Search Results for: top tools

Mobile tools

27 October 2008 by Clark 3 Comments

Ok, I’ve had my iPhone a bit now, and some things are very useful, some things are cool, some are way fun, and some things are still irritating. Note that most of the apps I download are free; I’m cheap and there are great free apps (and games). I regularly go off to the iTunes store and check out what’s new (particularly the top free apps list).

Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way quickly. Naturally, my pet peeves haven’t changed (because they haven’t fixed them, ahem): no cut/copy/paste drives me nuts. For example, I put an address in my calendar, and then can’t cut and paste it into Google Maps to look it up when I’m on the go. It’s there, but I can’t just carry it across!?! Frustrating. Similar with notes and todos. As I’ve mentioned, if I promise something and it doesn’t get into my phone, we never had the conversation. However, that’s much harder to do on the iPhone, because I have to email a message to myself! Frustrating. Similarly with memos. There already have been times I wanted to put things into a memo to take with me (e.g. a meeting agenda), and I can’t. Sure, I could use EverNote, but then I’d have to have connectivity, and thanks to ATT’s coverage and hotel policies on wireless, that’s not always the case.

OK, the useful: Google Maps, Yelp, and now UrbanSpoon (finally covers Walnut Creek, my corporate headquarters) are very useful when I’m out and about and need to find some location, or a restaurant, or store, or… I use them quite a lot, actually. UrbanSpoon’s interface method of choosing at random is fun enought that it’s almost a ‘cool’. Weather has been useful when travelling, as is Clock (not least for timing my tea :). Also, I’m all over references. I use the Wikipanion and the Google App. Occasionally, the various unit converters, calculators, and the like are handy. I expect to use the translator on occasion as well. Hey, that’s why we have digital devices, to offload those things our brain’s aren’t great at, like remembering arbitrary data, and leave us to do the strategic and pattern-matching stuff. The camera’s handy as well. I haven’t used the voice recorder, though I’m ready. And a secure password storage app, SplashID. And I got a first-aid reference, a Bart schedule, even the constitution (relevant in several ways).

The fun are the games I’m playing. I used to play a lot of Risk in college, and then Lux on the computer. Now there’s a somewhat abbreviated version of Lux on the iPhone. That, along with Solitaire and Mahjonng are fun. And of course, the LightSaber app. Great for entertaining the kids when we’ve got to wait. I play games for research reasons, er yeah, that’s it…. Oh, and books. I’ve read a couple including James Fenimore Cooper’s “Pathfinder”, Edgar Rice Burrough’s “Tarzan” (I read as a kid, was re-reading to see if my lad’s ready), and Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Book” (hadn’t ever read, amazingly). Lots of free classics available and worth reading.

Finally, the cool. I just got Google Earth, and that’s way cool. Just amazing to have it running in the palm of your hand! Went over and looked at our old house in Australia; they’ve put a tree in the front yard, it appears. Twittelator lets me tweet and keep up with others’. I have LinkedIn and FaceBook, though I haven’t used them much. Midomi will let me hear a song, capture 10 seconds of it, and tell me what it is. Amazing.

By the way, many of these were available on the Palm, and some version of the above may be available on Windows Mobile, RIM’s Blackberry, or forthcoming on Android. Anyway, it’s about extending your brain, and these apps do it in various ways. So, what are you finding useful, and what am I missing?

Game Development Tools

15 August 2008 by Clark 7 Comments

The last topics in our 2 day game design workshop for the Guild (great group of attendees, great experience) were evaluation, production, and organizational issues. On the production issue, the perennial topic of tools came up. In thinking about it, I realized that we needed a map, so I started coming up with one (a diagram, of course :) ). I ran it past Jeff (Johannigman, my co-conspirator on the workshop) in our taxi to the airport, to his general approval.

The two dimensions are complexity of the scenario (only covering branching and model-driven), and the power (e.g. complexity) of the tool. It’s a pretty linear map, and realize that small distances aren’t significant (so the clusters are roughly equivalent).

