The TechLearn 2000 Trip e-Report

The TechLearn 2000 Trip e-Report is now available online at:

http://www.masie.com/tripreport

This is a brief summary of the issues and content from TechLearn 2000, just
completed a few days ago, as compiled by our friends at the Department of
Defense's Advanced Distributed Learning Project.

We will have more complete content from TechLearn in a few days.

Taking a few days breather...

Elliott Masie

190 - Intellinex (E&Y Spin-off) Expands By Buying teach.com; One More Appeal for e-Voting

1. Intellinex (E&Y Spin-off) Expands By Buying teach.com: For the past few
years, I have been predicting that the "Big 5" of international accounting
and consulting companies would enter the e-Learning space as significant
players. Earlier this fall, Intellinex, the spin-off of Ernst & Young was
announced. Now, they are starting an expansion process by announcing their
first acquisition. Today, they announced they purchased e-Learning content
company in the IT arena, teach.com Watch this company, led by Mike Powers,
as it aggressively moves into this arena.

2. TechLearn Guide and Sessions On-Line & Downloadable - 303 Sessions
Detailed: We are pleased to announce that we have the complete Session
Guide for TechLearn 2000 + The World e-Learning CONGRESS is now on-line as a
searchable and PDF file. There are 303 sessions slotted for this deeply
interactive conference, attended by over 3,000 learning professionals.

Access at: http://www.techlearn.com/agenda

If you would like to register, there is still space and hotel rooms on our
bus route (November 12 to 15, Orlando, FL) at http://www.techlearn.com

3. Ways to Involve Teleworkers - A Practical Brainstorm: We would like to
open a brainstorm amongst TRENDS readers about how to involve teleworkers in
learning and training activities. What are effective ideas for adding
remote workers to the formal and informal learning process and culture?
This is a pragmatic question for The MASIE Center, as we adding our first
teleworker, Craig Bond, our new manager of the e-Learning CONSORTIUM and
Benchmarking. Can you send us some ideas for engagement of teleworkers in
the learning culture to telework@masie.com We will post a summary in a
future TRENDS.

4. One More Appeal for e-Voting: Last year, I got into trouble with this
suggestion, when I urged a movement towards on-line voting. However, I will
push the point again. As the U.S. readers of TRENDS approach the upcoming
elections, it would be a very powerful shift to allow well secured and
verified on-line voting option for citizens. I believe that we would
increase the size of the voting population and would start to see more
content made available for voters.

189 - What We Call Learning & Technology; Communities On-Line Case Study; e-Scents?

1. Instant RESULTS: What We Call Learning & Technology: More than 2,227
TRENDS readers responded to our instant poll on Monday regarding what to
call Learning and Technology. Is it e-Learning, Web Based Training,
Distance Learning or other. Here are the instant results):

Which Phrase do Organizations Use:
e-Learning (36%)
Web Based Training (11%)
On-Line Learning (10%)
Computer Based Training (9%)
Distance Learning (8%)

Which Phrase do Learners Use:
Computer Based Training (21%)
On-Line Learning (18%)
Web Based Training (16%)
e-Learning (13%)

Note the difference between in e-Learning's role in the profession and
marketplace vs. the language of learners. Come to think of it, when I order
a book on line, I don't say that I am doing e-commerce!

2. Communities On-Line Case Study: The role of intentional, on-line
communities will increase in the coming months and years. We are very
excited to announce a case study at TechLearn featuring senior executives of
two companies that have created and are running communities. Doug Volz,
Sara Lee Corporation and Laurie David, Transora, both senior HR executives,
will detail their experience in launching Communities this year and how they
play a key strategic role in how their employees work and learn. This is a
breaking news phenomena and this case study will be an under-the-hood look
at what "community" means within an organization. (Registration for
TechLearn - Nov 12 to 15th in Orlando - is online at http://www.techlearn.com)

3. Innovations Needed: Start the CONGRESS Dialogue Here
One of the themes that we will looking at during TechLearn's CONGRESS sessions is
INNOVATIONS NEEDED!
I wanted to open that dialogue to all TRENDS readers. Send me a message with a short
comment on the following question:

"What innovations, in technology and methodology, does the e-Learning field
REQUIRE in the next year or two, to move the industry forward?"
This can include any technologies that are not ripe yet, approaches to design or
development or other areas"

Send a note to innovations@masie.com and we will include this in our
TechLearn dialogue and a future issue of TRENDS.

4. A Collaboration Tool from a Technology Veteran: Check out a new digital
collaboration tool called Groove. It has been developed by Ray Ozzie, who
is best known for creating Lotus Notes. He has been working for the past 3
years to develop a peer-to-peer product for business collaboration that is
now called Groove. Check it out at www.groove.net

5. e-Scents? It had to happen. Got a press release from France about the
concept of network delivered scents. France Telecom and its partners,
Munich-based internet equipment maker Ruetz Technologies and Isipca - an
institute which trains specialists in perfume, cosmetics and food aromatics
- are looking at two operational prototypes.

