Podcast Authoring: Understanding and Remembering

Control over the rate at which ideas are presented is completely in the hands of the instructional designer and the content author, and it is one of the duties of the person producing a podcast (such as an e-learning professional or media production expert) to advise on how concepts may be best presented.

This can be achieved by:

• Giving workshops (with varying degrees of sophistication, depending on the skills and experience of the content originator, the SME and the instructional designer)
• Directing scriptwriters as to the needs and dynamic of audio presentations
• Rewriting particular pieces to make them more acceptable for audio delivery (in extreme cases)

Being literate by nature and education, the instructional designers and courseware developers often fall into the trap of assuming that what looks well-shaped in the form of a script on the page, will be so in audio form or when delivered verbally.

Unfortunately, this may not be the case. For it also depends at the rate at which new ideas are presented. Take the case of Pythagoras' theorem: this can be rendered as

In any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (the two sides that meet at a right angle).

or

a² + b² = c²

or

Figure 1. Pythagoras’ Theorem

On the printed page, this fundamental of Euclidean geometry can be presented as a concise, elegant argument - and the eye will dwell on it until understood. In the medium of sound, such a construction is out of the question.

In order to ensure even a moderate degree of intelligibility, the argument must sometimes be slowed down to what may seem (in literary terms) like an impossibly slack pace.

For example, say the following aloud:

Click Insert –> Break –> Next Page.

This may be acceptable in a textbook, but to the user this is just a series of non-connected words (unless you know the context). In this highly condensed case, there is no exact or predictable control over what the user picks out. From an audio point of view, this construction is totally unacceptable.

Now (by again saying out loud), contrast the above with:

To insert a next page break into a Microsoft Word document, click on the Insert tab in the ribbon. Click on the Page Break button.

A next page break has been added to the document.

Here, the context is given, the language is logical, and the user is led comfortably and humanely through the procedure, feeling that they have achieved something, not that a series of demands has been made of them.

So even if a user is intellectually equipped and motivated to follow a concise, complex line of instruction, they need time - more time than it takes to present the bare bones of a set of directions - to let it ‘sink in.’ They need time to process the information in their short-term memory and undertake the requested actions or activities.

Direct faults in presentation are:

• Taking too much background knowledge for granted
• The use of unfamiliar words
• The use of unexplained jargon
• The use of flowery analogies or abstractions
• Poor logical construction
• Unnecessarily complex sentences

A good working rule to follow is:

Do not use language that you would not use yourself in everyday speech.

In a learning or informational context, I would suggest that you spend not less than two minutes of total podcast runtime setting the context of your subject matter or learning objectives if the audience is unfamiliar with the topic being discussed. Of course, this is a heuristic or rule of thumb: for unsophisticated subject it may be possible to do less, while a complex argument will need longer to establish fully. In the latter case, it may be better to break the discussion down into stages.

In a 10-minute podcast, for example, I my experience is that it’s possible to cover two major points. The rest of the ten minutes must be spent supporting and linking those points (through example, simulation etc.). If a third point is introduced, it is likely that one of the three points will be lost. To take an extreme case, if ten major points are introduced, then nearly all of them will be lost, and the user may be left with the frustrating feeling that they have missed something. Alternatively, they may remember one of the points that appealed to them, plus the thought that this was part of a pattern that included half a dozen other points that on first hearing seemed plausible.

Cast your mind back to your E-Learning 101 experience – practically the first thing you’re told is that unlike in the classroom, you can’t rely on feedback from your audience about the pace of delivery, which in ILT is subject to the immediate correction of the learners. In contrast, when speaking to an 'invisible classroom' there is a perception or pressure to 'get on with it', because there is nearly always more to say than time to say it.

More…

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Producing Podcasts: Some Considerations for Content Creators

First of all, a (longish) pre-amble...

Anthony Bates, author of Technology, e-learning and distance education (2005) states that audio (via radio broadcast) has been used in education for over seventy years. Examples of its uses include school broadcasting, informal general education, social action programming, and adult basic education and literacy (p.117).

Since its inception in 1969, the British Open University supplied about one-fifth of its output via radio programming. Typically it such programming centered around:

Discussions of course material or issues covered in printed materials

• Alternative viewpoints to those contained in the printed materials (i.e. guest speakers interpreting a text)
• Source materials for analysis (i.e. children's speech patterns)
• 'Performance' pieces, including poetry readings, dramatizations of literature, musical performances

There are of course drawbacks to delivering content via radio broadcast or via analog tape. Radio broadcasts are wholly dependent on the broadcaster's schedule, and minority programming is usually relegated to inconvenient "graveyard slots" - the learner has no flexibility around the schedule. Similarly, broadcasted material happens in real-time - the learner has no facility to 'rewind and play back' a presentation if they miss a point, unless they tape the program 'off the air' (if you're old enough to remember, you'll recall that this could be a messy business).

Cassette tapes had their problems too: analog recordings deteriorate with use and over time, tapes cassettes have many moving parts, the actual magnetic tape can break and become degaussed, and if you have a lot of them, they're bulky to store.

The introduction of CD-ROMs in the late 1980's mitigated most of these issues, and in a sense were the hardware breakthrough that presaged the beginnings of e-learning as we know it today. However, CD-based materials were expensive to produce, many pre-Pentium and PowerPC processors couldn't handle the multimedia requirements needed to view and listen to the material delivered via this medium (800x600 CRT monitor, anyone?).

It was the emergence of the internet that genuinely facilitated audio and visual media-based learning. But that, my friends, is a tale that's still being told, so I'm not going to discuss it here.

The Open University today, on iTunes U

All I will say here is that the internet enables access to e-learning content:

• For Anyone. E-Learning resources are available on-demand, via synchronous and asynchronous channels
• Anywhere. Digital content can be distributed just as easily on a home-based PC, a laptop, or (increasingly) via a mobile device. Content can be viewed both online and offline for maximum flexibility.
  
