270 - Teaching About Virus Handling?; e-Learning Political Action Committee; Tip for Trainers: Odd Start Times

--- TRENDS by Elliott Masie ----
e-Learning, Training & Collaboration Updates #270 --- Jan 27, 2004 --- 46,875 Readers The MASIE Center --- http://www.masie.com

1. Teaching About Virus Handling?
2. e-Learning Political Action Committee
3. Tip for Trainers: Odd Start Times
4. Business of Learning 2004 (BizLearn) Launched

1. Teaching About Virus Handling? As my mailbox fills up with the latest virus that is making its rounds (MyDoom), I have a question for TRENDS
readers:

How are you teaching your employees about each new worm or virus? Is this being done with "memo" or with an e-Learning module? Are you doing any assessment to see how well people understand?

Can you please send me a quick email to emasie@masie.com with you comments and I will turn it around in 48 hours with a special report.

2. e-Learning Political Action Committee: I have organized a new group,
The e-Learning PAC (Political Action Committee). The purpose of this group is to work with both parties and all candidates for national office on a few key issues related to the growth of e-Learning.

The e-Learning PAC will push an agenda that includes these types of key
issues:

* Removing federal and state barriers to accepting e-Learning programs as an option for Continuing Education, Certification or Compliance requirement.
* Leveraging e-Learning for workforce development and employability.
* Supporting research into the effectiveness of e-Learning methodology.
* Supporting standards in the learning arena.

If you are interested in being involved with e-Learning PAC, please send an email to emasie@masie.com

3. Tip for Trainers: Start your virtual classes at an odd time, such as 1:04 PM rather than 1:00 PM. You will get a much more remembered on-time arrival of learners. We have been doing that for several of our programs and it really works!

4. BizLearn 2004 Launched: The MASIE Center is pleased to announce its
6th Annual Business of Learning Conference. If you are in involved in
the Selling, Marketing or Procurement of Learning Products, Systems or Services, BizLearn is for you. It will be held in Baltimore, Maryland on April 19 and 20. Registration and information at http://www.masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Events and Services:
- London e-Learning BRIEFING: Feb 9
- e-Learning Skills LAB - Saratoga Springs, NY: Feb 23-25
- LMS Special Interest Group -Las Vegas: March 8-9
- Virtual Classroom/Collaboration Special Interest Group - Las Vegas:
March 10-11
* Complete Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com

269 - Fingerprints and Learning; Free Video Report from CES; Advanced LMS Issues Surfacing

--- TRENDS by Elliott Masie ---
e-Learning, Training & Collaboration Updates
#269 - - - Jan 16, 2004 - - - 46,277 Readers The MASIE Center - http://www.masie.com Host of LMS & Virtual Classroom SIGS

1. Fingerprints and Learning
2. Free Video Report from CES
3. Advanced LMS Issues Surfacing
4. Slippers on a Cold Day

1. Fingerprints and Learning: I have started to use my finger as my password on my PC. This week I purchased a SONY Puppy, a simple fingerprint scanner and software from SONY. Everytime I log on the network or want to use a "remembered password", instead of typing one of my many passwords, I just place my pointer finger on my right hand on this little pad and in a half second I am IN. This has interesting implications for learning in the workplace:

* Biometric verification of test takers
* Easy access to learning on open space desktops
* Identity confirmation for collaboration

Earlier fingerprint access points were more expensive, more clunky, larger and less effective. This one works perfectly, is small and was about $150. Check it out:
http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Professional/puppy/products.html

2. Free Video Report from CES: I have taped a 10 minute streamed video summary from the Consumer Electronics Show. This really got my thinking going on Workplace and Workforce Electronics and the implications for training and learning. You can watch this video and or read some of our reports at: http://www.masie.com/ces04

3. Advanced LMS Issues Surfacing: As we ramp up for our Learning Management Systems SIG & User Group in March, there are some interesting issues that are surfacing from corporations that are now 2 to 4 years into the LMS deployment process. These include:

* Integration into broader content systems. More and more of the content being deployed in learning is living in document and non-learning systems.

* Invitation process. How do we use the LMS as a strategic targeting tool for INVITING workers to learn at key moments and key events. While the LMS is a great tool for historic tracking, how can groups use it as a real time invitational tool.

* Informal and Blended Learning events and LMS. How does a complex, multi-layered blended learning event get deployed with a LMS? What about attendance at a conference.. is that part of a LMS? Other informal learning elements.

* Business Focused Reports from LMS. While the LMS can kick out an unlimited number of training oriented reports, what are the key business focused reports that can be created from the databases.

* 2nd and 3rd Generation LMS Deployments. Some of our attendees at the upcoming LMS SIG are reporting that they are on the second or third LMS.
What is driving these sequential deployments?

