Testing is Not Just a Measure of Learning, it Can Drive Learning

Testing = Learning

In what seems likely to be an “ah ha” moment for education development, researchers at Purdue University’s Department of Psychological Sciences, explored the possibility that testing isn’t just an assessment of learning, but is a component that facilitates learning just like studying - but better.*

“Practicing retrieval (testing) produces greater gains in meaningful learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping.”

In an article published last month in Science magazine, a total of 200 students studied texts on topics from different science disciplines. One group engaged in elaborative studying by creating concept maps - diagrams that illustrate the complicated connections and relationships in the material. The second group read the texts and then practiced retrieval (unassisted recall of material). The students returned to the lab a week later for the actual assessment of long-term learning. The group that studied by practicing retrieval showed a 50% improvement in long-term retention scores above and beyond the group that studied by creating concept maps.

“Retrieval practice enhances learning by retrieval-specific mechanisms rather than by elaborative study processes.”

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20 Common Terms and Definitions Found in E-Learning - Part I

When dealing with training, education, and marketing solutions, it doesn’t take long before we start hearing words we may not know. Below is a list of 20 common terms and definitions.

1. Analytics
   Refers to the analysis and derivation of data into usable information or statistics. Analytics are often presented visually or numerically and are used to understand your audience, where they are succeeding, where they are failing, your site’s use, and any other number of variables.
   
2. Animation
   Animation can be broken into two areas. First, it can be presented as 2d or 3d, and in a realistic or stylized representation of objects, people, and places. They take place over time and are often used to visually describe a story, a theory, an idea, a process, a feature, or a benefit. Second, animation can be used within a user interface to lead the user’s eye to focus on something specific or guide them to the next section within a course. The iPhone is a good example of this.
   
3. Avatar
   A virtual representation of a user. Avatars take on many styles such as cartoons, real photos, and even an image of a favorite sport, hobby, pet, or event. Avatars can help users customize their experience and interact with others.
   


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Illumen and the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase

Illumen is excited to once again sponsor the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase this year. It was a wonderful event last year full of great speakers covering such topics as the theories within eLearning, real world examples, and development processes. Registration will open in June.

Date: August 11, 2010, 8:30 am - 6:30 pm
Location: University Center, 525 S. State Street, Chicago, IL

From the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase website:

Celebrate the emergence of Chicago as a world-class center for elearning. Join hosts CISPI, CCASTD, and STC Chicago at the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase on August 11 for a cutting-edge exploration of new media and interactive elearning tools.

In 2008 and 2009, the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase earned the enthusiastic praise of attendees and presenters alike. This year, we are generating excitement again, as we celebrate the evolution of adult learning and performance.

The Showcase provides a full day of presentations with an emphasis on the role of new media and interactive methods in business and institutional training. Our speakers will explore all aspects of elearning—instructional design, development tools, media resources, virtual classrooms, social and interactive applications, mobile learning, rapid elearning, and more.

Bringing Note Taking to eLearning - Part 1

Go into any classroom and you will see students taking notes. What do we do when we need to remember things? We write them down.  We all retain and gain our understanding of information differently and so we all take notes differently. So, with note taking being such an important tool in education and training, it is important that, as we move learning to the Internet, we have the tools available to allow us to take notes online.

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Illumen and the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase

Illumen Group is proud to announce our sponsorship of the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase this year. This event, with more than 30 contributing speakers is setting the bar for eLearning based events.

This year, the Showcase celebrates the evolution of adult learning and performance, with an emphasis on the role of new media and interactive methods in business and institutional training. The Showcase provides a full day of educational sessions for all levels of experience. More than 30 speakers will explore all aspects of elearning—instructional design, development tools, media resources, virtual classrooms, social and interactive applications, mobile learning, rapid elearning, and more. Attendees will have an opportunity to create their own schedules from a variety of topics or follow one of four Showcase Tracks, including Simulations & Social Media, eLearning Tools & LMS, Online Design, and Management of eLearning.

More information about the event and registration can be found at the Chicago eLearning & Technology Website.

Illumen will be at the event showcasing our eLearning applications and offering information on the process and development of technology and learning based solutions. We hope to see you all there.

Thinking Critically Through Experiential and Environmental E-Learning

My first job was at an Arby’s. I learned how to make sandwiches, work the register, work drive thru, clean dishes, prep for the day, shut down the store, etc. I was taught how to make each sandwich, the correct order to place the ingredients, and how to wrap the sandwich. All this I learned from a book, a few triple laminated guides, and from making a few sandwiches on my own. I felt pretty comfortable and ready to make my first sandwich for the customer. What I wasn’t ready for was the 5 for 5 sandwich deal that was available. Five Regular Roast Beef sandwiches for $5.00 (a great deal compared to today’s prices). Suddenly on the sandwich monitor there were three 5 for 5 orders, a Super, two Arby’s Melts, and a Chicken Cordon Bleu. The Super needed extra sauce and the Cordon Bleu had added lettuce. Someone working the drive thru yelled back that they needed their Arby’s Melts first and that the second order of 5 for 5s needed cheese. I had limited space and limited time to make everything I needed. More sandwiches were popping up on the monitor. The frier and slicer were beeping. Customers were waiting and managers and employees were shouting. I was in a panic. What is going on? What goes on what sandwich? Did they say they needed cheese on the sandwiches? Do I have enough chicken? Was this worth making only $5.25 an hour? If I didn’t perform my job well we could lose time, lose money, and upset customers. This was real life and I didn’t have the experience I needed.

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Make a Meal, Not a Shopping List

When starting a project, it is easy for us to gather up a shopping list of goals, wants, needs, and ideas. We may say “I want a chat room, a product configurator, a calendar, a blog, a forum,…”  - you get the idea. In fact this list is a great component when within the discovery and defining process. The more information and ideas we can put on paper, the better. But this is shopping list. It is a list of ingredients that don’t necessarily relate to each other. We buy ingredients to create a meal. There are a lot of ingredients we like but we must understand the that not all good ingredients can be put together to create a great meal. We choose ingredients that have their own unique flavors, textures, and colors, that intermingle to form the perfect tasting meal. This same idea can be applied within training, educational, and marketing applications. It is important that we not only define and develop the individual components, but how these components work together to form a comprehensive, cohesive experience.

When we make a meal we pay attention to how it tastes. We make adjustments to the ingredients to make the next meal even better. Metrics, or measurements do the same for your applications. We don’t make a meal and not wonder what people think of it. We don’t give it to someone and not ask how it tasted. The process continues past the development of your application. Use it yourself, find out what others think, and review the analytics.

If we focus both bottom-up and top-down, explore ideas that are detailed while stepping back to review the big picture, there will be no stopping our pursuit in creating more engaging, better measurable, and more delicious applications.

Higher Education turns to Interactive

Purdue University continually explores the future of interactive learning in an effort to find effective and engaging content delivery methods for it’s faculty and students. On August 28th Purdue’s Vet School invited Illumen Group along with Dr. James “Butch” Rosser of The Stealth Learning Company to present the topic of Experiential Learning and how it’s shaping both academic and corporate learning environments. Over three sessions, the trio provided insight on Experiential Learning’s past, present, and future. Audience members consisted of faculty from Purdue’s Vet Sciences, Nursing, Engineering and Agriculture Departments.

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