Ok, here is the latest addiction for all Google pros. Google has deployed this very interesting strategy for indexing its images so that Google users get better results. Check it out here:
http://images.google.com/imagelabeler/
You can log in as a Guest or sign in with your Google account. You will be paired with a randomly selected partner (any online Google users worldwide). Then, both you and the partner will see the same image and need to provide as many labels as possible for that image. The moment you and your partner provide a matching label, you get points for it and the next image is displayed. Needless to say, you cannot see the labels that your partner has provided until the allocated 2 minutes per round are over. Go ahead and give it a shot.
So what does Google get by providing free games? Well, with this fun, game experience, actually Google is getting the indexing done for all those images to appear in search results without paying a penny for the time and resources that all of us are spending!! Amazingly, Google comes up with such great ideas where they are actually getting a business project completed and its loyal users take it in the right spirit and enjoy the "games" while helping their own Google grow!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Brandon Hall 2007 Awards
Brandon Hall 2007 results are out. The awards were anounced in the SFO get together last week. Here is a list of winners...
Interestingly, companies such as GE, who had always participated in conjunction with their content development partners in the past, also came in directly this time. They have won a Gold for their Ergonomics course under the Best Blended Learning Program category.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Immersive Learning - II
What if I tell you that your kid is not in a classroom while in school, rather he is in a cave sitting with an old caveman!Or, your 3rd-grader is not learning spelling but working as a bank cashier? Do I see your jaw falling?
The response is expected! And that is precisely what Immersive Learning is all about. Learners are completely immersed into the environment where they need to apply their skills and they learn while they do their tasks. I was going through http://www.experiencia.org/ - a unique learning experience for school going kids. This is a perfect example of how Immersive Learning works.
One of the key differences between traditional online simulations and ILS is that the learner is in the real environment. Give it a shot and your learners are sure to love it!
Please post any good examples that you come across here, meanwhile, I will come up with a case study for all of us to work on, till then...
The response is expected! And that is precisely what Immersive Learning is all about. Learners are completely immersed into the environment where they need to apply their skills and they learn while they do their tasks. I was going through http://www.experiencia.org/ - a unique learning experience for school going kids. This is a perfect example of how Immersive Learning works.
One of the key differences between traditional online simulations and ILS is that the learner is in the real environment. Give it a shot and your learners are sure to love it!
Please post any good examples that you come across here, meanwhile, I will come up with a case study for all of us to work on, till then...
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Immersive Learning - I
The latest buzz now is Immersive Learning. So what is it? Why is it getting so much of attention and why does it work better?
In this series about Immersive Learning, I will start today with the Web Definition for it as searched from Google :-)
Literally speaking, Immersive Learning is a system of complete immersion in a new subject in order to gain skills in the subject. The most extreme, perhaps, is immersive learning of a new language, in which the learner subjects himself to non-stop bombardment of the language by native speakers.
Read more at...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_learning
I will write more about immersive learning - where is it being used, who is talking about it, and what kind of market/learner base is accepting it.
In this series about Immersive Learning, I will start today with the Web Definition for it as searched from Google :-)
Literally speaking, Immersive Learning is a system of complete immersion in a new subject in order to gain skills in the subject. The most extreme, perhaps, is immersive learning of a new language, in which the learner subjects himself to non-stop bombardment of the language by native speakers.
Read more at...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersive_learning
I will write more about immersive learning - where is it being used, who is talking about it, and what kind of market/learner base is accepting it.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
The Storm Has Hit Again...
Some of my concerns have materialized into real issues... sooner than I thought. The attrition storm has hit the elearning providers in India yet again. Biggies moving out to other organizations for "better career prospects" has left every elearning professional in doubt about their future with the company. Here are some of the most recent ones:
1. Sify - DGM (Delivery), Senior PM (Tech), Director (Business Development)
2. Gecis/Genpact - Operations Leader, Business Leader, both Product Leaders (one moved to a different role, one moved out of the organization)
3. Aptara/Teckbooks - Operations Leader
With service providers claiming as much as 300% growth in revenues, why is the top brass looking at other "better" career opportunities?
