It’s a new year and Illumen has a new hairdo — or “website” might be a better word. Our new site (www.illumengroup.com) has plenty of new case studies, images, project descriptions, and information about eLearning, interactive widgets, and 3D/motion graphics. Both this and our mobile site continue to have added case studies, videos, and eLearning/eMarketing information so check back often. Enjoy!
Illumen’s David Charney has recently been asked to join the Harper College Advisory Committee. David will advise the Graphic Arts program’s multimedia initiative which is focused on adding interactive technology to their program. This new degree will bring creative design and interaction skills to web development and programming. These skills will prepare students for careers at a multitude of jobs and positions including everything from web developers at ad agencies to design developers at companies such as Google, Apple, or Microsoft.
David has also been on advisory boards for both Purdue University and the ITT Technical Institute and enjoys working with students on projects when possible. Illumen enjoys Harper College’s eagerness to develop new programs, stay technologically advanced, and focus on the students careers as alumni. And for such a large campus full of beautiful buildings, they have better parking than any school we have seen.
I have been showing off Khan Academy to friends for many months now and I must apologize for not pointing you all to such an informative and interesting site any sooner. If you want to refresh your skills in math, science, chemistry, economics, finance, history, physics… the list goes on and on, go to this site: www.khanacademy.org. Scroll down the page and be amazed at all the educational videos. This is a great resources for you to learn a few new things or refresh your memory, or for your kids to enjoy learning even the most complex of subjects in a fun way.
We’re well beyond the debate as to whether games-that-teach enhance the delivery of learning content (they do), so why aren’t we seeing more of them? The two biggest challenges we encounter are:
We were at an educational gaming conference a couple years back, where a grant was awarded for the design and production of a game prototype in support of a specific curriculum. Twenty-seven months and tens of thousands of dollars later the project is still in development. The developers are the only beneficiaries of learning in that scenario.
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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.
A great TED Talk:
Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids
Illumen’s CEO, David Charney, was asked to speak on what Google’s upcoming high speed Internet connection could do for business innovation at Evanston’s Google Day press conference. Google recently asked cities around the United States to compete for their initial roll-out of their gigabit fiber connection, which would bring high speed Internet to homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses. Evanston, where Illumen is headquartered, jumped on the opportunity to respond to the challenge. Evanston has grown to be a city focused on creativity and innovation and would be a perfect location for Google high speed Internet. The Google Day in Evanston press conference, lead by Mayor Tisdahl, had representatives from NorthShore Hospital, Northwestern University, Evanston Township High School, the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, and Illumen Group. Each discussed the benefits of having a connection 100 times faster than the current standard in the United States.
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Illumen’s CEO, David Charney, talks User Experience (UX) at the IBM Innovation Center Granite Group meeting. This example filled presentation covers the meaning of UX, why it is important, where it is being applied, the process of developing strong experiences, the six elements of usability, and personas, to name a few.
June 8th, 2009 :: IBM Innovation Center :: 71 South Wacker Drive :: Chicago, Illinois 60606
Illumen had a great time at Learning 2008 last year. Registration is now open for Learning 2009. Keynoters include Capt. Sullenberger, Laura Fitton - On Enterprise Twitter and Malcolm Gladwell.
Learn, Benchmark, Collaborate, Compare and Plan at Learning 2009! - Elliott Masie
Learning 2009 (www.learning2009.com) :: November 8 - 11, 2009 :: Orlando, Florida
RIApalooza is an annual meeting of designers, developers, managers, and creative professionals focused on the user experience and developing better rich Internet applications. This all day event is driven by platform agnostic and PowerPoint-free presentations. Among the presenters are top technology developers and consultants from Microsoft, Adobe, Magenic, and Roundarch, to name a few. Their discussions involve theory and practices covering topics such as mobile applications, user experience principals, and social medias. These sessions conclude with an evening meet and greet to network, ask questions, and continue discussions. And like last year, a free t-shirt for all those who attend!
RIApalooza is on Friday, May 8th 2009, downtown Chicago. Check out the RIApalooza website for details.
RIApalooza is sponsored by CD2, which is an Illumen sponsored user group focused on bridging the gap between design and development to create stronger, more engaging solutions and experiences.