Low-Cost Test and Quiz Tool Comparison

I’ve recently been working with Sameer Bhatia the CEO of ProProfs as I was going through an evaluation of various online tools that support easy, fast, low-cost testing and quiz tools (disclosure). He helped me pull together the following evaluation of a few different solutions:

• ClassMarker
• Quia
• ProProfs
• Google Docs Forms Creator, and
• Quibblo.

Evaluation Criteria

For the specific need I was looking at, I was looking for the following out of a solution:

• Cost: Is the tool free or very-low cost to use? Trial periods wouldn’t count.
• Question Types/Methods: Does the tool offer the ability to create a rich testing experience by offering various question types?
• Multimedia: Does the tool offer the ability to include audio and/or visuals for questions?
• Data Collection: Does the tool provide detailed statistics on individual and/or group performance?
• Grading: Does the tool allow for several methods of grading responses? (i.e. immediate feedback, final results with or without which questions were missed, etc.)
• Download Test Results? : Can the test data be retrieved for analysis or backup?
• Layout/Accessibility: Can the layout of the quiz output be changed and does it handle accessibility issues?
• Security: Are there security methods in place to catch/prevent cheating, hacking, or other similar problems?
• Ease of Use: Is the tool well supported and easy to learn?

ProProfs

ProProfs Quiz Maker is an easy to use quiz program with a good variety of question types and options. It’s pretty amazing that it has 1 million users, over 100,000 quizzes in its public library, and over a million quiz takers. A nice feature is the end of quiz certificates for completed quizzes that can be customized. Also, test results can be downloaded in several formats. It is good at supporting accessibility with its one question per page to make the use of a screen reader more effective. It has a free and a low-cost version. To access unlimited grade reports, a paid subscription is required.

Best Features

• Very easy to use – I created a quiz in minutes.
• Good variety of question types.
• Good option for users with accessibility issues.
• Customizable quiz completion certificates.
• Relatively new to corporate quizzes and tests, but has some nice features for this kind of need.

Weaknesses

• Free version comes with Ten free grading reports - paid versions can have unlimited reports.

To see a side-by-side comparison, please see the table below.

ClassMarker

ClassMarker allows you to create simple tests/quizzes for free and seems well suited to classroom use. Instructors are able to modify score reports to provide feedback. For some of the more useful features, such as viewing score reports, an active paid account is required.

Best Features

• The program allows users to set up a ‘class’ so there is a unique login and password to track users.
• Final score reports can be modified to be shown as the instructor wishes.
• Tests can be paused, saved, and continued at the learner’s convenience.
• Variety of question types can make for a dynamic quiz.

Weaknesses

• All of the more useful features require a paid account, and even score reports cannot be viewed without one.
• No image/video support for questions.
• Not as easy to use as ProProfs.

To see a side-by-side comparison, please see the table below.

Quia

Quia allows all users to create many types of quizzes with a large variety of question types that can also include audio and video features. The instructor can set up various security settings for each class to provide more secure grading and decrease the risk of cheating. However, I found it a bit harder to use that the other tools.

Best Features

• Large variety of question types available.
• All quiz results are available in the free version.
• Security features designed to prevent cheating.

Weaknesses

• If students are not registered for a ‘class’, then the instructor cannot view the data from the quizzes.
• There is no way to choose how score reports are shown to students.
• Not as easy to use as some of the other tools.

To see a side-by-side comparison, please see the table below.

Google Docs Forms

Google Docs has a built-in Form document type that allows the creation of a set of questions. This can be an interesting quiz / test tool especially if you already use Google docs. There are a fair number of question types available and it’s very easy to use. However, users are anonymous while they are taking the test/quiz and thus need to self-report who they are (through a form field). This means that cheating would be quite easy. The reality is that this is more for creating surveys than creating quizzes and tests, but definitely worth considering in some situations.

Best Features

• Free and easy to use
• Data can be sent right to a Google docs spreadsheet or basic summary page
• Good variety of question types

Weaknesses

• No ‘grading’ can be done on quizzes
• No cheating deterrents
• Not designed for quizzes

Google docs is not included in table below since it is not designed for quizzes

Quibblo

Quibblo is a quiz and survey system that is a bit limited in terms of question types which makes it a bit harder to create a typical quiz or test. Instead users can create the type of question they require by manipulating the instructions and fields within Quibblo.