The impossible dream is that tool that everyone wants that makes it easy to develop model-driven interactions. Sorry, I’m convinced it can’t exist, because to be flexible enough to cover all the different models that we’d want to represent, it’s got to be so general as to be essentially just a programming language. QED (Quinn Ephemeral Decision).

This is a first stab, so feedback welcome. If desired, I can create it in Gliffy and we can collaboratively develop it (though my first effort with that was underwhelming in participation…). Thoughts?

eLearning Tools?

17 April 2007 by Clark 6 Comments

In my elearning strategy session at the elearning guild, I included the following graphic as a model to think about how tools can help populate a performance ecosystem (aka learnscape):

The point being that different tools fit different spaces in terms of who they serve in terms of experience, and whether they’re more individual or more group. The desktop/mobile may become less clear, but still makes sense for now.

I’ve seen folks trying to understand where blogs, wikis, etc fit into the space of learning tools (and realize that some of the tools have a broad reach and I’ve tried to place them in their center of impact; maybe I need some circles or auras or something indicating reach).

So, do you think I’ve got it right? And, do you think it’s useful?

Defying fracticality

3 March 2026 by Clark Leave a Comment

Ok, so I’m playing fast and loose; ‘fracticality’ isn’t a word. Yet, the world is fractal, in the sense that everything unpacks. We also have to make decisions about what to do, without having time, nor inclination, to go to depths that aren’t relevant. How do we strike that balance? How do we go about defying fracticality? Some reflections…

I’m naturally curious, and track what research tells us. And, research continues, and unpacks new depths. For instance, we:

know models are important, but then they need to be causal, and connected, and conceptual…
want ‘desirable difficulty’, but then it’s more than challenge, it’s also context varying, and spacing, and feedback fading, and…
need examples, but they have to explicitly include models, be interesting and relevant, have outcomes…
want to elaborate, but then learn that certain activities are generative and others aren’t effective…

The list goes on, and each of these expands! How do we cope?

For one, it occurs to me that we need at least a minimum viable level. We can adopt that notion of ‘minimum viable product’, and recognize that learning should, at least, have:

a clear objective
a rallying introduction
an appropriate model
several relevant examples
a suite of meaningful practice extended over time
a satisfying closing
some measurement beyond ‘enjoyment’ towards impact

If we have the basics down, we can budget and justify what we’re doing. And, likely, this can all be done within the existing constraints. We have to acknowledge the world we work in as well as the one we’re building, after all.

We elaborate from there. If we show improvement, and we should, we then lobby to do more that’ll yield even bigger impacts. We can and should space out the learning. We can consider where it’s complex and maybe start with a simple model, and then expand, with more examples. What is the minimum set of contexts to support transfer? We can consider expertise, and adjust our starting and pedagogy appropriately. We can also expand beyond courses and look for when performance support makes more sense, or a combination. Then there’s community and informal learning. And strategy, politics, …

Associated with this is expanding our own understanding. We need basics, and then we need to keep understanding more. We can’t stop at just meeting the basic needs, for a variety of reasons. These include what the competition is doing, but also our own professionalism. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be complacent, but keep improving our own understanding and then our practice as well.

The world is fractal, and everything people do continues to unpack. The only path to defying fracticality is pick an initial level that’s minimally viable, achieve it, and then start expanding upon it. You’ll get pushback, but you’ll also find that as you get more capable, things get automated and you have more bandwidth. Tools get more capable as well. It’s an ongoing process, but it’s one worth indulging in. If this isn’t the field for you, find somewhere where you are interested in continuing to explore. Stay curious, my friends.

(The nuances of learning are part of our LDA Learning Science Conference. The stuff that’s not learning, but around it as part of our, that is L&D’s, ability to succeed is what we are covering in our L&D As Ecosystem conference. FYI)

My technology for performance

24 February 2026 by Clark Leave a Comment

I’ve talked in the past about my tools for learning, as Jane Hart’s survey prompts. Yet, Christy Tucker asks about software stacks (for consulting), and I realize there’s a different answer when I’m talking about doing versus learning. Yes, as Harold Jarche says, “work is learning and learning is the work”, but there are times I’m using tools to keep myself on track rather than to render my ongoing thinking. I augment my abilities with tech, and some is just about executive function rather than learning. So what is my technology for performance?

