It’s been quite an interesting week on the Google front, with the launch of one new service after another. The one making the biggest waves (if you pardon the pun) has been Google+ (plus). Having wrangled an invite, I used it for a couple of hours. These are some first impressions.

It shouldn’t be surprising that I’m making lots of comparison to Facebook which is the defacto social networking standard right now.

This has come just in time for mLearning implementers; there is a new tool out in Google Labs called Swiffy that let’s one convert flash animation (swf files) to a device independent HTML5. Simply put, this will allow existing libraries of flash animation content to be ported to devices that run iOS – iPhones, iPads, and iPods. This also helps us poor elearning developers circumvent the continuous war between Adobe and Apple over flash technology, and allow delivery across devices/platforms. Incidentally, Adobe had worked on just such a tool called Wallaby.

I discovered something interesting when trawling my feeds this morning. Google has sneak launched a new way of search aggregation result, technology blogs are tripping over it.

Google calls it ‘What Do You Love?’. It’s a strange and quirky way to look at search results. Stranger still there is no mention of this on Google’s blog.  I love Lego, so that’s what I typed into the search box. The results aggregated across a host of google services, and included pictures, video, and a lots more.

Made it back from mLearnCon 2011 in San Jose in one piece, after a cooped-up 24 hours on a sardine can of a plane.

It was interesting to be at the event as an exhibitor, interacting with visitors to our stall and observing other products and technology at work with the other exhibitors.

Some trends seemed clear, while the direction in which mobile instructional technology is heading isn’t quite certain yet. The diversity in solutions and the ways organizations are leveraging them make for many forks in the road.

Mobile Learning has been on our minds and for all the right reasons. Today, mLearnCon 2011 opens it doors to hundreds of visitors from in and around the US. And we are one of the 30 exhibitors showcasing our entire range of innovative Mobile Learning Solutions at booth number 316.

Also on display would be our newly launched revolutionary platform for Mobile Learning – Upside2Go. We would be delivering a Master Class session based on this new platform titled ‘Mobile Learning and Performance Support with Upside2Go’, scheduled at 12.45 PM on 21st June. If you still haven’t gotten your free expo pass, we urge you to do it right now. See you there.

I spent close to a year laboring under the delusion that game based learning was all about incorporating course material into a game. After all, what else could it be? If I incorporate all the course learning objectives into a game setting and keep score – it qualifies as game based learning doesn’t it?

No! It doesn’t!

Research suggests that if learners are able to score and win the game without learning, they are more likely to do so. So what conclusion can we draw here?

In an earlier blog post, Abhijit Kadle had written about a gradual but complete shift to mobile based devices for a whole host of activities, learning being just one of them. Today I came across a news article which strengthened that belief even further.

One of the perks of being involved in a sales role is the interesting and enriching conversations with clients and prospects.

I find such interactions extremely rewarding as they give an insight into whatthe real customer demands are and what we need to focus on.

It also helps in creating material that educates customers and addresses their needs in a more organized fashion.

I need ‘Facebook’…

It’s been a trying time of the year; erratic schedules, vacations and finding time to introspect has meant I’ve not blogged over the last month or so. As I get back on track, it’s time to start blogging in earnest again. We’ve gone from attending eLearning conferences to mLearning conferences; it’s just around the corner from mLearnCon 2011. As mobile computing becomes mainstream, it is worth thinking about the nature of learning in the future. As technology permeates our daily lives and goes on to become an essential part of it, the impact promises to be far-reaching.