Interview with Christopher Cummings, SpanishDict.com, Innovators in E-Learning Series

Learning Spanish online, in virtual worlds or via distributed instruction (virtual tutors, etc.), continues to expand as people find interacting in real time via avatar or chat to be stimulating, engaging, and effective. Have the reference materials kept up? Have virtual dictionaries expanded their instructional strategies? It is a tough question and one we pose to Christopher Cummings, CEO of Curiosity Media, which operates SpanishDict.com.

What is your name and your connection with e-learning?
My name is Christopher Cummings and I am the CEO of Curiosity Media. Curiosity Media operates the world's largest Spanish learning website, SpanishDict. The site reaches over 3,000,000 people each month and provides free, high quality Spanish reference and learning material.

What is your philosophy of e-learning in relationship to language acquisition?
The number one most important challenge to overcome when learning a new language is persistence. Language learning requires practice and a sustained commitment. Our philosophy is to develop tools make it easy for people to stay committed by keeping them engaged. SpanishDict.com features interactive videos taught by a real Spanish teacher. We supplement each video with multimedia flashcards, games, and writing and speaking activities. These videos and features are then packaged into courses that guide people step-by-step--from beginner to advanced levels--to learning Spanish. All of this is made available for free on our website.

Please describe your new product and how it works. What makes it different or special?
The new version of the website makes it even easier to learn Spanish. We now offer 90 profressional video lessons, hundreds multimedia flashcard sets, and two commercial dictionaries. We also offer an exciting new "Answers" section where people can ask and answer questions. The best answers are voted to the top, creating an extensive database of common and not so common questions and answers.

Here's a tough question: Does the world need another dictionary? How does yours encourage collaboration, interaction, and social networking / learning community development?
We started in the site in 1999, back when the world really did need another dictionary--one that was online, easily searchable, and had audio pronunciations of the words. That formula is what launched the site on its pathway to popularity. Since then we have led a number of innovations on the world of online dictionaries: we use one simple search box for both English and Spanish words, recognize what language you've entered, and bring you to the right translation immediately. We auto suggest words in English and Spanish as you type. We have audio prononuciations for every word. And perhaps most importantly, we licensed some of the best dictionaries available, so that our search results give not only the translations, but example sentences, regional variations, and the information you need to actually be able to use the word with confidence.

We have an incredibly active community. In the question and answers section, people are constantly helping one another. The answers section enhances the results from our dictionary: each time you look up a word we also search for relative posts from the answers section for that word. This can often provide help with hard to find translations and tricky usage scenarios. If we don't already have an answer to your question, we make it dead simple to ask a new question. It's really amazing to see that virtually all questions that are asked get good, solid answers from members of the community.

How do you keep Flashcards from being passive?
We try to make the flashcards interactive with the games that we have linked to each flashcard set. People learn words with the flashcards, and they practice what they have learned with the automatically created multiple choice quizzes, listening games, and a memory recall section that is associate with each word list. Users earn points on these games for each correct answers, and they are able to challenge their friends and other members of the site to see who can earn the most points on any given flashcard set. Finally, we also users to create their own flashcards sets and games. We link this to the dictionary so that is really easy to look up a word you don't know and then add it to a flashcard set of words you are learning.

What is Curiosity Media? Do you have plans for future projects?

Curiosity Media is the company behind SpanishDict. Looking ahead, we are constantly adding new features to SpanishDict and trying to reach more people with the resources we have on the site. We will soon be launching a full-featured iPhone app. This will make it even easier for people to lookup words on the go or brush up on their Spanish with our word game and talking phrase book. Stay tuned for the that. We are also going to be reaching out to more Spanish speakers looking to learn English. Our whole site has been translated into Spanish, and we now have video lessons that teach English to Spanish speakers. I think these will be a couple of the future projects to watch out for on SpanishDict.

What is your core learning philosophy?

Approach the world with a curious and open mind and you will be amazed at what you learn.

Interview with Mark Luetzelschwab, BrainHoney: Innovators in E-Learning Series

Welcome to an interview with Dr Mark Luetzelschwab, of BrainHoney.com, a new learning management system that state standards into the entire teaching and learning process, which, in the past, has been a stumbling block as developers attempt to create K-12 courses for learners in different schools, or as colleges develop Advanced Placement courses for individuals in high schools in located in different states. Brainhoney automatically creates a curriculum map template, populates all of a person's state's standards, gradebook, and mastery chart. It is all web-based.

1. What is your name and your connection to elearning?

My name is Dr. Mark Luetzelschwab, BrainHoney. I have been involved with educational technology for 20+ years in a variety of areas including hands-on microcomputer labs, video analysis, multimedia tutorials, etc. I have focused on eLearning for last 10 years, with an emphasis on practical applications that are available to large audiences. I have also been an executive at a number of elearning startups that have grown to hundreds of thousands of enrollments across the globe. My PhD deals with expert facilitation of asynchronous discussions.