• At Any Time. You no longer need to rely on an IT department for distribution of large media files; content is easily delivered on demand to facilitate self-paced, OTJ and just-in-time learning.

Now read on...

The purpose of this long pre-amble was to emphasize the importance of understanding your target audience. When you start work on a podcast, you must be aware of not only what is to be said, but also to whom you want to say it. This is not merely a matter of your audience's intelligence, but also of background, experiences and outlook. It is also powerfully related to the things that the listener would like to do - ranging from learning Spanish for a vacation, to passing their Microsoft Office User Specialist certification.

Podcasts - like blogs - develop a distinctive 'personality' according to the characteristics of the source material, the type of audience that material is aimed at, and the individual or team who produce the podcast. So, a Wired News podcast reviewing the latest and greatest computer technologies will sound very different from a podcast about conversational French for beginners.

A study in to the effect of BBC educational broadcasts noted that too many 'teaching points' (what we usually call learning objectives) - more than six per 15 minutes of programming were definitely bad for the user's learning curve. Interestingly, where long, complex sentences with difficult vocabulary and a lot of prepositions did appear to have an adverse effect on intelligibility, the presence of a large number of adverbs and adjectives did not.

The conclusion was drawn that an apparent excess of facts, figures and descriptive terms is no disadvantage, because although they may not be assimilated themselves, they help maintain interest during the learning intervention.

More...
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References:

Bates, A. W. (2005). Technology, e-learning and distance education. Oxford: Routledge Falmer

Read more: http://elearningcurve.blogspot.com/2009/07/exploring-podcasting-for-e-learning-and.html#ixzz0MjnglJ8i

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Exploring Podcasting for E-Learning (and new podcast episode released)

I'm exploring the medium of podcasting at the moment. I've previously discussed podcasting in general here, but in my view there can (and should) be more to the medium than the well-trodden 'single voice-over discusses topic' - what I call the 'fireside chat' - podcast format. To undertake this successfully demands a theoretical understanding and competency in a number of domains.

I will outline the technical aspects of creating, recording, producing, and distributing podcasts at a later time, but for now, I want to investigate some aspects of audio delivered via podcast as a learning channel.

The greatest advantage of the sound medium lies in its direct appeal to the imagination. There is a (probably apocryphal) story told that a child once said they liked radio better than TV 'because there are better pictures on the radio'. The sound 'pictures' are better because they are built in the mind and imagination of the user. If done correctly, ideas and meaning can be conjured up in sound as easily as a software simulation demonstrates the steps involved in formatting a spreadsheet...

...well, perhaps not quite so easily. Sound demands a greater contribution from the learner than visually presented material. To compel this involvement - and to deserve it - the material emerging from a loudspeaker must maintain a high level of interest throughout. If it drops for one moment, the imagination is turned off like a light and all real communication is lost. However, there are many ways to stimulate the imagination: to some extent, they depend on form, and to some extent they depend on studio and recording technique. Apart from this, what is done is a matter for individual judgment and intuition.

In the analysis of any podcast, we should probably take interest as our starting point, because the one factor that all successful podcasts have in common is their ability to engage and retain the audience's interest. Gauging interest depends on our previous life experiences: we know what we like; what we're not motivated to care about leaves us relatively indifferent - very few people are interested in subjects that cannot be explained in terms of concepts that are already understood.

In this context, a podcast presents a learning stimulus, guides knowledge acquisition or learning through example, and elicits understanding. As such a podcast is a practical example of Bruner’s concept of instructional scaffolding - the learner's current level of knowledge can be described as an edifice that represents their cognitive abilities. Mayes and de Freitas (2005) describe the scaffolding as “a means of exploiting the ZPD” (p.19). The cognitive scaffold surrounds what is already known and can be done. The new is built on top of the known as the learner develops, and over time the supports can be removed as the learner can independently actualize the knowledge, behavior or skill. Each new learned knowledge or asset becomes a level in the learner’s constructed schema and this becomes the foundation for extending the learner’s ongoing development.

When we listen to somebody talking, we soon forget such relatively superficial qualities as accent and voice timbre (unless we are forcibly reminded of them at any point); we do not listen closely to the actual words, but go straight to the meaning - we forget the words almost as soon as they are spoken, the meaning we may retain. This meaning, together with its associations in the audience's mind (through visual, memory association or other means) forms an image that may be concrete, abstract, or a mixture of the two. If it is possible to present a subject in such terms, a considerable amount has been achieved in enabling the audience to learn for the podcast.

With that in mind, here is the latest episode from my 'Other' Podcast Transatlantic: the Flying Boats of Foynes ('New and Notable' according to the iTunes Podcast Store). If you choose to listen to the podcast, you'll notice that the piece is not merely a narrator telling a story: along with narration, there's dramatization, eye-witness accounts, and incidental and background music. Other sound elements included in the series of podcasts include archive recordings, wild track, and (in Part 5) a very cool sound collage to set the scene for the outbreak of World War 2 in September 1939.

The observant among you will notice that the piece isn't about e-learning. That's OK - the point of e-learning is to provide training professionals with a means of creating and distributing content that enables people to acquire information, knowledge, skills, and expertise on a diverse range of subjects: as e-learning practitioners, it's our job to facilitate this process.

In Part 3 of Transatlantic: The Flying Boats of Foynes:

On the 4th of July 1937, the Pan American flying boat Yankee Clipper inaugurated the west-east part of the transatlantic air route with Foynes as the fulcrum of the New York - Lisbon flight.

Chief Operator of Morse Code & Semaphore Frank Buckley describes the sight of Pan American Captain Harold Gray's Boeing B-314 Clipper arriving for the first time in Foynes, Ireland.

We get a sense of the glamour and the whiff of danger for passengers undertaking the still-difficult journey from one side of the Atlantic Ocean to the other.

