#SLCONF 2012
I’ll be leading a track at the first Social Learning Conference in London on 8th March. Come join me!
#SLCONF 2012 is a 1-day engaging unconference that explores the growing impact of Social Collaborative platforms in Learning & Development. The day will be highly collaborative and informal to allow delegates to ask plenty of questions and get advice from our track leaders their peers about the best practices for developing and running Social Learning and development programs. Register here.
The event will combine a mixture of Case Study presentations from Accenture and BP as well as interactive discussions, with some of the most innovative experts in social learning, including:
- Jon Ingham, Executive Consultant, Social Advantage
- Nick Shackleton Jones, Group Head of eLearning, BP
- Priyadarshini Banati, Collaboration Strategy Lead, Social Learning Team, Accenture
- Clare Norman, Talent Development Ambassador, Accenture
- Tim Drewitt, E-learning Specialist, Eversheds LLP
- Barry Sampson, Director & Co-founder, Onlignment
- Ben Betts, CEO, HT2
- Ollie Gardener, CEO, NoddlePod
- Stephen Gardner, CTO, NoddlePod
For those are directly involved in their organisation’s Learning & Development efforts, e-Learning and Learning 2.0 projects, this Social Learning Event is a must-attend.
Just a few more tickets are available, and you can register now via www.crexia.com/conferences/social-learning
From iOS to Android – Week 3
The third week of using Android instead of iPhone is over, and it’s been largely uneventful. I think it’s taken this long to settle into the Nexus S just being my phone and using it normally, rather than it feeling like an experiment all of the time. That’s really helped prove to me the value of doing this. The only way to really understand an alternative to your current platform of choice, is to use actually use it. This isn’t something that you can experience by playing with phones in the shop, or by reading about someone else’s experience (even mine!).
I started this experiment for a couple of very specific reasons. The first was so that I could understand the Android user experience so that I could better design apps for it as a platform. The second was to give some thought to whether iOS or Android had any intrinsic advantage when it came to learning specific activity. The first is still a work in progress, and I’ve already learned a great deal. The second question I think I’ve already answered for myself; much like the old adage about cameras, the best device for learning is the one you have with you. It needs a little more thought, and that’s another post to be written once this four week experiment is complete.
I did say it was a largely uneventful week, but that wasn’t to say there was nothing significant to report. This week, I had the opportunity (which I took) to buy an HP Touchpad; you may be familiar with this as the WebOS powered device that HP launched and quickly cancelled earlier this year. Some enterprising souls have ported Android to run on it, and although it’s only an early alpha, I’ve been surprised how stable it is. Watch this space for more updates on this too!
From iOS to Android – Week 2
My second week of Android usage is over, and it’s still a positive experience. Here are a few highlights.
I love the Share Menu! If you’ve never used Android, this is a global feature that allows you to share something from one app to another. It’s contextual, so only relevant apps show up in the menu. Selecting a link on a web page gives the option to share that link to my blog via the WordPress app, to Twitter using any of the Twitter apps I have installed, to my to do list in Remember the Milk, to email, Evernote or into a text message; and that’s just a few examples.
As a Google+ user, I like the fact that I can set that app to automatically upload all of my photos and videos as they’re taken. You can choose whether they’re automatically shared or not, and I’ve chosen the not option. This integration with Google’s services, like the interface differences between Android and iOS, is another topic that needs it’s own post to do it justice. I’ll cover them both when I get to the end of this four week experiment.
The biggest find of the last week for me has been Swype. It wouldn’t be exaggerating to say this has transformed the way I use a phone. Text input on mobile screens has always been painful, but Swype’s gesture recognition approach has completely changed that. I’m amazed by how quickly I can input big chunks of text, and suddenly my phone has become a useful note taking device! I did find that once you start to trust its ability to convert your gestures to text, you just relax and really pick up the pace. This was a similar experience to getting used to iOS’s automatic spell correction. Mind you, neither of them are perfect so proofreading is still required!
