Camera shutter in slow motion
If you've ever wondered how a rolling shutter works on a DSLR, here's your chance. The Slow Mo Guys filmed the shutter of the Canon 7D at 10,000fps. Here's the video:
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Instructional Design
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School
John Medina's Brain Rules is a fantastic resource to learn more about how the brain works; Medina's book is research-based and shares helpful information that can help of understand and care for our brain. Additional, Medina shares many hints that can help inform instructional designers on methods they can employee to be more effective instructional designers. One of my favorite principles or rules from the book was that of vision.
Rule 10 - Vision trumps every other sense
John Medina says it best from the following excerpts I found on the Brain Rules website:
- "We are incredible at remembering pictures. Hear a piece of information, and three days later you'll remember 10% of it. Add a picture and you'll remember 65%."
- "Pictures beat text as well, in part because reading is so inefficient for us. Our brain sees words as lots of tiny pictures, and we have to identify certain features in the letters to be able to read them. That takes time."
- "Why is vision such a big deal to us? Perhaps because it's how we've always apprehended major threats, food supplies and reproductive opportunity."
- "Toss your PowerPoint presentations. It’s text-based (nearly 40 words per slide), with six hierarchical levels of chapters and subheads—all words. Professionals everywhere need to know about the incredible inefficiency of text-based information and the incredible effects of images. Burn your current PowerPoint presentations and make new ones."
Employing vision in design
I gave what I learned in Brain Rules a try. I incorporated a number of images into my latest LinkedIn Pulse post entitled, "Master Latin abbreviations in your writing, e.g., i.e., et al., etc." Have a look at the post to see how I tied in examples with relevant imagery.
Practice every day for one year
I found a fantastic video filmed over the course of an entire year by Ben Larcombe who started playing table tennis in January and became ranked among the top 250 players in England by December. Here's the video.
Expert in a year
This concept of starting a skill, hobby, or activity and then devoting time to it every day for an entire year is very intriguing. Ben's site, www.ExpertInAYear.com, is a great place to go for inspiration. This has me thinking of future projects I'd like to do similar to my "Guy Trains for Ironman in 6 Months" project.
Photo credit: "Spin Excursion" by HighEd Web is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
You Suck at PowerPoint!
Jesse Desjardins shared this excellent presentation, embedded below, on SlideShare in 2008. Since it was released, it's seen more than 1.8 million views and is full of keen advice on communicating. A few points that stood out to me include:
- Avoid sharing too much info at once
- Only share information that is needed, that is relevant
- Keep a consistent look and feel in materials
- Implement a color scheme that is used consistently. I discovered ColourLovers.com from his presentation.
Top 10 e-Learning statistics for 2015
After browsing around the internet for interesting infographics on online learning, I ran into this outstanding website that has mounds of relevant infographics designed on the subject of eLearning. I have included one of my favorite which highlights 10 facts around eLearning in 2015.
Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics
So you want an instructional design job?
Professionals in the instructional technology and instructional design space need to be skilled in a number of areas to be eligible for current job openings. I have recently become curious on what current tools and skills recruiters are frequently listing in job postings for this field. To be marketable and eligible for a job as an instructional designer, it would make sense for one to be aware of this skill and tool-set, increase one's proficiency in areas she or he feels s/he is lacking, and monitor changes in the field to stay relevant.
Popular skills: tools and technology
Job listings list requirements for basic competency in standard office equipment including computers, photocopiers, scanners, etc. As you can image, proficiency in a number of software applications is essential to most instructional design jobs. Some of the most common software tools I've seen listed include:
- Adobe Captivate
- Adobe FrameMaker
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- Blackboard Learn
- Microsoft Publisher
- Performance Technology Associates DocuTools
- Trivantis CourseMill
- Worldwide Instructional Design System
- Adobe Flash (I believe flash is being rapidly phased out and replaced with tablet-compatible technologies)
- Adobe Creative Cloud design tools – Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign
- Adobe Creative Cloud video editing tools – Premier, Audition, etc.
