Mobile Learning and Interactivity

Does mobile learning need interactivity? Even more so, says Janhavi Padture, one of the invited speakers at Washington Interactive Technologies Conference, hosted by SALT (Society of Applied Learning Technologies). I talked to her to get her take on the subject.

Mobile content is short-duration, small-screen. Why bother making it interactive?
JP: There is inherently a greater chance of distraction since the learner is on the move. So the need for delivering engaging content is even greater.

Give us examples of interactivity on mobile devices.
JP: Real time polling, games, interactive diagrams.. there are several more.

What are some of the technology challenges in mlearning?
JP: Course designers must understand the differences in the various mobile devices, operating systems and browsers. There are many implications. For instance, the languages for native app development differ based on OS, iOS uses Objective C, while RIM and Android both use Java, but different SDKs of that! Or for that matter the media supported by browsers is different. Firefox doesn’t support H.264 format, while Safari will only support that, and Google introduced the new WebM standard but supports both WebM and H.264 formats. So then comes the debate of whether Native or Web apps and Flash or HTML5.

So, is there a ‘right way’ to design interactive content for mobile devices?
JP: There is no right or wrong. The best method is to come up with a checklist of requisites for your mobile learning interactivity. For instance, is this a performance support job aid where internet connectivity cannot simply be assumed? If so, native app makes sense. If you would like to develop once and deploy on multiple devices and desktop, you are probably better off with HTML5 web apps. Or if you must have stunning visual effects probably Flash is the best option today. As one attendee rightly pointed out, in order to be compatible with old versions of desktop browsers they decided to go with Flash. I presented this decision process as a simplified visual aid as we talked through each scenario.


What are the ideal characteristics for mLearning interactions?
JP: Best mLearning courses are modular, interactive and non-linear. There is the ability to selectively render content. There is a good balance of text and media content. Performance tracking is supported (with SCORM). Flash and HTML5 options exist for web apps.

What tips did you share for developing mobile learning interactions?
JP: We talked about Edumercial, i.e. extending the concept of commercials to education, and how that is so relevant to mobile interactions, because just like commercials it needs to be short and it needs to stick.

We also talked about videos & animations make great interactivity components for mobile as long as used effectively and not excessively.

Thanks and hope you enjoyed the conference.
JP: Indeed. Not surprisingly Government sector representation was the highest among attendees. It was good to interact with them and exchange views.

A Learning Interaction Look-up Table

Here is the quick learning interaction look-up table I promised in an earlier post for instructional designers to locate some of the best examples of the various types of ready-made interactive elements.

 

Interaction	Tool	Where used	Examples
Games	Raptivity Games	Combine challenge with fun using super-charged learning games	Click
	Raptivity MindPlay	Accomplish learning outcomes with game shows and strategy board games	Click
	Raptivity WodPlay	Introduce popular crosswords and innovative letter games in your eLearning	Click
	Raptivity Booster	Games, simulations and learning aids	Click
	YawnBuster Competitive Games	Games  for groups to collaborate and compete in classrooms	Click
	YawnBuster Training Games	TV games and letter games for a multiplayer classroom setting	Click
Simulations	Raptivity Simulations	Simulate real-life learning experiences using award-winning Raptivity simulations. Build guided adaptive scenarios, explorative branching simulations, immersion learning situations and whiteboard simulations	Click
	Raptivity Standard  3	technical training -overview visuals, flow diagrams and software simulations.	Click
3D Artifacts	Raptivity 3D	Enrich Content Presentation with 3D Objects and Virtual Worlds	Click
Social Interactions	TeemingPod	Embed polls and discussions in web content, invite discussion around presentations	Click
	YawnBuster Business Activities	Get learners in a classroom to brainstorm, prioritize, build mind-maps, t-charts and collaborate	Click
Active Learning	Raptivity Active Learning	Achieve comprehension, application and analysis - three key middle layers of Bloom's taxonomy - in adult learning	Click

Flash in eLearning - Seven Traps to Avoid

Flash is a free cross-browser plug-in that allows interactive content to play on most browsers and computers.The sophisticated Flash development environment allows programmers and designers plenty of room for creativity. No wonder then, a lot of e-learning is built using Flash.

If you are considering the on-going use of Flash for developing e-learning, here are seven traps to avoid.  

7. The frame rate trap
Flash files can support multiple frame rates. By itself, your interactive component shockwave file (.SWF) will play okay regardless of the frame rate. The trouble starts when you integrate it with an authoring tool that presumes a different frame rate. You will find output distorted, or simply not showing. Ensure that you match the frame rate of the container application.

6. The de-compiler trap
Reverse engineering experts can start with your .SWF file and get at the source code of the program you have painstakingly developed. If you care for protecting your code from being reverse-engineered, consider the use of code obfuscators.

5. The broken path trap
Often your Flash program refers to external content files (such as a voice-over stored in a sound file, or an image stored in a bitmap file).  When delivering the SWF, make sure to maintain the relative path, or else your content will not play because of broken link.