The most significant change in my own behaviour has been quite unexpected; I’ve almost completely stopped using my iPad. Previously, it was used daily for reading my RSS feeds, general surfing and anything internet related when I was sat on the couch after work. I’m now using the Nexus S instead. As I mentioned at the start of the four weeks, there is undoubtedly going to be some element of novelty and that may be a factor here, but there’s more to it than that. The large screen on the Nexus S and the easier input afforded by Swype make it, for me at least, a more usable all round device than the iPhone. It’s also fair to say that the iOS5 update seems to have made my iPad slower and buggy…
Regarding the phone itself – Battery life has been acceptable, but can’t compete with the iPhone 4. It does continue to outperform the iPhone in its ability to actually make and receive calls! I’ve also noticed that despite heavy usage, the screen on the Nexus S stays much cleaner than the iPhone. I probably wipe the Nexus screen one a day, whereas with the iPhone it was after almost every use. I don’t know if that’s to do with the quality of the screens or something to do with me!
From iOS to Android – Week 1
Last week I posted here about my plan to spend the month using an Android phone, a Nexus S, instead of my iPhone 4.
I’ve jotted down here my thoughts after the first week. Bear in mind that these are impressions after seven days of use, and it’s quite possible that these views may change over the coming weeks. This is about regular daily use, not side by side testing.
Set Up
Considering that this is a Google phone and I use a whole bunch of Google services, such as Gmail, Calendar and Docs it’s no surprise that getting them all set up was incredibly easy. A couple of minutes after entering my ID and password and all my important data was synced to the phone.
I then spent a couple of hours looking through the apps on my iPhone and finding suitable replacements on Android. This was a two part process, because I also took the time to remove what was installed on the iPhone that I hadn’t used for a long time. Once the cull of unused apps was complete, it was pretty straightforward to find what I needed. As expected, in most cases the app was available on Android anyway (Evernote, Twitter, BBC News, etc.) and where it wasn’t I was easily able to find a suitable replacement (such as a planner for the London Underground). The only app that I didn’t add to the Nexus S was Docs To Go, partly because I didn’t want to pay for something I may not use very long, but mostly because on iOS I use it with Google Docs and Android already has a Docs app that does a better job.
Finding my Way Around
Although iOS and Android are quite different in many ways, there are enough similarities to make getting around pretty easy. Elsewhere, it was intuitive enough to work out what to do.
The most notable difference to get used to is that iOS apps usually keep their navigation on screen all the time (back buttons in the header are the norm) whereas Android has a dedicated back button. I want to spend more time thinking about the differences in convention between the two OSs, so I’ll write more about this later in the month.
Flash
The decision to give Android a go hadn’t changed my general feeling that HTML5 should be preferred to Flash for video, so I was initially disappointed to find that the iPlayer app required Flash. Still, I decided to give it a go, and as I watched a couple of shows it almost felt like a guilty pleasure! Quality was excellent, there was no lag (for reference, I was on wifi) the phone didn’t overheat or crash and I’m fairly sure that god didn’t kill any kittens just because I used Flash.
The Handset
Most of the other comments I have it this point may be more related to the handset than the OS, although sometimes it’s hard to completely separate them.
Screen – When I told a friend of mine about this experiment, he said that he couldn’t use another handset because the screen always looked blurry compared to the iPhone 4′s retina display, and I was a little worried about this before the Nexus S arrived. I needn’t have worried though; side by side the iPhone screen is definitely crisper, but in regular use I have no complaints about the screen on the Nexus S. In fact the extra real estate (4″ against the iPhone’s 3.5″) more than makes up for any difference in resolution.
Build Quality and Design – There’s no denying that the iPhone 4 is a thing of beauty, but the Nexus S is no ugly duckling either. I guess that really comes down to personal taste, so I’m not going to dwell on it now. One thing I must mention is that the iPhone 4 seems to be built like a tank; it’s been in my pocket or bag without a case for a year, been dropped about a dozen times and it doesn’t have a mark on it. The Nexus S doesn’t feel as robust to me, probably because it’s bodywork is plastic, but I guess the flip side is that any damage is easier and cheaper to repair! At the moment I’m waiting for a decent case.