- Snagit
- Camtasia
Popular skills: interpersonal workplace attributes
A number of interpersonal skills consistently show up in job postings. These include:
- Reading comprehension
- Instructing
- Learning strategies
- Writing
- Critical thinking
- Active listening
- Judgement and decision making
- Monitoring
- Speaking
- Active learning
But wait, there's more
I found a cool list of instructional designers' tasks, tools, technology, knowledge, skills, abilities, work activities, educational requirements, and other data that commonly shows up in job postings on www.ONetOnline.org. Here's more information for those interested.
Featured
Wearable technology released at CES
Last week, I mentioned that I would write about any wearable technology that got released at CES this week. I'm going to bump that post back a week to next week because of some big news that was recently released by U.S. News and World Report.
USU #13 in nation for online programs
U.S. News and World Report released its annual online college rankings. USU's online bachelor and graduate programs were ranked #13 in the nation. Although I am a residential student – not an online student – the program I study in has trained a lot of the faculty and professors who participate in online courses. This makes me proud. Utah State University's position in Utah is that of a land grant institution. It's charged with educating students throughout the state including those who live in remote, rural locations. This land-grant charge has driven USU to innovate and experiment in the distance education space for decades. It was among the first universities in the nation to offer free online courses along with MIT, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon.
Congrats, USU; I'm a proud alumnus and student.
Photo credit: "USU Old Main" by Cami Gee is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Data literacy is increasingly important
Tracking, gathering, and storing data has become easier; buzz words like "big data" have been around for a few years and areas where data analytics are of value continue to be seen in the marketplace. From providing insights on what the public at large is searching for on Google to predicting how people like their coffee, data has exponentially growing use in the world. Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business nicely illustrated how Target, for example, has generated a ton of sales by smartly targeting customers with customized ads. Target does this by applying data algorithms to massive amounts of consumer behavior data to discover consumer patters – both intuitive and non-intuitive. (Click here to learn more about how Target was able to figure out that a teen girl was pregnant before her father did).
Wearable technologies are a growing source for data curation and provide opportunities for learning
Dr. Victor Lee of Utah State University has been conducting research on how elementary school-aged kids have been advancing their data knowledge through wearing and gathering personal activity data from wearable technologies. Dr. Lee recently presented some of his research at USU. He pointed out the potential benefits and learning opportunities young science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students could be exposed to through interacting with these new devices.
A number of points stood out to me from Dr. Lee's presentation
- The current approaches for teaching data in STEM are insufficient
- Working with data is challenging – it requires specific tools
- We have the opportunity to do better at teaching STEM with emerging wearable technologies
- One young student who had access to wearable technology in her class self directed research on whether a Fitbit was more accurate than an iPhone app. She concluded that the FItbit was more accurate at tracking physical activity.
- Elementary students discovered that adult resting heart rate increases as adults age by conducting their own research and monitoring various teachers' heart rates
Using Health Tracking Devices to Improve Data Literacy
If you've got a few minutes, take some time to watch Dr. Lee's presentation to learn more about his research.
The 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is scheduled for January 6 - 9
Very much related to the field of wearable technologies, the annual Consumer Electronics Show starts tomorrow through Friday, January 6 through 9. There will no doubt be a lot of wearable technology with data tracking abilities displayed for the first time at this international show. I'll be watching what comes out and highlight a few technologies of note right here on Instructional Technology this time next week.
LinkedIn™ Udemy Course
I'm currently knee deep in the process of developing my online Udemy course that will be teaching students how to effectively update, optimize, and polish their LinkedIn profiles. Course development for this project has been fascinating in its own right. Udemy has done an outstanding job providing detailed instruction that sets instructors up for success. Many instructional design principles are built in to how Udemy instructs instructors on how to set up a course (I know – it's a mouthful). Udemy has what appears to be a highly rigorous model of helping instructors build and revise their courses.
The ADDIE Model
Developed by researchers at Florida State University, the ADDIE Model helps guide instructional designers in the process of design. Curriculum development is broken down into a series of phases that are part of the process of building instruction. These phases are:
- Analysis
- Design
- Development
- Implementation
- Evaluation
Mine and Udemy's Use of the ADDIE Model
Between each phase, developers are encouraged to revise areas with apparent issues to improve the course. I have completed much of the analysis associated with my course. Through that process, I identified several areas where I needed to revise goals and more clearly outline objectives.