2. Please describe BrainHoney. What makes it unique? What is its structure?

BrainHoney uniquely integrates state standards into the entire teaching and learning process. Teachers track student progress against state standards; this data can be integrated with SISs and other data systems for administrator review. An automatic registration process is followed and then you may drag and drop curriculum mapping to state standards. BrainHoney creates a gradebook from the curriculum map and uses the data and alignment to generate day-by-day reports of student progress against state standards. In effect, the teachers get the same data daily the administrators get annually from state tests - in time to do something about it and provide intelligent intervention.



3. Who will use BrainHoney, and what are the core instructional strategies that it employs? Is it easy to use?

BrainHoney is designed for K-12 teachers. It is so easy and clear, we have even been hugged during demos by a few teachers. The core instructional strategy is that instructional decisions are best made based on available data. BrainHoney makes it practical for teachers to integrate state standards into the day-by-day practice and significantly benefit from that integration by understanding what students know and what concepts need to be revisited before the statewide exams.

BrainHoney can be used in the classroom, online, or both. Teachers can provide supplemental materials online for classroom students, teach online and classroom students simultaneously, and teach completely online.

Teachers who have used online learning systems like Blackboard and Moodle express that BrainHoney "has it figured out" and report savings of upwards of 80% of administrative time (i.e. looking for assignments, grading, responding to discussions)

4. What kinds of collaborative learning strategies does BrainHoney incorporate? Are there elements about BrainHoney that one can't find anywhere else?

While we have some basic asynchronous collaboration tools, we don't dictate the style of instruction. We focus on teachers aligning their activity - whether its a field trip, a collaborative project, or direct instruction - to state standards and providing a tool for measuring and reporting progress.

5. Who is likely to benefit most from BrainHoney's platform?

Ultimately, the students. BrainHoney makes it practical to differentiate instruction, which is one of the most critical aspects of effective instruction. Teachers love that it makes them more efficient, and that it helps them focus on teaching, and NOT on administrivia.

6. Does BrainHoney host the solution?

We host the solution.

BrainHoney's Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/BrainHoney/124693531960?_fb_noscript=1

Twitter: @BrainHoneyEd

Interview with Vikram Savkar, Nature Education: Innovators in E-Learning Series

Welcome to an interview with Vikram Savkar, Nature Education, who has dedicated energy and time to promoting science education that is truly collaborative, and which leverages new technologies and social networking to engage students and to make them comfortable with discovery science. He has led the development and launch of a new product, Scitable.com, which offers online learning, a social network, and a resource base of science.



What is your name and your relation to e-learning?
I’m Vikram Savkar, Senior Vice President & Publishing Director of Nature Education, a division of Nature Publishing Group. We are devoted to creating high quality, broadly accessible science e-learning.

Vikram Savkar

What is Scitable? Who are the users? What is their background (age, etc.)
Scitable, Nature Education’s first product, is a global online classroom for science. It is a combination of journal-quality articles and a social network. Scitable provides a library of free, peer-reviewed learning content to an online community of scientists, teachers, and students. Students not only delve deeply into key topics in science on their own using our content, but also reach out to and connect online with others—teachers, scientists, grad students—for advice, guidance, and insight.

Teachers use Scitable to create private online classroom spaces , combining premium content, discussions, news feeds, and more.



Currently, users come from more than 85 countries and include prominent researchers, teachers, postdocs, graduate students, undergraduate students, high school students, and even a number of non-science-related adults who are interested in learning more about science for personal reasons.

Please provide some examples of Scitable in use. E-Learning? Research?
Faculty in several countries have used Scitable to run their undergraduate classes, using our private classroom spaces and premium content. These classes range from “genetics for non-scientists” to intermediate level genetics classes. Researchers are also using Scitable to create public dialogue around topics of special interest to them. And a pleasant surprise is that a number of parents have come to use the site as a way to learn more about science topics covered in the news (like cloning or evolution), so that they can be in a better position to explain them to their children.

How is Scitable used in social networks? What kinds of social networks do you envision developing around Scitable in the future?
The faculty members who are using Scitable to run their classes form a unique kind of narrowly focused social network within Scitable. They are using the site as a powerful communication tool for their students in order to collaborate and have debates with each other.



Many users from overseas are using the site to build global networks of likeminded people whom they don’t otherwise know. We frequently hear how isolating it can be to be studying science in a country in which there are not very many science students.



