This just in...

From Marc Rosenberg's new Beyond E-Learning:

"A growing discontinuity exists between what business has become and what training has remained."

Free LMS info

Check out:
http://all-free-info.com/learning-management-system/ .


Jane
www.bozarthzone.com

Lots o' free stuff!

Here's a list of free STUFF: sites, templates, tutorials... from the NC Office of State Personnel's computer training unit.

E-mail is free

Email is one of the most woefully abused technologies! Here are some ideas for using email in e-learning (games, relays, etc.) from the folks at Australia's flexible learning site .

More reader recommendations

This just in from this morning's ASTD chapter event:
Swishzone.com for flash templates
edirectsoftware.com for SALE prices on software
Quask workflow learning tools
QuizMaker extension for Articulate

And now from our friends at Kellogg's...

Those of you who bought the great (best one I own) Toucan Sam microphone (2 box tops + $2.99) will be delighted to hear about the newest offer from Froot Loops: an uber-cool Pirates of the Caribbean SKULL MOUSE for a mere 2 box tops + $4.99. Very tasteful, complete with gold teeth. I'm ordering mine today!

"E-Learning on a Shoestring" October Pick of the Month!

Visit the e-learning centre uk's site for the October pick of the month, including E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring. While you're there, take a look at all the great information provided by fearless leader Jane Knight.

Reader's Suggestions

Comments just in from my Author's Forum session on InSync today:

"Live Meeting has a low monthly rate"
Use the "Options" buttons in Outlook 2003 to take a poll/vote
Use email to send out a weekly 'question for thought'
Microsoft's Groove personal version (collaboration tool)

And LOTS of people are using Quia! And with good reason...

Smith-Corona Award for IT Department Most Determined to Block Anything Useful

I spent a long day trying to free up some trainers being held hostage by their own IT department. My favorite line from the IT director (government, by the way, as in Your Tax Dollars at Work), RE accessing a 5,000 member training and development-focused Yahoo site:
"Well, if it's free, it can't be any good, can it?"

Quia Quizzes IMPROVED!

Just in from Quia: New format for the fabulous quiz feature and great new tutorial for creating quizzes and using advanced features. For those of you who aren't quia-savvy, for $99/year ($49 for schools) Quia provides templates for creating flash games and online quizzes, gives quite sophisticated quiz feedback, lets you set up a class home page, etc. AND hosts it all. See www.quia.com .

Book's Out!

E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring: Help for the Chronically Underfunded Trainer

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787977128.html

Cutting costs with student help

Using college or graduate students for e-learning development projects can be a wonderfully affordable way to get a high-quality product. Many colleges offer programs in instructional design and writing for the Web. Instructors are often looking for "real-world" projects for students, who need practice working with a real client and want items for their portfolios.

If you decide to go this route I'd suggest approaching the task with a very clear, specific project in mind. My most successful student-supported project, for instance, took the form of a semester assignment, due by the end of the term, for which students would receive a grade. A friend, meantime, brought in a summer intern to "help" with "e-learning". Vague ideas about just what the student would spend the summer doing resulted in much frustration for both the company and the student. It's not reasonable to expect a 20- year old part-time worker to come in and initiate projects on her own.

Strong suggestion: approach an instructor with a specific project in mind, contract with the students for outcomes and deadlines, and provide milestones and feedback along the way.

Creating web pages with Word and SnagIt

Those of you who are SnagIt users will probably agree it's the best $35 you ever spent. Those of you who aren't SnagIt users: SnagIt is a great, easy-to-use product for creating and editing screen captures (still and video). It's available from TechSmith (and can be bundled with the great Camtasia tool, too).

I was looking at the TechSmith site and found this link to a tutorial for creating a Web page with Word and SnagIt. Take a look!

Scary words about an LMS decision

The cardinal rule of buying an LMS is, of course, to develop your list of criteria and hold the vendor to it. This week I was asked to sit in on the vendor's demo of a product that ultimately will cost several million dollars. I sat down with my list of criteria--developed over days by a group of stakeholders--and told the audience I was ready.

One of the key decisionmakers said: "Well, we're not going to ask the vendor to show us whether the product can do every single thing we want."