We tell the story of the invention of Irish Coffee.

Click here to listen.

As one of the contributors in the podcast has quite a noticeable regional accent, I've included a transcript for the podcast - indeed, some people may find using their visual as well as their audio register is a more satisfying experience. Click here to view the transcript of this podcast (PDF, 30K).

Does this format work for podcasting in your view? Have I managed to elicit interest in the subject matter. As a listener, are you motivated to find out more, by retrieving Episodes 1 & 2 or by subscribing to the series? Let me know what you think.
___________

References:

Bates, A. W. (1984). Broadcasting in education: an evaluation. London: Croom Helm

Bates, A. W. (2005). Technology, e-learning and distance education. Oxford: Routledge Falmer

de Freitas, S. & Mayes, T. (2005). JISC e-Learning Models Desk Study Stage 2: Review of e learning theories, frameworks and models. [Online] London, JISC. Available from: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/Stage%202%20Learning%20Models%20(Version%201).pdf [Accessed 15th January 2007]

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E-Learning Authoring Tools Characterized

E-Learning authoring tools are part of a larger organizational infrastructure and learning ecosystem which typically includes hardware, software, content delivery mechanisms, and processes that support the delivery and management of learning programs. This includes everything from hardware such as servers and workers’ desktop computers, software such as learning management systems (LMSs) and authoring applications, delivery mechanisms such as routers and network wiring, and services and processes such as systems administration and the help desk.

Broadly speaking, an authoring tool is a software package which developers use to create and package content for delivery to end users.

More specifically, e-learning authoring tools enable trainers to integrate an array of media to create professional, engaging, interactive training content, and make use of digitized media assets, as well as learning objects from an existing course for reuse in a new one.

Typically, e-learning content developers integrate digital media including:

• Text
• Images
• Animations
• Audio
• Video

…to create e-learning content and courseware.

Since the term 'authoring tool' is somewhat non-specific, many programs can be considered authoring tools, including web editors like Dreamweaver, Flash, PowerPoint and even content platforms like Adobe Connect provide the facility to create learning content.

In 2003 Bill and Katherine Horton (E-learning Tools and Technologies, p.278) further refined this description and categorized the different types of tools into five domains of application (see Table 1) based upon the output that the tools are used to generate.

Table 1 Categories of Authoring Tools

Category	Description
Course Authoring Tools	Expressly designed for creating e-learning. Such tools simplify the process of implementing instructional strategies, creating menus and navigation schemes, and authoring pages—without extensive technical knowledge.
Web Site Authoring Tools	Used in creating mark-up language (i.e. HTML, XML) for web pages, and linking them to produce entire websites. Such sites include courses, or material associated with courses. By including scripting, dynamic display effects, and connections to databases, these tools can create interactive e-learning content.
Testing and Assessment Tools	Used to create and manage assessments. These tools create true-false, multiple-choice, short-answer, text-entry, matching-lists, and other kinds of computer-scored tests. Some facilitate performance tracking and the ability to generate learner-related metrics and related reports.
Media Editors	Used for creating, editing, and "Web-readying" digital images, icons, photographs, animations, sounds, video, and other digital media used in e-learning
Content Conversion Tools	Used for transforming documents, presentations, graphics, audio, video, and other content to formats that can be used in e-learning and on the Web.
Web 2.0 Tools*	Used to facilitate communication, information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the Web. It has led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and web applications. Includes social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups and folksonomies.

Looking at Table 1, you'll see that I’ve asterisked the bottom category; it's a testament to the evolution of web technologies over the six short years since Horton & Horton’s text was published, a whole new category of authoring tools has emerged, so in my view it's justified to add this Read/Write Web (or Web 2.0) tools category to their list.

Significantly, the lines between applications specialized for learning, and applications intended for other uses have blurred. In addition to using traditional e-learning packages, learning professionals and organizations are engaging with the concept of using using more generally available communication media such as synchronous web conferencing, instant messaging, mobile devices, video conferencing,online documents (and document collaboration), application sharing, knowledge management tools, and e-mail for training.

These technologies can be used as stand-alone substitutes for traditional e-learning software, or to complement other learning channels and modalities. The advantage of using these types of tools is that support the ways the people in every organization and in every training situation already share knowledge: they have conversations, make presentations, perform demonstrations, make conference calls, and give lectures.

More...

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References:

Horton, W., and Horton, K. (2003). E-learning Tools and Technologies: A consumer's guide for trainers, teachers, educators, and instructional designers, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Get the Best from Techsmith Camtasia Content Rendering, Part 1

You've created your Camtasia e-learning masterpiece.

It's a well-designed, perfectly executed, fully-featured lesson set that meets all of your learners' needs. Now you need to get it to the people. But hold on! You've used one of the preset Camtasia production settings, and the output that you get on the screen doesn't match your expectations.

It's an unpleasant surprise.

You feel all your hard work has been for nothing. What's worse, the clock is running, and you've assured your customer that their training materials is "Fantastic! No, really. It's amazing. You'll be really pleased."

This is a relatively common situation e-learning developers encounter (according to people who have contacted me on this subject) so in my view, it's worth exploring a little further: why does this occur, how can it be overcome, and how can it be prevented from happening in future projects?

The underlying reason for poorly-rendered content typically manifests itself long before a content developer clicks on the Camtasia Production Wizard 'Finish' button. To understand the reason, we have to look at the context: we must begin with Rapid E-Learning as an approach to developing courseware, and we must look at Camtasia as an authoring tool.

An overview of Rapid E-Learning

Traditional learning content development methods (see Figure 1) involve using subject matter experts (SMEs) working with instructional designer who, in turn, designs a learning intervention. A digital media development team then builds the interactive solution based on this design. The quality assurance team evaluates the solution against the design and test plan. This "waterfall" approach to content production can lead to long and costly design and development cycles, which can reduce the effectiveness of material with critical timelines or where content regularly changes or is updated.