In Scitable, these students find a thriving 24/7 global community of people studying the same area. We are planning to do more to capitalize on this potential and envision playing more of a “connector” role by which the site helps people find mentors or study partners from within the site community.

How much does Scitable cost? Are there articles that are free?
Scitable is free, and all of the articles on the site are free as well.

Does Scitable include images, audio podcasts, video podcasts? What kinds of assets do you incorporate?
Scitable contains text, images, podcasts and vodcasts. Please watch for Simply Science, a new online video series that we will launch shortly. It will explain cutting edge research in very simple terms from which any of us can learn. A podcast series on key trends in science education is also in the works. One of our goals is to provide resources that today’s students will enjoy using. Having a range of media assets is a key part of that strategy.



What are your plans for Scitable in the future?
We plan to expand our editorial coverage from genetics— the field in which we’ve created premium content initially—to the other life and physical sciences. Second, we plan to develop a version of Scitable that is accessible by Smartphone. There are numerous places in the world where top quality science resources are greatly needed that don’t have dependable Internet access, but do have strong mobile networks. Third, we’re going to continue to develop features that facilitate networking among our users.

Interview with Michael Platt on Career Colleges: Innovators in E-Learning Series

Career colleges are experiencing dramatic growth, primarily because they connect directly to the workforce, where learners can train to enter new jobs and careers. Their lives are transformed by their education, and their goals. Welcome to an interview with Michael Platt, PlattForm Advertising.

1. What is your name and what is your involvement with e-learning?

Michael Platt. I have been providing admissions support in the form of lead-generation, lead-management and admissions training, for as long as e-learning has been a significant delivery model, having worked with UOP (University of Phoenix) back in the 90’s.

2. What has your involvement been with career colleges?

My company, PlattForm Advertising, is the largest full-service marketing, advertising and public-relations firm in the sector.



3. How would you define "career college"?

Any school that offers programs taught by industry professionals and focused on the practical knowledge necessary to perform in the workplace.

4. What are some of the standards that career colleges are required to follow? For example, what must they do with respect to graduation rates, student success, and job placement?

Career Colleges, unlike other schools, must meet standards of job placement within the field of study, graduation rates, repayment of loan rates and a certain percentage of their revenue must come from cash, not Title IV funds. These are just a few of the many standards that are required by the DOE, States and Accrediting Bodies. While the DOE controls Title IV-based regulations, each state has its own governing board with distinct, state-by-state rules and regulations. Additionally, Regional Accrediting organizations like SACS and WACS in addition to National Accrediting organizations like ACCSCT, ACICS, ABHES, ACCETT and COE, have THEIR own rules and regulations. It is a major roadmap of rules and regulations that Career Colleges must navigate on a daily basis.


5. Please describe the work you have done in the area of education for "green jobs" or green technology and sustainable business?

This is all brand new, but I personally know of at least a dozen school groups currently working on new curriculum in these areas, both for design, development and maintenance.

6. In your opinion, within the realm of "green jobs," where will the highest growth occur?

Deployment and maintenance. There is a lot of focus on design at the traditional university level, but it will be Career Colleges that train those that will produce, install and maintain the equipment.

7. How do you approach e-learning when it is a skills-based, hands-on field? Do you advocate the use of interactive virtual worlds (such as Second Life), simulations, or "serious games"? Do you encourage the development of preceptorships, as are used in nursing?

In addition to externship components, the most successful model I have seen in using e-delivery of traditionally hands-on education, is to include a capstone event to serve as a final, hands-on component and proving ground. Also, many schools use video and asynchronous delivery models to create more of that hands-on or classroom feel for the students.

8. What do you see as the most important foundational skills for e-learners who are thinking about a program at a career college?

It is about the commitment and what to do when doubt sets in. There are terrific programs out there like the Pacific Institute who provides a curriculum, “Thought Patterns for a Successful Career,” that helps students understand how the mind works as it relates to goals, fear, attitude, accountability, and vision.

Note: Free download of pdf of e-Learner Survival Guide.

Interview with Dr. Donald Green, Florida State College Jacksonville: Innovators in E-Learning Series

Developing effective e-learning content and instructional strategies for deployment at a massive scale, such as that of Florida State College at Jacksonville, can materially change the lives of many students who otherwise would not be able to continue their education and training. There are challenges, though, and the endeavor requires planning, coordination, and a willingness to be aggressive about quality control. Welcome to an interview with Dr. Donald Green, Executive Vice President of Instruction and Student Services at Florida State College at Jacksonville.

1. What is your name and your connection to e-learning?
My name is Donald Green and I am the executive VP of Instruction and Student Services @Florida State College @ Jacksonville. As the chief academic officer I am very interested in elearning. We have over 50,000 enrollments in online and hybrid courses.