Best Features

• Free quiz designer

Weaknesses

• Site geared more for social settings than academic or corporate
• Lots of advertisements along the sides of quizzes- distracting

Quibblo is not included in comparison table as its not an academic or corporate quiz site.

	Classmarker	Quia	ProProfs
Cost	Free (some features require purchase) $24.95 - $49.95 per year	Basic is Free. $49 per year for Educators, $199 per year for Corporations	Personal use version is free. Educator version is $2.97 per month, Business version is $16.67 per month
Question Types/Methods	Multiple choice Punctuation Essay Multiple response True/ False Free text	Multiple choice True/False Pop-up Multiple correct Fill-in Initial answer Short answer Essay Matching Ordering	Multiple Choice Multiple response True/False Fill-in Essay Short answer
Multimedia	No image/video support for questions. Does allow for specialized characters.	Yes. Can add an image or audio URL to a question.	Yes. Supports image/video for questions.
Data Collection	Can only see score results with a paid account.	You can see the results of students in your class.	10 free reports are displayed. Premium version comes with unlimited reports.
Grading	Yes. Final score reports can be modified to be shown as the instructor wishes. Students can also save and finish the test later.	No, students will know their scores at the end of the quiz, but the instructor cannot choose how the reports are shown to students.	Yes. Several scoring options exist along with end of quiz certificate customization.
Download Test Results?	No, however, everything is backed up on the server. It cannot be downloaded.	Yes. If students are registered to the ‘class’, then the instructor can view the grades. If there is not a ‘class’ created, then there is no way to retrieve the data.	Yes, data is downloadable in several formats.
Layout Accessibility	This cannot be changed. Overall the layout can get a little hard to follow and can take some time to get used to.	This cannot be changed. The layout is easy to understand, and someone with visual difficulties should not have problems.	This cannot be changed (though it supports one question per page or all on one page option). Someone with visual difficulties should not have problems.
Security	Each user has a unique login and password, so the information is kept secure.	Access can be restricted to the ‘class’ only, and reduces the risk of cheating.	Users all receive a unique login and password to ensure security. Quizzes can also be protected by common password.
Ease of Use	Not as easy to use as some programs.	Not as easy to use as some programs. More time was spent viewing the tutorials than creating a quiz, and even then it was still somewhat confusing.	Very easy to use. Clear and concise instructions.
Overall	Lack of reporting in the free version is not great, but it’s low-cost for the version with score reports.	The variety of questions is great, as is the ability to add multimedia to a question. However, the ‘create a class’ function is potentially daunting, and it is not as easy to use as a whole as some programs.	Nice program with good features, and very easy to use. Low cost.

Launching New Blog for PaperShow for Teachers

For the past year and a half I have been working with PaperShow and more recently with PaperShow for Teachers and I am really excited to launch a new blog to share some tips and tricks. I will launch the blog on September 1st and trust that it will be a place for owners of PaperShow for Teachers to come and learn how to get the most out of their investment. Since using the product, Canson has extended me the opportunity to resell their product line which I have accepted. I am really excited to work be able to work with educators and business people who are using the PaperShow product line. So if you have a chance bookmark my new blog and hop over their to learn some new tips and tricks on how to best use PaperShow to bring your lectures and business meetings to life. If you are interested in purchasing PaperShow for Teachers or PaperShow Enterprise Edition- please feel free to email me about pricing.

Briug / Briug :)

Este artigo está escrito em Ingês e Português.
This article is written in English and Portuguese.

Versão Portuguesa

Normalmente começo com a versão Inglesa, mas desta vez tinha naturalmente de começar com a versão Portuguesa. E como já terão reparado o título do artigo está igual em ambas as linguas. O que quer dizer BRIUG? Simples, Brazilian Informix Users Group. E pronto, está o artigo acabado... Não. Ainda não.... Falta dizer que foi criado o grupo Brasileiro de utilizadores de Informix, já tem um website ( http://www.briug.org/ ) e que quem está de momento a dar a cara e o trabalho pelo mesmo é o Miguel Carbone, bem conhecido na comunidade, entre outras coisas porque faz parte do board of directors do International Informix Users Group (IIUG) e o César Martins, autor do blog sobre Informix em http://www.imartins.com.br/informix/
Naturalmente o grupo vai contar com o apoio e colaboração de outras caras conhecidas da comunidade no Brasil e não só. Estou a recordar-me do Vagner Pontes, do Alexandre Marini (muito activo na mailing list do IIUG), do Pedro Henriques.... Temo esquecer-me de alguém.
Tive o privilegio de conhecer pessoalmente algumas destas pessoas durante a conferência anual do IIUG e o que posso dizer é que estou confiante que o assunto está bem entregue.