Figure 1 Traditional E-Learning Content Development Model
[Click to enlarge]

Rapid E-Learning (REL) takes a different approach. While the definition of rapid e-learning differs among experts, generally it’s considered to be e-learning that can be developed quickly and inexpensively. REL uses tools and processes that decrease development time dramatically. Traditional courseware development timelines are measured in terms of months whereas REL timelines are measured in terms of days and weeks. This makes it an attractive solution for many companies. This can be a time-consuming process, even if a project runs on-time, with a minimum number of contributors (see Table 1).

Table 1 Production Logistics

Team Size:	10 people
Minimum Development Time:	14 Weeks
Maximum Development Time:	18 Weeks

In contrast, the Rapid E-Learning Approach can be defined as

the process of developing content quickly and inexpensively. REL uses tools and processes that decrease development time dramatically. Traditional courseware development timelines are measured in terms of months whereas REL timelines are measured in terms of days and weeks.

(Archibald, D. 2005)

Jennifer de Vries sees e-learning as being

...like the desktop publishing industry of 20 years ago, when desktop publishing was relegated to the one person with the big computer who knew the specialized software and laid out all of the documents. Then MS Word came along and it included many desktop publishing features, giving everyone the ability to create reasonably attractive material on a PC using this very simple software. I think rapid e-learning tools are going to transform the e-learning industry in much the same way, so that e-learning development will become more accessible to the general public.

(Fournier, J. 2005)

In essence, her opinion (which is one that I share), is that the tools used to create e-learning are at a point where they are on the cusp of a tipping point and become much more commonly used.

Figure 2. Where Rapid E-Learning Fits
[Click to enlarge]

These tools - Camtasia among them - are known as programming-free authoring tools. They are typically (though not exclusively) built for non-technical authors that don't have programming skills. These systems are often template- or form-based and are very easy to learn and use. They are very efficient and productive tools if you need to quickly enable subject-matter experts and training professionals to develop e-learning content without knowing a programming language.

More...
___________

References:

Archibald, D. (2005). Rapid E-learning: A growing trend. Learning Circuits Magazine. [Internet] Available from: http://www.astd.org/lc Subscription required. Accessed 14th July 2006

Fournier, J. (2006). Rapid E-Learning Grows Up. Learning Circuits Magazine. [Internet] Available from: http://www.astd.org/LC/2006/1206_fournier.htm Accessed 20th July 2009

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The Problem with Web 2.0…

Discuss.

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A Podcast Service for the E-Learning Curve Blog

I'm delighted to launch a content delivery channel I've been researching and developing for a while: a podcast for the E-Learning Curve Blog.

First a little about podcasting...

A podcast is one in a series of digital media files (usually in either audio MP3 or video M4V format) that is released periodically and made available for download by means of web syndication.

This syndication aspect of the content delivery is what differentiates podcasts from other ways of accessing files, such as simple download or streaming. Special client software applications called RSS aggregators (also known colloquially as podcatchers) such as Apple iTunes or Nullsoft Winamp can automatically identify and retrieve new podcast files in a given series when they are made available, by accessing a centrally-maintained 'feed' that lists all files currently associated with that particular series.

New files can be downloaded automatically by the podcatcher and stored locally on the user's computer or other media device for offline use, enabling the audience to download content that is released episodically without having to manually check that new material has been made available.

According to the Horizon Report (2006) podcasting is

At the leading edge of a wave that will last for the next several years and beyond, personal broadcasting takes advantage of small, easy-to-use devices that people already carry to capture and share personal experiences, information, and events. This trend, which has roots in text-based media (personal websites and blogs), is expanding to include audio and video, as the tools for capturing and sharing those media become smaller and better. From podcasting to video blogging (vlogging), personal broadcasting is an increasingly popular trend that is impacting... audiences.

(p.11)

It's easy to see why podcasts have value in e-learning. Will Richardson states in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms that the

underlying technology here is digital recording and the idea that it is now very easy to create and publish these recordings... As long as you have a way to make the recording, and as as long as your students have access to the Internet, you can make this work.

(p.113)

Now that I have started publishing podcasts, I'm obviously going to write a series of articles about developing and delivering content using this learning channel. What's more, I will discuss podcast authoring using production techniques, based upon my experiences as a radio documentary maker in a 'previous life' - I'll be talking about the craft of writing for audio, as well as the technical aspects of the process.

Now, [drum roll] I want to introduce you to the E-Learning Curve's Other Podcast. This podcast service is about subjects that interest me other than e-learning. Topics I'll be covering include aviation, history and music, among others. The first set of podcasts is called Transatlantic: the Flying Boats of Foynes:

July 2009 is the 70th anniversary of the first scheduled trans-Atlantic airplane passenger service. Told against a backdrop of the momentous events of World War Two, this eight-part podcast documentary series by Michael Hanley tells the story of a unique era in world aviation.

Airlines like Pan American Airways (PAA) and the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) with their flying boats like the Short series of planes, and the massive Boeing 314 'Clippers' were welcomed to the seaport of Foynes, in the embrace of the River Shannon estuary on the Western edge of Europe. Come with me now as we fly back in time to the Golden Age of Aviation, a era of adventure, conflict - and the invention of Irish Coffee.

Parts 1 and 2 of the series are now available. You can listen and subscribe to each episode here, or you can access the podcast via iTunes. The next installment, The Glamour of Travel will be released on Tuesday July 28th, 2009.

The more observant among you will have noticed that this podcast channel is called the Other Podcast, which implies that there is a regular E-Learning Curve Podcast, discussing subjects associated with learning and development.

Yes there is. And it’s on it’s way soon. More about this closer to its launch.
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References:

The New Media Consortium (2006). 2006 Horizon Report. [Internet] Available from: http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2006_Horizon_Report.pdf Accessed 15 July 2009

Richardson, W. (2006) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

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Next time you're lost in London...