Dr Donald Green of Florida State College at Jacksonville and Karl Wahlstrom

2. What is the Sirius Project? What is its goal / mission? Who are the beneficiaries?
The SIRIUS project is meant to be a transforming project--transforming the way teachers teach and learners learn. By teaching teachers about learning and motivational research and incorporating the latest technology with the assistance of instructional designers we have been able to create highly interactive, relative, emotionally engaging, and learner centric digital course materials. And these courses replace a "textbook" mentality. The faculty benefit by being part of a project that incorporates the best in teaching with scholarly activity. Students benefit by having materials that produce better learning outcomes And at a significantly reduced price.

Dr. Donald Green, Florida State College Jacksonville, with Queen Noor of Jordan

3. What were the stages of the Sirius Project? Please describe the courses (subjects, format, level).
All courses begin with preparing the faculty---they learn the latest in motivation and learning research. Next, they become familiar with the latest in educational technology and how to integrate the best of tools into the design of courses. Next, a team is formed with teachers, instructional designers and technology experts. All through the development process, evaluations are done. At the end of the process, beta versions are released and further refinements are made. It should be noted that these courses are design by first defining the learning outcomes and the assessments before the methods of instruction are developed. These courses are learner centric and focus on learning outcomes.

4. Who were the stakeholders?
There were a few people at the college who understood that this project was not just a textbook replacement model but much more. The few of us decided that failure was not an option and kept pressing against the odds.

5. How did Sirius work in the beginning? What were some of the accomplishments? Lessons learned?
The beginning was rough! Teachers did not understand learning and motivation research, they did not know instructional design, they were not competent at using technology, and working in teams was a strange idea. Plus, the idea of building materials that were focused on student learning outcomes from a very comprehensive and complex systems theory approach was alien. We have still not been able to explain that the idea of a textbook is an antiquated idea. We also have learned that the text is a form of security blanket for faculty and students. Furthermore, it was difficult to assist faculty in realizing that the content bases textbook united with the"pray and spray" method was not the design of the future.

6. What are future plans for Sirius?
SIRIUS has an exciting future and we move toward embedded intelligence. I see the future of education being design with life-style integration as the key driver. This means that people will demand to learn when, where and how they desire and with methods that match who they are as learners. We will continue to look for partners who have the same vision and continue to build more powerful learning solutions as tools increase in their sophistication.

7. What do believe are the future directions of e-learning and how does Sirius contribute?
Learning is a way of life--a way to not only survive but flourish. SIRIUS is just one of the project that will assist those involved in designing the future of teaching and learning that a new paradigm is upon us and that we need to contribute actively instead of react.

Dr Donald Green getting ready to take off


8. Please describe your military experience and how it has shaped your vision of higher education and distance education. How is Sirius deployment-friendly?
Being a military family provides the opportunity to experience a variety of cultures and to learn to make the best of change. Adaptation becomes a social and psychological skill. My vision has been shaped through the recognition that ignorance is evil's playground. Because of our advances in communications technology, we in higher education have a greater responsibility globally to provide meaningful educational experience. SIRIUS is all about creating and sharing powerful learning experiences that are in a continual state of enhancement. Because SIRIUS materials are digital, deployment is only limited by a faculty member or administrator's desire to join a project based upon the belief that if the very best faculty contribute new and better ideas on an ongoing basis, more powerful materials will be designed and shared.

E-Learner Survival Guide: Free Download for E-Learning Queen Readers

E-Learning Queen readers may download a free pdf of E-Learner Survival Guide, a collection of articles, insights, instructional strategies, lesson plans, and more. For individuals who would like a printed copy, it is available in perfect-bound paperback at Amazon.com. This 325-page book has the low price of $26.95.

E-Learner Survival Guide: This broad reaching collection of essays on e learning examines accomplishments, new directions, and challenges from many perspectives. The essays are arranged in categories, which include e learning and e learners, teaching and instruction, student engagement, learning communities, outcomes assessment and institutional leadership, all of which relate to learners and programs from college, K 12, career, to corporate training. Of special interest is a focus on successful outcomes for students and programs, and essays on often overlooked niches of learners, including generational differences (Gamers, Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y), stay at home mothers, working mother e learners, homeschoolers, bilingual online education and training.

E-learning is covered, along with mobile learning, and the use of simulations, virtual worlds, serious games, and more.

Very useful approaches to studying online, and developing effective success strategies make the articles helpful to students and instructors.

Interview with Tina Sartori, Turning Technologies, on Social Learning Communities: Innovators in E-Learning

Finding the best way to incorporate social learning communities within an e-learning environment can be challenging. Dr. Tina Sartori, Turning Technologies, has addressed the challenge with a combination of robust instructional design and innovative technology.