Do lado de cá do Atlântico vão os votos de muito sucesso, e muito contentamento por ver uma organização deste tipo num País que fala Português. Espero que apesar da distância também nós em Portugal possamos usufruir de algumas iniciativas que o novo grupo venha a desenvolver. E naturalmente quando for necessário uma maõzinha cá estaremos para o que for possível.

English Version:

I usually start by the English version, but this time I had to change. If you noticed, the article title is the same in English and Portuguese... So what is BRIUG? It means Brazilian Informix Users Group... I probably could end the article here, since it's easy to guess what happened, but I must write a few more words... So the Brazilian Informix Users are starting a new user group, and they already have a website ( http://www.briug.org/ ), and for now the people behind it are Miguel Carbone, a well known guy in the community (member of the International Informix Users Group - IIUG - board of directors) and César Martins, author of the Informix blog at http://www.imartins.com.br/informix/.
Naturally the group counts on the support and colaboration of other well known faces of the Brazilian Informix community like Vagner Pontes, Alexandre Marini (very active in the IIUG mailing list), Pedro Henriques.... I'm afraid I'll forget someone...
I had the pleasure of meeting some of these guys during the IIUG annual meeting and I'm convinced that the matter is in good hands.

From this side of the Atlantic ocean, I send my wishes of great success and I'm very happy to see the birth of an organization like this in a Portuguese speaking country.
I hope that despite the distance we in Portugal can take advantage of some of the initiatives that the new group develop in the future. Ans obviously, when you need an helping hand, we're here to do whatever is possible.

Out of support? Not yet! / Fora de suporte? Ainda não

This article is written in English and Portuguese
Este artigo está escrito em Inglês e Português

English Version:

I hope that you had the chance to listen to the latest Chat with the Labs web conference. The topic was really interesting, specially if you're running Informix 7.31, 9.4 or 10. As you should know all these versions are out of support (v10 will be by the end of September). In this call, IBM announced (or re-announced) three options for support of these versions:

1. Upgrade Bridge
   
   • This is just for 7.31
   • Has costs
   • Requires active subscription and support (S&S)
   • Client must have plans for upgrade
   • Can't be sold by partners
   • Doesn't provide R&D access or new fixes development
   • Provides severity 1 critical responses (systems down)
     
2. Continuing Support (Pilot)
   
   • This is for version 9.4 and v10
   • Is included in active subscription and support (S&S)
   • Can be sold by partners, since it's included in S&S
   • Doesn't provide R&D access or new fixes development
   • Provides severity 1 critical responses (systems down)
   • Will end on September 2011 (1 year duration)
     
3. Service extension
   
   • This can be acquired for any unsupported version
   • Has costs
   • Requires active subscription and support (S&S)
   • Can't be sold by partners
   • Provides access to R&D and new fixes development
   • Provides severity 1 critical response (systems down)

So, what does it all mean? Well, it really depends on your current version and your future plans:

• For 7.31 (bridge) means that if you want to migrate, IBM will support you during the time it takes, and can also help you do the upgrade (separate cost). Note that you need to have upgrade plans.
  If you hit a new bug (one that has no fix for 7.31 or that is unknown), you're stuck with it. If you have a system down situation you will get help.
• For versions 9.40 and 10, it means that you'll have one more year of support, included in the regular maintenance fee. Note that again, if you hit a new bug (either really new, or one that has no fix in versions 9.40 or 10) you'll have to live with it
  The good news is that you just need active maintenance (S&S)
• For any version, if you really need access to new fixes (new bugs, or bugs to which there was no fixpack available with the fix), you can request the service extension. Note that this has charges besides the normal S&S cost.