4. The text formatting trap
When working with text that needs rich formatting, especially when working with foreign languages, you may want to consider using a sophisticated word processor to get the text exactly as you want it to be, and then carry a snapshot of it into the Flash file. This will result in a more pleasing text output.

3. The image distortion trap
Flash objects scale and distort images that do not conform to the presumed size requirements. Better to use an image editor to crop images to recommended size and avoid distortion.

2. The CPU cycles - battery life trap
If you are delivering a mobile learning application, be aware that Flash code is CPU-intensive and can drain batteries sooner than the end-user would like to.

1. The iPad trap
If you wish to deliver your interactive eLearning on iPad (or iPhone or iTouch) then you will need to consider HTML5 in the place of Flash.

Five Types of Interactive Elements for Next Generation Learning

In my last post, we looked at the next generation content authoring. In this post, I include an interactivity that will help you explore the five types of interactive elements for next generation learning. Use your mouse pointer to explore any of the five panels here, and click on the little round button at the bottom right of each panel to know more. Click "Restart" button on bottom right to go back to the panel. Enjoy!

Next Generation Content Authoring - From LearnX, Sydney

LearnX 2010 in Sydney, Australia was a special occasion for Raptivity because of the Best e-learning tool award. Here, I also had the opportunity to deliver a session on the next generation content authoring. The goal was to outline the various aspects trainers and educators need to consider while designing their training material for next generation learners.

Content authoring has moved way beyond creation of simple textual pages and assessments. Today, learners are exposed to variety of high-end digital experiences and they expect the same in their learning. Learning interactions such as learning games, branching simulations, virtual worlds and social interactions are becoming key elements to keep learners motivated and engaged in the training material.  Here is a recap of the key points in the session.

courtesy australiaphotos.co.uk

1.    Next Generation Learning
The new generation of tech-savvy learners has grown up with mobility, net browsing, games and social networking. These learners have a low attention span. Yet, they are prepared to interact, and they expect great experiences.


2.    Types of Interactive Elements for Next Generation Learning
There are five types of interactive elements that I highlight for this discussion, that characterize the next generation learning. They are: games, simulations, 3D artifacts, social interactions and active learning. Examples of games would include mini games, word games, TV game shows and strategy games. Simulations could include software simulations, branching scenarios or exploration exercises in an immersive experience. 3D artifacts include virtual worlds and 3D navigational objects. Examples of social interactions that can aid in learning include polls, discussions, chat and collaboration. Finally, scenario-based learning and activity-based learning round out the active learning repertoire.

3.    Tools for Creating Training Material
Raptivity, YawnBuster and TeemingPod are examples of tools that allow you to create interactive learning quickly and easily.

Soon I plan to post a quick look-up table for locating some great examples and  templates for such interactive elements cited above.

7 Fun Ways to Get Participation and Collaboration Going in Classrooms

Yes, I hear you. Preparing to teach a class is hard enough. Who has the time to add fun activities? Well, you do - given these no-frills group activities that only take minutes to build, whether you use a board, a flip chart or an interactive software like YawnBuster.

Show of Hands
Conducting a quick poll is a perfect icebreaker in the beginning of a class. Start with a question like 'How many of you know that..' or 'Who wants to ...' and watch the hands go up.

Brainstorm
Invite ideas, and get your learners' creative juices flowing. You can combine brainstorming with a poll - first get all the ideas out there, and then have people vote on them. Or you can have them prioritize those ideas collaboratively. See an example here.

Express Brainstorm
Add excitement to brainstorming by creating teams, by limiting the time for ideation, and by assigning a score. Check out this example.

T-chart
Whenever you have two sides to an issue (as in a debate) or two aspects to compare (as in pros and cons), use a T-chart and have learners come up with bullet points on either side. It encourages thinking and creates a useful visual comparison. Here is a T-chart built in a class.

Mind Map
Ideas are understood better when learners understand their relationships. Mind-map is a powerful graphical technique for representing relationships. Introduce ideas and ask the learners to help build a mind-map. For a mind-map building example, click here.

Parking Lot
Get distracted by too many questions? Create a parking lot and park the questions away. At the end of the class, answer each question. Want to see how it works? Click here.

Key Takeaways
Every now and then during your presentation, ask your learners to summarize  their understanding and write down a line of two on an online memo pad for everyone to see. At the end of the class, your key takeaways are ready! Click here for an example that shows how key takeaways are collected.

To get a free white paper titled 'Adding Fun to Learning with YawnBuster' click here.

Korea's Gigabit Internet to boost eLearning and mLearning

In my blog on the interactivity technology and its applications, I reviewed the famed ubiquitous city (U-city) project in Seoul that promises several new experiences in the day-to-day lives of citizens. That was a while back.

In a recent article, New York Times reports that home internet may get even faster in South Korea. South Korea already boasts of the world's fastest internet connection (Hong Kong and Japan rank #2 and #3, respectively.) That said, the government wants to do more. By 2012 end, every South Korean home will enjoy one gigabit per second connectivity - ten times faster than what it is currently.