Acrossair have developed a very cool "augmented reality" iPhone (3G S only) apps to find Tube stations in London, and Subway stations in New York.

Imagine the potential for learning (pop-up info associated with objects in museums and so on), and performance support in workplaces, delivered in real time.

The YouTube video is a demo for the London version; click here to view the app working on the subway.

 

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A day mankind has anticipated ever since we first lifted our eyes unto the heavens…

Today, 16th July 2009 is the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. I'd like to commemorate this by pointing you towards some fascinating sites about the event.

I've mentioned in the past that I'm a Space nut; I believe the ongoing endeavor to explore, live, and work in space to be the epitome of the human spirit and our imperative to learn and to understand that which is currently beyond out ken. I also share a birthdate (but not the age) with Neil Armstrong, first man on the Moon and utterer of the infamous "One small step..." epigram. And because this is the E-Learning Curve Blog, I'm also going to discuss this event in the context of learning technology, particularly the role of asynchronous media in supporting cognitive events. But I'm not doing that last bit today; instead, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the events of July 1969.

Now read on...

The first site you can check out is the "official" NASA 40th Anniversary website, which has a variety of informative resources that will teach you about the historic mission. When you 'land' (sorry) on the page, you'll find a brief of the historical events surrounding the mission, as well as a listing of anniversary events for those of you lucky enough to be close to these commemorations. To supplement its own coverage, NASA has also posted several videos of user-generated videos detailing peoples' impressions of the lunar landing and why it was so important to them.

Next Google Moon. When you search for Apollo 11 on Google Moon, you'll find basic information such as the astronauts' biographies. Once you zoom in on their landing site in Mare Tranquillitatis (the Sea of Tranquility), you'll find nearly 20 landmarks that describe everything from where the TV camera was placed, where Armstrong's famous first footprints were left, to where location of Eagle, their Lunar Module. It also has images of all the landmarks. It's a nice way to learn more about Apollo 11.

The Project Apollo Archive is the most extensive collection of high-quality Apollo images, featuring images scanned for Eric Jones' Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Many image and multimedia resources on this website are courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, specifically the NASA History Office, Kennedy Space Center and Johnson Space Center. The site also features:

• Mission Chronology
• Crews
• Spacecraft
• Diagrams and Maps
• Memorabilia
• A (very tough) Lunar Lander Simulator
• Links
• Mailing Lists / Groups

Back on Earth and in the here-and-now, Steve Eves build and launched a 1/10th Scale working model of the Saturn V rocket. This is possibly the only build of the rocket that is completely re-usable, as all the stages safely parachuted back to earth (the original rockets' components either burned up in Earth's atmosphere, crashed into the Moon, or are still in orbit around the Sun).

Best of all, please check out We Choose the Moon - "an interactive experience recreating the historic Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in real time."

Using Flash, and a range of social media technologies and products, the site does an amazing job of recreating the experience of going to the Moon. As I sit here writing this blog post, I'm tuned in to the pre-launch sights and sounds. The site is Flash based, has three Twitter feeds (cleverly taking the audio from CapCom, Columbia - the command module - and Eagle) , as well as an Adobe Air-based desktop and FaceBook widget.

Fantastic.

Finally, if you're of a mischievous turn of mind, check out how The Onion is remembering Phurba Dorje, the unsung hero of the lunar landing who, according to Buzz Aldrin "...was as much a member of that team as anyone. Probably more than [Michael] Collins was."

Normal service tomorrow: just going to enjoy myself at We Choose the Moon today!
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iPhone makes data look sexy

Learning professionals need to interrogate and understand data. Whether you're interpreting the LMS access logs of your courseware, checking out your blog and wiki usage, quantifying Kirkpatrick's Four Levels, or devising statistical instruments and analyzing data for your latest white paper, you need to look at and manipulate long columns and rows of information. (What do you mean you don't do any of that stuff? Are you in the right job?)

iPhone users now have another way to access and view their spreadsheets and charts: software development house MeLLmo have released RoamBi, an app that lets you view the static data from spreadsheets and tables as interactive charts that are published via an teh iPhone or iPod Touch. The free-to-use RoamBi Visualizer app is available for download from the iTunes App Store.

The RoamBi app displays data on your iPhone, giving you access to your stats and figures from your free-to-use online RoamBi account. The app works well with CVS- and Microsoft Excel-formatted data, and can manage Salesforce.com account reports, business process outsourcing (BPO) key performance indicators. Users of the enterprise version of RoamBi can also import SAP Crystal Reports and SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence data into the app.

According to MeLLmo’s Santiago Becerra,

It’s the first real enterprise-grade app that allows users to transfer all the info they use on a day-to-day basis onto the iPhone.

Your spreadsheet, BPO and KPI data is stored on the app’s accompanying Web site. Developed in Adobe Flex (the open source Flash-based framework for building and maintaining expressive web applications), you upload your content to RoamBi Designer, where you can customize views for delivery to the iPhone. The finished views are published from the Web tool to your phone through an Amazon-hosted server. MeLLmo state that the resultant outputs are

like a mini-app that allows you to navigate through a particular set of data in a way that feels very natural to you.

RoamBi has a number of views including

• CataList - organizes data into different hierarchical levels, interpreting those levels based on the metadata from the spreadsheet.
• Cardex - a 3-D rolodex-style view of records
• Pie View - presents data a spinnable pie chart
• SuperList - displays data in a tabular format with fixed column and row titles.

I recently commented on the growing acceptance of the iPhone as an enterprise-level communications solution. I would assert that we are now beginning to see the emergence of a virtuous circle: now that the popular demand is there, software houses will invest in developing productivity apps like RoamBi, which will in turn drive more business users to the device, which will result in more business functionality being ported to the device. I hope this will lead to an upswing in the number and range of knowledge-sharing, informational, and educational applications for this and other personal mobile devices.

