I am taking some time off for a final three-week push to complete my dissertation draft.  Wish me luck.

Haven’t made it through all of the postings but this looks fascinating!

WOW!  I am just blown away by the possibilities!

I will be teaching another semester of web development online and doing some virtual team-teaching for another three classes.  For the web development course, I created several online demos using Camtasia Studio 6.  Love that smart focus and pan feature which does a great job of zooming in on key parts of the screen.

For the other three courses, I will be using Tegrity to record PowerPoint presentations on how to create compelling and effective PowerPoints (how self-referential ).  It will be interesting to see how these two tools match-up.

Thank you for reading and for your comments (good and bad).

This seems like a good time for my answer to the Big Question for January 2009:

“What are your Challenges, Plans and Predictions for 2009?”

My answer is both a challenge, plan, and prediction:  To help make training an evidence-based profession so that there is no question about its value in making a difference to people and organizations.

Simple to state but I know it won’t be easy. 

Especially when you pair Web 2.0 Storytelling with Pocket Video.

As I work toward creating a neuroscience-based training and teaching method, I have collected a number of books and articles on the subject.  But none have been as valuable as Clark’s Building Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement.  First, it is well-supported by research which often leads to some surprising refutations of the convential wisdom.  Second, Clark has done a great job organizing the material and concludes with the final chapter that neatly wraps up all of the principles she advocates.

My favorite section is Part II which describes the importance of considering the limits of working memory and how to create training for the optimum cognitive load.  Then she discusses techniques on how to gain attention and creating mental models that make knowledge transfer work for the learner.  But the best point Clark makes is this:

“I believe we are transitioning from a craft approach to training to a professional practice based on evidence of what works.  As a training professional, you must incorporate evidence as one factor in your decisions about design, development, and delivery of instruction.  .  .  Because just about everyone believes he or she is an expert in learning, your challenge is to establish yourself as a professional by explaining best practices to your clients and stakeholders in terms of the pyschology and evidence behind those practices.” (p. 380)

Ruth’s book is a great addition to putting the “Research” into ADDIE.