Calls and Coverage – Without a doubt the Nexus S wins here. Despite all of the other things it does so well, for me the iPhone 4 has always been terrible as a phone. The Nexus S picks up a signal where the iPhone can’t, and I actually receive calls. One problem I’ve had with the iPhone from day one is that even when I do appear to have a signal, it often didn’t ring when people called, and I would then get a voicemail notification followed by a missed call message! It’s worth noting that the SIM card in the Nexus S is the one from my iPhone (in an adaptor to make it fit).
Battery Life – I’m reserving judgement on this for now, although I think the iPhone may be better. The reason I’m leaving this for the moment is that the Nexus S is my new toy, so it is getting used more than it would usually. It’s also worth noting that the iPhone does have a great battery, but I was only able to get the calendar app to work with Google Calendar by switching on push notifications, so it wasn’t that great.
Here’s to Steve
Until today I’ve never seen this version, narrated by Steve Jobs himself.
The Best Collaboration Tool You’ve Never Heard Of
A little while back I had the opportunity to get a sneak preview of Noddlepod, a platform with a unique take on co-working and collaboration. They’ve just released a cool new promotional animation, and that reminded me that I hadn’t mentioned them for a while.
Just to be clear; I don’t have any connection with them, I just think it’s a great tool. I was so impressed with what I saw, that I gave them a nice big endorsement to go on the front page of their site.
One of the problems with online collaboration platforms, is that they often give you a very narrow and isolated view of your contribution. One of the things I most like about Noddlepod is that it gives you a clear sense of how what you’re doing fits in with the wider project. When you want to focus, you can also drill down to just the things you’re working on.
It also uses what are called ‘pinned items’ to add a structure that is visible to everyone in the project, ensuring that the activity always has a context.
If you’ve never seen it before (which as the title of this post suggests, I doubt you have) take the tour, visit their blog and why not give the free trial a go?
It would be great to know what you think of it.
Comparing iOS and Android (again)
I’ve had an iPhone since they were launched in the UK, but earlier this year I decided to give Android a try. This wasn’t due to any dissatisfaction with iOS. It’s because mobile devices are becoming more important to my work, both in general web projects and even more so in their use for learning. The plan was to use it full time for four weeks, to help me understand the way it worked. I don’t believe that you can design for a platform based on theoretical knowledge; you have to use it.
Unfortunately the experiment only lasted a few days because the handset I bought was too small, slow and underpowered to be useful. It left me with the impression that Android was difficult to use, poorly designed and generally ugly. Last week I decided that it was time to take another look, and so I ordered a Google/Samsung Nexus S.
So far I’ve set the Nexus up with a few apps, and it’s just been used around the house on WiFi. This week I’m going to pop in my sim card and it will be my only phone until at least the end of the month. Each week I’ll post my thoughts here.
Although the intention is largely to gain more experience of Android, I’m sure that on the way I’ll be making comparisons between it and iOS. In doing so, I’m trying to be wary of two things; I know how to do things on the iPhone, so at times Android is bound to be harder to use simply though my lack of experience, and on the flip side, Android is new to me and the novelty may make using it seem more enjoyable than it actually is.
For me the timing is particularly interesting with an Apple iOS event scheduled for tomorrow (where the iPhone 4S and/or iPhone 5 is expected to be announced, along with the release date for iOS5) and a week later on 11th October, Google is holding an Android event (and it in turn is expected to announce the Nexus Prime and the release of the latest version of Android – ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’).
Add to that the deeper integration between mobile devices and social networks, and this is a really interesting time to be exploring the mobile landscape.
Are Mobile Devices Distracting?
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by cogdogblog
Craig Taylor has written an interesting post about his experiences at a recent eLN event. It seems that many attendees agreed with the suggestion that “people can’t possibly be learning effectively if they are tapping away on mobile devices”. I thought it merited a longer response than Craig’s chosen comment system would allow, so here are my thoughts;
First of all, I think that the “tapping away on mobile devices” part is irrelevant. There are plenty of times where I’ve very effectively failed to learn anything at all, without the assistance of any technology!
