Category Archives: General Spew

2015 Top Ten eLearning Stats and Trends

Development Tools, General Spew, Learning Mgmt Systems

I’m wary of infographics – a lot seem to be needless representations of info that could just as easily, and perhaps more clearly, be presented as good old text…

But this is pretty cool.

2015 - top 10 elearning stats

(repost from eLearning Industry’s “Top eLearning Statistics and Facts for 2015“)

Additionally, Adobe released their ‘2015 Trends Report‘. It does require a form submission (name, email, etc)…but if you already work with Adobe products, they probably have all that information anyway 🙂
But do note the ‘Notice’ at the bottom of the page…

AICC hangers it up!

General Spew, SCORM/xAPI

The AICC group, arguably the grandfather of SCORM and xAPI, has accepted that the AICC spec is well out-dated and, due to ‘declining membership’, officially dissolved.

From their site,

Our journey is at an end.
Due to declining membership, the AICC membership has decided to dissolve the AICC.
We are very proud of the AICC’s pioneering work in learning technology interoperability specifications.
It is quite a legacy that is still strongly influencing how most of us learn online today

AICC was staying relevant with their work on CMI-5. Based on this ADL Post, they were working with the ADL and the current xAPI efforts to define the ‘next generation of SCORM’. That project has been moved to the ADL and will hopefully continue to see advancement (as I’m not sold, by far, that xAPI [TinCan] is a total solution…but there have been some pretty cool advancements!).

On that note, our previous post, “AICC, SCORM , xAPI, CC/LTI, CMI-5…What Does It All Mean?” now has some dead links. The “collaborators”, “CMI-5 specification”, and “AICC’s CMI-5 Wiki” links are all dead. Current new URL:

CMI-5 specification: https://github.com/AICC/CMI-5_Spec_Current/wiki

Otherwise watch ADL’s site for any news on their hosting and leadership of old AICC spec archives and CMI-5 progress… There are no news updates on their site about AICC or CMI-5 as of this post.

For whatever it’s worth, I appreciate the effort the AICC Executive Committee initiated and maintained over the years. The airline industry may not always be seen as inventive but their move to standardize training communication and record stores was a critical first move to the specifications we work with today.
Cheers to the AICC organization and thanks for the guidance and contributions they’ve made to the eLearning community over these many years!

Even more Captivate 8 resources

Captivate, Development Tools, General Spew

Working with Captivate 8 more and more, the locked-down workspaces really annoyed me. For example, I have two monitors so prefer to have the timeline panel on one monitor (along with a couple other panels) and the main development view on the other. The ‘default’ workspace in CP8, however, doesn’t allow panels to be undocked!

So quick pointer: do Edit > Preferences, then on the resulting screen select ‘Enable custom workspaces/panel undocking’. Continue reading Even more Captivate 8 resources →

Adobe Max Online, Creative Cloud Updates

eLearning News, General Spew, Multimedia, Other Tools

Adobe Max starts today and the Keynotes are being webcast!
http://max.adobe.com/sessions/max-online

They’re having some connectivity issues, likely due to heavy traffic, but coming in well here so far…

  • Day One keynote: Creativity on the Cutting Edge: Monday, Oct 6, 9:30–11:30am PT
  • Day Two keynote: Community Inspires Creativity: Tuesday, Oct 7, 10–11:30am PT

Check out the Adobe Max Blog for timely updates. One major topic is the latest Creative Cloud updates. That blog post covers the highlights, including new Adobe Apps:

  • Illustrator Draw: “An all-new app that reinvents the best of Adobe Ideas, letting you work with familiar tools and features in a modern, streamlined interface.”
  • Photoshop Sketch: “Draw with new expressive brushes as well as custom brushes, and send sketch artwork to Photoshop as a PSD file…”
  • Lightroom Mobile: “View comments and favorites in Lightroom mobile that clients, friends, or family leave on the photos you’ve shared online in Lightroom on the web.”
  • Creative Cloud Market: “A collection of high-quality, curated content that’s free to Creative Cloud members.”

