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Chris Anderson, author of The Long-Tail and editor of Wired magazine has an article worth reading, Free! Why $0.00 is the future of business in this month’s issue of Wired.
I think there are lot of things that apply to the education and training world.
There are probably a lot of conclusions that could be drawn from the article, and I am sure that there will be criticism, but here are my thoughts.
First it’s interesting that many of the areas where we can see obvious growth towards free are the collaborative, community based businesses like YouTube, Social Networking, and Wikipedia. While there is no doubt that organizations are potentially putting a lot into running these sites, it is also true that these sites wouldn’t work very well with out contributions from the community.
So one thing that we have to consider — even though there isn’t money involved – what is the cost of participating?
I think the cost can take place on several levels. First, there is a personal cost to be involved as a user or contributor. Of course the benefit often out weighs the cost. There is the potential of the cost in information that is gathered by some sites – that information is creating opportunities for those organizations – which is good them, and if we like their service and they keep improving it, maybe it’s worth sharing. There is also the idea that they give us a basic model until we use it enough and have a need to use it that we pay for premium services.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying any of this is wrong – I just think that really aren’t many things that are free. There is a cost, that cost just isn’t always financial.
So a couple questions:
Will consumers come to export more and more, but also want to give less? Or will we just keep giving more and more (specifically information about our tastes, habits, and who we are)?
What impact does/could this have on learning/teaching models?
We already have open universities (like MIT) giving away content – how does this affect for-pay-programs? (Maybe it can’t compete now, but what about in a couple years?)
Can free ever provide the same quality of paid in education? (All else being equal, such as a student’s dedication, commitment, and involvement…)
Could an organization potentially give away training modules, with some type of premium tiered content or advertising model? Would main stream organizations tap into these resources would they not be used because of lots of internal reasons that usually come up when corporations want to use open materials…?
Today was a good day.
We started off attending the opening session at the ASTD TechKnowledge conference. The open speaker was Joe Miller, Vice-President, Platform and Technology Development Linden Research, Inc — i.e. creators of Second Life.
I don’t want to give the wrong impression, I think the potential future uses on 3-d worlds is interesting and could be very useful. I think that right now for many of the organizations I have talked to the idea of using something like Second Life isn’t an option – for a lot of different reasons. I’ve stated before I am a bit of naysayer – even though I keep many of the Tech trends – but I am trying to critically think of how it can be used. I guess the Second Life bug just hasn’t bit yet. And I’m still struggling to see it’s niche.
I guess its like a lot of things – as instructional designer I try not to get beholden to any one tool. I think like like many other positions the instructional designer needs many tools, so that the right one in the right situation at the right time can be used effectively.
Oh – and I think the presentation would have been more convincing if the avatars in the images used during the presentation weren’t large busted, scantily clad females. I mean, really, are those the only ones they could find. I suppose for some folks that’s the fun right – but when you’re talking to a group of professionals that already have to do a lot of work to justify tools a lot older and more standard than Second Life – couldn’t you help us out a little by at least not making it look like its spring break in Florida on the beach? [sigh.]
On a different note, Ryan Eash (Instructional Designer from TechSmith Corporation) and I presented another session on Camtasia Studio. It went really well. It was funny, I mentioned Second Life and got lots of laughs. I think some of the feelings I have we’re mutual.
The session was really good. We tightened up some of our presentation and felt pretty fluid. Still some more we can do, but teaching Camtasia Studio in 1 hour and 15 minutes is pretty tough.
After the session we received some really nice compliments. In fact, one gentleman mentioned that he has been to the conference for 3 or 4 years and this was the best session he has ever attended. WOW!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! That is quite the compliment, and I feel its safe to say that Ryan deserves most of the credit.
I do have to mention thanks to ASTD for having us — it’s been a lot of fun….
One last note: I showed a few people the Camtasia Studio video I have on my iPod Touch – and everyone is blown away how good it looks. The screen is crystal clear, the text is very readable, it just looks amazing – and I didn’t even add any zoom-n-pan key frames. Man, I love what I do!
I have to admit, I am a naysayer about a lot of technology and the role that it plays in learning. Not because it can’t help people learn, and not because it doesn’t have a role in learning. I am just skeptical, maybe because of training and an understanding of the history of using technology in training.
At one point in the history of distant learning the radio, the television, the internet have all been proclaimed as heralds of education – the tool to bring learning to the masses – great equalizers. While it is true that each has played a role, from one degree to another, and each has helped prepare a foundation for great opportunities to provide more knowledge and information. None of these has actually become the holy grail that we in distance learning are looking for.
Granted I believe that many, many opportunities still exist with the internet, especially as bandwidth becomes cheaper and more available, and as the ability to create materials is easier and faster to do for the the knowledge experts. We still have a long way to go though.
I bring this all up, not because I think the iPod touch is the holy grail– at this point far from it. I do think it points to an interesting entry point, and provide possibilities that are quite amazing. Will it solve all learning problems? No. Will it be an answer for every problem? Not even close.
Here’s what I see: Right now I can carry a device that I can slide into my pants pocket, and from it I can access audio, video, and if I’m in range of a hotspot – internet content. I do not need to have a 4 – 6 pound laptop, I don’t need special keyboard, or anything else. Theoretically I could have interactive learning content available at my fingertips (literally).
Now, there is still a long way to go – the interactivity of the iPod touch is limited (no Adobe Flash content yet…) I can’t watch any video type through the internet. But the current limitations are not the point – the point is that its getting there and soon I we as industry will have a small powerful visual tool that we can deliver content through.