Welcome to an interview with Sartori, who addresses how to develop social learning communities that are effective in a variety of e-learning settings.

What is your name/title and your relation to distance and e-learning?

Dr. Tina Sartori - Educational Consultant, Turning Technologies
My relation with distance and e-learning is multi-faceted and is grounded in the theories and research of Lave and Wenger. A major component of my doctoral degree in Instructional Technology at Pepperdine University focused on social learning communities and the program itself was a distance learning hybrid format. I worked with the Georgia Department of Education as a K-12 online course developer using Desire to Learn and as a college professor, I utilized Blackboard as for course content. Currently, I develop online professional learning courses in Moodle which are located at www.turningcourses.com. Additionally, as the educational consultant for Turning Technologies, I work with schools and districts to promote social learning communities with their educators.


What is Turning Technologies, and what do they create?

Turning Technologies, LLC develops interactive response systems utilizing the latest software and hardware tools available and transforms them into state-of-the-art applications for audience and student response. We are focused on school improvement and student achievement, and have developed products, programs, professional development and partnerships that have had positive outcomes in a number of educational settings.



How would you define a social learning community?

A social learning community is a community of practice that promotes learning from a social perspective. Social learning communities are both complex and dynamic with learning stemming from both the convergence of the competence and experience of its members who range from newbies, to old-timers. A strong sense of belonging, member interactivity and the collective development of community norms, artifacts, knowledge and tools are critical components of these social units.

How does a social learning community work, at least as you envision it?

A social learning communities are generally cultivated out of learning should include elements such as membership, leadership, connectivity and all necessary tools to promote the community. However, true social learning communities are fluid and are driven by the members of the community itself. Healthy social learning communities include both organized constructed learning opportunities as well as open trajectories that allow for flexible community evolution.

How does Turning Technologies create social learning communities? Where? Under what conditions?

Turning Technologies' users are passionate and innovative. Shared ideas and strategies improve the quality and effectiveness of learning. TurningTalk is our online learning community located at http://www.turning-talk.com and is dedicated to providing an open forum for the discussion and sharing of these valuable insights. Furthermore, Turning Technologies hosts onsite user conferences that allow for important face to face interaction between members.

What are the best ways to use social learning communities to achieve learning objectives and to perform well on assessments?

Social learning communities can be leveraged to achieve learning objectives in a variety of ways. The predominant method is through collaborative knowledge creation, management and sharing. The community can merge individual and company capabilities through dialogue and relationship building. The collaborative nature of learning communities allows for both concrete and tactic knowledge exchange which generally leads to accelerated achievement of learning objectives. Increasing performance on assessments is fostered through sharing of resources, best practices and the ability of learning communities to provide mentorship relationships through the co-mingling of new users, mid-level users and advanced users.

Interview with Massood Zarrabian, OutStart: Mobile Learning Applications

Mobile learning continues to expand as applications are developed for use in corporate training, K-12 activities, research and field work, and general education. Welcome to an interview with Massood Zarrabian, CEO and President of OutStart. OutStart has created a solution is that supports all mobile platforms, 500 devices, and works in connected and disconnected form

What is your name and your relation to e-learning?

[mzarrabian] Massood Zarrabian, CEO and President, OutStart

What made you interested in mobile learning?

[mzarrabian] Other than the market hype, lots of different things:
1. Our customers kept on asking us to help them with their corporate mobile strategy. All of them wanted to do something with mobile, but were looking at us to work with them and develop a comprehensive strategy.

2. My sons who showed me quizzes that were being sent around on mobile devices, and while sitting in the back of the car were discussing the answers with each other.

3. And personal experience. We use our products internally for a variety of business processes, and I was frustrated with the way they worked on my mobile, forcing me to boot up my laptop to do something that I should have been able to do with my mobile device, specifically around small training modules, and interactions with SMEs about a variety of things I needed to get done.
When did you first see a successful application of mobile learning?

[mzarrabian] Earlier this year Hot Lava’s CEO showed us some of the things his customers had done, including the Kauffman/Sprint project that was developed to deliver mobile based sports-themed science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) training (modules coupled with brain teaser content and quizzes to evaluate knowledge capture) to youth at professional sports games via mobile phones. The project experienced such great results (see below) that the Kauffman Foundation developed a video about their experience. The video is compelling, and had similarities to what my children were doing and talking about. Anyone can access the video on the Kauffman Foundation website:

http://video.kauffman.org/services/player/bcpid1811456713?bclid=1612721919&bctid=3843734001



Results from the Kauffman/Sprint STEM Project:
• 415,281 registered users
• 12,306 stadium SMS texts
• Global usage - North America, Europe, Asia, Africa
• Replicable model - Demonstrates the potential with mobile content

What kinds of applications have you developed and where are they used?