Udemy has provided a lot of tools that help in designing and developing the course. Since this online classroom marketplace is a well-thought-out platform, a lot of the design of course tools and layout has been addressed by Udemy. As I complete the development and implementation of my of my course, the guiding principles of the ADDIE Model will become increasingly important. This model places emphasis on the evaluation phase of a course. An instructor needs to observe what areas of the course students seem to be benefiting from and which areas need improvement. I plan to interject a few quizzes and open discussion threads throughout the course where I ask students what they are enjoying and what I can do to improve the course. I'll also look for areas where students are repeatedly asking questions; multiple related questions are a good sign that clarification on material would improve the course experience for students.
As an instructor in an online setting where students can publicly rate your performance, where a portion of students' "tuition" goes toward compensating instructors, taking full advantage of feedback provided to the instructor from students is a crucial. Guiding principles from the evaluation phase of the ADDIE Model will be of high focus for me following the launch of my course.
Photo credit: "LinkedIn Chocolates" by nan palmero is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Instructional design in healthcare
Ryan Brierley is a digital media specialist with more than a decade of experience in instructional design. He currently works for Intermountain Healthcare, the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West. I sat down with Ryan to ask him about what it means to be an instructional designer in the healthcare industry. Enjoy.
Photo credit: "bridging knowledge to health" by Paul Bica is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
The virtual world of Whyville
Whyville is an online community for children between the ages of 8-14. This 7-million-member community is a virtual world where kids have the ability to interact with each other with advanced identities and cultural complexities that are found in our physical world. Utah State University's Deborah Fields recently spoke at TEDxUSU on the interesting subject of tween activism that occurred in this virtual setting.
Tween activism in a virtual world
Here's Dr. Field's TEDxUSU speech:
Dr. Deborah Fields
Dr. Deborah Fields is a world-renowned authority in the unique area of tween life in online environments. She co-authored the book Connected Play: Tweens in a Virtual World.
An innovative use of a hashtag
The mountains on the edge of Morgan, Utah, caught fire in the fall of 2013. After the fire eventually burned out, ecologists wanted to track the damage and recovery of the charred mountainside. Hikers who visit the area might encounter the sign below which encourages those with smartphones to take a photo and share it to the #MorganFire02 hashtag.
Cool use of twitter pic.twitter.com/5oYB9tPkz6
— Sergei Krupenin (@krupenin) May 18, 2014#MorganFire02
The #MorganFire02 caught like wild fire (excuse the pun). If you visit its live Twitter feed, you'll see one, two, or more images posted per week from the sign location. This concept is so smart. Think of the saved trips ecologists have spared themselves in launching this package. Think of the added awareness the presence of this feed provides giving onlookers unique insight on the healing processes nature goes through following a fire.
The concept of crowdsourcing documentation via smartphones and through the outlet of hashtags is not limited to forest fire recover observations. There's certainly myriad other options for this concept.
Video games and learning
I stumbled across this video of David Lee unboxing Minecraft in the Classroom: Ideas, inspiration, and student projects for teachers. David mentioned that the book helps teach subjects including math, science, languages, and other subjects using Minecraft as a focal point. I've been aware that instructional technologist have used Minecraft in after-school makerspaces with great success for some time. PhD candidate Ty Hollett with Vanderbilt University has invested much of his research focus in this field and has seen a lot of success with his work. The introduction of this book by Pearson Education indicates that there may be expanding opportunities for students to participate in Minecraft learning opportunities within the course of a regular school day in a classroom setting.
The unboxing
Here's a look at the book. Thanks for the video, David.
Photo credit: "Minecraft Castle" by Mike Cooke is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Disruptive innovation
Taxi drivers must jump through extensive regulatory hoops in an effort to ensure that passengers are traveling in safe, reliable vehicles. The sometimes exclusionary expenses associated with getting a taxi license. Taxi drivers and taxi companies don't fully foot this bill. It's passed on, indirectly, to consumers in the form of higher rates, poorer customer service as the result of less competition in the marketplace, and potentially dirtier taxis, also a result of less marketplace competition.