So, the Continuing Support (Pilot) offer means you gained one more year to plan and do an upgrade, while keeping the ability of asking for help in case something goes wrong. Is this good? I believe the answer is yes if you're running one of those versions. But I personally have mixed feelings regarding this. Let's see:

1. Ending support of a product version is always risky, since you may cause customer dissatisfaction
2. Ending support of a product version can lead the customer to consider alternatives from competitors (If I have to migrate, why don't I choose another software....?)
   
3. Keeping endless support for a product is negative for the software supplier for a number of (good) reasons:
   
   • It costs money (resources, source code maintenance, some bugs can be fixed in one way in newer versions, but have to be dealt with differently in older versions)
   • It keeps your customers away from new features and improved product uses
   • Increases the chances that customers favor the competition, because many times they compare the old version of a product from X with a newer version of a product from Y
4. Having old product versions is bad for customers because:
   
   • Increases exposure to old bugs and security issues
   • Limits the ability to move to more recent platforms (hardware and operating systems)
   • Decreases your team members motivation (typically people like to work with new features, and they feel happy to learn new stuff)
5. Upgrades are good for software suppliers and partners because:
   
   • Typically they are drivers for new sales of products and services
   • They are opportunities to get involved with the customers
   • They are opportunities to transfer knowledge and improve customer satisfaction and awareness
   • They can be drivers to new opportunities (cross sell anyone?)
6. Upgrades are good for customers because:
   
   • They have the chance to improve product use
   • They are able to use new features
   • They can move to newer, better and cheaper platforms
   • They can gain new knowledge
7. Upgrades can bin risky because you may face new problems, bugs or human errors
   

All this are advantages and disadvantages to use current software versions. I tried to be absolutely honest and objective (you can judge that and add or emphasize some of the points above). But in general, I'm in favor of keeping up to date with the current versions. Obviously you need to be careful, and stability has to be a value to preserve. But keeping yourself in software versions that are out of support or that will be out of support in a near future is no way to go. Do your upgrades, and do them well. I honestly suggest to everyone that is using 9.4 or 10 to take this new opportunity, and plan your upgrades in the next year. Each environment is different, but I've been very happy with latests 11.50 fixpacks.

So, please, check the web conference files (slides and audio - when available), if you have questions check the contact details, and then plan, plan, plan, test, test, test and upgrade!
I truly believe you'll be very happy with the improvements that IBM have been putting into IDS (and if you want to learn more about the future, check the Panther beta program)



Versão Portuguesa:

Espero que tenha tido oportunidade de assistir à última conferência web da série Chat with the Labs. O tópico foi verdadeiramente interessante, especialmente de estiver a utilizar o Informix 7.31, 9.40 ou 10. Como deve saber, estas versões estão sem suporte (a versão 10 ficará no final de Setembro próximo).
Nesta apresentação a IBM anunciou (ou re-anunciou) três opções para suporte destas versões:

1. Upgrade Bridge
   
   • Apenas para a versão 7.31
     
   • Tem custos
     
   • Necessita de subscrição e suporte activa (S&S)
   • Cliente tem de possuir plano de upgrade
     
   • Não pode ser vendido por parceiros
     
   • Não permite acesso ao desenvolvimento nem a novas correcções
   • Disponibiliza suporte a problemas de severidade 1 (sistemas parados)
     
2. Continuing Support (Pilot)
   
   • Disponível para as versões 9.40 e 10
     
   • Está incluinda na manutenção (subscrição e suporte - S&S)
   • Pode ser vendida por parceiros pois está incluída na manutenção
     
   • Não permite acesso ao desenvolvimento nem a novas correcções
     
   • Disponibiliza suporte a problemas de severidade 1 (sistemas parados)
   • Termina em Setembro de 2011 (duração de um ano)
     
3. Extensão de serviço ou suporte extendido
   
   • Pode ser adquirido para qualquer versão já sem suporte
   • Tem custos
     
   • Necessita de manutenção (subscrição e suporte - S&S)
   • Não pode ser vendido por parceiros
   • Não permite acesso ao desenvolvimento nem a novas correcções
   • Disponibiliza suporte a problemas de severidade 1 (sistemas parados)

Portanto, o que é que tudo isto significa? Bem, depende da sua versão actual e dos seus planos para o futuro:

• Para a 7.31 (bridge) significa que se quiser migrar, a IBM irá fornecer suporte durante o tempo que demorar, e pode até ajudar na migração (custos separados). Note-se que terá de ter planos de upgrade
  Se encontrar um novo bug, (um que não tenha correcção na linha 7.31 ou que seja desconhecido) não lhe será dada solução. Se tiver uma situação de sistema parado ser-lhe-á prestada ajuda.
  