Personally, I use Apple’s Reminders to render ‘ToDos’. As I’ve said, if I’ve promised you something and it doesn’t get into my digital world, we never had the conversation. That also is true for Apple’s Calendar. I used to use them separately, but now I’m coordinating between them. I used to block out time to get things done, but I’ve now set up a cal.com to book time, and it looks at my calendar. So, I now use timing on reminders to get things done that are urgent, and save the calendar for time-specific things.

Financially, I use Quickbooks to send/receive invoices. I should switch, but haven’t yet. The problem is that you’re kind of locked in unless you change on your calendar boundary. I also use my bank’s app or website to dod things like send/receive payments. Occasionally I use PayPal, too.

I’d mention Notes, as a way to mull things, but that’s really learning. Though I do grab and store recipes there (and share with fam). Not that I make ’em all, but it’s where I can keep the ones I find online. Likewise I take notes on biz meetings with Notability, but again that’s not really performance, it falls more into the ‘learning category’. I do have some templates that I’ve created in Word, e.g. proposals, reports, and schedule of fees. Probably should migrate to a platform that’s more open. Libre? Open Office? There I go, standing up again…

Now, that’s for me, myself, and I, but I also do things with Elevator 9 and the Learning Development Accelerator (LDA). For both, I’m using Slack to talk to people. I have separate channels for both, but am glad they’re both using the one platform. Email too, of course. Teams was part of a a previous engagement, and am frankly glad to step away. I also use Zoom, a lot. Again, happy to not use Teams or Google Meet for that purpose.

Collaborative docs are different. They’re writing, but for others, so they begin to cross the chasm (really, it’s a continuum, but…). So, I’ve used Google Docs. I really haven’t collaborated using 360, because I don’t have that type of license. I also have used Apple’s Pages with the folks who do run Macs.

Usually, my browser’s for learning, but I also use it to get things done. That’s one of the reasons I recently made the switch from Safari to Vivaldi. For one, it’s a ‘Chrome’-equivalent browser, but doesn’t have the ownership probs that Brave suffers from. It also doesn’t have the ‘tracking’ problems Google introduces (it’s why my search engine is DuckDuckGo, too). It’s problematic, in that it’s (too) customizable, for power users, but the defaults aren’t bad. Still learning about it, but I’ve mostly got it under control (e.g. I think I’ve a solution to the microphone issue that was bedeviling an LDA vid attempt). Though I’m reasonably tech savvy…

One other tool of note is Notion. I wouldn’t necessarily choose it myself, but it works. You can imagine I’m not keen on the strong pushes it (and everything else) are making towards AI, but it’s in use for LDA project and knowledge management, and it’s working. We’re a) probably not making full use, and b) could’ve used something simpler, but…we have someone familiar with it coaching us, so it’s all good.

So that’s my technology for performance. It’s not sophisticated, but it’s manageable, and affordable. Thoughts? Yours?

Timing matters

10 February 2026 by Clark Leave a Comment

There are many phenomena associated with time. I know it was such a topic of my late friend Jay Cross that he named his vehicle for agency Internet Time. A few phenomena have arisen in my thinking, and it’s time to just review some of the reasons why timing matters.

So, for one, things seem to come in waves. It’ll be too quiet, and then too busy; too frenetic a rhythm. I might prefer a smoother rate, but…it’s not something we get to control. (At least, individually; societally we have chosen speed over quality, what with requirements for short-term returns.) Now, I do my best to cope, using the downtimes to work on background tasks. So that, of course, when it’s crunch time I feel like I can still function.

That was also true when I’ve struggled. For one, when I had back pain (before I got surgery), I had good days and bad. My solution was to get things done on the good days, so I was okay on the bad ones. That again is a coping strategy.

Overall, things are going faster than we’d like. We are dealing with increasing change, and increasing information. Things like Harold Jarche’s Personal Knowledge Mastery (PKM) are tools we increasingly need to use, to be able to adapt.