The interface is clear, it looks clean, and if a user has used the internet – its not a difficult step to access content on the Touch. Think about the possibilities.
Scenario 1) I work in a manufacturing plant, I am going through a machine set-up process and need to access a procedure. I click on to the internal wireless network access the printed version and maybe see a interactive Flash version that will take me step-by-step. Maybe there are options, maybe not – but I can make sure I get the answers I need fast.
Scenario 2) I’m learning a graphics program like PhotoShop, Illustrator, or something else. I can’t remember how to make a curved line (or maybe I never knew how) – but I have a subscription to a tutorial site or have been reading a tutorial blog. I bring up the web or have used iTunes to download content that I want to watch. Boom – if it’s designed well, maybe it walks me through the process step by step – maybe it pauses at smart points so I can perform the function. I don’t have to really stop what I am doing on my computer. I have a separate screen and can follow along. Following the tutorial, the generator of the content asks for some instant feedback – whether a star system, or written comments. And because it’s right there, if its easy, I can provide instant feedback about the learning experience, which will hopefully inform the designer to be able to make better choices about content, format, etc…
I’ve never really pursued mobile learning – I know its out there to a small degree, I know its coming and could be huge… I think its less about the mobility (I could take some learning with me for a long time now — it’s called paper), I think its about the features and interactivity, the immediacy of it all. Again, I don’t think the iPod Touch is everything -but wow! I think it’s a good start and opens the doors for a lot of potential!
I was invited to speak at the local ASTD chapter here in Lansing Michigan. They asked me to introduce SnagIt, Camtasia Studio, and mention Jing. (Please remember I in no way represent TechSmith or their products on this blog, but am a happy employee – who gets the great opportunity to work with these awesome products everyday. These comments and insights are mine and mine alone, whether you think a little or a lot of them.)
While I did talk about those 3 in some detail (as much detail as one can get in about an hour and 15 minutes), I was really pleased with the first part of my presentation on visual communication, an am excited to expand it and refine it more. If I get the chance I will have to see if I can take it to a session or two (hmmm…. DevLearn, ASTD, ??????, any good instructional design conferences besides these that I should be aware of?)
I think one of the big things that has been and will continue to shift in e-learning is the amount and the necessity to becom ever more visual. One of the things that I see is the wide spread distribution of tools like the iPod touch or iPhone – and other similar technologies. These are inherently visual, and even if the specific device doesn’t take off and become the cool e-learning tool of the future – or make mobile learning kick some series butt, its coming and it will be very visual.
In the past one of the big obstacles in e-learning was bandwidth, storage, etc… but now I’m sitting in my kitchen, pulling a signal through a wireless aircard, and able to move quickly along on the internet. Now granted I’m not able to play network intense games, and it takes a little time to stream movies – but it’s faster than dial-up, and most of the time faster than my parent’s satellite internet connection. And it will get faster the next few years, especially as technologies like WiMax and others become more prevalent.
Rather than worrying about content being downloadable to computers – we need to focus more and more on information – the content, the presentation, the messaging, the scaffolding, chunking and many other factors – being able to handle the information that is presented. In other words will the learners have enough personal bandwidth (mentally and emotionally) to handle what is being presented? There are a lot of considerations that need to go into the decision making process – but actual file size will be less of an issue.
I am going in for more ASTD Internationa l presentations today. Hopefully there will be some things I can take back to apply in designing training for TechSmith .
Specifically I would like to have some conversation with folks who are trying to do e-learning (or move towards more of an e-learning 2.0). I think there is a great room for screencasting, which I hope to do some soon on this blog. It definitely is not the end-all-be-all solution, but I think there is a lot of merit in begin able to show someone at their pace the info that they need.
I think in situations where someone is trying to reach a mass audience and there is not necessarily going to be a lot of two way conversation – then screencasting is a powerful tool – especially when conveying information/knowledge/learning or what ever else you call, about something on your screen.
I could see an educational YouTube – home-grown topics in training and education. Although, there would have to be a half-way reasonable way to weed out junk… It could create a whole new realm of educational discovery. Throw in social networking, ways to comment on the video (thinking something like digg )
-matt
I arrive in Atlanta today and went to ASTD International. This is my first ASTD conference – I’m excited that I have an opportunity to learn more about the field.
I’ve attended two sessions today – both looking at e-learning. The first was by Marc Rosenberg. It wasn’t exactly w.at I was looking for. Marc did a great job though. Working with TechSmith Corporation (makers of SnagIt and Camtasia Studio) I am looking more for ideas on how to take our online tutorials to the next level (See some of our stuff in our Learning Center).
The second session was more of what type of session I am hoping to attend here at ASTD. It was about e-learning 2.0 by Tony Karrer.
Tony presented on web 2.0 technologies that can be used for e-learning 2.0. Some of the technologies that he talked about were wikis, social bookmarking, blogs, RSS Reader – with a brief mention to several others (social networks, add-in/mash-ups, podcasts, videos, etc…)
A couple of take aways for me: 1 – Tony talked about the value of blogging. He mentioned that a few folks from a previous ASTD conference that took that challenge to blog found that they learned a significant amount in a year that they took that challenge. So I’m going to try it. I need to find time to consistently approach subjects and topics.
2 – Social bookmarking – I’ve dabbled. I need to be better at marking things that I find and set up an RSS feed for topics I’m trying to learn about. (Going to see if I like Bloglines better than Google Reader)
3 – Many folks at the session were unaware or not currently using these technologies. It seems to me that there is a great opportunity to better understand how they can work in a learning context, and drive some adoption. I’m wondering if at TechSmith, we couldn’t help to drive this type of usage in the way we help people to learn.
