Amongst others were articles on digital natives, Lego and creativity, multitasking etc.

Without further delay, let’s get on to our collection of the top 7 posts for April, each accompanied by a quick brief.

1. Learning Creativity and About Creativity From Lego
Lego is more than just a toy that we grew up with. It encourages the development of the ability to create or generate ideas, having implications on how you structure your thoughts and activities that involve work and play. Know how it figures in all of this here.

2. Learning & Skills Survey: 87% More eLearning & Mobile Learning; 73% Less 2-3 Day Classroom Training
If the results of Learning & Skills 2011 survey by the Centre for Performance Development are anything to go by, technology assisted learning accounts for the larger piece in the learning and development pie.

3. Developing Mobile Learning: Which Device Are You Targeting?
Developing a mobile learning strategy involves taking a preliminary and crucial decision – which device to target. Here are some key takeaways from both the Gartner & IDC reports that will help you take this decision better.

4. Multitasking Takes Toll On Memory, Study Finds
Multitasking or excessive task switching may not be the best for our memory skills. This blog post links to some such studies that show how multitasking takes a significant toll on the working memory of older individuals.

5. Mobile Learning: A Quick SWOT Analysis
The use of mobiles as an alternative source of information is increasingly gaining ground in the learning environment. This is compounded by the fact that a large number of organizations and institutions are opting for mobile learning as part of their training and development. This post lists the inherent strengths and weaknesses, the potential opportunities and possible threats faced by mobile learning.

6. 5 Myths About Digital Natives
Digital natives, the individuals who take the digital world the internet enables for granted, are truly a sect apart. To these individuals, the internet and its data services are just as mundane as electricity and phones were in older generations. This article debunks 5 myths about these natives of the digital world.

7. ELearning Project Managers – Misunderstood Heroes
Handling client problems on one hand and motivating the team to deliver the solution on the other, Project Managers are the souls who have to manage this delicate jugglery, all this while adhering to deadlines. While all individuals involved in the development process of a solution are important and irreplaceable, know why Project Managers are the real heroes.

Talking of bloggers, it was also a month where we saw two of our team members jumping onto the blogging bandwagon – Aneesh Bhat and Abhijeet Valke . Two guys with immense potential, I promise you. You can look forward to some hardcore ID gyan from Aneesh, while Abhijeet would be the one feeding you with your weekly dose of the best of Learning, Technology and Media links .

So without much ado, lets get on to our collection of the top 12 posts for January, each accompanied by a quick brief.

1. Game Based Learning Isn’t Always Electronic
Debunks a very popular myth surrounding game-based learning – that it involves learning through video games. This article showcases a card game which is slowly gaining popularity among medical students in the United States, and also contains links to a couple of other board and card games.

2. This LMS Has No Traps!
Lists the possible traps that might arise in the sales process of an LMS, and views each from the point of view of UpsideLMS.

3. LMS Wikis: Unharnessed Potential
Wiki, although one of the most powerful sources of information, is one of the most under-utilized and underestimated feature of an LMS. This post is an endeavor to explore the various uses of the LMS Wiki.

4. How e-Learning Is Flowering?
An interesting graphic from the e-learningcentre.co.uk’s report ‘The UK e-learning market 2010’ depicts how e-learning is flowering.

5. Tell Me A Story…
The fact remains that, stories are an important part of our past and will be an important part of our future. An article that discusses the importance of stories in learning.

6. Assume Nothing. Nothing!
Lists learnings from a blog-post by veteran LucasArts and Telltale Games designer Dave Grossman, describing how gaming’s limited appeal could come down to some very basic assumptions we make about the audience versus the actual thought processes of that audience.

7. Instructional Design And The Six Thinking Hats
Describes the philosophy of Six Thinking Hats, interpolates it to Instructional Design and discusses how we can apply the process to eLearning projects for excellent results, especially in situations when we are working in groups.

8. Beginner Instructional Designers – In Pursuit Of Awareness
Manna from heaven for beginner Instructional Designers, this article lists a few resources that will help learn about the basic concepts of Instructional Design and ELearning.

9. Performance Support In Our Daily Lives
Discusses about two performance support tools that would enable us to do everyday tasks more effectively and with less effort – probably with better results.

10. Microlearning – A Paradigm Shift In The Way We Learn
Discusses the importance of microlearning in today’s day and age of increasing value of time and waning patience levels.

11. 9 Essential Elements for Fun in Games
Lists and explains the 9 essential elements in fun games.