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Is Social Learning a fad? One Organization Seems to Believe So

Reflecting upon the growing adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in enterprises and organizations, about two weeks ago I wrote a post called Shiny new technologies used by dusty old professions. In it I considered that an ad hoc approach to adding Web 2.0-based learning channels without appropriate strategy, planning, and management could lead to a diminution of their effectiveness in the long term.

In response to my article, I received a comment from a person associated with an organization who had gone down this very road by implementing informal learning and knowledge-sharing channels (including FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and asynchronous content delivery) on an “as needed” basis, and who contradicted or declared against the points I made in my post.

Here are some of the assertions made in the comment:

• I wrote that informal learning was “casual”
• Regulated professional bodies do not undertake informal learning (supporting evidence to this was included via a link to the organization’s Continuing Professional Education overview document, available online)
• Social Media is a “fad”
• I “miss[ed] the point completely. Social media is nothing to do with e-learning.”
• My name is Brian

Naturally I published the comment (as I do with every comment I receive unless it’s spam). The missive wasn’t e-mailed to me personally, but to my blog, so I assumed it was submitted to the public domain. About a week later, I composed a response to the comment and e-mailed it to my correspondent.

To date I have received no reply from them, so I considered the matter is closed. However, a few people who read the comment got on to me (privately) and said that the remarks that were made in the comment were so inaccurate and erroneous, that it was worth highlighting them to a larger audience.

In fact, they said, the comment was a distillation of the general lack of understanding of informal learning, e-learning, and Web 2.0, and should be addressed as a matter of credibility for L&D professionals, if nothing else. And also that my name is not Brian.

So, for your consideration, my rebuttal to the charge that “Social Media has Nothing to do with E-Learning.”

Now read on…

“To whom it may concern:

Many thanks for taking the time to communicate with me. Firstly I need to apologize: as in many occupations (accountancy among them, no doubt), learning and development professionals sometimes use certain words and phrases in very specific contexts that extend their meaning beyond popular use. It simply didn't occur to me that any of the terminology in the blog article text needed further exposition, and I regret that lack of clarity has caused you to object to and attempt to refute the remarks I made in my blog post.

However, you have misquoted me, suggested that my article was inaccurate, and that I "missed the point completely" so I'm invoking my right to reply. I'd like to say that I hate having to do this, as it makes me come across as long-winded and boring, and I am neither. Nevertheless, I wish to address each of the remarks you made in your comment: I'd appreciate it if you would take the time to reflect upon what follows.

First the misquote: you state in quote marks that I wrote "informal and casual" somewhere in my text. Let me be crystal clear about this: there is nothing "casual" about acquiring skills, knowledge, and expertise. I take the activity (and my part in it) very seriously. I did use the term "ad hoc" but in a completely different context, I will address this later.

I would assert that you felt motivated to respond to me because you would argue for what Colley, Hodkinson & Malcolm call the "perceived inherent superiority" (2002, p.2) of formal learning over informal learning.

Let's get this formal/non-formal/informal business out of the way, because it's part of the first point you refuted. All learning occurs on a continuum (see Figure 1) with formal learning at one extreme, and informal learning at the other, and non-formal learning 'in the middle.' Now here's the good bit, so I'm going to place this in a paragraph all on its own:

Eighty percent of organizational learning takes place informally.

Gartner Research (2008, p.1).

You will note that the continuum illustrated below is on a horizontal axis, and that there is no hierarchical distinction between the learning modalities.

Figure 1. The Learning Continuum

It's apparent that a dichotomy exists between the paradigms of formal, goal-directed training programs and informal "learning at the water cooler" (Grebow, 2002):

it is difficult to make a clear distinction between formal and informal learning as there is often a crossover between the two

(McGivney, 1999, p.1).

For much of the forty years since the terms were first coined (Coombs, 1968, p.1.) there has been a great deal of debate as to the nature of formal, informal and non-formal learning; the components of each of the paradigms, their boundaries and their overlaps. It's an ongoing discussion in L&D, but at this juncture we can say that the distinctions between them have been recognized by the EU and the OECD among other organizations. The European Commission state:

Learning takes place in different settings and contexts, formal, non-formal as well as informal. Learning that is taking place in the formal education and training system is traditionally the most visible and the one likely to be recognized in the labor market and by society in general. In recent years, however, there has been a growing appreciation that learning in non-formal and informal settings is seen as crucial for the realization of lifelong learning, thus requiring new strategies for identification and validation of these 'invisible' learning outcomes. However, definitions and understandings of what counts as formal, non-formal and informal learning can vary between countries.

(Valuing learning outside formal education and training)

At EU level, the following definitions are used:

Table 1. Definition of learning types

Learning Type	Description
Formal Learning	Learning typically provided by an education or training institution, structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and leading to certification. Formal learning is intentional from the learner’s perspective [my italics].
Non-formal Learning	Learning that is not provided by an education or training institution and typically does not lead to formalised certification. It is, however, structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support). Non-formal learning is intentional from the learner’s perspective [my italics].
Informal Learning	Learning resulting from daily life activities related to work, family or leisure. It is not structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and typically does not lead to certification. Informal learning may be intentional but in most cases it is non-intentional (or “incidental”/ random) [my italics].

Regarding your own organization, I notice that in Continuing Professional Education, under the section entitled 'Unstructured CPE' (p.3), it is stated that:

Unstructured CPE can be defined as any form of informal learning or development of day to day working skills achieved through self-study and/or informal training. Unstructured CPE can be measurable but is not verifiable [my italics].

Personally, I support Alan Rogers' view that a 'new paradigm' for learning exists, in which "most programs [are] partly formal and partly informal" going from formal to informal and from informal to formal in both directions along a continuum. Both forms of education are important elements in the total learning experience" (Looking again at non-formal and informal education - towards a new paradigm, 2004).