[mzarrabian] OutStart’s applications enable our customers to develop, deliver and track all types of mobile content without the help of someone with content development experience. Our customers like this flexibility as it allows them to deliver content faster, enabling the organization to be more agile, while leveraging their subject matter experts. We have a number of customers who have used our products to develop, deployed and track mobile content.

Examples include: A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband who uses Hot Lava Mobile to send SMS messages and surveys. Content developed, delivered and tracked include technical information as well as sales training; A healthcare information center uses Hot Lava Mobile as a way to develop mobile content and deliver it to inner city youth as part of a blended learning format.

The youth involved attend workshops and presentations which are followed up by several five-to-eight question modules on their phones as refresher trivia; And, an aviation training company who is using Hot Lava Mobile as part of their training for a new plane they are building. The aviation center sends quizzes and tests to pilots to further their training. As part two of the program, the center will be conducting internal and external surveys with their employees and pilots.

Please list the instructional strategies you use:

I asked one of our Consultants who has a Ph.D. and has been working with our customers for over one year to comment on mobile content development to help with the next questions, here is her response:

The instructional strategies for mobile content development are very different than those for developing content for elearning or traditional learning. On the content development side, you need to keep in mind the screen size that your audience will be using, the need and ability to include interactivity in your content, the attention span of your audience and the fact that the users are on the go when accessing your content.



To help in the development process, Hot Lava Mobile was developed to allow content developers to visualize content in the new environment by providing mobile skins for content development. It also has the ability to integrate images, audio, video and animations and allows developers to play with a full range of font sizes, colors, and alignments.

Traditional Instructional Strategies used include:

· Behaviorist: Stimulus-response systems that provide problems, challenges, or prompts to the user who then responds and receives feedback.

· Situated Learning: Due to their mobility, phones and PDAs can be taken into authentic contexts where the user can experience what is happening, as well as interact, observe, or collect information. Data can be collected and recorded and responses contributed.

· Informal Knowledge Sharing: Mobile devices now afford access to information, people, and services that support anytime anywhere access to knowledge.

On the delivery and tracking side, for those organizations that care about what mobile content their audience is using, or want to have the ability to track and record surveys or compliance results, the ability to develop fully trackable content is required. This functionality was built in to Hot Lava Mobile as well.]

How is this different than simply downloading a video from YouTube and watching it?

Youtube is not a dedicated instructional or performance support platform/medium/tool.

Youtube does not provide tracking and does not provide data that can report if learning/performance support is actively occurring.

The content on utube is not content that an organization decided to develop to improve their business

Hot Lava Mobile can track and monitor user's/learner's behaviors/responses/achievement/test scores, etc.
What makes it a learning experience?

Learning/performance support goals, objectives, and instructional strategies have been intentionally designed to elicit desired learner/user behaviors/outcomes.

Users/learners receive feedback and can access quizzes and tests to monitor their achievement/performance as well as access final scores.

Users/learners choose modules based on specific learning/performance support outcomes with the intent to transfer knowledge to their target performance environment (their job)

Are your mobile applications useful in countries where connectivity and online access are limited?

[mzarrabian] Yes. We have customers all over the globe, from South Africa to India to Australia and Brazil, as well as customers in areas where connectivity is not as much of an issue, like the US, Canada and Norway. One of the beauties of our solution is that is supports all platforms, 500 devices, and works in connected and disconnected form.

So, even with limited connectivity and bandwidth, the content will get downloaded when they are connected, and the results will be synchronized back when they connect again. This is the same model that Blackberry uses for email, but our solution for mobile content works on all devices. In addition all the content created in Hot Lava Mobile is optimized for mobile phone delivery, eliminating issues with low bandwidth areas.

Integrated Online Courses in Science and Math: Case of Educator.com

Educator.com (http://www.educator.com/) is a site that responds to the needs for content in the high-stakes content areas where learners often need the most help: math, chemistry, biology, and computer science.

With high-stakes standardized testing, No Child Left Behind, entrance exams, and outcomes-based assessment, the need for on-demand instructional materials, particularly in math and science, continues to grow. Finding effective materials can be difficult. YouTube is a labyrinth of potential content, and learning object repositories such as MERLOT offer resources. So, there is no shortage of videos, lesson plans, quizzes, and practice exams. However, how does one begin to sort through all the materials?

Educator.com resources are designed to increase knowledge and skill levels rapidly. To that end, instructional materials must exhibit certain characteristics:

1. High-quality content and instruction
2. Consistent and complete
3. Accurate
4. Engaging instruction tying to learning objectives
5. Well-organized
6. Qualified subject matter experts / instructors

With four content areas, Educator.com materials consist of videos, animated slide shows, interactive animations, and lectures that include demonstrations and step-by-step instructions.
The curriculum is well-organized around tables of contents and the modules offer an entire sequence of lessons in ascending order of difficulty.