12. LMS for Training Companies – Then & Now: Get The Free eBook
Our first eBook is out. What’s more, it’s up for grabs. Get yours here – absolutely free.

1. Digital Instructional Media Design 101 – Principles Of Gestalt Psychology
Focuses on how a basic understanding of the Gestalt principles can help create harmonious design and improve the odds that the intended message is conveyed to the learners.

2. India’s Demographic Dividend and NSDC
Discusses various aspects of India’s Demographic Dividend and the role of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), as presented by Dilip Chenoy, CEO and MD of the NSDC, India at the recently held CLO Summit India.

3. Digital Instructional Media Design 101 – Designing for Flow
Discusses the application of some of the key factors associated with ‘flow’ that can get learners in the state of sustained attention and engagement. Also, includes a TED talk by Csikszentmihalyi highlighting two complementary areas from which it is easy to get into a state of flow.

4. The Future of Work: As Gartner Sees It
Highlights ten major changes that the world of work (and the workplace learning therein) will witness in the next ten year, as per the Gartner report “Watchlist: Continuing Changes in the Nature of Work, 2010-2020”.

5. Five Lessons From Learning Game Development
Lists and explains 5 lessons that we have learnt from our experience in learning game development.

1. Moving To eLearning
Lists and explains some of the key change factors that lead organizations to adopt eLearning, stand-alone and as a part of the training blend. While some of these factors simply translate to ‘Business Needs’, others determine the ‘Readiness of the Organization’ to adapt to eLearning.

2. Digital Instructional Media Design 101- Storyboarding
Lays some guidelines to be followed while creating eLearning storyboards that would help develop electronic learning that is about performance and content, and instructional design that is design with intent.

3. Digital Instructional Media Design 101- The Design Of Interaction
Discusses impressions on Age of Empires (AOE) as observed by the in-house Instructional Design team at Upside Learning. Also, outlines some revelations and finally discloses what makes AOE offer such meaningful interaction and engagement.

4. A Fresh Look At Levels of Custom eLearning Solutions
Building on the Chapman Alliance’s study on the efforts (number of hours) taken for development of various levels of custom eLearning, this post looks at the ‘levels’ (and hence the efforts) from a fresh perspective. It divides the different types of eLearning courses based on two parameters – Type and Level; each Type further having multimedia development at 3 possible Levels.

5. The Mobile Learning Edge – A Quick Book Review
Reviews and recommends Gary Woodill’s latest book ‘The Mobile Learning Edge’; a book that looks at mobile learning from more than just a pedagogical perspective. With a definite business focus, it has been written for business managers and executives looking to see if mobile learning can align with their business goals and necessities.

1. Will Mobile Apps Change Training Forever?
Discusses how Mobile Learning (Mobile Apps, in particular) would change the game for training, instigating the need for a new approach in designing the training strategy. Also includes a few examples of Workplace Learning (Performance Support) Apps.

2. Do People Really Like To Go On Training Courses?
Lists various reasons why people have developed distaste towards training courses, and discusses the right approach towards designing training courses for increased effectiveness.

3. Custom eLearning Development Costs – Results From Chapman Alliance Study
Reveals the results on the time and cost of custom eLearning development as per the Chapman Alliance Study by Bryan Chapman.

4. Mobile Learning Innovation: Lookup To Healthcare For Inspiration
Talks how Healthcare is leading the way when it comes to mLearning innovation, as presented by Tyson Greer, CEO, Ambient Insight at mLearnCon.

5. How Kids Teach Themselves
TED video featuring Dr. Sugata Mitra, in which he talks about his experiments with education for children (Hole-in-the-Wall), issues faced by the developing countries with respect to education and some interesting insights.

6. Evolution Of A Teacher
Traces the role of a teacher from the olden days of guru-shishya parampara through to the modern age. Also predicts the future technologies and their implications.

7. Optimizing Web Media for Mobile Learning
Details the lessons learnt in optimizing the Web while developing websites that are designed to run on mobile devices.
occur in the way we work, and their effect on training.

1. Creating Successful m-Learning Strategy – Part 3
Third and final post of the series on creating successful m-learning strategy, based on the mLearnCon workshop, this post discusses about the tools and techniques used for developing mLearning courses.

2. Upside Blog iPhone App Is Here– Download Today
Details about the various features of the Upside Blog App – a free application that runs on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, enabling users to stay in touch with Upside Learning Blog on the go.

