Quick links and resources from BP’s Future of Learning

At the end of November, I flew over to Houston for a two-day internal conference organised by Nick Shackleton-Jones called ‘Future of Learning’. I tweeted a lot throughout the event, using the #BPFOL12 hashtag, and I’ll be writing up some of the key sessions and takeaways in subsequent posts.

In the meantime, though, I wanted to try and pull together some of the really useful links and resources from the backchannel: even though we were a relatively small group tweeting, there were a lot of websites, videos, infographics and tools shared.

I should say that this is almost certainly not a complete list. In my backchannel curation naivety, I didn’t realise that you need to get in there very quickly before Twitter erases all evidence of the hashtag stream! I did manage to find the majority of tweets on Topsy, but I’m fairly sure it was an incomplete record. If you tweeted a link or resource which isn’t mentioned below, let me know and I’ll add it in.

Conference summaries and overviews:

• Future of Learning tweetdoc (mostly Day 2, incomplete record) – via Aisha Taylor

Resources shared or mentioned by Nick Shackleton-Jones

• Sight – a futuristic short film on YouTube
• We have a wheel, we built a cart – a blog post by Nick 
• How to seal a bag of chips without a clip – YouTube clip

Resources related to Nigel Paine‘s session:

• 2012 Towards Maturity Benchmark Report
• Clouds, big data and smart assets: Ten tech-enabled business trends to watch – from McKinsey Global Institute

Resources and websites mentioned in or related to Greg Williams‘ session:

• mylearningworx (the UK’s first crowd-sourced hub for learning)
• StackOverflow (a collaboratively edited Q&A site for programmers)
• WhipCar.com (an example of collaborative consumption)
• Kiva (a micro-finance and social performance site)
• The Eight Kinds of Fun – by Marc LeBlanc, via Ben Betts
• The Flipped Classroom (infographic) – via Aisha Taylor
• Gamification by Design by Gabe Zichermann and Christopher Cunningham – via Aisha Taylor
• Codecademy – via Aisha Taylor
• Open Badges (for gamification implementation) – via Aisha Taylor
• MIT App Inventor (open source Android app developer) – via Aisha Taylor
• Waze (real-time, community-based traffic and navigation app) – via Aisha Taylor

Resources and websites mentioned in or related to NeuroSky’s session:

• NeuroSky website
• Necomimi concept video (‘cat ears’ product using NeuroSky technology)
• Bill Nye’s video game AERO lets you fly like a bird while learning about physics (TED blog and video) – via Aisha Taylor

Miscellaneous tools, resources and websites:

• Wordle, for creating word cloud graphics – via Aisha Taylor
• Tagxedo, also for creating word clouds
• Tool Tuesday: Twitter curation tools – blog by Tara Coomans via Aisha Taylor
• Twitter for Trainers by Jane Bozarth – via Aisha Taylor
• A who’s who of social media for 2012 (infographic) – via Aisha Taylor
• Manager Tools search results for podcasts on using LinkedIn effectively – via Aisha Taylor

An e-learning Christmas variety box from the eLN (part 2)

Before Christmas I collated the first 14 days of the eLearning Network’s advent calendar, ’24 Tips for eLearning Professionals’. In case you missed then, here’s a round-up of the final 10 days:

1. Preparing for a virtual classroom, virtual meeting or webinar (by Barry Sampson)
2. Thinking about designing campaigns, not just courses (by Lars Hyland)
3. Making the most of e-learning storyboards (by John Curran)
4. Delivering results by aligning L&D and operations (by Lesley Price)
5. Setting up your own web server (by Dan Roddy)
6. Gameifying your e-learning (by Simon Bostock)
7. Creating successful scenario based questions (by Grant Williams)
8. Using the GEAR methodology for engaging, effective live online learning (by Kate Graham)
9. Designing effective questions (by Viv Cole)
10. Producing great video for e-learning (by Rob Hubbard)

There’s something for everyone amongst the full 24 tips, and I for one hope this is something the eLearning Network repeats next Christmas!

An e-learning Christmas variety box from the eLN

One of the things I love about working in this industry is that I’ve had a go at and learnt about so many different things.

The range of e-learning projects I’ve worked on means I’ve learnt little bits about lots of different topics – everything from data protection to negotiating skills, financial management to display screen equipment, pensions to sustainability and climate change. Just through doing my day job, I’ve picked up all kinds of great tips about giving and receiving feedback, communicating change and interviewing skills (to name just a few).

On top of that, my day job itself has stretched me beyond what the initial job description suggested. I wouldn’t say exactly that I’m a jack(ie) of all trades and master of none, because instructional and learning design is my bread and butter. But I’ve also dabbled to a greater or lesser degree in: project management; video scripting, casting and directing; voiceover scripting; marketing copywriting; website design; xml editing; mentoring and coaching; live and online presenting…the list goes on!

If you don’t believe me, take a look at 24 Tips for eLearning Professionals – the eLearning Network’s advent calendar for and by e-learning professionals. Each day a door is opened to reveal a ‘practical, helpful or just plain fun’ tip, and it’s a great illustration of just how varied and all-encompassing this industry is. We’re only halfway through the calendar but already we’ve seen how to:

1. Design thought-provoking interactions (by Cathy Moore)
2. Create an immersive but affordable alternate reality game (by Ben Betts)
3. Use screencasting to explain and illustrate software functions (by Craig Taylor)
4. Get your organisation talking and sharing using Yammer (by Sam Taylor)
5. Follow the ten commandments (plus a bonus one!) of learning design (by Tony Frascina)
6. Introduce a fact with a question based on a behavioural choice (by Nick Simons)
7. Avoid crapathy (that’s creative apathy) in e-learning design (Matt Brewer)
8. Jazz up knowledge check questions using tab interactions (by Karyn Romeis)
9. Script, cast and record (in the car!) audio for e-learning (by Peter Phillips)
10. Do the impossible and design engaging, effective compliance training (by yours truly)
11. Design, write, develop and test accessible e-learning (by Rachel Sefton-Smith)
12. Organise successful online discussion (by Nancy Weitz)
13. Kick-start your own professional development with social media (by Jane Hart)
14. Write for audio voiceover, not just written text (by Clive Shepherd)

So in just 14 days we’ve had not only learning design but also screencasting, scripting audio, recording audio, gaming and social media-ing. Phew!

Stay tuned to see what the next 10 days bring – or, better still, follow @24tips on Twitter for your daily update.

Image: Filomena Scalise / FreeDigitalPhotos.net