Timing matters in other ways, too. Some times the time has to be right for an idea to stick. I regularly tell the story about how I mentioned the concept of ‘explorable interfaces’ (from Jean-Marc Robert) to my PhD supervisor, to no avail. Which surprised me, because our lab was looking at usability! However, I brought the concept up a few years later, and suddenly it was a great idea! Same idea, but right time.

It’s true for learning as well. It’s not something we can rush! Yet we try to have an event and then move on, not recognizing learning takes time. We need repeated reactivation and feedback for learning to occur, yet that’s seldom the design of our organizational solutions. Yet, technology gives us the ability to address this, if only we have the will.

And, we may need to make sure it’s the right time. We need to understand why something’s relevant to us before we’re ready for the message. That’s something I think we don’t focus on enough, hence my most recent tome.

We live in interesting times, as the saying has it. There’s little reason to believe things will slow down, even if they should. So, we need to be able to deal with it. Personally, and for our learners. Timing matters, as does how we deal with it. What are your strategies?

Ideas we could do without

27 January 2026 by Clark Leave a Comment

Saw a post on LinkedIn from a colleague, ranting about how we are regularly putting old wine in new bottles. I do believe we’re getting deeper into design and strategy, but I also agree. Similarly, I’ve seen a regular feature on a newsletter talking about terms we can do without. So, I’m combining the two here. Not surprisingly, I’m channeling previous complaints (as a commenter made mention of), but this is the first time combining them into ideas we could do without.

Microlearning. As I’ve said before, the problem here is that there are regularly two things meant here: either spaced learning or performance support. Both are good things, but lumping them under one label constitutes a problem. For one, they have different design processes and goals, so using the same term for two different things risks confusion. I like the idea of emphasizing conciseness, but…we can call it minimalism, eh?

Workflow learning. This is problematic because it implies learning, yet, as I’ve repeated, you can’t learn ‘in the workflow’. My argument rests on the fact that learning is really action and reflection, and reflection breaks the workflow. I reckon this could be definitional, as some folks might argue that such reflection is part of the workflow, but like with microlearning, they’re also many times talking about performance support. So, it’s another term with wrong usage, or at least ambiguous provenance. Let’s talk performance support or learning from the workflow.

Mobile. This may seem odd, given that I’ve been talking and writing about mobile at least since my first book on the topic, more than a decade ago! (Notably, both books are now out of print. Indicative?) Yet, I still receive requests from developers to make my mobile apps (not what I do). Also, Google declared they were going ‘mobile first’ also over a decade ago. Really, mobile has kind of just merged into digital solutions, I would suggest. Sure, we get folks asking us to use the app, but that to me is frustrating. It shouldn’t matter whether I’m using the app or a website, I have the same goals, largely. Yes, there are some location-specific things, and we (still) aren’t taking advantage well of the contextual capabilities of mobile devices, but mobile is really moot. It’s about augmenting our thinking. And, separately, taking advantage of context.

Unlearning. I’m adding this after originally writing this, because it just emerged again, and literally two days after a really nice ‘takedown‘ by Tom McDowell, who’s developed a real capability for research translation. In short, our brains can’t unlearn. That is, we don’t forget things, so we need to really build a new, alternative response to a previously learned approach. Which means that solutions designed for ‘unlearning’ won’t achieve the necessary outcome. Thus, this isn’t just a nice shortcut, but instead creates impressions that can lead folks astray. Let’s dump the phrase completely. Please?

I’ll add a new one: AI. What?

AI. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been a big fan of artificial intelligence (AI) for literally decades. So, why am I struggling? I admit I’m getting overwhelmed when people say “AI” and mean generative AI. Generative AI is, conceptually, a small subset of AI. Sure, it’s huge right now, but that’s largely hype driven by money. It’s not real in a meaningful sense. I wish people could and would be clear, like “I’m going to call it AI, but I’m talking about generative AI and large language models (LLMs) in particular.” Which kind of undermines the hype, but what’s wrong with that? (Except for the purveyors, of course.) Sure, we should be treating all our digital endeavors similarly in strategy, e.g. as Lori Niles Hoffman’s new book points out, but AI is just one of the tools we should be tapping into.

