddenly all my hands-free wires are worthless (grumble mumble); I may be forced to get a bluetooth headset for driving!   Typing’s OK.   I’ve got music loaded, and photos (but dual copies of the folder I want, and can’t figure how to delete one).   It gets email, but I managed to tap-dance over the push account I’d set up, and one of my accounts keeps complaining about connection ( I got one message only on the phone, not on my computer, and can’t forward it #$%^&!)

So, something (else) to keep me busy in the mountains. Besides prepping.   In a week, I fly off to Chicago for the Guild’s summer seminar series on Collaborative Learning, and the one on Immersive Learning Simulations.   I expect to learn heaps in the former, and think we’ve managed to design a great experience for the latter.     I do believe it will be good value, good learning, and good fun.

BTW, my brother and family stopped thru on their way back from the mountains.   Their boys have matured well of late, and it was great to see them and have them here.   Pool, wildlife museum (live fox, owls, raptors, snakes, coyote, all wounded and saved), ultimate frisbee in the park, eating, drinking.   Family is important to us.   I reckon it’s something that’s wired-in, and to be nurtured.   As well as having fun!   Hope your summer is turning out fun too.

Future of the Book?

by 7 Comments

Last nite was the NextNow event on the future of the book/publishing/? Jay Cross really helped by adding significant data around and input to the discussion; a very public thanks.   He’s also blogged it, with video.   We had a very diverse audience of around 30 or so; many were authors, there were CEOs & entrepeneurs, artists and musicians, noted scientists, and more. Many shared one or more of my own publishing experiences, including as author, board member of a not-for-profit that publishes, editorial board member of a journal, and, of course, as a blogger.

After introductions, which already raised many issues, Jay walked us through the history of the book (Guttenberg was an entrepreneur, the first totable book was sized to fit in saddle bags), and we talked about the pros and cons of books.   We discussed our varied experiences with publishers, and there were quite a few unhappy ones.   Then we got into the issues.

As I mentioned earlier, Jay and I had come up with a few, including editorial ‘voice’ (who’s vetting the information), interactivity, volatility, ownership, and money.   Interestingly, as the discussion continued, others emerged.   Michael Carter raised an interesting point, that we were conversing about books and publishers, and they’re not the same things, and that it was really about matching ignorance with knowledge.   He also mentioned that the current chapter and book size is arbitrary, which is something I’ve seen in textbooks.   Christine Walker mentioned how our cognition might change without the book experience.   There was considerable optimism about setting information free, which I didn’t squelch with my concern about the need for ‘filters’.

We covered the ‘collected papers’ model, where proactive instructors or good editors choose appropriate contributions to a definitive compilation (with my note that most instructors just want to choose a text, and there are compilations that are just vanity projects without a representative or definitive sampling for the topic).   We also talked about marketplaces, and Laleh Shahidi mentioned a learning object model of content, of which there’ve been several experiments (including Propagate, a system that Peter Higgs launched way back around 1998!).   One of the ideas would be to have several authors to choose from, but then you’d need ‘templates’ for topics, with agreed structure.   One of the current situations is that authors present totally different takes on subjects.

At the end, it appeared that publishing is about 4 things:

  • development: the right choice of message and author for the knowledge gap
  • production: the right choice of presentation of the information
  • marketing: the right marketing of availability to need
  • money: the business model that surrounds the first three

The interesting thing is that with the internet (and on-demand printing), the production costs have essentially hit zero. There’s clearly a role for editorial choice, but at some point everyone can publish, and we need ways to find what we want, which is really about the marketing, which was clearly where many authors (including yours truly) felt that they were let down.   We heard of an interesting experiment in viral marketing, with Amy Jussell mentioning a blog-produced book. The question is whether such an effort is replicable. Of course, there’s still the cachet that comes with having a publisher choosing.   The flip-side is tha traditional publishers still take months from final manuscript to final print.

So, no answers, but lots of interesting issues.

Deeper ID: Coming FRIDAY to a browser near you!

by Leave a Comment

The eLearning Guild runs a great set of Online Forums (standard disclaimers about my involvement). They’re offering one tomorrow and Friday on Creating Innovative Instructional Content – Advanced Theory and Application, and for mysterious reasons needed a pinch-hitter.   So, my involvement continues, and I’ll be on Friday at 10:15-11:30 Pacific Time, talking about Deeper Instructional Design.

This is a topic that I continually see a need for, sad to say.   As I just wrote for the blurb: “The evidence is clear; it‘s too easy to find eLearning with a rote knowledge focus, verbose writing, boring introductions, fact recitation, useless examples, meaningless practice, and a consequent rapid atrophy of the experience.   What we want is meaningful outcomes, and what we get is a painful experience to be avoided.”

What I’ll be doing is working through the various components of instructional design: intro, concept, example, practice, and summary   (which don’t have to be used in this order, but there’s only so much a person can cover in one presentation), and talking about the cognitive and motivational underpinnings that make these elements work.   For each, I’ve specific ways to improve.   It’s not necessarily new, but too few folks seem to know about it!   Yet the research points to greater learning outcomes.

I’ll be in good company; the line-up of speakers has some known names, and some important topics.   Problem-Based Learning is definitely noteworthy, as are the Semantic Web and Competencies & Roles, and I’m personally intrigued by Video Interactive Learning Objects. The other sessions promise similarly interesting ways to rethink design.   Karen Hyder coordinates the presentations, and she is great at making sure that presenters are comfortable and presenting effectively.   So, if you’re looking for greater depth and quality in your elearning, I recommend the forum.   A great conference from your own browser in two half-day sessions!   Hope to see you there.

Mobile in perspective

by 4 Comments

I’m not quite sure how the eLearning Guild is publishing the forthcoming articles from their research reports, but I believe it is as part of the Learning Solutions magazine, and that’s certainly the case with this first piece. Ellen Wagner, a member of the mobile research team, has a major article, with a small piece by me that’s an expansion of my earlier thoughts on mobile web. You have to be a least an associate member to download it, but associate membership is free. I’ll add that I believe the Guild is probably the best way to keep up to date on practical applications of technology for learning.

Ellen’s article is a thoughtful look at mobile learning, covering the industry trends. She points out that people are equipped with mobile devices: “the mobile workers aren’t waiting”. She says that the classic top-down doesn’t make sense, and figuring out how to make a mobile learning module does; that is, just do it. On the other hand, she also says that “to have a shot at broad adoption, mobile learning applications must be an integrated part of a larger organizational vision for building capacity”. These aren’t as incommensurate as they may seem, as those in the trenches should begin experimenting with mLearning just as they did with eLearning, and at the same time managers and executives should be looking to the broader eLearning strategy incorporating mobile (as I regularly suggest).

She points out the barriers that still exist, so that even when we’re seeing essentially ubiquitous computational and network capability, we’re seeing incompatibility across providers and platforms. There are still technology barriers to cross, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start thinking ‘mobile’. The reasons are many, including the increasingly mobile workforce. And she acknowledges the emerging consensus that mobile learning is really about performance support. That may not be the limit, but it’s certainly the low-hanging fruit.

I highly recommend her article, as Ellen’s been deeply involved in the world of content delivery through her recent stint as the eLearning guru at Adobe, and has experience and knowledge that puts her at the forefront of thinking in this space. It’s an honor to have my little piece in the same document as hers. (NB: mine is also available separately as well, PDF).   Check it out!