“Aneesh, what does a Project Manager do?” asked my friend who was contemplating a career in elearning.  Without a moment’s hesitation, I replied – “They are ruthless slave drivers, that’s what they are.”

To which my friend replied – “Well, now that you’ve told me what you think of Project Managers, why don’t you tell me what they do?”
I then gave my friend an overview of the project lifecycle and the Project Manager’s role at each stage. While I was explaining this to an “outsider”, I realized certain undeniable truths.

In my last post about Hassenzahl’s model, we looked at how users assign attributes to the product or service experience. These attributes differ from user to user, and hence each user has an unique experience with the product/service. As the graphic shows, the model suggested that user experience is actually a result of these attributes and the situation in which the product or service is utilized. The model’s four attribute categories – manipulation, identification, stimulation and evocation are grouped further into Pragmatic and Hedonic groups.

During the course of my web wanderings which have revolved around usability and user experience recently, I came across this interesting Hassenzahl’s model in the book ‘Funology’, that talks about the relationships between an user and a product. It is mainly about user experience, especially in reference to ‘fun’ in product design. It elaborates on how users assign some attributes to a product or service when using it. There are different attributes for each individual user. The model suggests that user experience is the result of these attributes and the situation in which the product is utilized.

The Horizon report for 2011 has been published and is available for download.  I’d referred to last year’s report in one of my posts at the time.

This year, the predict mainstream adoption of electronic books and mobiles. This in their opinion will be followed by game-based learning and augmented reality within two to three years. Further on the time horizon are learning analytics and gesture based computing.

I’d recommend designers of learning download this report for a view on how learning technology will change in the next few years.

Chances are you’ve noticed performance support has entered our daily lives. It’s also quite possible it has missed your attention even if you are using performance support tools to do everyday tasks more effectively and with less effort – probably with better results.

One common performance support tool we use is GPS navigation system while driving. Another example is the use of Google maps on your phone to find an address in a locality. Come to think of it, it’s not long ago that we’d print maps, directions and notes when going on a trip to unknown places. The GPS changed that. There’s no real need to remember anything or to lug along a large set of print maps.

I came across this report ‘The UK e-learning market 2010’ from the e-learningcentre.co.uk. The report is based on surveys of over 40 elearning companies in UK and several others in Europe and North America. It claims the UK e-learning market to be GBP 472 million at best and its growing at no more than 4.76% over 2009.

What’s better than starting a new year looking back upon the year gone by? To see what we have achieved and lost; to retrospect and to analyze.

So we thought it would be interesting to look back upon the Upside Learning blog for some of the most popular and noteworthy posts of 2010. We have pulled these up based on social signals (views, comments, twitter and more).  Essentially, these are the posts that have gained the popularity that they have because of ‘YOU’. We wish to thank you all for stopping by, reading, commenting, and sharing.

I attended the CLO Summit in Mumbai last week and listened to some wonderful speakers over the course of the two day event. I felt one speaker that really delivered a punch, was Bhavdeep Singh, CEO Fortis Healthcare. His session titled “Learning and Development – an integral competency of a CEO” was full of very powerful messages for CLOs, L&D professionals, and other CEOs.  He has implemented several L&D initiatives successfully including a mentoring program at Fortis, so whatever he says is based on his first-hand experience. This is from the real-world, not preaching from the pulpit.

Spent the day Friday attending the CLO Summit India, a day well spent with some nice presentations and as is the wont with such conferences, some not-so-nice presentations. While it didn’t behoove such a conference to include sales pitches, it didn’t surprise me all that much. I’d rather focus on the interesting bits, and perhaps the most interesting was a presentation made by Dilip Chenoy, CEO and MD of the National Skill Development Corporation of India .

The final list of top 100 tools for learning for 2010 is now out on Jane Hart’s website. I understand this list is more inclined towards tools that learning professionals use for their own learning as opposed to those used for creating learning programs or training sessions. I see great gains made by some of the tools while I have not even experienced them as yet.

A quick look at the top 10:

How much does one hour of Level 2 elearning cost? and what about Level 3?

If you have been involved with custom eLearning development you have either asked these questions yourself or have been asked these by a client. The concept of ‘levels’ of custom eLearning development is a commonly used standard matrix for comparing vendors; sadly, this is a much abused concept too.. Every vendor (and client) has a unique definition of levels and they seldom match.

Our customers account for a number of factors before taking the plunge into e-Learning. I was trying to put together some of the key change factors leading organizations to adopt e-learning stand-alone and as a part of the training blend. I arrived at these factors driving the change:

1. Business Strategy
2. Geographical Expansion Of Business
3. New Business Opportunities (which may lead to new skill development)
4. Cost and Benefits
5. Organizational Culture/Demographics
6. Infrastructural Readiness
7. Management Support