Joining the Revolution in November

I've finally decided to commit my dollars to the mobile revolution. About two years ago I decided not to get an iPhone and save the extra $30-$50 a month in increased phone bills that would have resulted. My contract with my current mobile phone provider ends in November and now I'm having trouble waiting to upgrade to the iPhone.

When I renewed my contract with my current provider I was hoping they would come out with a competitive product but it never materialized. Oh, a new Blackberry device...meh. And my current provider seems to be more concerned with restricting services and monetizing them than in actually providing me a great product and service...meh. Now when they lose me as a customer they'll probably blame it on the economy. It's not the economy, its the result of focusing on their market share instead of on the needs of their customers. I understand the business logic here but it can back fire if you don't offer customers what they want. Ok...enough of my frustration with big wireless companies. Thank goodness for companies like Apple and Google that really seem to have their fingers on the pulse of the mobile revolution.

So, back to the iPhone. I may be overexcited about the iPhone. After all, I've only seen them and played with them a few times. But I'm a big Google user and to be able to get GMail, Calendar, Docs, Maps, and Reader while I'm on the move would be awesome. The ability to access Facebook and LinkedIn is great also. There are more benefits I really like. I can take advantage of the speed of my local wireless network. And they have a great developer network and large number of free and cheap apps that are very useful or entertaining. Oh, and then there's my music collection.

Ok, so sure I can get the applications I mentioned on other phones but those other phones seem to be in a different league than the iPhone. They are not as easy to use and the providers of those phones often complicate things by charging differently for each service the iPhone has out of the box. I'm still amazed that my current provider would do things like disable Blue Tooth so that I am forced to use their e-mail service to get the photos off my phone...argh...ok I'm digressing again.

Where is Your E-Learning Environment Going?

I've learned over time that it is important for me to take time to view what I'm doing from different perspectives. Often we developers get caught up in the micro-perspective of what we do. After all, focusing on what happens after the user clicks a button is what I get paid to do. However, when we wear many hats (like both instructional design and development) we are better served to think about things holistically. I know it is important for me to check that my rudder is directed in the right position in this big pond of e-learning. So with that in mind, I've created a map of where I think the e-learning future is for my organization (a large public school system). I have drafted it in the diagram below.

Currently my organization is working on setting up a formal learning system that will manage instructor led training, web-based training, and virtual classroom training. This is the short term goal. The future is still murky for my organization. While informal and continuous learning do occur in my organization, I believe there is an e-learning solution that can enhance continuous learning. This can be done through just-in-time content and collaborative content like wikis and blogs bound through a social network. This is not just a technology solution. It will require a bit of a culture change and will require buy in from the trainers, SMEs, and other mentors who will be asked to lead the charge.

So there is a high level outlook of my best guess of the future of e-learning at my organization. Writing the event for clicking a button is in the small (but important) box I call "Online Self-Paced". What is your best guess for the future of your organization?

Morning Joe and Calculations in Lectora

How can you use Lectora to convert kilobytes to megabytes? On the surface this seems like a basic question not worth expanding on. However, the solution in Lectora involves using variables in a creative way so I thought I'd share my thoughts. I'm also testing the waters with a morning cup of Joe today. I had stopped drinking coffee because it made me a little edgy but it's so good I'm reverting back today. Hopefully I won't go off the deep end!

Open a new Lectora project (or use an existing one) and add the following items to the page:

• A text entry field (Add > Object > Form Object > Entry Field). Accept the defaults but change both the entry name and associated variable name to "kilobytes".
• A button (Tools > Button Wizard). Choose any button. Name it "Calculate".
• A text block (Add > Object > Text Block). Name it "Result".

Next, you need to add a variable (Tools > Variable Manager). Name it "calculate_megabytes".

Now its time to play with actions. This is where the logic resides in Lectora. Create an action group (Add > Group). Name the group "Calculate Megabytes". With the group selected, add the following three actions to the group (Add > Action).

• In the first action, use modify variable to set calculate_megabytes to the value of the text entry field. You have to use VAR() to get the contents of the kilobytes variable. That is a little trick that will come in handy down the road if you continue to work with variables in Lectora. Be sure to spell the variable correctly including case sensitivity.


• Action Name: Set Megabytes Variable
• Action: Modify Variable
• Target: calculate_megabytes
• Value: VAR(kilobytes)
• Modification Type: Set Variable Contents


• On the second action, use modify variable to multiply calculate_megabytes by 0.0009765625. One kilobyte is 0.0009765625 megabytes. It takes 1024 kilobytes to make 1 megabyte.


• Action Name: Kilobytes to Megabytes
• Action: Modify Variable
• Target: calculate_megabytes
• Value: 0.0009765625
• Modification Type: Multiply Variable By


• On third third action, use change contents to set the text block equal to calculate_megabytes to reveal the calculation result to the learner.


• Action Name: Show Result
• Action: Change Contents
• Target: Result
• New Contents: calculate_megabytes

Be sure to check and make sure the actions are in the correct order in the action group. Otherwise, the calculation will not work correctly. The correct order is "Set Megabytes Variable" then "Kilobytes to Megabytes" then "Show Result".

Finally, connect the action group to the button. Open the button properties and select the On Click tab. Choose the action "Run Action Group" with the target "Calculate Megabytes".

You're good to go. Preview the project and test it out. My pace of typing has started to increase. The coffee must be kicking in.

Where o' Where do the Buttons Go?

I'm working on a template that will be used for all my online self-paced training. There is an issue that is nagging at me. Where do I put the navigation buttons? I've already decided that the learning audience I'm developing for needs to have crystal clear navigation where buttons include text labels so that it is very obvious how to go back to the start page, exit, get help, or go to the previous and next pages. I've done mockups where the navigation buttons are at the top and the buttons are at the bottom.

For me, it feels right to have the buttons at the bottom because the user doesn't have to deal with them until they have read the content on the page. This puts the content first which is good. However, I've noticed if the buttons are on the bottom and the window is resized so that the buttons go off the screen, this creates confusion for the learner. I'm starting to believe I'm over thinking it and it really doesn't matter. Thoughts?

Shadowing by Robot

I came across an interesting video from IEEE Spectrum Online that explains a robot used for video conferencing. You can think of this humanoid robot as the answer to the question "what do I do when I want to video conference with someone but I need to be mobile and let that person follow me around?" It's a pretty cool concept. (Blissfully ignoring cost) I see this being useful in the training world. For example, a lot of training is done through shadowing another employee. A robot like this could allow some one to shadow an experienced employee remotely. But keep on your toes, that robot following you may just be your boss!

Of course I can't help but think this is the first step towards human-cyborg relations. A robot that talks to the internet for you so that you can video conference. C3PO Version 0.01?

Link to video