3. Mobile Learning: An Upside Learning Point of View
Further to the developments in the mLearning domain, ‘Mobile Learning – Here and Now’ is a Point of View paper published by Upside Learning that is available for a free download. It takes a comprehensive look at mobile learning – starting with the basics and delving deeper into the nuances of mLearning design.

4. Rapid Prototyping for Mobile Learning Applications – I
This post lists some key elements to be considered before jumping into ‘rapid prototyping’ for a mobile learning application. The second part of this series discusses the levels of fidelity and determination of the right level for mobile application design project, while the concluding part explores various questions (and the answers thereof) to be taken into account when considering rapid prototyping tools.

5. Training Plan For iPhone Application Development
Details out a training plan for iPhone application development that can help beginners create productive and utility kind of applications easily and effectively.

6. 21st Century Education From New Learning Institute
Features 2 (out of 12 videos on the 21st Century Education website) by educators explaining what works and what does not in our education system. They argue what should be done to actually deliver 21^st century education.

7. eLearning Outsourcing: 5 Keys To Make It Work
Focuses on how to make outsourcing work for your business, and lists the 5 key elements that require consideration to ensure that outsourcing delivers the goods now and in future.

8. Seth Priebatsch Talks About the Game Layer On Top of the World
An interesting TED video by Seth Priebatsch about the four game dynamics (with respective examples) which bear serious implications for designers and developers of learning.

9. Digital Instructional Media Design 101- Basic Usability
Second post in the Media Design 101 series, this article specifically addresses the issue of ‘Usability’ in the basic media design principles pertinent to the presentation of information. The first post focuses on some basic principles of designing electronic instructional media— specifically pertaining to the presentation of information, detailing what it takes to design a better learning experience.

10. Work Is Changing; Is Training Changing Too?
Lists and discusses the six fundamental shifts, as mentioned in an article by John Hegel lll and John Seely Brown on HBR blog, which will occur in the way we work, and their effect on training.

• LMS- Is It Still About Classroom Training Management?
  Discusses various reasons why an LMS is still bound to the realms of Classroom Training Management and the possible disconnect that prevents companies from harnessing its full power.
• This Flash Player (Frash) Runs On iPad
  That iPhone/ iPad doesn’t support Flash is no secret, and developers are constantly developing new software to run Flash content on these devices. This post talks of one such player – Frash – that runs Flash content on iPad/ iPhone in a Safari browser.
• IPhone- User Interface Guidelines – Part II
  In continuation to the first post of this series that spoke about types of applications, fundamental human interface design principles and the iPhone OS environment, this article covers the various components available for developing the user interface of your iPhone application.
• How To Create Successful M-Learning Strategy: mLearnCon – Part II
  This post talks about the three important things from the 2^nd part of the mLearnCon workshop – Planning Framework, When To Use Mobile Learning and ADL Mobile Learning.
• LMS For SMBs And Training Companies – A Year On, Is It Still The Same?
  Comparative discussion on change in needs of Training Companies (& SMBs) vis-à-vis a year ago.
• Google App Inventor – Can It Boost mLearning?
  Talks about Google App Inventor – a visual development tool that will allow anyone to create an Android app without writing even a single line of code, and debates if it can help in the development of mLearning apps.
• 22 Books For Beginner Instructional Designers
  Lists top 28 books for beginning instructional designers that provide an overall perspective on ID.
• SCORM Implementation Strategies For Mobile: mLearnCon
  A great resource for anyone who wants to implement SCORM for mobile devices, this blog post discusses some interesting use cases, common technical challenges and the best practices in SCORM implementation.
• Future Of Flash Is Open Source
  Being one of major consumers of Flash platform, the eLearning developer community will anyways benefit from open-source developments around Flash. Know more about Adobe’s various open source initiatives here.
• Web 3.0 Presentation – The Way Forward?
  A clear presentation about Web 3.0 detailing how eLearning will actually transform from a content delivery and tracking mechanism.

1. Expectations From eLearning Authoring Tools
Lists some features and functions that eLearning professionals normally expect from authoring tools.

2. How To Create Successful M-Learning Strategy: mLearnCon – Part I
A short summary of an mLearning strategy workshop (from mLearnCon) listing elements that one should consider when creating mLearning strategy.

3. Rapid Authoring Tools For Creating mLearning
Discusses some rapid authoring tools that let authors develop content targeted at mobile devices.

4. LMS: A Quick SWOT Analysis
What does the future hold for the LMS as we know it? This post provides a quick analysis.

5. Three Reasons To Focus On Media Design In Learning
Instructional design is the first step in making a learning solution instructionally sound. However, it is equally important to ensure that the learning is interesting, engaging and interactive. Know the three reasons why eLearning should focus more on the media design besides instructional design.

