Reams and reams of text have been written about the practical implementation of game-based learning, but a school in New York has taken it to a whole new level.  Quest to Learn is a school which uses the underlying design principles of games to create highly immersive, game-like learning experiences for students.

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? — T. S. Eliot

That’s a pertinent question that we need to ask ourselves. We take immense pride in meeting project deadlines and delivering courses within budgets; however, somewhere in our quest to showcase our potential, we may have forgotten about the core objective — Delivering Knowledge.

So, what differentiates knowledge from information?

The Neilsen Company, the well-known advertising and market research company published an interesting report recently about mobile phone usage amongst youth in certain countries. You can download the report here. (registration required)

In continuation to our weekly roundup of the best links shared on Twitter and Facebook, here is a collection of our top 15 links from the last week, each accompanied by a quick brief.

1. 101 Best Android Apps in Education
Lists 101 Best Android Apps in Education. What’s more, you can even vote for your favorite apps.

2. 19 Enlightening Infographics About e-Learning and Online Education
Authors have touted infographics, or information graphics, as one of the best ways to spread ideas and to attract attention. This article showcases 19 infographics about e-Learning and online education that are all enlightening in their information about the quality, popularity and accessibility for online learning.

It’s the time of the year when the air carries the happy jingle of Santa’s bells and the world celebrates the dawn of a new year! For us at Upside Learning, it marks a time to look back on the days gone by and celebrate the awards we won, heights we scaled and hurdles we overcame. But more than these, it marks a time to celebrate the relationship we share with you – our readers. It is a celebration that goes beyond the professional ties and the business conversations; beyond departments and designations; beyond regions and religions.

The recession of 2008 changed more than just the world economy. It changed the way Training Companies functioned. Post the economic downturn, Training Companies the world over were revamping the way they operated and the services they offered to their customers. An important change was evidently the inclusion of eLearning (or online training) as part of their core offering for existing and new customers. Such an offering was not purely driven by a cost-saving strategy on the customer’s part, but was also due to the growing acceptance of eLearning as an effective way of delivering training.

In continuation to our weekly roundup of the best links shared on Twitter and Facebook, here is a collection of our top 15 links from the last week, each accompanied by a quick brief.

1. How To Revamp Your Learning Model
There’s a lot of talk these days about informal learning vs. formal learning. This article advocates the development of an Informal Learning Environment (ILE) to work in tandem with a Formal Learning Environment (FLE) to support both the learning process and its administration.

2. eFront: Free Storyboard Templates For e-Learning
A list of free storyboard templates for e-Learning.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we’re continuing to explore game mechanics that are apt for learning. While I mentioned three that are a ‘must-include’ in a learning game, the ones I’m about to mention two that aren’t quite at that level. However, adding these makes for a certain of gaminess in the interaction mix.

1. Levels – Yes, the ones we’ve seen in pretty much all games. Levels are essentially a method that all an increase in the difficulty of game-play. The better you do at one level, the higher the likelihood you’ll make it to the next. In commercial games, extra game-features or capabilities are unlocked as you progress through levels. As an example, being able to unlock more sophisticated ‘combos’ in a fighting games.

Continuing my unintended series of posts about Learning Games, I’m moving the focus to some game mechanics I try to include every time I try to design a game that’s meant for learning. While you will almost certainly encounter these in commercial games, I’ve seen some learning games fall flat because the designers are ignoring some fundamental mechanics. When designing a learning game, you’ll want to build these mechanics into the design. Some are quite obvious, some not so.
I’m covering three I think are really important, but will follow up with another post that lists some more next week.

In continuation to our weekly roundup of the best links shared on Twitter and Facebook, here is a collection of our top 15 links from the last week, each accompanied by a quick brief.

1. 50 Ways To Use Wikis For A More Collaborative And Interactive Classroom
Wikis are an exceptionally useful tool for getting students more involved in curriculum. They’re often appealing and fun for students to use, while at the same time, ideal for encouraging participation, collaboration, and interaction. This article shares how you can put wikis to work in your classroom.
Read it here

I found this talk by Jason Fried  about how we work in an office quite interesting.

“The real problems in the office are the M&Ms” – managers and meetings make employees unproductive.

All the more reason for eLearning, anytime, anywhere; let people decide what’s appropriate to learn and when to learn it. You can’t do that with scheduled training.

Mobile learning is certainly a hot discussion topic with elearning and training solutions providers in Australia – like anywhere else in the world. In my meetings with clients and prospects in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne over that last couple of weeks, it is clear that the interest in mobile learning is very strong. Yet, the most common question is – how do we actually use it in workplace?

I’m of the opinion that there are 3 primary types of usage for mobile devices in the context of learning.