The approach is particularly valuable for technical subjects that typically frustrate students, effectively blocking them from areas of study and careers where math and science curricula form the core of the content. Effective personalized instruction of consistent quality can be of great use, particular for learners who are visual or auditory and who need a step-by-step approach.

Mathematics: The instructional videos are organized in sequence, and they feature a professor working through the problems using a tablet. He effectively explains the steps and why he used them. The step-by-step approach, and the explanation of how he broke down the problem into small chunks is particularly useful in algebra, which will form the basis of future courses such as trigonometry and calculus.

The videos might be more effective for kinaesthetic learners if they required the learner to click on something or mouse over an animation in order to keep them engaged.

Nevertheless, the fact that one can replay the steps is very useful. For auditory learners, it is much better to have a professor talking about the problem than having an animation of a graphing calculator with explanatory text.

For example, a student can learn calculus from a professor with years of experience, who has developed a highly effective approach that includes incorporating the questions that the students are likely to have.

Students can chose from several different levels of calculus, and different professors

AP Calculus AB: example
AP Calculus BC: example

Chemistry: Narrated and animated presentations help learners visualize the chemical structures and also the nature of the equations used to understand chemical reactions. Using diagrams and animations helps one understand the nature of the changes that occur in chemical processes and reactions. Students can learn chemistry through a combination of animations and guided lecture, with practice quizzes.

Biology: A generous use of diagrams, charts, illustrations, and drawing helps students visualize the concepts and processes in biology. Diagrams are invaluable for developing the ability to identify parts, structures, and processes. They are also very helpful in mapping relationships within biological systems. The courses could add more assessment and quizzes, particularly identification and short answer quizzes. The approach is effective for students who are motivated to learn biology, particularly those desiring careers in medicine and allied health fields.

Computer Science: The basics of programming are presented, and the experts make clear presentations. More hands-on activities would be helpful. It might be good to connect to real-life applications and to engage the students along the way by constantly pointing out the utility of the various languages and applications. It is always good to minimize the "talking head" and to use it simply to rehumanize a dehumanizing environment. Learning computer science is much more engaging with a video guide and examples.

MathMagic (TM): One of the most unique and helpful aspects of Educator.com is the fact that students can address areas that are typical problem areas in math. They can pinpoint their problems, and then remedy them immediately. MathMagic (TM) helps students prepare for exams, placement tests, and competitions.

Instructional materials for AP and college level general education-level courses are readily available on the internet. What makes Educator.com easier to use and more effective are the following points:

1. Uniform / consistent structure
2. Easy to find modules and content
3. Good summaries / practice plus assessment
4. Expert instructors with good use of media and animation
5. Engaging graphics and content
6. Practical content that ties directly to standardized high-stakes exams

For students to get the most of the materials, it is important to accompany the videos with practice. Ideally, the content can be tied directly to a homework assignment. It is also important to used quizzes and assessments in order to provide more hands-on knowledge and skills checks. If the content is correlated with a textbook, going back to repeat the activities while offline could be accomplished.

Interview with Robert Penn, SuddenlySmart.com: Interview with E-Learning Innovators Series

New authoring tools can make creating flash components for customized applications, or shareable repositories of learning objects much easier to do. In this way, some of the early promise of learning objects and LO repositories can be realized, and the high expense plus time lags can be reduced. Welcome to an interview with Robert Penn of Suddenly Smart, an innovator in the area of flash-based learning module authoring tools.

What is your name and your involvement in e-learning / training?

My name is Robert Penn and I’m the CEO of Suddenly Smart, a provider of e-learning authoring software and services. I had my first exposure to training and professional development when I worked for Accenture where I taught workshops on emerging information technologies. I’ve always been interested in how people learn and how we can use training to make a lasting impact on skills and behavior. After a number of years in consulting, I co-founded a company in 1999, Pacific Light Technologies, which developed interactive e-learning.

In the process of developing these courses, we ran into difficulty trying to rapidly develop effective content and were forced to develop some of our own authoring technology. Realizing that many others were facing similar challenges, we changed tack and created Suddenly Smart in 2000 to develop and market our SmartBuilder authoring system.

http://www.suddenlysmart.com/smartbuilder.htm

Please describe suddenlysmart.com

Suddenly Smart’s primary focus is our award-winning e-learning authoring tool called SmartBuilder. SmartBuilder is used to create self-paced e-learning. You can think of it as a sort of "Flash for dummies". In other words, it provides the power and flexibility needed for creating rich, interactive learning experiences, but you don’t have to be a programmer or to use it. The learning curve is about 2-4 days versus many months for Flash. The goal is to empower trainers and instructional designers to actually develop their own content rather than having to hand off designs to programmers for development.