Ridesharing companies have emerged in recent years to solve some of the issues in this transportation market. Companies like Uber, Lyft, and Rideshare have developed apps that allow individuals to reserve transportation from their drivers by simply submitting a request through a smartphone application and getting picked up minutes later. Consumers benefit from less expensive fairs, better customer service, and potentially cleaner cars using these systems.
How it works
Chatter
Still, some regulators raise concerns about the safety of this dynamic solution to the taxi problem. Efforts are being made to regulate these new companies and make them adhere to the same or similar regulations traditional taxi companies must adhere to. Safety concerns have been raised given some early issues some riders experienced although all said companies require thorough background checks before drivers are hired.
Others applaud the companies' efforts which may help people consume fewer resources and provide more options for those needing transportation.
Duke University's Michael Munger recently spoke about the benefits of these rideshare organizations in his presentation on the sharing economy when he visited Strata in September.
My guess is that rideshare programs are here to stay. They will grow and evolve in major metro areas where they'll naturally thrive best with limited regulations.
Photo credit: "Taxi" by Moyan Brenn is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Image was cropped, desaturated, and softened.
PhotoMath and scaffolding
PhotoMath has developed an outstanding application to help students find solutions to math problems. Although some individuals and groups have expressed concerns that students will use this app to cheat on tests (some inevitably will), there is a lot of potential utility in the use of this application as a form of scaffolding in math instruction and learning. Benefiting from this utility, of course, would take some discipline on the part of the student. A student would attempt to solve a math problem from beginning to end. She could then use PhotoMath to check her work and correct errors after making an honest, unassisted effort to solve each problem. In the event that the student becomes stumped on a problem after such an effort, she could then employee PhotoMath to find the correct solution, view the sequential steps required to solve the problem, and identify the specific area where she encountered difficult.
Here's how the app works
Mixed reviews
As you can see below, some users naturally enjoyed using PhotoMath more than others. One common complaint I found associated with the application was the lack of detailed explanations associated with the set of problem-solving steps PhotoMath provides for each problem. Others found that it provided adequate support in aiding learning.
Download PhotoMath
You can download PhotoMath for free for your apple device, here. The folks at PhotoMath are also currently working on developing an app with the same functionality for your Android device due to launch in the spring of 2015. To enter your name on their mailing list to be notified when the Android PhotoMath app is launched, click here.
I've been asked for the technical details behind how I made my IRONMAN training video seen below:
I'll break my production process down in this post.
Footage
I set a goal to capture footage of every day during my 6-month training period as I prepared for the IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene. I would try to get a few shots from each training session and pick the best one for the day used the following equipment to capture this footage:
- GoPro Hero 3+: Black Edition camera - Used for about 90 percent of the shots
- Canon 5D Mark ii camera - Used for some of the higher-end shots
- iPhone 5s camera - Used for shots when I forgot to bring the GoPro with me on my training routine and used when I was out
Editing
I began my editing on Final Cut Pro X, but found that I liked Adobe Premiere much better for editing this video together. Here's a look at my timeline. You can see that the timeline has tons of clips and is pretty complex as I tried to keep the video moving forward quickly in synchronization with the pace of the song.
Video tracks 2 and 3 served as placement spots for my 180+ .PSD files which reflected my updating training stats. I started with a .PSD file titled January1.PSD which had stats started at zero and then added my daily training numbers to the .PSD file and saved it uniquely to the date during which I trained. On days that I did multiple sports, I created multiple .PSD files. E.g., March15a.PSD, March15b.PSD. Here's a look at a .PSD file in Photoshop:
It may be challenging to see, but the .PSD file has several elements all of which I can make visible or invisible in the "layers" panel. I had layers for the swim, bike, and run icons which would allow my to flip the layer on whose stats I was reporting. On a run report, all icons would be set to grey with the exception of the run icon which would be turned visible and would appear green. I would then change the date to match the icons color for a more dynamic dashboard.
This dashboard took much more editing time to work with then the video files I worked with in Adobe Premier.