6. Ten Must-Have Features In A Mobile-LMS
The future of eLearning is mobile. As mobile learning gains ground there will be (and already is) a growing need to look beyond notifications for users and quick-follow-up assessments through mobile devices. This post lists 10 useful (need to have) features in a mobile version of an LMS (segregated into Learner and Administrator functions).

7. Top 7 Things To Consider Before Implementing SCORM For Mobile Devices
Lists the 7 key points to be kept in mind before considering SCROM implementation for mobile devices.

8. Smokescreen – The Future Of Flash Player?
Debates if Smokescreen, an open source project implemented in HTML5 and JavaScript, would effectively allow complex animations and interactions developed in Flash to work on Flash disabled mobile platforms.

9. SCORM Cloud- Will It Really Change The Game?
Debates if SCORM Cloud has the potential to change the scene on the Learning Management domain. Get a mini-quick-review of the SCORM Cloud here.

10. Dan Pink Talks About Motivation
An insightful video about what motivates and what doesn’t, visualized in a great cartoon animation style.

1. Future of Learning Technology – 2015
Predicts what the future holds for Learning Technology. Also, takes a quick recap at what we have witnessed in the last 5 years.

2. Is HTML5 Ready for eLearning Development?
Debates if HTML5 is ready to compete with Flash for eLearning Development on grounds of browser support, cross platform/browser compatibility, audio/video support and development tools.

3. Web 3.0 – The Semantic Web Video
Provides a succinct way to understand what Web 3.0 is all about.

4. The LMS – Will It Survive?
Debates if LMS is looking at its own end or does it still add enough value to a company’s training/learning function.

5. Does An LMS Actually Manage Learning?
Debates if a Learning Management System can actually be called a Learning Management System.

6. 30 Top Online Resources For Instructional Designers To Keep Up With
Lists top 30 blogs and websites that would help Instructional Designers would be interested in. Some of them focus exclusively on how to create better learning experiences, others offer tips and tricks on how to improve efficiencies or manage clients better while some explain technological aspects that Instructional Designers should be aware of.

7. Updates From HTML5 From Google I/O
Narrates some important announcements made at Google I/O event which will make HTML 5 development easier across different browsers.

8. Do We Learn Differently Now?
Debates if human learning has changed with the advent, penetration and increasing ubiquity of computing technology.

9. Sir Ken Speaks About A Learning Revolution
A nice TED talk about the need for a ‘learning revolution’ by Sir Ken Robinson. Poignant at times, funny at some – well worth the 17 minutes.

10. CloudCourse – Is It Really A Learning Platform?
Debates if CloudCourse, an internal learning platform and a course scheduling system launched by Google, is really a Learning Platform.

We talked on various topics in April – from LMS to Augmented Reality, from Games to AS 3.0 Resources. Below are our Top 10 posts for the month, each accompanied by a quick brief:

1. Top 13 LMS (and Learning Technology) Blogs
   Lists top 13 blogs that we follow for LMS and learning technology. There have been some suggestions to include a few more and we are looking for more suggestions.
2. Top 25 Rapid eLearning Blog Posts
   Lists top 25 blog posts on varied topics around rapid eLearning, including authoring tools, effective techniques and decision considerations.
3. 22 Great Free ActionScript 3.0 Learning Resources
   Lists good tutorials and blogs on ActionScript 3.0 from around the web. Certainly a great resource for anyone looking to learn AS 3.0.
4. The Real Cost of a Free (Open Source) LMS!
   Debates if Moodle or any other open source LMS is really free. Read it to find out what all costs one needs to consider when comparing Open Source with a Commercial LMS.
5. Five Ways to Use an LMS for Effective Learning Measurement
   Discusses how, by adopting some simple methods, you could use the LMS better and also get some aid in learning measurement.
6. 5 Good TED Talks On Games
   5 interesting talks from TED’s past, focusing on games. Each one of them is simply brilliant.
7. Narrative for Engaging eLearning
   Discusses important elements that should form a part of narratives/stories in learning.
8. Tools for Developing Augmented Reality Applications
   Lists development tools and SDKs for developing Augmented Reality applications.
9. Tablet Computers for Learning in India
   Explores iProf - India’s first personal education tablet computer.
10. Developing A Layar Application
    Narrates our development experience of creating the Pune Layar – the first Layar for India.