Author: iangardnergb

My name is Ian Gardner and I am interested in various topics that can be seen as related to learning, technology and information. To see what I am reading elsewhere, follow me on The Old Reader (I.gardner.gb) or LinkedIn.

The fundamental issue for learning – recollection

I have been thinking again about memory recently from two perspectives:

  1. Reflecting on my own role and development, remembering how I have learned things and developed.
  2. Working with a number of my subject expert colleagues to really get to the bottom of how we can better support initial learning but also reinforce the key messages throughout the careers of our teams.

Neither of these are new, or unique, to this week but as I have been helping on-board a new team recently the visibility of the first item has increased.  I have recently signed up for a workshop (to be run later in the year) which should help me have even better conversations around point two.

One aspect that came to mind with both points was the relevancy in separating out memory and recollection. Aristotle on Memory and Recollection, which I have just had a quick look over in Google Books, does a really good job of comparing different views.  In summary:

“Aristotle stresses that there is a crucial difference between memory and recollection, since man is the only animal with the ability to recollect, whereas several animals have the capacity to remember”.  Whilst it goes on to talk about how these might mean different things in translation I think this is an interesting point, not least if we think that by recollect we may mean apply and reflect.

The month in Learning (Technology): April 2015

The ongoing aggregating of some of the stories catching my eye:

  1. McGraw-Hill continues developments in adaptive learning.
  2. New Corporate Training market report (albeit very expensive).
  3. A piece on what changes to the online learning market may mean for the University of Phoenix.
  4. eLearning Age on size of global education sector.
  5. H5P – might we finally be rid of SCORM?
  6. New Federal Guide Recommends Kaplan’s Approach as Best Practice for Evaluating EdTech Products.
  7. RemoteLearner UK taken over by Blackboard.
  8. Educause report on next gen digital learning.

Rethinking LinkedIn use – after 400 connections

I realized recently that I had passed the 400 connections point on LinkedIn.  I thought this a useful point to consider how I use the tool.

I have used it very inconsistently in the past.  Going forward I might be more systematic – if I have internal meetings I add the people present, previously I have been vary ad hoc how I have used it for internal networking.  I’ll also probably be more consistent with how I deal with those who attend events I have organized, a sensible approach would seem to be to encourage people to contact me there if they wish to – in the past I have added all delegates which is probably ‘a bit forward’ or not used LI to follow up at all.

Here’s a rough breakdown of the opening 400, a useful exercise as it has allowed me to remove a few people that I was not sure about:

The month in Learning (Technology): March 2015

Not too much grabbing my attention this month:

  1. Dale Carnegie Training using badges
  2. “No major wear off found on engagement, motivation, concentration and learning.” – nice to see some research seemingly confirming that student response and gamification, in class, are not sure fads but offer ongoing benefits.
  3. A Checklist for Success, or nice summary of things to consider, in relation to LMS Selection in High-Consequence Industries.
  4. Must admit that I don’t think Ive read too much from Karl Kapp of late, but his summary of the current status of gamification here is good.
  5. More buys by Blackboard.
  6. More research evidence for including physical activity within and around learning events.

Some reminders from Amazon and the BBC

This weekend has brought a few reminders for L&D (well, actually, any web-powered service provider) from difficult experiences for two of the biggest players – Amazon and the BBC.

Amazon

  1. If your service isn’t working, communicate.  Amazon UK and, apparently, Germany have been down at times today.  At the same time, irrelevant tweets have been posted by Amazon UK – rather than anything explaining the problem.  If you own a webpage I’d say you really need to support it via Twitter, if you are a global company that should really be 24/7 support.
  2. Integrated systems are not always best.  I noticed the Amazon UK problems from Prime Video not being accessible on my PS3 – that a failure can impact video, retail site and phone users is pretty terrible service.  This raises some interesting questions for L&D about putting all your content through one interface or taking a safer approach of spreading the risk between, say, LMS, video, assessment and communication apps.
  3. Don’t go for a big push if you’re not sure the system can handle it.  Obviously, for Amazon to be down in major European markets, there has been some kind of catastrophe failure/attack.  However, you have to wonder how much of an impact Amazon’s recent pushing of Prime Video has had, for example, I accidentally opted in to a month trial when buying DVDs recently.  For the rest of us, it reminds us how gradual roll outs can often be a better move than ‘big and loud’.

BBC

  1. Get the users involved.  The new BBC mobile homepage has predictably led to a lot of negative comments.  Whilst you can never please everyone, it does feel a little like trying to surface click-bait BBC content rather than helping surface top content and navigate to key areas.
  2. Scroll of death.  An issue that has cropped up with many LMS systems over the years – the new homepage seems to encourage scrolling over more intelligent navigation.
  3. Just For Me.  A lack of personalization/customization seems to encourage bookmarking of your personal interest topics rather than coming through home.
  4. Images at your peril.  Especially on mobile, space and time are precious – the forcing of images (especially when they often do not add anything to a piece of content) is just not helpful in my eyes.  Sure, if the image has a purpose then use one (for example, the car camera of the Taiwan Plane) but don’t use templates that add images just for the sake of it.