I would love to hear about other advanced LMS issues. We will post a series of articles in TRENDS in coming weeks on LMS to keep this conversation going. Send me an email to emasie@masie.com

4. Slippers on a Cold Day: It is COLD in Saratoga Springs today.
Windchill got way down to low -20's. We actually have a winter Slippers Custom at The MASIE Center. Our staff all bring in a pair of slippers to wear and we have cute little cubbies for them in our entranceway. It is fun to have a staff meeting with everyone in slippers. It really does a nice thing for morale. I tend to skip more with slippers. And, that helps on a cold day.

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: www.masie.com
- Learning Management SIG (Las Vegas, NV - March 8 & 9)
- e-Learning Skills LAB (Saratoga Springs - NY - Feb 23-25)
- Elliott Masie's e-Learning Briefing (London- Feb 9)
- Virtual Classroom & Collaboration SIG (Las Vegas, NV - March 10 & 11)

268 - More Info from Consumer Electronics Show January 10, 2004

More Info from Consumer Electronics Show January 10, 2004 - Las Vegas, Nevada By Elliott Masie, The MASIE Center

Here are some technology highlights and announcements from the Consumer Electronics Show that has just ended in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some of these have direct relationship to the world of Learning and Technology in the workplace, while others are just interesting gadgets and trends:

* DLP Technology from Texas Instruments is now showing up in a lower cost and higher quality projectors. Optoma's Projector is a Digital Light Processing for home use that produces terrific images in demos and is only $1395.

* Sony, Sharp, and Samsung are all showing wireless televisions. These battery-powered, flat-panel models communicate wirelessly with base stations. Plug your cable TV input and DVD player into the base station, and you can tote the display into another room or even the patio--watching a movie or TV show all the while.

* Keep your eye on Disney’s MovieBeam. This is rolling out in major metropolitan areas, and if it succeeds, you can kiss your video store goodbye. No running out for a movie at the last minute, no late fees, and unlike most cable pay-per-view, you can start and stop the movie at your convenience. Think of the implications for training access for employees at home that might access corporate or third party content.

* Context By Phone? With the TeleNav service and a new Nextel cell-phone models, you'll always know where you're going--and how to get there. The phones have a built-in GPS. You call a toll-free number, state your destination, and--presto--directions are downloaded to your phone. The phone will verbally guide you, and can even redirect you if you miss a turn. The service costs $6 monthly.

* Speaking From the Neck? Intecs offers a microphone you wear around your neck. Using a piezoelectric-based microphone, the Lucy headset responds to the vibrations from your neck.

* Scan My Car Scotty! AutoExray's EZ-Scan automotive scanners connect to most modern automobiles to diagnose mysterious mechanical ills, and cost from $160 to $700.

* We spent some time with TMIO, in the Microsoft booth, offering "Internet-ready, refrigerated ovens." Put your food in the unit and it keeps it warm until either a specified time or a web delivery note to start cooking. These could be used for house bound seniors, with meals delivered by a relative or agency and a confirmation that the food was taken out of the over.

* Video Games That Get You Exercising: XaviX games actually get you out of your seat. In its baseball game, you swing an infrared-enabled bat at the video image of a ball coming at you. In bowling, you must take your full follow-through, though you never let go of the ball.
More reports tomorrow about trends in types of users of devices, the impact on workforce development and user reactions.

* Finding versus Searching: We had a great dialogue at our e-Learning CONSORTIUM meeting about the shift in focus to FINDING things rather than SEARCHING. Most of our workers want to "just FIND it". They are not that interested in spending time searching. While there were no products on the market at CES that focus on that this moment, a lot of the buzz and non-disclosure dialogues were on new models of "FINDING" that we may see in the next three years. Stay tuned to both Google and Microsoft's Longhorn efforts in this arena.

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: www.masie.com
- Elliott Masie's e-Learning Briefing - London, England - Feb 9, 2004
- e-Learning Skills LAB @ MASIE Center - Saratoga Springs, NY - Feb 23- 25, 2004
- Learning Management Systems Special Interest Group - Las Vegas, NV - March 8-9, 2004
- Virtual Classroom & Collaboration Special Interest Group (SIG) - Las Vegas, NV - March 10-11, 2004

267 - Special Report from Consumer Electronics Show Friday, January 09, 2004 - Las Vegas, Nevada

Special Report from Consumer Electronics Show Friday, January 09, 2004 - Las Vegas, Nevada By Elliott Masie, The MASIE Center

I am sitting in the Press Room of the Consumer Electronics Show surrounded by a sea of journalists. In fact, there are over 4,000 press accredited for this annual “gadget and device fest”, more than the folks covering the national political conventions in the US every four years. Why so much attention to this event:

* Consumer Electronics is the hottest growth area of technology. We are buying digital phones, DVD Players, PDA’s, digital recorders and flat screens at a record pace. CES is where the buying action is in at the access and record end of the computer age.

* The major technology companies have shifted their annual announcements to this event. Microsoft, Intel, HP and others have brought their leaders here to announce new directions and product lines as they leverage convergence.