• Para as versões 9.40 e 10 (Continuing Support Pilot) significa que terá mais um ano de suporte, incluído na prestação de manutenção regular. Note-se novamente que se encontrar um novo bug (seja realmente novo, ou um para o qual não exista nenhum fixpack nas versões 9.40 ou 10 que inclúa a correcção) terá de viver com o mesmo
  A boa (excelente?) notícia é que só precisa de ter a manutenção (S&S) activa
• Para qualquer versão, se quer mesmo ter acesso a todas as possibilidades do suporte (incluindo novos fixes) pode contratar a extensão de suporte. Note-se que isto tem custos adicionais ao custo normal de manutenção

Assim, a oferta Continuing Support Pilot significa que ganhou mais um ano para planear e efectuar o upgrade, mantendo entretanto a possibilidade de pedir ajuda caso alguma coisa corra mal. Isto é bom? Penso que a resposta é sim, mas tenho sentimentos contraditórios e pessoais sobre o assunto:

1. Terminar o suporte a uma versão de um produto é sempre um risco, pois pode causar insatisfação dos clientes
2. Terminar o suporte a uma versão de um produto pode levar um cliente a considerar alternativas da concorrência ( se sou obrigado a migrar, porque não hei-de escolher outro software?)
   
3. Manter o suporte por tempo indeterminado ou muito longo é negativo para o fornecedor de software por várias (boas?) razões:
   
   • Custa dinheiro (recursos, manutenção do código fonte, alguns bugs podem ser corrigidos de uma maneira nas versões correntes, mas terem de ser corrigidos de maneira diferente em versões mais antigas)
   • Leva os clientes a não utilizarem novas funcionalidades e não tirarem o melhor partido do que o produto (actual) permite
   • Aumenta as hipóteses de os clientes favorecerem a concorrência, porque muitas vezes compara-se uma versão antiga do produto X com uma versão actual do produto Y
4. Manter versões antigas de produtos é mau para os clientes porque:
   
   • Aumenta a exposição a bugs antigos e falhas de segurança
   • Limita a possibilidade de migração para plataformas mais actuais (hardware e sistema operativo)
   • Aumenta a desmotivação nas equipas de TI (tipicamente as pessoas gostam de trabalhar com as novas funcionalidades e ficam satisfeitas por adquirir novos e mais actuais conhecimentos
5. Migrações de versões podem ser boas para os fornecedores de software e seus parceiros porque:
   
   • Tipicamente são pretexto para novas vendas de produtos e serviços
   • Providenciam oportunidades de criar e manter um maior envolvimento com os clientes
   • São oportunidades para haver transferência de conhecimento e melhorar a satisfação e reconhecimento dos clientes
   • Podem ser pretexto para novas oportunidades noutras áreas de negócio (cross sell)
6. Migrações de versões são boas para os clientes porque:
   
   • São uma oportunidade de melhorar a utilização e exploração dos produtos
   • Permitem o uso das novas funcionalidades
     
   • Permitem migrar para plataformas mais recentes, melhores e mais económicas
   • Permitem adquirir novos conhecimentos
     
7. Migrações de versões acarretam riscos porque se pode encontrar novos problems, bugs ou erros humanos
   

Tudo isto são vantagens e desvantagens de se manter em versões actualizadas do software. Tentei ser absolutamente honesto e objectivo (pode julgar por si, adicionar e relativizar a importância dos vários pontos). Mas em geral, sou a favor de nos mantermos em versões correntes. Naturalmente temos de ter cuidados, e a estabilidade dos ambientes deve ser um valor a preservar. Mas deixar-se cair em versões sem suporte, ou que irão ficar sem suporte num futuro próximo, não é um caminho correcto. Faça os seus upgrades e faça-os bem. Honestamente, sugiro a todos os utilizadores que estejam em versões 9.40 ou 10 que aproveitem esta oportunidade e planeiem as migrações durante o próximo ano. Cada ambiente é um caso específico, mas tenho tinho muito boas experiências com os últimos fixpacks da versão 11.50