1. Sify - DGM (Delivery), Senior PM (Tech), Director (Business Development)
2. Gecis/Genpact - Operations Leader, Business Leader, both Product Leaders (one moved to a different role, one moved out of the organization)
3. Aptara/Teckbooks - Operations Leader
With service providers claiming as much as 300% growth in revenues, why is the top brass looking at other "better" career opportunities?
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Finally - India Inc. Gets a Certification in Instructional Design
For a long time, Indian e-learning companies have struggled to get "certified" instructional designers. I mean certified in the real sense. The demand for the skill is high and resource readiness is a key challenge that most of the companies are facing.
Here's some relief!! Tenable Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd. a Hyderabad (India) based firm, has started a certificate program in instructional methodology in partnership with Philadelphia University. The company itself is an amalgamation of seasoned e-learning professionals who really feel the pains of this industry in India. Although the results of this 5-month program are are yet to be seen, it is a significant step over the one and only basic program currently offered by Symbiosis institute in Pune, India. I wish Team tenable all the very best in this initiative and hope that the entire industry benefits from this. More details can be found on www.tenableindia.com.
Watch out for the coming press releases and newspaper items soon!
Here's some relief!! Tenable Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd. a Hyderabad (India) based firm, has started a certificate program in instructional methodology in partnership with Philadelphia University. The company itself is an amalgamation of seasoned e-learning professionals who really feel the pains of this industry in India. Although the results of this 5-month program are are yet to be seen, it is a significant step over the one and only basic program currently offered by Symbiosis institute in Pune, India. I wish Team tenable all the very best in this initiative and hope that the entire industry benefits from this. More details can be found on www.tenableindia.com.
Watch out for the coming press releases and newspaper items soon!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Is elearning Really Growing in India?
Try searching for a job with the keyword "elearning" on http://www.naukri.com/ or http://www.monsterindia.com/ and chances are that you will get pages full of new postings. It definitely seems to be expanding! And who is hiring? The biggest IT names in India... Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant, Satyam; the world biggies such as IBM, Dell, Hewitt, Accenture; and of course the hardcore elearning players such as Sify, NIIT, GE Capital (now Genpact), Lionbridge, Hurix ... you name it and they are there!
So, yes, elearning is growing. The question is how much? Is the overall growth of the entire elearning industry really transforming into new business for Indian companies?
With more and more companies venturing into elearning, new opportunities are created everyday, so the endless job openings seem logical. However, meeting the ever-growing resource demands has forced HR managers to stop recruiting for talent and rather make stopgap arrangements to solve immediate "fires". A classic example is when you come across elearning Project Managers who have been enticed to manage teams, projects, and customers simultaneously - with less than 5 years of total experience under their belts. The obvious result is a high attrition rate. 70% of the new listings that I talked about earlier are to fill these gaps; only 30% are really new jobs. This is also evident from the fact that most elearning companies could not increase their employee numbers enough so that one may see an appropriate ratio between replacements and new jobs.
I am a strong believer of the saying, "An industry that cannot retain its employees cannot retain itself" and if the trend continues, we will keep losing more and more professionals and victimize this industry so that it has to evolve itself all over again!
God Bless the elearning Fraternity in India - Amen!
So, yes, elearning is growing. The question is how much? Is the overall growth of the entire elearning industry really transforming into new business for Indian companies?
With more and more companies venturing into elearning, new opportunities are created everyday, so the endless job openings seem logical. However, meeting the ever-growing resource demands has forced HR managers to stop recruiting for talent and rather make stopgap arrangements to solve immediate "fires". A classic example is when you come across elearning Project Managers who have been enticed to manage teams, projects, and customers simultaneously - with less than 5 years of total experience under their belts. The obvious result is a high attrition rate. 70% of the new listings that I talked about earlier are to fill these gaps; only 30% are really new jobs. This is also evident from the fact that most elearning companies could not increase their employee numbers enough so that one may see an appropriate ratio between replacements and new jobs.