Data tracking
I primarily used a Garmin Forerunner 10 to track my run distances, times, and calories' burned estimates. I also used Strava and Map My Run to help me with data. I used basic estimates on calories' burned and distances cycling for my indoor training. I used online estimates for calories' burned for swimming to estimate those numbers as accurately as possible. I would do my best to transfer this recorded data into a new .PSD file in Photoshop as soon as I could following a workout.
Daily training/work flow
The following is a very typical sequence of steps I would take to get my training in and documented on a daily basis:
- Perform the required daily workout(s) according to my training plan.
- Take a minute or two during my daily workout(s).
- Open the previous day's most recent .PSD file. "Save as" current day.
- Pull relevant workout data off of tracking device, insert it into .PDS fields, update all aggregate fields.
- Save updated .PDS file in my "workout data" directory.
- Upload footage from workout. Place in "Workout footage" directory.
- Import new footage into Adobe Premier and select favorite clip from workout. Place clip in timeline.
- Import newly created .PDS file and place in timeline paring it with workout footage.
Things I would do differently if I did this project again
My schedule during this 6-month period of time was very busy. I ended up doing a lot of my workouts in the dark as seen in the video. If I were to do this again, I would make more efforts to film in daylight as those shots tend to be more interesting.
All in all, I am pretty happy with how this video turned out. It was a lot more work than I anticipated. I estimate that this project took 20-30 minutes of every day I had for 6 months to keep the video gathering, processing, and editing moving along. Knowing that others would potentially be seeing the effort I put into training for an endurance triathlon keep me motivated to get out the door every day and drove me to keep careful stats on my workouts.
Do you have plans to document a big event you're training for? Please share your final product with me. I'd love to see it.
The New York Times predicted that 2012 would be the year of the MOOCs. From 2012 until present, these MOOCs (massive open online courses) have popped up all over covering nearly any subject one might want to learn about. MOOCs, by definition, are open. I.e., anyone can join them without going through an admissions process. They are also free. Other online platforms have developed which charge students course fees in exchange to access to courses. Here's a review of five of the most popular platforms where these courses can be found:
Coursera
https://www.coursera.org/
Coursera is home to 800+ courses with a student population of 10,000,000+ Coursera has teamed up with many traditional and internationally respected universities to provide online courses on many subjects, most of which one could expect to encounter on a college campus. Coursera's U.S. universities include many Ivy League universities including Columbia, Brown, Princeton, and Yale. Major research universities including University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Minnesota are home to instructors who are also contributing members. The best part about Coursera's courses is that they are free!
Craftsy
http://www.craftsy.com/
Craftsy's focus is centered around crafting as is evident in its name. Learners pay a small fee. Learners who pay the fee for the class have access to its materials for life. Subject areas that are covered on Craftsy include quilting, photography, gardening, home remodeling, and many other areas. Craftsy's video interface is very engaging. Students can make comments during instructional videos which are attached to the specific place in the video when the comment was made. Others are able to see these comments and instructors' responses which makes for a dynamic learning environment.
Udemy
https://www.udemy.com/
Udemy claims to have four million students and 20,000+ courses. It has taken the approach of providing a rewarding profit sharing structure with its instructors. This structure acts as an incentive for instructors to curate high-quality content and to market their courses to potential students. Students naturally also benefit from courses that Udemy's instructors have put a lot of time and effort into. Many of Udemy's courses are free, and fee-required courses are typically between $5 and $100 per course.
edX
https://www.edx.org/
edX focuses on providing high-quality education provided by instructors from some of the world's top universities including Harvard, MIT, and U.C. Berkeley. Courses are structured similar to university courses by university professors. Students can earn certificates for many of the courses they complete. edX courses are free.
Khan Academy
https://www.khanacademy.org/
The Khan Academy provides thousands of free instructional videos on specific skills and techniques that learners are developing. The Khan Academy hosts its videos on YouTube. Its YouTube channel is home to 1.9 million subscribers and more than 475 million YouTube video views. If you're trying to solidify your knowledge on any k-12 school or college subject, chances are, someone has produced an instructional video on it that can be found on the Khan Academy's website.
If you're looking to polish a skill you've been developing or to learn a new skill or subject, taking an online course on the skill or subject may be an excellent method to reach your goals.
