Take the You out of Usability

In the past week I’ve read Facebook posts from two separate friends talking about mistaken identity.  Said friends were going about their daily business when out of the blue a complete stranger starts talking to them, stating they look like a particular famous person.  Actually, one was described as Paul McCartney (of Beatles fame – did I just have to describe who Paul is?) while the other was Norman Bates (Tony Perkins’ character in the 60s Hitchcock thriller Psycho).  Sometimes when people are mistaken for others, we can look at them and say, “Oh yeah, you do kinda look like so-and-so.”  But, in this case, neither of these gentlemen look like their famous counterparts.  Back to this topic in a bit.

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The m-learning train has left the station

Lately, I’ve been thinking about directions – where I’ve been and where I want to go.  Unemployment will do that to you. Lots n’ lots o’ thinkin.’ Some bad, but most good. Think good thoughts right? I decided I want to focus my energy (when not focused on gainful employment) on the wonderful world of mobile learning, or m-learning, or good ol’ learning as many in our community prefer. Mobile learning, be it phone, tablet, or some such similar device is only going to expand. We, as learning professionals, need to be on the forefront of designing quality, performance driven training for mobile delivery.

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ID Reflection: Revisiting an Articulate Module

I recently posted a question in the Articulate Community forum in which I asked for others’ suggestions on Building a Course without Audio. I was specifically looking for ideas to make a course more engaging when audio isn’t an option. In a previous job at a hospital system, our main learning audience was nurses. The majority of these nurses had to complete any/all learning on-the-job, which often meant at the nurses’ station between seeing patients. Not the most conducive learning environment. One major constraint this put on development was not being able to use audio in the courses.

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I love it when a PLN comes together

I confess.  I love my PLN (personal learning network).  Engagement is the key.  I am not the most extroverted person.  In fact in junior high I was one of those guys standing uncomfortably next to the wall while the “cool” guys asked all the girls to dance.  That’s ok, I never liked Spandau Ballet anyway.  While I have definitely overcome that paralyzing shyness, I am still not one to “work the crowd” as they say.  So, the social media thing kind of threw me for a loop as far as engaging with people.

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