The gigabit internet will create new possibilities for e-learning and m-learning. The use of video and other rich media will become easier, interactive experiences will download and play faster and learning will get better.

Harbinger Knowledge Products has introduced a Korean version of  Raptivity, the e-learning interactivity building software. It will be interesting to see the kind of video usage in interactions - given the high speed connections content authors can take for granted.

Avatars in eLearning: Best Practices

Avatars are interactive animated pedagogical agents. Avatars personalize a course, add  variety to learning, especially in long modules on complex subjects. A life-like ‘human’ interface makes the learning experience more ‘real’. An avatar doubles as a learning assistant (learning aid) that guides the learning by either answering questions, or guiding the learners, linking to external content and so forth. Research has shown improvement in learning outcomes when avatars are used.

Avatar by Melissa Clark

Clearly, the benefits of using avatars in e-learning seem to be overwhelming. One should expect to find them everywhere. Why, then, do several course designers avoid using avatars?

Here are the top 4 reasons, according to Janhavi Padture, Director - Learning Solutions at Harbinger Knowledge Products.

1. Avatars be distracting or even annoying if not used properly or when used excessively
2. They do not mimic human-like natural expressions, movements or lip synchronization
3. Sometimes an avatar simply does not fit in the user experience
4. Avatars are Often expensive to build and difficult to customize!

Hmmm. Those are the pros and cons. Is there a list of best practices for using avatars in e-learning? Sure enough, here is what Janhavi recommends.

1. Give course authors (and possibly learners) the ability to customize the avatar.
2. Make the avatar instructionally relevant – it should fulfill the interactivity needs of a learner.
3. It should augment content, not be the content.
4. Avatar should support 2-way interaction. It is not just a video or a cartoon. It responds to the learner's needs and provides helpful guidance.
5. Wherever it makes sense, allow learners to turn off avatars if they want to. For example, if a learner is revisiting a 'How to’ instructions page, this will help.
6. Last but not the least, avatar should be used for a specific purpose, such as online guide, answering FAQ, explaining a process, guiding learners during branching scenarios, etc.

In addition, the ability to build some level of intelligence into the avatar is a nice to have.

Do you use avatars in e-learning? What tools do you use? Why don't we see enough of them? Do you agree with the adoption problems we have cited? Should an avatar act as a presenter - a talking head, or animated narrator? Do students develop a relationship with avatar? Or is it just a gimmick?

Next Generation Audience Response Systems for Teachers and Trainers

Audience Response Systems (ARS) establish interactivity between presenters and their audience. Traditionally ARS consist of  several units of wireless hardware (a clicker pad which looks like a remote control) used by the audience, and it is combined with a presentation software used by the presenter.

Among the several well-known benefits of ARS, the most important one is that it creates an interactive and fun learning environment. Presenters can gain and retain audience attention, help increase knowledge retention, and confirm audience understanding of material presented. This is done in several ways: polling anonymously, tracking individual responses, displaying polling results immediately and so forth. Some presenters gather data or even take attendance using ARS.

According to Wikipedia, audience response systems may present some difficulties in both their deployment and use.

1. The per-unit purchase price of ARS devices
2. The maintenance and repair of devices when owned by a central unit or organization
3. The configuration, troubleshooting and support of the related presentation software
4. The reliability and performance of the devices

One can further state that the next generation should support some, if not all, of the following requirements.

1. Must work in a webinar / online meeting environment where people are not in the same location. Increasingly, meetings and classes take place in this mode. Clickers are no good for webinars.
2. Must avoid the need for purpose-built special hardware even when the audience is physically in same room (refer to my earlier post on Microsoft Mouse Mischief)
3. Should provide the option of using  generic reliable hardware such as computers, tablets or even smart phones as participation devices
4. Should work with popular presentation software such as PowerPoint
5. Must allow free text entry (apart from selecting from multiple choices)
6. Must make it possible for the presentation software to share with everybody the result of participation instantly, thus fostering interaction 

Any other thoughts on the next generation audience response systems?

Content Authoring with Video Interactions

Trainers have long known the importance of video in all types of training. Digital video has now become so commonplace that nearly everyone knows how to shoot video using a camera or a smart phone, upload it to Youtube and share it with others. It is high time these two trends converged. Content authoring needs to embrace digital video.

The newly announced version 8.0 of  Elicitus, a leading desktop authoring tool for trainers, educators, subject matter experts and other e-learning creators worldwide, makes this happen.

Creating great courses with Elicitus requires no programming. Even users with no page design experience can create visually appealing courses with Elicitus. Videos can now be added to topic pages and customize the size of the video. Various types of video such as AVI, MPG and SWF are supported.

Users can easily import existing PowerPoint® presentations directly into Elicitus with great accuracy. What is more, Raptivity interactions are easily inserted in the courses and tracked. On the output side, Elicitus allows you to choose from many form factors to suit the needs to diverse screens such as iPad, smart phones, laptops and so forth.

A 14-day free trial is available on the Elicitus web site.