Uh, Oh and Wow.

LMSs: Good News

Here are some encouraging words from Josh Bersin. This appeared in an article on "Evaluating LMSs" in the April 2005 issue of Training, discussing LMS satisfaction factors.

"Hosted LMSs. Hosted LMS customers were significantly more satisfied than those who run LMSs internally. Hosted solutions reduce cost, complexity, and resource requirements. They are also much more likely to be completed on schedule and within predicted budgets. Providers specializing in hosting usually have highly responsive support staffs and tools that simplify content integration. We strongly recommend that buyers consider a hosted approach if they do not have sufficient resources to implement, configure and manage an internal LMS. (Note fromJane: This can also be cheaper than buying own...)

Smaller overall budgets. Interestingly, organizations with smaller budgets—no matter the overall organization size or number of learners served—had higher satisfaction levels. The likely reason is that these organizations are forced to simplify their LMS implementations. The lesson here: Focus on a single learning application at a time. After an application, such as deployment of an e-learning program, is implemented and running smoothly, another application can be rolled out. "

Free interactivity/collaboration

Just got review copy of a GREAT new book: Ryan Watkins' 75 E-Learning Activities (Pfeiffer). Written in the style of the old Games Trainers Play books, this is a compilation of ideas for online (mostly asynchronous, using discussion boards) exercises. Good ideas, clear directions, assessment of skill level needed by both instructor and learner.

Using what you have: Free sound editor

Hardly anyone knows that Windows loads with a free sound recording/editing tool:
Start--programs--accessories--entertainment--sound recorder
Good for recording sounds and simple editing like creating a loop, cutting a sound clip in half, etc.
Not terribly sophisticated but I use it a lot in creating PPT shows.

Book Update --and MS Producer?

I just got word that release of "E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring: Help for the Chronically Underfunded Trainer" has been moved up! Books will ship from the warehouse on Sept 9. Stay tuned...

I'm interested in hearing from users of MS Producer. Good? Easy to use and launch? Feedback, good or bad? You can post below--as "anonymous" if you don't want to create an identity--or write to me if you'd prefer.

Live & Online from New Orleans

Couldn't make it to the Big Easy? Many of the sessions are available at the "Live & Online" conference-within-a-conference. Those on a limited budget can hear recordings of sessions led by speakers like Lance Dublin, Brandon Hall, Sharon Bowman, Kit Horton, Thiagi (and me!).

Bozarthzone home

E-learning basics

I had a lot of questions in New Orleans from folks new to e-learning who are having a hard time getting a handle on it all. I highly recommend Patti Shank and Amy Sitze's Making Sense of Online Learning (Pfeiffer, 2004) and Thomas Toth's Technology for Trainers (ASTD, 2003) as good starting places. Also see the e-learning centre uk's site and work your way down the links on the left side of the screen. Happy surfing!

New Orleans: Training 2005 Feb 28-Mar 2

I'll be in New Orleans next week presenting at VNU Learning's Training 2005 Conference and Expo. If you're attending please find me and say hello. Also: for those who can't attend, 2 dozen sessions will be broadcast live via WebEx; these sessions will also be recorded and will be available for a year. Check the vnu site for details.

Bozarthzone home

Using Blogs and Wikis for Course Management

http://llt.msu.edu/vol7num2/emerging/default.html

Free chat

From trainers in Colorado: Bravenet's (http://www.bravenet.com) free chat tool is especially good!

February 6, 2005

This blog is an example of a free tool available to trainers. It's offered by http://www.blogspot.com and comes with editing tools, templates, and free hosting. There's even an option for allowing others to post to your blog if you wish. I can move it to my own server, too, if I like, but want you to see the free hosting option.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Bozarthzone. In advance of the publication of my new book, E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring (Pfeiffer, summer 2005), I'm offering many workshops and other training opportunities. I'll use this blog to post ideas shared by participants and my other contacts, offer new ideas, and otherwise provide support for the strategies and tools presented in the book. Along the way we'll also take a look at some issues related to training and development in general.

Enjoy!

Visit my site: Bozarthzone