Additionally, some new CC Resources:

 

Defining mLearning

General Spew, Responsive Design

In the previous article, I opined on the definition of eLearning. What better to follow-up with than a definition of mLearning?

The term ‘mLearning’ is a bit narrower than ‘eLearning’, of course, due to its specific focus on mobile devices and access. Wikipedia reveals this definition,

“m-learning or mobile learning is defined as ‘learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices.’ A form of e-learning distance education, m-learners can use mobile device educational technology in many locations at their time convenience.”

The article includes a solid number of references, history, and details and is a good read in itself. Now I’d like to add a bit of my perspective…

Continue reading Defining mLearning →

Defining eLearning

General Spew, Learning Mgmt Systems, SCORM/xAPI

It is generally accepted by now that eLearning provides several advantages to most any organization’s training initiatives. From cost-savings to enhanced retention, eLearning is actually recognizing those goals and continues to hold great promise…but what exactly is “eLearning”?

eLearning is commonly understood as ‘training facilitated by a computer’, but the definitions are wide and varied. Can eLearning be closely defined? Does it need to be? With the improved capabilities of mobile devices, the term ‘mLearning’ has arisen…which brings about another discussion on best-practices and how it differs from eLearning. For the sake of this article, we’ll stick with eLearning as the overall umbrella term.

If a sales representative needs to know the latest product specifications and receives the new PDF brochure on his iPhone, is that eLearning? Sure, why not? He learned something on his mobile computing device – meeting several definitions. Whether web-based educational content is accessed via an online university, a corporate LAN, or a simple web search – it can all be ‘eLearning’…though surely various experts and groups prefer less nebulous definition.

Continue reading Defining eLearning →

Creative Cloud 2014 Release

Development Tools, General Spew

A new release of Adobe’s Creative Cloud is a mere few hours away! We look forward to this significant release and expect solid innovation (i.e. 3D printing support added to Photoshop!). Whether because they want to or really have little choice, professionals are continuing to take up Creative Cloud subscriptions; there are currently more than 1.3 million CC subscribers!

The 2014 release of Creative Cloud is coming: Watch the keynote live online.

On June 18th at 1pm ET see the next evolution of Creative Cloud. All-new desktop and mobile apps, new creative hardware, hundreds of new features and other surprises – all designed to accelerate your creativity and make everything you do every day easier and faster.

Watch the free keynote live on June 18th.

The CC 2014 release (note the addition of a  year to ‘CC’, so there IS some versioning in place, thanksfully) will not replace or overwrite any previous versions you may have installed on your computer and should run side-by-side with earlier software. You can decide when to upgrade and/or uninstall prior versions.

After the CC 2014 launch event, Adobe will commence the Create Now 2014 World Tour – a free live seminar in various citites where you can learn the latest about Creative Cloud, try new products, sharpen design skills, and get inspired!

Check out the Creative Cloud Mosaic fun…

Another addition to the eLearning niche

General Spew

As pretty much the only writer at my previous employer, their company blog was one of my many responsibilities. Once I left, not only has their blog stagnated but I lost my primary platform for spewing whatever hopefully-useful drivel struck my fancy.

So time to setup something new. I’ve had ‘eLearning Chef’ registered for years now and let it languish, unloved, in the virtual ‘To Do eList’…and I’ve got server space, and always wanted to play with different blogging platforms (the former-company’s blog being hosted on Blogger), and wanted something a bit more personal than another Facebook account…

Anyway, not too much to write (or spew) at this point; moreso just to get a post up and settle on the overall ‘look-n-feel’ of the site. I do hope to keep this blog fairly fresh and current with at least somewhat regular news and thoughts on the whole eLearning scene.

Oh, and you probably didn’t ask but I’ll tell anyway – eLearning Chef arose simply from my initial LinkedIn profile. When I first signed up for that site, many years ago (way pre-IPO), everyone’s self-descriptions were so…formal. I wanted to do something fun, and eventually epiphanized (?) while making the family dinner that the process of deciding what to eat, preparing the various tools and process, and putting it all together…was very similar (generally) to what I do for a living.

Or at least, that was what my mind spewed at the time… So be ready for more of that!