Assim, por favor, consulte os ficheiros da conferência web (slides e áudio - quando disponível), se tiver questões consulte os contactos incluídos, e planeie, planeie, planeie, teste, teste, teste e migre!
Julgo sinceramente que ficará bastante satisfeito com as melhorias que a IBM tem incluído no Informix (e se quiser saber mais sobre o futuro veja o programa beta da versão Panther)

Sales eLearning – 21 Great Resources

I was asked about approaches for eLearning for Sales People.  I’ve had quite a bit of experience with this and actually one of my very first projects was creating a pretty incredible eLearning solutions for Lexus sales people.  Of course, it’s such a big topic that I decided to cheat and quickly point the person to eLearning Learning and particular to eLearning Sales, eLearning Sales Metrics, Sales eLearning Case Studies, and Sales Performance Support.

Instructional and Performance Strategies for Sales eLearning

1. Learning Theory 101 for Sales and Marketing Professionals (Part 1)- Business Casual, October 13, 2008

   When consulting with sales and marketing professionals who work for companies that create training products and programs, I try not to be a "training purist" when discussion goes to "positioning" their product for the market. Specifically, the web. In Part 2, I'll list some of the levels within one of the learning types.

2. Learning Theory 101 for Sales and Marketing Professionals (Part 2)- Business Casual, October 18, 2008

3. Learning Theory 101 For Sales and Marketing Professionals (Part 3-Last)- Business Casual, October 24, 2008

4. eLearning Development: Instructional Design Lessons from a Sales Trainer- Upside Learning Blog, July 11, 2009

   That’s because I’ve been in training this week; and would you believe it was Retail Sales training. What’s an instructional designer doing attending sales training? We’ve been tasked with converting their Retail Sales Training seminar into an eLearning package. Yes, I know haven’t posted anything interesting last few days.

5. Data Driven- eLearning Technology, December 10, 2008

   Will the retail sales training change behavior in ways that improve customer satisfaction? Understanding this model is important in order to be able to apply it within different situations in order to help drive behavior change that ultimately leads to improvement in metrics. Most action plans last four to six weeks.

6. A Formula for Storytelling in eLearning- Integrated Learnings, April 6, 2010

   When a client asked our team to develop a sales skills enhancement course, we opted to base the training on the methods of the most successful sales person in the department. By Shelley A. Gable. One of the things I love about instructional design is that it engages me both analytically and creatively. Illustrate a concept.

7. Learning Performance Business Talent Focus- eLearning Technology, July 15, 2009

   Performance – Responsible for ensuring that behavior change occurs in a way that improves performance. All things being equal (which they never are), I'm guessing my focus is more a business and performance focus. Certainly Work Literacy has a learning and performance focus and is a passion of mine. Does this ring true?

8. Work Context: The New Classroom- Living in Learning, March 22, 2010

   Fifteen of those years were spent living out of a suitcase as a roving sale trainer and then as a manager. It was shocking to me because I had convinced myself – after more frequent flyer miles and Marriott points than a human could use – that I had the sales training gig figured out. And I did. As oddly as it may sound.I

9. Harvesting Learning’s Fruit: A Downstream Training Investment- Living in Learning, September 4, 2009

   Learners, managers, training staff, and SMEs all have a vested interest in what happens after training with respect to reinforcing learning through coaching, knowledge sharing, and in the case of sales people – boasting and bragging. Yes, I was in sales for many years and know what to expect. Refer to Figure 3.0 Figure 3.0.

10. The Business Case for Social Learning- Daretoshare, April 13, 2009

    Job losses, combined with cutbacks in workforce development investments, mean that many companies are less able to serve customers, make sales or generate innovations than they were just a few months ago. The Business Case for Social Learning. In effect, their capabilities are in recession.

11. Creating scenarios for learning - a four-step guide- Bottom-Line Performance, May 27, 2009

    If you are creating a sales training course, for example, your challenge might be the need to increase sales in a territory. The first course was designed to teach new sales reps basic electrical terminology. Tom Kuhler and his “Rapid e-learning&# blog once again bats 1000 by sharing tips for creating e-learning scenarios.