As you stated in the Silicon Republic article Number crunchers find social media a ‘tweet’ surprise "It's our job to support our members at each point in their career." Implicit in this statement is support for the ongoing, formal, certified professional development initiatives that are required to ensure your members achieve and retain the appropriate knowledge and skills to undertake their professional activities competently. I didn't question this facet of these activities at any point in my article.

Equally I'm sure you design, develop, and implement your formal training initiatives based upon Training Needs Assessments and Skill/Gap Analyses to remediate deficiencies in your members' current skillsets and knowledge.

The next point I'd like to clarify concerns e-learning, social media, and the Read/Write Web (or Web 2.0). E-learning has been characterized as:

The continuous assimilation of knowledge and skills by adults stimulated by synchronous and asynchronous learning events - and sometimes knowledge management outputs - which are authored, delivered engaged with, supported and administered using internet technologies.

(Morrison, D. 2004, p.4)

So while you confidently tell me that "Social media is nothing to do with e-learning" I have to tell you that you're wrong: it has everything to do with it.

I suspect you perceive e-learning to be that old pageturner-with-audio stuff that characterized e-learning 10 years ago, and is still occasionally foisted upon organizations like the yours for compliance and regulatory reasons.

You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but believe your own reasoning faculties and reflect on Don Morrison's above definition carefully. You'll see that e-learning 'checks all the boxes' that characterize social media.

As you state, social media are a great way to communicate, engage with, and create dialog between communities of practice. This is what makes Web 2.0 technologies - and it's associated products like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, as well as related technologies like on-demand video, such valuable and effective learning channels. According to industry analysts Forrester:

Learning 2.0 - or informal learning - means that employees take charge of their learning. Specifically, employees decide when they need information, where to go for information, and how to get information from other resources.

(Schooley, C. 2007, p.3)

This approach delivers learning right when people need it via:

• Delivering small pieces of searched for learning content
• Providing collaborative interaction support
• Making job aids, reference sites, and materials readily available
• Bringing contextual learning to specific tasks while workers are on the job

Forgive me if I'm incorrect, but is this not exactly what your organization is doing?
And finally we get to The Point That I Apparently Missed.

Is social media a "fad"? No.

Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation theory tells us that the technology is maturing and has entered the Mainstream Adoption phase. My view is that the shift in information transmission we're seeing will prove to be as socio-culturally important as the invention of movable type 500 years ago.
You say that social media is

one of many communication channels we successfully use to direct members to education and learning opportunities, class-based or online.

I say that it is a learning channel - as you yourself said "Many share war stories and know-how in the forums": this epitomizes informal (e-)learning in action.

I think now I can reiterate my point (remember the "ad hoc" reference?). The purpose of the blog post was to highlight the issues associated with adding new learning / social media channels without a strategy, a plan, a goal, and a set of learning outcomes. Now, as we know, ad hoc according to Webster's Online Dictionary means "for the particular end or case at hand without consideration of wider application." As I concluded my article:

...it's one of the advantages of a non- or informal approach to e-learning, but I would suggest that too much of a 'make it up as we go along' approach can lead to spreading finite resources too thinly for any of them to be truly effective.

Or, more prosaically, if you don't manage, and maintain your content delivery channels effectively, you will see fall-off in use, and enter what Gartner call the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’ where

[technologies] fail to meet expectations and quickly become unfashionable.

Consequently, they are abandoned. In online circles this is called "blogrot" named after the estimated 125 million out of 133 million blogs that are not updated regularly (Technorati, State of the Blogosphere, 2008). To counter this, organizations need to actively manage and maintain their content and their knowledge, or it can peter out and ultimately cease to be of value.

The purpose of my post then, was to commend your informal e-learning activities, but to temper that commendation by highlighting the requirement to keep up the momentum surrounding these activities, for if your initiative fails, it becomes that much more difficult to re-implement similar programs in the future. Indeed, I consult for institutions including UCC and the ECDL Foundation, assisting the development of their learning programs, so I have a substantial amount of experience in this domain.

I hope this detailed missive clarifies matters; I look forward to making your acquaintance at some point in our respective careers, and I wish you every success in your ongoing learning and development initiatives.

Best regards,

Michael Hanley BA, H.Dip.Ed., H.Dip.Communications, MSc. Education (Hons), MIITD

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References:
Certified Public Accountants (ND). Continuing Professional Education. [Internet] Available from: http://www.cpaireland.ie/UserFiles/File/CPE/CPE_Requirements.pdf [Accessed 1 July 2009]

Colley, H., Hodkinson, P., & Malcolm J. (2002) Non-formal learning: mapping the conceptual terrain. a consultation report [Internet] Available from: http://www.infed.org/archives/e-texts/colley_informal_learning.htm [Accessed 28th January 2009]

Coombs, P. (1968) The World Educational Crisis, New York, Oxford University Press.
Eraut, M. (2000) Non-formal learning, implicit learning and tacit knowledge, in Coffield, F. (Ed.) The Necessity of Informal Learning. Policy Press. Bristol

European Commission, Education and Training (2009). Valuing learning outside formal education and training. [Internet] Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc52_en.htm [Accessed 1 July 2009]

Holford, J. Patulny, R. & Sturgis, P. (2005). Indicators of Non-formal & Informal Educational Contributions to Active Citizenship. A Paper Prepared for the European Commission by the University of Surrey. [Internet]. Available from: http://crell.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ActiveCitizenship/Conference/05_Surrey_final.pdf [Accessed 1st July, 2009]

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2009). Recognition of Non-formal and Informal Learning. [Internet] Available from: http://www.oecd.org/document/25/0,3343,en_2649_39263238_37136921_1_1_1_1,00.html [Accessed 1 July 2009]

Grebow, D. (2002) At the Water Cooler of Learning [Internet] Available from: http://agelesslearner.com/articles/watercooler_dgrebow_tc600.html [Accessed 30th February 2009]

McGivney, V. (1999) Informal learning in the community: a trigger for change and development NIACE. Leicester.