In answer to Craig’s questions:
Is it reasonable to expect us and our learners to use technology to aid our/their productivity in areas and in situations that have traditionally used pen and paper? – That depends on what you mean by ‘expect’. We certainly shouldn’t be surprised that people are using tablets and smartphones for things such as note taking. On the other hand I wouldn’t want to impose those tools on people if they don’t want to use them. I’m usually well ahead of the curve in my personal adoption of technology, but there are still things that I choose to do on paper; and let’s not forget, pen and paper is technology, it’s just more established than some of the alternatives.
Should we maintain traditional practices for meetings but attempt to push forward with new practices when the output has an overt ‘learning’ tag attached to it? – No. Learning is most effective when it builds on what people already do elsewhere, so trying to introduce new practices at the same time as something that is ‘overt learning’ (or training, as it should be called) just makes both activities more difficult. If you want to introduce new practices (e.g. making notes on a tablet) then introduce that as something that people perceive as being part of, not separate to, their work.
Of course, the act of note taking on a tablet has little or no value in itself; what people need to understand first is the benefit they get from doing this (easy to store, search, reference, find and reuse those notes) and then the benefits to others (ability to share, collaborate) and finally the benefits to the organisation (knowledge management, dissemination of information).
Do you use technology to aid your personal productivity or not? – I use technology for pretty much everything, but at the same time I’m not naive enough to think that technology = productivity. For example; when I first started using Twitter I attempted to ‘live tweet’ every event I attended, but quickly found that I was getting a worse experience because I couldn’t focus on the event and the tweeting.
Are you encouraging/discouraging of others to do so? – I’m keen to share the opportunities that technology can bring, in all areas, including productivity. However, on a personal level I’m not an evangelist. Just because something works for me, or someone I know, doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. It won’t be a surprise that I do encourage people to adopt technology at an organisational level – e.g. virtual meetings instead of face to face.
Whether face to face or online, I think the type of event makes a difference to the expected behaviour.
For example, when I’ve presented at eLN events I’ve been happy if two thirds of the people are paying attention and the remaining third aren’t distracting them. After all, there are a number of speakers at each event and it’s unlikely that every attendee will be interested in every speaker? I feel the same way about webinars (by which I mean ‘presentation style’ online events); the barriers to attendance are so low that some of the attendees are bound to only have a passing interest. As a presenter I should be focussing on those people who do want to take part.
If I was facilitating a workshop, presumably for a much smaller group of people, then I might expect different behaviour. If we assume that I’m doing my bit by running a good session, then it’s reasonable to expect the participants to do their bit by taking part. Most importantly, I would expect their focus to be on working with the others in the room (physical or virtual), and whether or not they use technology to do that is irrelevant. In this situation I would direct people to avoid distracting activities, whether that’s switching their phone to silent or closing email (which is not the same as saying – switch off the technology).
Considerations of Online Assessment in the Workplace
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With the current unforgiving economic climate and the budget cuts it brings, companies are increasingly looking for ways to reduce costs. The use of online assessments is one such method; providing a valuable and cost-effective way of carrying out many business functions including hiring, inducting, training and developing staff. The two most common uses of online assessment are considered below:
In recruitment
Online assessments can save huge amounts of time and money in the recruitment of new staff. In the initial stages of recruitment, they can be carried out anywhere from a recruitment agency to an applicants’ home, the results can be calculated immediately, and then delivered straight to the employer’s inbox. This provides a very easy way of sifting out unsuitable applicants without the need to see them face to face and is particularly useful for roles where there are numerous applicants, such as graduate training courses.
Online assessments can also be used within recruitment for carrying out aptitude tests (designed to assess a candidate’s intellectual performance) and personality or psychometric tests (used to determine a candidate’s typical reactions and attitudes to various situations). The use of these tests can prove essential in choosing the right person for the job and ensuring they have the relevant personality and skill set for the role. In turn, this should ensure that they stay and grow with the company.
Recruiting using online assessments should by no means (and indeed, is unlikely to) replace face-to-face recruitment altogether, but, used correctly, can complement and enhance the more traditional recruitment process by making it quicker, more efficient and more economical.