Technical Approaches and Case Studies for Sales eLearning

1. Sales Team Portal for Content and Expert Access- eLearning Technology, October 12, 2009

   I wanted to share some discussions I've recently had around an interesting project where the company provided the sales team a collaboration, content distribution and expert access portal. Their large sales team sells a diverse and complex set of products and services to multiple markets. Do you have a case study for me? learning.

2. Shift in eLearning from Pure Courseware towards Reference Hybrids- eLearning Technology, May 25, 2006

   sales. Most of the content is presented as static web pages that tell how to perform particular tasks, but some of the pages contain embedded Captivate movies to demonstrate or simulate use of the system. Just when you've made the transition from the prior generation of CBT authoring tools (e.g., It is asynchronous.

3. Using the iPad in Sales Training: Case Study by Lora Davis- Learning Solutions Magazine, July 19, 2010

   instruction, one sales training team has already been successful in using Apple’s new device in blended. While many e-Learning producers are struggling to understand how the iPad may be useful in online. instruction in the classroom. Here’s their story.

4. Case studies of corporate (social) learning- March 12, 2010

   The Business Case for Social Learning , Accenture, Point of View, April 2009 Sun Learning eXchange " When the company�s sales division reduced training hours and budget, Sun Learning Services (SLS) needed to get strategic. Here are some examples of social learning in organisations. Im looking for the Why? and How?]

5. 10 Strategies for Integrating Learning and Work (part 1)- Gram Consulting, June 15, 2009

   The goal of learning in the workplace is performance–individual and organizational.  If we’ve learned nothing else in recent years, we’ve learned that improving performance through learning is more effective the more it is integrated with real work.  Build a performance support system. Understand the job.

6. The Future of the Training Department- Learning and Working on the Web, October 21, 2009

   NCR delivered the first sales training. You’re going to shift the focus to creativity, innovation, and helping people perform better, faster, cheaper. Tags: Informal Learning Performance Improvement The latter 20th Century was the golden era of the training department. People had vocations, not jobs. The U.S. ASTD is born.

7. Bridging the Performance Gap: Training is Just Part of the Solution- Performance Punctuated, July 1, 2010

   If, on the other hand, you are changing your sales model, a pretty important and difficult change, you need a change management strategy and plan. Therefore, there always has to be some reinforcement and feedback to truly affect performance. Tags: Performance Improvement Talent Management Organizational Learning by Reni Gorman.

8. Social Learning at Sun- Learning in a Sandbox, June 5, 2009

   As a result of that they couldn’t provide the training hours needed to meet the training needs of the sales people. Secondly, sales people needed to have access to the right tools and information needed to close their deals in the field. informal learning??).

9. A Pharmaceutical Leveraging Web 2.0 --In a Big Way- Kapp Notes, November 17, 2008

   site containing information on mechanisms of action, employee and project profiles and Pfizer products and other information useful to researchers and sales personnel within Pfizer. If you think Web 2.0 can't be used in your company because of legal or regulatory concerns, think about this. Pfizerpedia is resource-sharing Web 2.0 tags: web_2.0

10. Sun Microsystems Uses Open Source and Enterprise Social Software to Build YouTube-Like Portal for Social Learning- Learning on the Leading Edge, March 19, 2009

New IBM Redbook / Novo Redbook IBM

This article is written in English and Portuguese
Este artigo está escrito em Inglês e Português

English Version:

A new draft Redbook was announce by IBM through RSS feeds. It's called IBM Informix Developer's Handbook and it covers lots of aspects of Informix application development and several client technologies (ESQL/C, Java, ODBC, OleDB, PHP, .NET, Hibernate, Ruby...).

I took the opportunity to include some direct RSS feed on the right side of the blog. You can check it for new APARs, announcements etc.


Portuguese Version:

Um novo Redbook, ainda em versão "rascunho" foi anunciado pela IBM através dos feeds RSS. O título é "IBM Informix Developer's Handbook e cobre muitos aspectos do desenvolvimento de aplicações em Informix, e várias tecnologias cliente (ESQL/C, Java, ODBC, OleDB, PHP, .NET, Hibernate, Ruby...).

Aproveitei a oportunidade de inserir alguns feeds RSS no lado direito do blog. Pode utilizá-los para consultar novos APARs, anúncios etc.