The first is a computer bolt-on - a series of impregnated solid polymer
discs with a fan to propel up to a dozen fragrances into the atmosphere.
The second is a much smaller device designed to be worn round the neck of
the user, which can handle about 30 fragrances and is used in conjunction
with interactive television. France Telecom hopes that it will be able to
develop a second generation capable of generating up to 200 fragrances from
a device the size of a mobile phone. Special command software would trigger
the aromas.

One technical challenge is the length of time the smell will linger. Text
and images can change instantaneously and the aromas would have to match
their pace. Though the devices are only at the prototype stage, France
Telecom hopes to have a number of versions on the market next year which
are expected to retail for about 100 euros.

2 Minute Survey

Please take 2 minutes to complete our latest TechLearn Trends Survey:

Names, Names, Names: What Do We Call "Learning with Technology"

Just go to http://www.masie.com/survey/ and fill out our 2 minute survey.

Results will be posted in TRENDS in several weeks.

Elliott

188 - Special Report on e-Learning Breakthrough: Cardiac Procedures Live, Moderated and Interactive

4 Weeks to TechLearn 2000 - http://www.techlearn.com

Special Report on e-Learning Breakthrough: Cardiac Procedures Live,
Moderated and Interactive

(Washington, DC) Several hours ago, I was part of one of the most unique
e-Learning experiences of my life. Imagine a conference hall with 7,000
cardiologists taking part in a live by satellite interactive, group voting
enhanced, high intensity discussion process centered around heart surgery
taking place in 3 countries around the world.

I had the privilege of being an observer at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular
Therapeutics 2000 event, as a guest of John Abele, the Chairman of Boston
Scientific. John thought that I should see "a truly breakthrough example
of e-Learning" that he felt would get me thinking. So, this morning at 8
am, here is what I saw:

* Six patients prepared for cutting edge heart procedures in operating rooms
in Israel, Italy and New York City.

* Each operating room had 3 to 8 TV cameras and scanning equipment to show
these operations live and give internal imaging views.

* The cardiologists in each operating room were pushing the edge of current
practice, doing very complicated procedures that were far in front of
standard approaches. And, the several of the patients were quite
complicated and serious in condition.

* There was a live satellite feed and connection to the various doctors, so
that we could communicate live and interact with the doctors during the
process as well as see the various read-outs on instruments.

* There was a "reaction panel" comprised of top cardiologists that had some
quite different views and opinions about the procedures underway.

* The doctors in the audience had response keypads to vote in real time on
what procedure they would do or whether they would continue or stop an action.

* There were four screens filled with real time data and context studies to
help the group place what was happening into context.

* The patients had full awareness of the process, had signed consent
agreements and in fact were awake and responding during much of the
procedure.

It was a deeply powerful learning experience! Here are a few impressions
that stick in my mind several hours later:

* The process maps to a very rapid dissemination of medical
information/knowledge, quite faster than the normal medical publishing
process. It allows approved trials to be witnessed in real time and for
fast dissemination.

* The group process fostered an incredible level of dialogue and conflict
that brought forth a level of intellectual dialogue on best practices that I
have rarely seen in other professions.

* The group voting process seemed scary to me at first, but actually gave
some feedback to the doctors in the operating rooms and placed the learner's
risk taking process in perspective.

* The intensity of side dialogues were amazing, as we watched and reacted in
small peer conversations alongside the real time group interaction.

* The international perspective gave a global element to the entire learning
experience and we were able to see very different attitudes towards similar
innovations in diverse cultures.

* The process started with a full disclosure by every doctor of any
financial interests they had in any products .. and the focus was not on
which medical product they used but rather on the impact of a technique.

* The use of research to frame the discussion was powerful, as we were
seeing a multi-dimensional view of the points of conflict.

Even though it was at a convention center, it was an e-Learning experience.
Using technology to extend dramatically the process. I can also imagine how
it might migrate, in part, to an on-line experience that would be viewable
from doctor's office rather.

I was also jealous. I wondered when the learning and training profession
would have this level of an open and intense discussion about what actually
works and does not work in each e-Learning genre as they come to the field.
Watch for a mini-version of that at TechLearn 2000.

Did the patients mind? Actually, the outcomes and survival rates for this
process are higher than normal procedures... quite the level of expertise
applied to a procedure. Was the live element necessary? I think it added
greater levels of learner attention and made the experience quite real
versus simulated. Do all doctors approve of this model of medical
knowledge transfer? No, there are some that are quite opposed.

Hats off to the folks at TCT2000 for increasing my view of what e-Learning could be all about.