Do I think my rant will change anything? Of course not! There’s money to be made, after all. Also, no one pays much attention to my rants here anyway ;). Still, a chance to get this off my metaphorical chest. So those are my ‘ideas we could do without’. What are yours?

Announcing my mini-scenario workshop

28 August 2025 by Clark Leave a Comment

I try not to commercialize this blog. It doesn’t cost, you can get ad free updates in your email, and of course it’s really for me ;). Still, once in a while there’s something I do want to draw your attention to. And, of course, you can stop here. However, I’ll suggest you at least give this a look. What I’m talking about are the whys and whats of an upcoming mini-scenario workshop I’ll be running on 9/11 from 11-3:30 ET. (Yes, I know, that date, but really, we don’t want to let them win, right?) So, I’m announcing my mini-scenario workshop.

First, why? Well, I argue that there are strong reasons to lift our practice game. Retrieval practice is, I believe, the most important thing we can do help our learning actually develop skills. Such practice is really integral to, for instance, the Serious eLearning Manifesto. And it’s more than just better-written multiple choice questions (MCQs). Patti Shank has told us how to do that, and what I am talking about is a bit of that, but more focused. And we can go beyond, to branching scenarios. For that, you should pay attention to Christy Tucker. Instead, I’m talking the sweet spot in between. The one that’s well within our reach, but not our grasp.

Short of branching scenarios, but beyond good MCQs, are what I call mini-scenarios. They’re MCQs, but specifically written to be retrieval practice. What we’re doing is using the base capability of our authoring tools, but taking them to the best place they can be. And, previous experience tells me that you can get the idea, but you really need feedback to fine-tune your understanding. Not a surprise, really, it’s learning after all! Still, a strong argument.

And, being immodest, I have really sweated the details about how to make this workshop, well, work. First, a quick refresh on ‘why’. Then, we take apart the idea into the constituent parts, and talk about the essential criteria for each. We reinforce this by identifying bad examples. Then, we work through two different ways of doing these. In groups, you’ll work with the ideal: given good objectives. But we’ll also work through the likely real: working from knowledge questions. In addition, I’ve created a job aid: a checklist that uses the structure to help make sure you’re developing a useful mini-scenario. We’ll use it in the exercises.

While this is the first live run, I’ve iterated on it numerous times. I’ve even developed a follow-on just to refine the design (tho’ we may have it as an extra-value no-extra-cost option)! So, if you want to get serious about writing questions that will scaffold your learners to developing real new abilities, not just knowledge, this is the place to come. So that’s why I’m announcing my mini-scenario workshop. I hope to see you there!

They’re ripping you off

7 January 2025 by Clark Leave a Comment

Ok, so I am grateful. But there may also be times to rant. (Maybe I’m grateful for getting it off my chest?) But I’m seeing a continual rise in how folks are looking to take advantage of me, and you. And I don’t like it. So, here are some of the ways they’re ripping you off!

So, first, it’s the rise in attempts to defraud you. That can be scams, phishing, or more. As I was creating this post, this was a repost on Bluesky:

Robocalls are seeing a massive increase lately. Keep in mind that efforts to stop caller-ID spoofing have largely had no real effect, because callers now use “throw away” numbers that verify correctly and then are abandoned after days or even hours. In fact, if you get an “unknown caller” on your phone, it’s likely NOT a spam call, because spammers can now so easily not bother spoofing or blocking their numbers, they just keep switching to different “legit” numbers that spam blocks usually don’t detect.

Email phishing is on the rise, and much of it now is bypassing SPF and DKIM checks (that Google and other large mailers started requiring for bulk mailings) due to techniques such as DKIM replay and a range of other methods. Fake PayPal invoices are flooding the Net, and they often are passing those checks meant to block them. It’s reported that many of these are coming from Microsoft’s Outlook, with forged PayPal email addresses. Easiest way to detect these is to look at the phone number they want you to call if you have a question — and if it’s not the legit PayPal customer service number you know it’s not really from PayPal. Getting you to call the scammers on the phone is the basis of the entire scheme.