Pediatric Potentials-Great Workshop Day Part 2

As I shared in my first post, I spent the day with a group of fantastic Occupational Therapists talking about some of the new developments in the field of assistive technology. The OT's at Pediatric Potentials of West Essex were very excited about using the iPad for the students that they see. I was able to do an overview of the iPad and demonstrated some apps that I thought they would be interested Since many of the OT's work with students who have dysgraphia I demonstrated Dragon Dictation from Nuance which is available for the iPod Touch and iPad. Dragon Dictation is a free app that you can download from the Apple's App Store and begin to use within seconds. To use the app simply launch it an press the big "record button." Within seconds your speech is transcribed into editable text that can be sent as an email or copied and pasted into your favorite word processor app on the iPad. Dragon Dictation worked flawlessly and many of the OT's in the workshop were not only amazed but wanted to try it out with some of the students on their case load. Dragon Dictation is a powerful tool for students with writing disabilities. After the text was transcribed, I copied it and pasted it into SpeakiT! a text to speech application with a high quality text to speech engine. Now a student could listen to the text to make sure that there were no errors. Using the combination of Dragon Dictation and SpeakiT! is a wonderful set of tools for students who need writing and reading support.

While I was at the ISTE 2010 Conference I reconnected with the folks at Renaissance Learning the developers of the Alphasmart line of products. For many years I was a big evangelist for the Alphasmart and have used it with hundreds of students who presented with writing disabilities. When Alphasmart sold their product to Renaissance Learning I lost touch with the product line and the new developments but at ISTE 2010 I reconnected with Jan Bryan, Head of Professional Development at Renaissance Learning and she was kind enough to send me a new NEO 2 to review. I now have had a chance to work with a new NEO 2 from Renaissance Learning and have enjoyed spending some time looking at all of the new features as well as exploring the new partnerships they have made. While the NEO 2 looks very much like the original NEO that I had used, under the hood the NEO 2 supports more memory allowing one to run more Smart Applets. The NEO 2 now has built-in IEEE 802.15 wireless connectivity that when coupled with the Renaissance Receiver allows students to quickly send and receive files from the teacher's work station. Using the wireless capability students can now quickly print documents to the default printer that the teacher has set up by simply pressing the Print key on the NEO 2.

One of the features which I was eager to try out was sending and editing Google Doc files. With so many schools moving to Google Docs this would allow students access to their files in the cloud that they could access and edit from their NEO 2. With the Renaissance Receiver plugged into my computer I was ready to now try to access my Google Docs in the cloud. Connecting to my Google account and my documents was a cinch and within seconds I was editing one my Google Docs and sending changes to the cloud. With this feature teachers can create assignments and students can access their files both at home an at school. Connecting the NEO 2 to Google Docs was straight forward and easy to do. While some educators may argue that the screen size of the NEO 2 is too small- I have always seen it as an advantage for certain students in helping them to stay focused and not being as distracted by all of the other features that one might find on a laptop computer. With the ability of the NEO 2 to connect to Google Docs all kinds of writing activities are now possible. This is certainly an impressive feature to say the least and one that many teachers and students will be glad to have access to.

One of the new applications that I was really impressed with is the 2Know! Toolbar student response software application. Using the NEO 2 as a responder, teachers can quickly set up adhoc questions using a variety of different formats to query their students. With NEO 2 and 2Know! Toolbar, you can ask multiple choice, true/false, yes/no, numeric, and even short answer questions, and students respond immediately. Once students respond, the teacher in real times can automatically see the tallies and student responses in a graphical format. During the workshop I was able to try the 2Know Toolbar with my NEO 2 to demonstrate how it could be used in the classroom. What I liked most about the 2Know! Toolbar was the ease of setup and the quick feedback it provided once my participants responded. Unlike other responder systems I really liked the fact that students could type short answer responses on the full size keyboard that could be instantly evaluated by the teacher. The NEO 2 offers a lot for possibilities now for both teachers and students and it is clear that partnerships that Renaissance Learning has made have paid off in terms of new features and functionality. It is exciting for me to see that one of the tools that I evangelized, continues to grow and develop and provide students and teachers access to technology in ways that were just not possible with earlier iterations of the device.

All in all it was a full day at Pediatric Potentials, but one that was filled with all kind of possibilities as we explored a range of new technologies to support learning in the classroom and at home. If you are thinking about bring these tools to your school or classroom send me an email to see how I can help you out.