Morrison, D. (2004) E-Learning Strategies: how to get implementation and delivery right first time, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rogers, A. (2004) Looking again at non-formal and informal education - towards a new paradigm [Internet] Available from: http://www.infed.org/biblio/non_formal_paradigm.htm [Accessed 30th January 2008]

Rozwell, C. (2008) The Business Impact of Social Computing on Corporate Learning. Gartner. [Internet] Available from: http://www.gartner.com (subscription required) [Accessed 1 July 2009]

Schooley, C. (2007) Informal Learning Connects With Corporate Training Programs. Forrester Research. [Internet] Available from: http://www.forrester.com (subscription required) [Accessed 1 July 2009]
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Streaming Digital Media for E-Learning 4: Delivering Content via HTTP Tunneling

The topic of today's post was preempted in a comment I received on Friday 10th July. In it, Digital Chalk's Tony McCune wrote:

...I think that the technology decision has to include consideration of the client capabilities of the audience you are serving as well as the network you will ultimately be streaming into and their openness to the ports and protocols. Most enterprise networks close the streaming ports.

Communications and collaboration using streaming media platforms only work if the client side has the facility to access the content. If you or your organization has a requirement to deliver content (on-demand courseware or a pre-sales demo, for example ) to a customer, you are probably familiar with the refrain " I can't see the content" from the prospective attendee or viewer. There are many reasons why this may occur, but all other things being equal, the probability is that the client cannot access the content because their firewall is blocking the data delivery.

According to Wikipedia, a firewall is

a part of a computer system or network that is designed to block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications. It is a device or set of devices configured to permit, deny, encrypt, decrypt, or proxy all (in and out) computer traffic between different security domains based upon a set of rules and other criteria.

To control the flow of data, numbered ports in the firewall are either opened or closed to specific types of packets. The firewall reviews two pieces of information in each arriving or departing packet: the protocol through which the packet is being delivered and the port number to which it is being sent. If the firewall is configured to accept the specified protocol through the targeted port, the packet is allowed through. The most commonly-known example of this process is probably Port 80, the access point for TCP, UDP, and the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

Firewall policy management is beyond the remit of this blog, but suffice it to say that most organizations are understandably cautious about providing 'open house' access to their networks. The downside of this caution is that when a legitimate need arises to provide access via a rarely-used port, most organizations' IT departments have reservations (to say the least) about granting access.

Table 1 describes all of the ports needed to facilitate the delivery of unicast streaming via Microsoft Media Server 9.

Table 1 Delivering a Unicast Stream via MS Media Serve 9

Application Protocol	Protocol	Port	Description
RTSP	TCP	554 (In/Out)	Used for accepting incoming RTSP client connections and for delivering data packets to clients that are streaming by using RTSPT.
RTSP	UDP	5004 (Out)	Used for delivering data packets to clients that are streaming by using RTSPU.
RTSP	UDP	5005 (In/Out)	Used for receiving packet loss information from clients and providing synchronization information to clients that are streaming by using RTSPU.
MMS	TCP	1755 (In/Out)	Used for accepting incoming MMS client connections and for delivering data packets to clients that are streaming by using MMST.
MMS	UDP	1755 (In/Out)	Used for receiving packet loss information from clients and providing synchronization information to clients that are streaming by using MMSU.
MMS	UDP	1024-5000 (Out)	Used for delivering data packets to clients that are streaming by using MMSU. Open only the necessary number of ports.
HTTP	TCP	80 (In/Out)	Used for accepting incoming HTTP client connections and for delivering data packets to clients that are streaming by using HTTP.

Table 1 only represents a small portion of Windows Media Server 9’s requirements, the platform has separate port access requirements for:

• Delivering a multicast stream
• Streaming from an encoder
• Distributing content
• Administering the server remotely

Apple, on the other hand, provides proxy server software to get around firewalls, by the IT department maintaining the firewall must install the proxy software.

The Flash Streaming Server platform uses what Michael Topic (2002) calls a "drastic solution" to negotiate this problem: HTTP tunneling

Where [Real Time Protocol] RTP packets are wrapped inside ordinary HTTP packets so that they can pass through the firewall.

(p.99)

"Unfortunately" he notes, this approach adds "significant overhead to the stream" taking up more bandwidth. Adobe Systems solution to this issue (and the one implemented by Digital Chalk, as well as a broad range of e-learning vendors and other enterprises and institutions) is to implement the proprietary Real-Time Messaging Protocol for streaming audio, video and data over the Internet, between a Flash player and a server..

According to Adobe

The Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) was designed for high-performance transmission of audio, video, and data between Adobe Flash Platform technologies, including Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR. RTMP is now available as an open specification to create products and technology that enable delivery of video, audio, and data in the open AMF, SWF, FLV, and F4V formats compatible with Adobe Flash Player.

The protocol works by a client (such as the Flash Player) communicating with a Flash Communication Server (for example via a corporate Adobe Connect solution) using RTMP protocol over port 1935. If that fails, it will try again over ports 443 and 80 in an attempt to get around firewall policies within an organization, which prevent TCP/IP connections over non-standard ports.

According to Adobe this approach allows "approximately 96% of all users to access publicly accessible Flash Communication servers."

More…
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References:

Adobe DevNet (2009). Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) specification. [Internet] Available from: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/rtmp/ Accessed 11th July 2009

Adobe TechNote (2009). HTTP Tunneling protocols [Internet] Available from: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/166/tn_16631.html Accessed 11th July 2009

Nelson, D. (2007) Firewall Information for Windows Media Services 9 Series. [Internet] Available from: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/serve/firewall.aspx Accessed 11th July 2009

Topic, M. (2002) Streaming Media Demystified. McGraw-Hill Professional. eBook, United States.

Wikipedia (2009) Firewall. [Internet] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall Accessed 11th July 2009

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