Intrinsic Feedback

How is suddenlysmart.com's vision of flash authoring different than, say, those that focus on animation? Is your product web-based, or does one download it to a computer? Where can one save the flash files once they're created?

Flash does a great job of creating animations for things like a talking character, or a simulation of moving parts in a machine. SmartBuilder is different because its focus is on creating meaningful interactivity, interactivity that leads to behavioral changes in learners. For example, you could use it to create a case-based e-learning exercise, a branching scenario, or a real world task that the learner might face. Zooms, fades, spins and slides can be created in SmartBuilder, and richer animations can be created in Flash and embedded in SmartBuilder lessons.

Assessment / Interactive Quiz

SmartBuilder is a web-based product, which enables it to provide a number of collaboration and content management features. It generates Flash courses that are downloaded from SmartBuilder and run independently of the tool. The courses can be delivered from a website, an LMS, a CD-ROM, or whatever delivery platform is required.

Please describe two different ways that suddenlysmart.com has been used in course design.

Our clients are always turning out great courses designs, so it’s hard to pick just two, but if I must… Hennepin County used SmartBuilder to create a wonderful module on how to work with interpreters. They included branching feedback to make the scenarios more authentic, and even included a fun mood-o-meter for intrinsic feedback.

The Nature Conservancy used SmartBuilder to create a business planning course. They included a robust assessment whereby learners are directed back to specific topics in the module for remediation if they answer a question incorrectly. They also used SmartBuilder’s translation features to repurpose the course for Spanish speakers.

http://www.suddenlysmart.com/examples.htm

How does SmartBuilder make meaningful interaction possible?

For skill building, the most important element of learning interactivity is contextual relevance. In other words, if you needed to train employees on how to use the ports of their laptop, you’ll have much greater motivation, recall and transfer if the exercise throws them into a situation where they need to set up their laptop for an important presentation in the board room, than if you provide them with, say, a who wants to be a millionaire game.

To help create these experiences, you can’t rely entirely on templates since each learning situation is, to some degree, unique. So, in addition to providing templates, SmartBuilder also provides a free-form layout of objects such as text, graphics, and buttons.

Action Logic

Another key element of meaningful interactivity is to provide individualized, intrinsic feedback. As the learner makes choices, they should see the impact of those choices on real world indicators that they care about, such as seeing what a customer is thinking as you speak with them, or seeing a clock run down if you make poor choices in a time sensitive scenario.

SmartBuilder provides point-and-click menus for setting up this type of logic so that authors don’t need to learn any kind of scripting language.

Have you thought about using suddenlysmart.com's authoring tools in building assessments?

Yes, you can use SmartBuilder to create multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and other traditional assessments, but you can also go beyond these formats, when needed. For example, you could decide exactly when a question should be asked, such as when a video is completed; you could ask different follow-up questions depending on whether an initial question is answered correctly or not; you could store results to be displayed in a certificate, and so on.

How might the flash authoring tool be used to develop an assessment that would work with a skills or knowledge competency matrix?

That’s a great question. Did you ever notice that you can pass a lot of quizzes without reading the material? Or, did you notice that many people can pass quizzes and yet not do anything differently on the job? Unfortunately, passing a quiz really just indicates that a learner has successfully stored some fact or data in short term memory. An isolated fact or piece of knowledge does not indicate skill competency.

Scenario-based E-Learning

A more accurate indicator of competency would be to provide a series of learning by doing exercises and then track successful completion of the exercises. Let’s say you wanted to assess interviewing competency. You could create an exercise where you have to actually interview a simulated job applicant. You could include decision points to test competency with supporting skills and knowledge needed for the terminal skills. This might include avoiding asking illegal questions, noticing body language, taking good notes and so on. This approach would kill two birds with one stone: first, learners would actually improve their skills as they make mistakes and repeat the exercises, and, you’d have a much more accurate indicator of competency upon completion than you would have by presenting a traditional multiple-choice style assessment.

Do you have any plans for new applications?

Yes, we’re working on a new version of SmartBuilder that will be even easier to use, yet more powerful. If any of your readers are interested in providing feedback on this or joining our beta program, we’d love to hear from them. Please email beta@suddenlysmart.com to request information on this.

How do you envision developing human capacity in the future?

Our ultimate vision is to achieve what they did in the move The Matrix where the character Trinity learns how to fly a helicopter in about 10 seconds – that’s Suddenly Smart!…but we still have a little way to go before we get there!

Skip the video ahead to 1:20 à http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuEd2GDvOKM