Photo credit: "academic pursuit in the shadow of the catalpa" by pcgn7 is liscensed under CC BY 2.0.
Do digital natives and immigrants exist? Researcher Marc Prensky coined these terms as a method of highlighting some generalizations around the generations of tech users including those who grew up before the advent of many of today's technology we use (digital immigrants). Generalizations are also assigned to digital natives who grew up with recent technology who he segments as those born in 1980 or later.
Much like national immigrants who grew up speaking a foreign language before immigrating to a new nation, digital immigrants are said to use technology with an accent and experience some difficulties expressing themselves to the level of proficiency of younger generations who were born with technology surrounding them.
These descriptors are loosely helpful from the perspective of a instructional designer in that it's important to consider the general technical aptitude of one's audience when deciding best methods of sharing instruction. As with all generalizations, there are exceptions to stereotypes, and in the case of the generalizations surrounding digital natives and digital immigrants, the exceptions are plentiful.
Technology is vast. It's expansiveness makes it impossible for any one person to "know technology". There are simply too many technology-related subjects in existence that mastering them all, let alone having a general understanding of all-things-technology, is impossible. There isn't really a pure expert in "technology" young or old. An expert networking specialist likely knows little about web development. A video production editing specialist can master linear editing software but may have little conceptual understanding of iOS application development. One's ability to master any area of technology has little to do with her generation and more to do with her unique interests in specific areas of interest. Those who are interested in app development will likely engage in activities and studies that will expand their knowledge in that area. Because interests are individual and don't always correlate with age, our audience of technology literate users, generally speaking, is diverse.
Differences in the technological skills and abilities of technology users in their 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's, I don't believe, has a huge amount of variation if interests are aligned. I believe a lot of the generalizations Prensky assigns to digital immigrants become more evident in many users in their 60's, 70's, and beyond, although there are still myriad exceptions.
I love this PBS Idea Channel spot on the subject:
So, do digital natives and immigrants exist? My answer is yes, in general terms, they do, but in specific terms, they don't. From the perspective of a designer, it's important to consider the unique set of technology skills and aptitudes your users will have when designing material.
Halloween costumes and a hard truth
I found this costume on Reddit. It's pretty funny, but there's always a bit of truth in humor.
What can social media professionals do to avoid criticism in a field that is relatively new? Produce results. Too often, social media people get caught up in stats that are sometimes but not always connected with value. That's why it's so important to make sure your social media activity is goal-driven, that you are clearly driving traffic, causing impressions, and generating engagement that is leading to organizational goals that have market value.
Photo credit: Pedro J. Ferreira. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Sharpness reduced.
What to do about boring content you need to share
What do you do if you have to teach boring content? What if your audience likely understands your message, at least partially, but you are still required to deliver a refresher? Many instructional designers might approach this unfortunate but common request by covering the necessary points to get the job done with the understanding that most people will likely ignore the familiar message.
Airlines face this problem with the required safety instruction airline passengers must receive before each flight. Designers have addressed the need to deliver instructional videos, initially, with content that was informative, albeit boring.
Delta's instructional designers changed this pattern through videos that were just as informative but that included humor. This approach, if done right, seems to catch the attention of many more passengers than the plain vanilla approach of the past. Each time I find myself on a Delta flight, I hear passengers chuckle at the flight safety video and notice plenty of passengers paying attention to the video. Additionally, Delta releases new versions of their safety videos frequently, so passengers know that they may likely see a new version when they're on a Delta flight. The combination of funny and updated content seems to be working for Delta. It is important to note that humor is very, very challenging to produce in such a way that it will appeal to a wide audience. If it doesn't come off as funny, chances are your viewers think it's cheesy.
Funny in-flight safety videos
Here's the most recent version Delta has produced:
This flight safety video by Air New Zealand was released less than a week ago and is coming close to seeing 10 million views!
So, what are the take-aways?
If you have boring content that you are required to deliver:
- Make it funny
- Keep it current
Photo credit: Bentley Smith, Creative Commons Non-Commercial
What does it mean to learn? Is it the reception and storage of knowledge and information, or does learning encompass more than instruction and learning often exemplified in traditional classrooms?