I am a strong believer of the saying, "An industry that cannot retain its employees cannot retain itself" and if the trend continues, we will keep losing more and more professionals and victimize this industry so that it has to evolve itself all over again!
God Bless the elearning Fraternity in India - Amen!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Brainvisa Releases New Avataar of RapideL
RapideL, the rapid e-Learning authoring solution innovated by Brainvisa is now set to unveil its suite of rapid e-Learning applications. The basic version of RapideL will now be labeled as Enhance. RapideL Discover will enable rapid creation of non linear e-Learning from the easy to use MS Word.RapideL was recently showcased at the Learning Technologies Exhibition in London on Jan 31 and Feb 1. Visitors were happy to view this innovation and commended its ease of use and valuable features that would help reducing their eLearning development time by 50%. Support for localization, the online review mechanism and the familiar MS Word authoring interface seemed to be the most popular and appreciated features of the tool.Product details and free trial download at www.rapidel.com.
All About Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS)
How about one central location where you get it all about EPSS? Well, help is on the way... log on to http://www.epsscentral.info/ now! The newsletter is a god option to stay updated on the latest happenings in the world of EPSS. Highly recommended!
Sify eLearning on the Winning Spree...
Sify continued its thrust in expanding its international business, led by two lines of service; Remote Infrastructure Management and Corporate eLearning Services. Both lines of business are seeing excellent customer traction and several important wins in the last quarter:
Sify has been selected as the preferred eLearning services partner by one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, for whom Sify is already providing eLearning content development as well as remote infrastructure support for their learning technology platforms. Sify expects this engagement to scale to $3-4 Million per year in the next 12-18 months
Sify has been awarded substantial repeat orders from a global leader in computer software, to provide eLearning courseware for several of their current and forthcoming products. This relationship is expected to yield $3-4 Million in revenues in 2007-08
Sify has been chosen as the learning services provider by a global leader in aero energy to provide a range of learning services including learning strategy design and content development. Sify has already completed the design phase and will now be developing a range of eLearning courses over the next 2 years, valued at over $3.0 Million.
As part of its international expansion, Sify has opened new sales offices in London and Dubai. This is in addition to its two existing offices in California and New Jersey, USA.
*Source: http://www.sifycorp.com/scripts/press/content.asp?PressId=242
Sify has been selected as the preferred eLearning services partner by one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, for whom Sify is already providing eLearning content development as well as remote infrastructure support for their learning technology platforms. Sify expects this engagement to scale to $3-4 Million per year in the next 12-18 months
Sify has been awarded substantial repeat orders from a global leader in computer software, to provide eLearning courseware for several of their current and forthcoming products. This relationship is expected to yield $3-4 Million in revenues in 2007-08
Sify has been chosen as the learning services provider by a global leader in aero energy to provide a range of learning services including learning strategy design and content development. Sify has already completed the design phase and will now be developing a range of eLearning courses over the next 2 years, valued at over $3.0 Million.
As part of its international expansion, Sify has opened new sales offices in London and Dubai. This is in addition to its two existing offices in California and New Jersey, USA.
*Source: http://www.sifycorp.com/scripts/press/content.asp?PressId=242
Brainvisa Getting Sold...?
Rumor is stronger than before and some internal sources say this is true, however, no one knows exactly which company is BV selling to. It is believed to be a BPO with a good market positioning. I think it may well be Brainvisa's existing Middle East partner Momenta Global. Momenta has been providing Knowledge Management solutions to its customers for a long time and they joined hands with BV for any learning solution requirements.
What it turns out to be, only time will tell. But I am sure BV would have been evaluated at a good price given its current market position.
What it turns out to be, only time will tell. But I am sure BV would have been evaluated at a good price given its current market position.
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