It’s all getting worse, not better. – From Lauren Weinstein Lauren.vortex.com

Another one are Google Calendar announcements, and recently DocuSign frauds. Plus, of course, the continual fake invoices for Macafee, etc. I don’t know about you, but the earlier scam of pretending to be someone on LinkedIn has returned. I’m seeing a renewal of folks saying that I have an interesting profile, or that I’d be a good match for their company’s new initiative. Without knowing anything about me, of course.

Worse, I’m now seeing at least the former showing up in Bluesky (so I’m keeping Mastodon around; quinnovator on both), and even on Academia.edu! I hear about some attempts to crack down on the factories where they house (and exploit) folks to do this. Which, of course, just drives them to smaller and harder to find such activities. The tools are getting more powerful, making it easier.

The one that really gets me is the increasing use of our data to train language models. I was first alerted when a tool (no longer freely available) allowed me to check one of the AI engines. Sure enough, this blog was a (miniscule) percentage of it. In the column on the right, you can see I’m ok with my posts being fodder. Er, only if you aren’t making money, share alike, and provide attribution! Which isn’t the case; I haven’t had contact nor seen remuneration.

This is happening to you, too. As they say, if you’re not paying, you’re the product. If you use Generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT), you’re likely having your prompts tracked, and any materials you upload are fair game. Many of the big tools (e.g. Microsoft) that connect to the internet are also taking your data. Some may make not taking the default, but others aren’t. In short, your data is being used. Sure, it may be a fair exchange, but how do you know?

In short, they’re ripping you off. They’re ripping us off! And, we can passively accept it, or fight. I do. I report phishing, I block folks on social media, and I tick every box I can find saying you can’t have my data. Do we need more? I like that the EU has put out a statement on privacy rights. Hopefully, we’ll see more such initiatives. The efforts won’t stop; shareholder returns are at stake after all, but I think we can and should stand up for our rights. What say you?

What L&D resources do we use?

29 October 2024 by Clark 1 Comment

This isn’t a rhetorical question. I truly do want to hear your thoughts on the necessary resources needed to successfully execute our L&D responsibilities. Note that by resources in this particular case, I’m not talking: courses, e.g. skill development, nor community. I’m specifically asking about the information resources, such as overviews, and in particular tools, we use to do our job. So I’m asking: what L&D resources do we need?

I’m not going to ask this cold, of course. I’ve thought about it a bit myself, creating an initial framework (click on the image to see it larger). Ironically, considering my stance, it’s based around ADDIE. That’s because I believe the elements are right, just that it’s not a good basis for a design process. However, I do think we may need different tools for the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation, even if don’t invoke them in a waterfall process. I also have categories for overarching strategy, and for specific learning topics. These are spaces in which resources can reside.

There are also several different types of resources I’ve created categories for. One is an overview of the particular spaces I indicate above. Another are for information resources, that drill into a particular approach or more. These can be in any format: text or video typically. Because I’m weird for diagrams, I have them separately, but they’d likely be a type of info resource. Importantly, one is tools. Here I’m thinking performance support tools we use: templates, checklists, decision trees, lookup tables. These are the things I’m a bit focused on.

Of course, this is for evidence-based practices. There are plenty of extant frameworks that are convenient, and cited, but not well-grounded. I am looking for those tools you use to accomplish meaningful solutions to real problems that you trust. I’m looking for the ones you use. The ones that provide support for excellent execution. In addition to the things listed above, how about processes? Frameworks? Models? What enables you to be successful?

Obviously, but importantly, this isn”t done! That is, I put my first best thoughts out there, but I know that there’s much more. More will come to me (already has, I’ve already revised the diagram a couple of times), but I’m hoping more will come from you too. That includes the types of resources, spaces, as well as particular instances.

The goal is to think about the resources we have and use. I welcome you putting in, via comments on the blog or wherever you see this post, and let me know which ones you find to be essential to successful execution. I’d really like to know what L&D resources do we use. Please take a minute or two and weigh in with your top and essential tools. Thanks!

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