Tuesday
Oct032000
186 - The Next Wave is CONTENT; The Role of Storytelling
October 3, 2000
1. The Next Wave is CONTENT! The conversation is about to evolve in the
e-Learning field. A recent set of interviews with corporate buyers
indicated that 2001 will bring about a strong demand for CONTENT, CONTENT,
CONTENT. During this year, organizations started to dive into the
e-Learning world and focused on the technology and infrastructure necessary
to deliver training to the desktops of the workforce. This process will
continue in 2001, as organizations adopt virtual classrooms and learning
management systems.
However, there is a growing perception of an e-Learning Content Deficit.
Many of the managers of large organizations reported some frustration at the
scarcity of content choices in core topical areas. "I can buy dozens of
systems to deliver content, but I only can find three collections of content
on manufacturing techniques... and these are little more than electronic
page turners!" This was the complaint of a VP for Manufacturing at a
Fortune 500 company, where the CEO has announced that e-Learning is core to
their business strategy. He is desperately looking for a diversity of
content choices from both a topical and methodology perspective."
Watch for newer players entering the e-Learning field, dedicated to CONTENT.
2. Kevin Kelly and Elliott Masie Interviews: Kevin Kelly and myself are
featured in a free video from The MASIE Center that is now available via
streaming. Kelly focuses on the key issues of content in the Digital Age.
I give an update on the e-Learning field. You can access these interviews
(in segments or single stream) from the front page of
http://www.techlearn.com (Kevin Kelly is the closing speaker at TechLearn 2000)
3. The Role of Storytelling: This weekend I took a fascinating e-Learning
segment that was developed as an internal training program for a large
telecommunications company. It was a 20 minute, interactive storytelling
based lesson on the mechanics of their network. It was incredibly
effective, containing these storytelling elements:
* A compelling storyline
* Multiple voices: representing concepts, procedures and implications in different voices
* There was no video, but great graphics with a bit of animation
* You felt that you wanted to stick around to get to the end of the story
Let's honor the human tradition of storytelling as we develop the e-Learning
field. Remember the excitement of hearing a story from your parents or a
good friend. Harness that in e-Learning and you watch learner attention SOAR!
4. Research Sessions at TechLearn 2000: There will be several key sessions
at TechLearn 2000 that will focus on Research:
* An update of the ASTD/MASIE Center Study: "If we Build It, Will They Come?"
* A Brainstorming Session on Research Needs: What Are The Key Research
Questions for the Next Stage of e-Learning?
Complete on-line information and registration for TechLearn 2000 + The World
e-Learning CONGRESS (November 12 to 15th in Orlando, Florida) can be found
at http://www.techlearn.com
e-Learning field. A recent set of interviews with corporate buyers
indicated that 2001 will bring about a strong demand for CONTENT, CONTENT,
CONTENT. During this year, organizations started to dive into the
e-Learning world and focused on the technology and infrastructure necessary
to deliver training to the desktops of the workforce. This process will
continue in 2001, as organizations adopt virtual classrooms and learning
management systems.
However, there is a growing perception of an e-Learning Content Deficit.
Many of the managers of large organizations reported some frustration at the
scarcity of content choices in core topical areas. "I can buy dozens of
systems to deliver content, but I only can find three collections of content
on manufacturing techniques... and these are little more than electronic
page turners!" This was the complaint of a VP for Manufacturing at a
Fortune 500 company, where the CEO has announced that e-Learning is core to
their business strategy. He is desperately looking for a diversity of
content choices from both a topical and methodology perspective."
Watch for newer players entering the e-Learning field, dedicated to CONTENT.
2. Kevin Kelly and Elliott Masie Interviews: Kevin Kelly and myself are
featured in a free video from The MASIE Center that is now available via
streaming. Kelly focuses on the key issues of content in the Digital Age.
I give an update on the e-Learning field. You can access these interviews
(in segments or single stream) from the front page of
http://www.techlearn.com (Kevin Kelly is the closing speaker at TechLearn 2000)
3. The Role of Storytelling: This weekend I took a fascinating e-Learning
segment that was developed as an internal training program for a large
telecommunications company. It was a 20 minute, interactive storytelling
based lesson on the mechanics of their network. It was incredibly
effective, containing these storytelling elements:
* A compelling storyline
* Multiple voices: representing concepts, procedures and implications in different voices
* There was no video, but great graphics with a bit of animation
* You felt that you wanted to stick around to get to the end of the story
Let's honor the human tradition of storytelling as we develop the e-Learning
field. Remember the excitement of hearing a story from your parents or a
good friend. Harness that in e-Learning and you watch learner attention SOAR!
4. Research Sessions at TechLearn 2000: There will be several key sessions
at TechLearn 2000 that will focus on Research:
* An update of the ASTD/MASIE Center Study: "If we Build It, Will They Come?"
* A Brainstorming Session on Research Needs: What Are The Key Research
Questions for the Next Stage of e-Learning?
Complete on-line information and registration for TechLearn 2000 + The World
e-Learning CONGRESS (November 12 to 15th in Orlando, Florida) can be found
at http://www.techlearn.com
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