146 - e-learning Term Catching On; Duke University's Fuqua School of Business & Pensare Partner; WAP: Wireless Application Protocol

1. e-learning Term Catching On: As we looked over recent press releases
and the Special Sponsor Showcases at TechLearn '99, the term e-learning
seems to be catching on. Developers and vendors are continually struggling
with the challenge of what to call the process of combining learning and
technology. e-learning, as an extension of e-business and e-commerce,
seems to be the latest term to wind up on business plans and presentations.
We are even using it at The MASIE Center (watch for the announcement of our
new e-learning Briefings, to be announced later this week). e-learning is
being used to cover a wider set of applications and processes, including
web-based training, virtual classrooms, digital collaboration and CBT.
This one may stick for a while.

2. Duke University's Fuqua School of Business & Pensare Partner: Duke
University's Fuqua School of Business, one of the leading institutions
providing on-line and distance learning at the MBA level, today is
announcing a major partnership with Pensare. The deal will have them
co-producing a new accredited MBA program and give Pensare exclusive
distribution rights to the jointly developed curriculum. Pensare is
planning to distribute the program to corporate customers and other business
schools. They will use Pensare's internet based technology platform.
More info at http://www.pensare.com This is the latest in the growing
partnerships between higher education "brand" institutions and corporate
on-line learning providers.

3. WAP: Wireless Application Protocol: As Learning Goes Wireless: Add a
new protocol to your radar screens: WAP - Wireless Application Protocol.
This is a rapidly spreading standard that will allow wireless devices, such
as cell phones and handheld devices, to display and interact with web based
content. I recently had a conversation with a number of European training
managers who are actively tracking WAP as a standard for pushing content to
the mobile and non-desk based worker. As Tablet sized computers hit the
market in early 2000, we will see training content ported to these devices
and fed via a wireless connection. WAP has broad support and will be a
term that you hear more in the year to come. An article by IDG explains
WAP at http://www.idg.net/crd_ericsson_0-70741.html

4. Learning's from the Past: SYSOP, Communities and Participation: On a
recent trip to Columbus, Ohio, I remembered my early days as a SYSOP at
CompuServe. SYSOP stood for System Operator or facilitator. I launched
and ran one of the first on-line communities, back in 1985, called DPTRAIN.
It was for Computer Training Professionals. Folks dialed up to CompuServe
on a 300 baud modem, got a pure ASCII text format and paid about $5 to $12
an hour to be connected. I received 5% of the revenue for the time they
spent in the DPTRAIN area. Here are a few memories and learning's that
rushed back as I went thru the Columbus Airport:

- We had about 800 to 1,500 members are different times. Yet, only about
3% ever posted anything. Most people watched on a regular basis. The ones
that posted messages were few and far between.
- The community required a great deal of facilitation to work. When the
SYSOPs did not actively work the conversation, the message traffic dropped.
- People got into flaming discussions even in those days. One person would
post a nasty note and the board would respond.
- The lack of a visual interface or low bandwidth wasn't really a block to
participation. In fact, it focused people more on the words (with lower
levels of multi-tasking)
- I still remember the smell of the rubber cups on my modem, which held the
telephone handset. PC's these days don't have unique odors.

5. Kevin Kelly Presents an Interactive Keynote - Walking the Talk Kevin
Kelly, the editor at large of Wired Magazine is going to present a very
different form of keynote at TechLearn '99. He will be coming to the event
via satellite and has asked that we "walk the talk". Rather than present a
lecture based speech, Kevin has asked that TechLearn attendees develop his
agenda thru a series of questions and dialogues. In a few days, we will
send several of Kelly's articles to the attendees plus an HTML version of a
previous book. At the start of TechLearn, we will get a series of queries
from the group for Kelly. He will design a modular speech, responding to
these questions. In addition, Kelly is about to take several on-line
learning programs to immerse himself in the process. Kelly would like to
see the process of using the digital connection for interactivity rather
than lecture download. We'll post a report on the experiment in early
November.

6. Dell Offers On-Line Seminar for Women in Small Business: Dell
Computers, in conjunction with the SBA, is offering a neat breakfast seminar
on-line later this month. It will feature women executives from Dell,
iVillage and SBA. The broadcast will be via the internet and will take
place on October 22nd. Check it out at http://www.dell.com/breakfast

7. TechLearn '99 Updates:

* We have added an additional hotel in Orlando, with bus shuttles, to
accommodate the last batch of people to register for TechLearn. We only
have 112 spaces left, so please register ASAP.
* If you are planning on attending the Disney Behind the Scene's Tours or
NASA Space Center Tours on Sunday, please go to our site at
http://www.techlearn.com and reserve a space.
* There will be a special session on Portals, Portals, Portals at TechLearn
* There are representatives of 31 countries coming to TechLearn and we will
have a special forum for the international representatives
* The schedule of breakout sessions will be posted on Thursday, October
14th, to assist folks in starting to build their choices at TechLearn. We
have over 287 dialogues, featured sessions, panels and product showcases.
Following our process of mapping content to latest trends, we have added
30% of the sessions in the last 15 days
* All registered attendees will receive an email packet on October 14th,
including details for the Profiles in Learning Project and pre-reading
content. Watch your inboxes..