In evaluating employee understanding pre- and post-training
E-learning or online training has also become a common way to train staff, and provides a cost-effective solution to what can be an expensive and sometimes logistically difficult activity for a business. One of the main strengths of e-learning is that it can include both pre- and post-training online assessments, which help to determine the effectiveness of the training by providing an objective measurement of the amount of knowledge gained and retained by the employee.
For example, for competency based training, pre-training online assessments can determine what an employee knows and would do in a situation involving certain areas of competency. When the results are analysed they show the employee’s strengths and weaknesses and a personalised training plan can then be customised to help focus the training on their specific needs rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach. After the training has been delivered, employees can be evaluated using post-training online assessments where the same key competencies are measured, echoing the initial pre-training assessment. Improvement is measured by comparing the scores from the pre- and post-training online assessments. The results highlight certain areas which still require further training and also prove that learning has been achieved, boosting morale and confidence for the employee.
Of course, the real measure of any kind of training is the ability to apply what has been learned in the workplace. However, for developing a customised training session and providing an initial assessment of the success of the training, pre- and post-training online assessments can be an extremely beneficial tool.
The Test Factory are specialist providers of such online assessment, and can build bespoke online assessment solutions to suit your company’s requirements and business goals.
How Far Would You Walk for Water?
Mariama carries the orange and yellow bucket
Photo credit: WaterAid/Layton Thompson
“Mariama Oumara Dicko lives in an isolated village in Mali. Scarce water supplies during the dry season forces her to go out three times a day, every day, to collect dirty water from manmade ponds. Each journey takes three hours.”
March 22nd is World Water Day 2011. Across Africa, people spend between 3 and 10 hours a day collecting water. It is usually down to women and children to collect water, stopping them from gaining an education or earning a living and taking precious time that could be spent making permanent improvements to their circumstances.
What would you rather be doing?
WaterAid have put together a list that compares the time spent on typical activities in the UK to the time spent collecting water in developing countries:
- Let’s get social: In the UK, people spend an average of five hours 48 minutes on social networking sites per week (comScore). In Sub-Saharan Africa, that’s two trips to collect water. What would you rather be doing?
- I say! The average man will spend five hours a week staring at different women (Kodak Lens Vision Centres). In one week, the average woman in a developing country would have spent 21 hours collecting water.
- Wedding bells: A bride-to-be spends an average of 250 hours preparing for a wedding. For a woman in Africa, that time could be spent making 83 trips to collect water. You can bet she’d rather be planning her big day!
- Goal! Mr Average in Britain spends six hours and 12 minutes a week watching, talking about and keeping up-to-date on football (BT Vision). After that amount of time, a woman in the developing world could be making her third trip in one day to collect water.
- Break a sweat: The average adult exercises just 50 minutes a week (WeightWatchers) – less than a third of one trip to collect 20kg of water.
- Off to the shops: The average British woman spends 94 hours and 55 minutes shopping for food over one year, and more than 100 hours shopping for clothes (OnePoll). Women in sub-Saharan Africa spend the same amount of time collecting water in just one month. This time could be much better spent growing or selling their own food.
- School’s out: It takes a mighty 3,600 study hours to complete an Open University Honours degree. That’s little more than three years spent fetching water – time better spent on education.
- Beep, beep! It takes, on average, 47 hours of driving lessons to pass a driving test in the UK (DirectGov). In the same amount of time, millions in Africa will have made just 15 trips to collect water – and they won’t be making those journeys by car.
- On track: The average daily commute in the UK takes 47 minutes and 48 seconds (TUC). It might feel like 47 minutes too many, but it’s still less than a third of the time it takes to collect water in sub-Saharan Africa.
- A nice cuppa: We spend about six hours a week drinking tea and coffee (LearnDirect). That’s two trips to collect water, with no coffee break.
Call To Action
Access to clean, safe water doesn’t just save lives. It is essential to improving education, health, gender equality and economic growth.
Please take the time to sign WaterAid’s petition urging Government to take action to stop the water crisis.