Tech4learning

Look Lively!

I've not returned to the theme of using virtual words for corporate training solutions for a while and I'm still firmly sitting on the fence with this one - still waiting to see some real examples of solutions delivered in this way and to an audience of average PC users in a typical corporate setting.

But I noticed the other day that Google has entered this area of Web 2.0, with a new program called Lively that enables you to create your own virtual room. Given how Google likes to make things easier for everyone, I thought I'd give it a go.

It certainly was easier to create my first room than I thought, although I still can't get to grip with moving objects such as pieces of furniture around my virtual home. Things have tended to end up where they last fell - and not upside down! But given that I'd only ever been able to walk/fly around some of the set-piece scenes in Second Life, I was thrilled to have been able to build a rudimentary virtual home.

My room is below. You'll need a Google account to enter and download the Lively software.

In this video from Google, they make it look so much easier...but I was impressed nevertheless.

You can make your rooms private too, which would be preferable if you're going to try it out with a corporate training audience. The challenge, as always, will be to find the best use of this environment.

YouTube Interactive

YouTube has just announced a new feature that's in its beta phase - Video Annotations.

Basically, you can add text to your video footage and even specify where it appears and when.  You can also link different video clips together and create options for choosing which video plays next.

As soon as I read about this last feature, I realised that this could be used to create rudimentary simulations, for example.  You could play a clip of a conversation underway, then place options on the screen as to what A should say next to B.  Based on the response, you could then play the next stage in the scenario.

Here's an example - not of a simulation as such - but one of the first clips with video annotations that show the possibilities. 

And if you want to know how to do all this, then there's demo video here.

Acrobat.com for Quick-start Webinars

I'm on a crusade at the moment to get more of us to experiment with using web-conferencing tools to deliver training webinars.

Whenever I'm asked to recommend a particular platform, I usually suggest taking advantage of one of the free trials that the various vendors offer via their websites.  But unless you are lucky to be able to find a 30-day trial, you'll probably find you don't have enough time to truly test out each tool, to be able to come to an informed decision.  And you'll also find yourself bombarded with sales and marketing e-mails from the vendor along the way.

So I was interested to find out that Adobe has just released a beta version of a new online suite of programmes, Acrobat.com, that includes a slimline version of their popular web-conferencing tool, Connect Pro, under the name of ConnectNow.  This is provided alongside a word-processing package, Buzzwords, a PDF creation tool and a file sharing application.

And what's more, this is a free offer and I can't see any mention of that changing for now.

ConnectNow offers many of the features of its "parent". You can see the details of those attending and you can change their roles; there's a chat window that allows for group and private chat; and you can share documents and your desktop. 

You have to use the desktop sharing option if you want to show a PowerPoint slideshow, as this version doesn't let you upload a set of slides and "project them" within the main screen. I much prefer the latter approach, but given this service is free, I could live with the sharing method. 

You can still set up whiteboards and use a range of annotation tools to create content on-screen...and it's easy to allow others to use the tools.  In fact, having been a long-time user of Adobe Connect Pro, this actually seemed easier.

With regard to the teleconferencing element, I was really delighted to see that they had integrated a basic service into ConnectNow.  It's limited - one dial-up number from the USA, UK (0870), France and Germany - but you get your own access codes, which is no different from the full service offers. You can, of course, by-pass this and use other means of communicating, including VoIP.

I'd recommend signing up for this beta service and trying out ConnectNow. 

Unfortunately, including the host, you are limited to just three people in the "room" at one time, which even though the service is free, does seem a bit low.  But as we're talking about getting started with webinars here, you could easily use the tool for pre-workshop briefings with pairs of trainees, or for one-to-one coaching reviews afterwards.