* There is a lot of “cool” stuff here! While cool is always in the eyes of the beholder, this writer and the two dozen colleagues who are here from our e-Learning CONSORTIUM have been taken with “gadget lust”. We are all inventing justifications for our bosses or spouses on why we need that 86” Plasma Screen and a new wireless media server.

But, it is more than just “cool stuff”. There are serious implications for the Learning Community in this arena. In fact, The MASIE Center is launching a major focus on Workforce Electronics for Learning & Performance. We are convinced that the new convergence of technology has huge implications for creating better ways of providing our workplaces with great access to learning, knowledge and collaboration.

Here are a few of the trends that I saw here at CES that have implications for our field:

* The Untethered Worker and Ubiquitous Learning: Most of the workforce does not sit at their desks in front of a computer screen all day long.
Many of our colleagues are driving, standing, walking, moving and physically working throughout the day. From the retail associate at Target, to the driver of a UPS truck to a medical sales representative for Guidant, the workforce is not at a keyboard throughout the day. But, they are increasingly using mobile phones, handheld computers, slate and tablet devices and automotive PC’s. We need to expand our thinking about the form factor of how these workers will access information, collaborate with their colleagues and engage in e-Learning. They WILL be using devices.
AND, these devices are at the core of the Workforce Technology innovations.

* Home Networking to Seamless Networking to Everywhere Networking: We have seen a lot of money and research placed into the Home Networking area. Manufacturers have created ways of linking, mainly through home wireless, all of the media files and all of the display and capture devices. Digital pictures or audio files can be directed to any device in
the house and it is all working much more effortlessly. Now, let’s
expand the thinking to include learning and performance assets.
Unfortunately, we found almost no direct reference or awareness of Learning in this exploding marketplace. They talk of all files, but don’t include work documents or e-Learning and collaboration assets. But, that will change. Watch for the “Berlin Wall” between Consumer Electronics and Workforce Electronics to come down during the next 10 months.

* Plasma, LCD and DLP Screens Get Thinner, Faster, Smarter, Wireless and Less Expensive! Think of the implications for our workplaces and classrooms. I want to be able to stop a colleague in the hall and work instantly on a screen hanging on the wall, leveraging our datafiles or content on one of our mobile devices. And, of course, I want them all around my house!

* Gaming and Simulation Explosion: We saw some great examples of new models of Gaming and Simulation. We are tracking ways in which the gaming and simulation capabilities aimed at the consumer market can be morphed and expanded into the learning field. It was fun to watch our e-Learning CONSORTIUM members interact with product managers from the Gaming Companies and explore the huge potential for workforce learning.

There were other announcements and innovations that it would be good to keep on your radar screen:

* HP and Apple announce deal to work together and distribute the IPOD.
* Microsoft expands the Media Server product line and also shows some upcoming highly graphical Content Management Tools.
* Display Technology now including HDTV card ready opportunities.
* Automobiles adding a scary amount of computer access.

Stay tuned for another report on Monday. And, feel free to send comments
or questions to me via email to emasie@masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: www.masie.com
- Elliott Masie's e-Learning Briefing - London, England - Feb 9, 2004
- e-Learning Skills LAB @ MASIE Center - Saratoga Springs, NY - Feb 23- 25, 2004
- Learning Management Systems Special Interest Group - Las Vegas, NV - March 8-9, 2004
- Virtual Classroom & Collaboration Special Interest Group (SIG) - Las Vegas, NV - March 10-11, 2004

266 - CES Coverage

TO: TRENDS Readers
FROM: Elliott Masie, The MASIE Center
DATE: January 7, 2004
RE: CES Coverage & 2004 Events Announced

1) We are pleased to announce four events from The MASIE Center in the next couple of months. Complete information is on our web site at http://www.masie.com

- Elliott Masie's e-Learning Briefing - London, England - Feb 9, 2004 (This is a one day, intensive briefing in London, with an on-line follow-up session)

- e-Learning Skills LAB @ MASIE Center - Saratoga Springs, NY - Feb 23- 25, 2004 (Several times a year I conduct a hands-on skills training and briefing session at our LAB at The MASIE Center in Saratoga Springs.)

- Learning Management Systems Special Interest Group - Las Vegas, NV - March 8-9, 2004 (This is the first multi-system, vendor-neutral User Group for organizations that have implemented a Learning System - LMS or LCMS)

- Virtual Classroom & Collaboration Special Interest Group (SIG) - Las Vegas, NV - March 10-11, 2004 (This is the first multi-system, vendor-neutral User Group for organizations that have implemented a Virtual Classroom and/or Collaboration System for learning and training)

Once again, the info and registration for these events, can be found at our website: http://www.masie.com

2) Coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show for TRENDS: Hello from Las Vegas. I have a team of MASIE Center staff here for the annual Consumer Electronics Show, the "gadget, technology and mobile show". Over the next few days we will be covering this event for our TRENDS readers, looking at what is new in our changing tech world. I will send out a few text and then video reports in the next five days.

Yours in learning,
Elliott Masie