187 - Wearable Feedback Device - e-Learning for Wellness?; Feedback in General - Key Element of Self-Directed Learning; Intellectual Property Issues

1. Wearable Feedback Device - e-Learning for Wellness? Elliott and Cathy
Masie are wearing small feedback devices on their belts these days. Well,
we are testing a new product that is aimed at providing a unique form of
wellness feedback by integrating information, biometrics and the web in a
hybrid learning/performance model.

The devices are small, oval digital data collection devices that measure
steps that we have taken and store them with the time and intensity of each
movement throughout the day. Each evening, we place these devices in a
cradle and the information is uploaded to a website, instantly providing us
with the number of steps we have taken that day, a graph if activity/inactivity,
as well as progress towards our goal and references to similar people in our
age range.

After five days, I will tell you that it has made this fairly sedentary
person a lot more active. It helps that I am "competing" with my wife's
progress and also aiming to earn a free baseball cap from the host site.
The most interesting element is the way in which this service is combining
data gathered from the body and integrating it into instant feedback in a
learning context. One can imagine other devices coming that will measure
our food intake, our compliance with a medical procedure or even exposure of
certain toxins.

Check it out and think about the future: http://www.sportbrain.com

2. Feedback in General - Key Element of Self-Directed Learning: While on
the topic of feedback, this is an area that we must develop dramatically as
e-Learning evolves. When one moves the forward progress in learning
directly to the shoulders of the learner, it is critical that we provide
continuous, rich and varied forms of feedback. The learner wants to know
how they are doing, what kinds of mistakes they are making, how their skills
are evolving .... yet does not want to be in a continuous testing
environment. We will see increased use of simulation, community based
feedback, self-testing and coaching embedded into future e-Learning formats.
In fact, the "price value" of feedback models may be worth as much or more
than pure content as pricing evolves in our field.

3. TechLearn e-Lab: Time to Walk in the Shoes of e-Learners! In just four
weeks, there will a 220 PC e-Lab set up at TechLearn to provide attendees
with the chance to take an hour or more to quietly be "learners" for a
variety of learning courses and programs. Often, buyers, designers and
developers of e-Learning are so busy that they rarely have time to take
other people's classes and to walk in the shoes of learners. In addition to
providing access to these courses, we will ask the TechLearn participants to
take an interactive survey on the key functions and features of e-Learning
programs that help or hinder their learning efforts. (Reminder: TechLearn
2000 to be held in Orlando, Florida on November 12 to 15th Full details
and on-line registration at http://www.techlearn.com

4. Intellectual Property Issues: Keeping Up? Over this past weekend, I
had the chance to address a group of 200 Intellectual Property lawyers at a
Bar Association Conference. They are struggling with the rapidly changing
definitions of intellectual property and how the law will apply to these
areas. I added to their struggle when I asked them to consider how the law
will relate to these new issues of intellectual property ownership:

* Who owns the content of a "community", where content is created dynamically by the members

* When content is separated from logic, what are the rights to re-sequence.
For example, when a course is purchased with content in a database and logic
in a separate file, does the buyer have the right to re-sequence?

* As Instant Messenger increases in use, what are organization's obligations
to capture a log of IM messages?

* What agreements should an employer ask an employee to sign that will give
them the right to use their intellectual property or even their image (in a
training video tape) after the employee moves to a new company?

* What will "fair usage" become as digital content is vulnerable to "Napsterization"?

We are adding a special section at TechLearn 2000 that will dialogue these
issues. If you have other items to add, please send me an email at
emasie@masie.com

5. Additional Case Studies Added to TechLearn 2000: Here are even more
case studies that we have added for TechLearn 2000 + The World e-Learning
CONGRESS (Details at and register online at http://www.techlearn.com)

Building an e-Learning Infrastructure
Lori Bober, Experian

Implementing a Learning Management System in a Large Enterprise
Cheryl Puterbaugh, Proctor & Gamble

Choosing a Synchronous Online Learning Tool
Harrison Withers, Domino's Pizza

Developing Coaching Skills Online & Off
Beverly Ward, Tad Wicker, PricewaterhouseCoopers

e-Learning and HR: Partnering for Success
Judy Albers, Bank One

Implementing a Virtual University
Rebecca Hacker, Pershing

Leaders Pave the Way For a New Way to Learn
Jay Morris, Norma Resneder, Tenet HealthSystem

Distance Learning - As You've Always Imagined It!
Susan Olenick, Chubb Computer Services

Reusing Learning Objects
Ernie Ong, University of Singapore

Vision to Action: Bringing the Possibility of a LMS to Life at PNC Bank
Paul Dickerson, Lee McCaffrey, PNC Bank

e-Learning at Shell
Regy Loknes, Shell Exploration & Production B.V.

Regulatory-based e-Learning in the Workplace
David Pasternak, Beverly Larson, PG&E National Energy Group

186 - The Next Wave is CONTENT; The Role of Storytelling

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