After over seven years of speaking at eLearning and training conferences, I decided to concentrate my session speaking at conferences dedicated to a specific population. The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the Association Forum of Chicagoland provide opportunities to reach the over one million associations operating nationwide.
At the upcoming ASAE Technology Conference being held in Washington DC on February 11th-12th, I will be sharing my knowledge on the open source learning management (and content management) system called Moodle. The Moodle platform is ideal for associations seeking to generate revenue through their professional development offerings— ranging from testing for credentialing to an entire certification curriculum. I will be co-presenting with Sharon Chaplock, the Director of Education at the Society for Clinical Data Management. Our focus will be on sharing two case studies to help answer common questions associations might have when managing Moodle for members:
As an eLearning provider, we are hearing a lot of chatter from prospects looking to transition to online education. No doubt the anticipated 20% - 40% decline in face-to-face workshop education is causing alarm in the conference marketplace. However, I believe that eLearning managers should attend at least one industry conference a year. The choices of eLearning and distance learning conferences are plentiful— see the list below of the ones I keep on my own radar screen.
I attended the eLearning Guild’s Annual Gathering in Orlando last week, and I was very impressed with the generally optimistic atmosphere. Unlike other conferences I have attended this year, staff members freely acknowledged, albeit unofficially, that attendance may have decreased compared to years prior but not as much as feared. The collaborative and congenial atmosphere created by leaders Heidi Fisk and David Holcomb has propelled the eLearning Guild to the top of pack— association and conference wise. It helps that there is a “free” level of Guild membership. Secondly, the Guild’s singular focus on eLearning makes for strong workshops and sessions. Thirdly, since the group is privately owned, leadership and management are passionate about maintaining the mission and the vision. I hope this dedication can continue, but I am starting to sense a drift.
The term “Rapid eLearning” is often used to describe the conversion of an expert’s PowerPoint slides into Flash SWF files with a software package like Articulate Presenter. However, the phrase “Rapid Interactivity” hasn’t been as prevalent.
On Wednesday, March 11th at the eLearning Guild’s Annual Gathering breakfast, I will be heading a discussion on ways to increase interactivity. I am looking forward to learning from those bold enough to join me at 7:15 in the morning. Creating eLearning that asks the learner to first think and then do should be the goal of all designers and course developers. It is a journey that needs to travel beyond the matching, sequencing and other standard drag & drop exercises that have become common place.
When you attend a conference you expect the keynote speeches to deliver inspiration. Training Magazine’s conference held this week in Atlanta did not disappoint. In fact I found myself laughing loudly and crying softly while listening to Tuesday’s keynotes.
First a note about economic impact: Yes, attendance was down, especially pre-conference participation. The headline of the Show Daily magazine read: “Game On or Game Over” Oops…double meaning? My article on project managing game and simulation development certainly came out at a pretty inopportune time.
eLearning people have noted online that there are just too many conferences from which to pick. Here are some things to think about when you are deciding which conference to attend this year. Questions to ask yourself:
Here are my opinions on various conferences:
Jon Aleckson
eLearning Teacher & Entrepreneur
