Training - Serve Them Coffee! Meetings - Don't?

The research is in: Drinking coffee makes you more open-minded. [Found via - Knowledge Jolt.] The important findings...

Previous studies have show that consuming caffeine can improve one’s attention and enhance cognitive performance, with 200 milligrams (equivalent to two cups of coffee) being the optimal dose.

Moderate doses of caffeine can also make you more easily convinced by arguments that go against your beliefs, say Pearl Martin of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and her colleagues.

Perfect for training situations! But ...

people who gulp down lattes at business meetings may want to reconsider how the drink is affecting them, the authors suggest.

Yeah, we wouldn't want open-minded people at meetings. :)

Sony Debuts "Robotic Stores"

Some will call them vending machines, but Sony is calling their new line of automated retail devices "robotic stores."  Naming aside, the goal is to make buying digital cameras, MP3 players and other tech gadgets as easy -- and as impulsive -- as buying a pack of gum.

The kiosks, manufactured by San Francisco-based Zoom Systems, are being piloted in malls in Georgia, Colorado and California.  Through them, consumers can purchase cameras, batteries, MP3 players, memory sticks, CDs and DVDs using a credit or debit card.  In addition to supplying the kiosks, Zoom will provide restocking and maintenance service.

Sony sees the kiosks as a less-expensive alternative to storefronts, allowing them to get their products in front of customers at a variety of locations -- malls, airports and grocery stores, to name a few.  Additionally, Sony hopes to capitalize on immediate gratification by making their products so convenient.

The strategy seems to be directly opposite to that of Dell, which is experimenting with stores that don't carry inventory, but where customers can see and handle products before placing an order that will be delivered to their homes.  Dell will place these new stores in upscale malls, in direct competition with the highly successful Apple retail outlets that have appeared over the last several years.

Source:  New York Times (via CNET)

Laptops in the Classroom: Good or Bad?

As both an attendee and presenter at meetings, I have a good idea of how many people who type away on laptops during presentations are taking studious notes... and how many are checking their e-mail, IM'ing their friends, surfing the Web or playing games.  Here's a hint:  The note-takers are in the minority.

With more students bringing laptops into classrooms, teachers and professors have the same sneaky suspicions.  So much so that some faculty are urging the banning of wireless Internet and even laptops themselves from classes.  Among the schools considering such a ban are Harvard Law School, which may institute a crackdown when students return this fall.

In addition to students who find their laptops a distraction, many professors feel that laptops' presence inhibits class participation and student interactivity.  Some have proposed blocking wireless Internet from classrooms... but on many campuses, this is no longer feasible technically.  Individual professors who have banned laptops from their classes claim that they have received few complaints and that their students get more out of the classes.  But is this unfair to the students who actually use their laptops to take notes?

With laptops becoming less expensive -- and initiatives such as One Laptop Per Child that advocate computer technology for everyone, everywhere -- laptop use will become an expectation among ever younger students.  How will this conflict with instructors who see laptops as a threat?  Will educators try to incorporate technology more into the classroom experience, or will the classroom become a "tech-free zone" that emphasizes human interaction, with laptops and other devices reserved for distance learning?

And for those who doubt that students are doing anything other than productive work while in class, watch this video clip...

Source:  TaxProf Blog

Blowing Up ADDIE? And Availability in Learning Design.

Brent Schlenker's blog in an article entitled More BW on Web2.0 and Blowing up the ADDIE model pointed me to a whitepaper by Neil Lasher entitled The 4A’s of Learning Design. Brent's post and the whitepaper both point out that we need to look at learning design differently in the age of the need for rapid learning design and The Shift in eLearning from Pure Courseware towards Reference Hybrids.

While Neil's whitepaper is somewhat underwhelming because it doesn't give much prescription on how to accomplish rapid learning design, it does point out how eLearning Courseware that relies heavily on present-review models are often not great design.

The other really great point that struck me was the simple way he cast the issue of "availability." In particular he suggests that we design for (a) learn, use and forget and (b) always re-findable. I would ask if putting content in courseware buried in an LMS is ever going to meet these two requirements.

Good stuff Brent and Neil.

Invasion of the Zombies!

Is your Windows PC a zombie?  (Hold your tongues, Mac users!)  Microsoft thinks there's a very good chance it could be.

Statistics compiled by Microsoft's Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, 60% of the Windows systems scanned between January 2005 and March 2006 had some kind of "backdoor" Trojan malware installed, which could allow a malicious user to take control of them without the authorized users' knowledge -- in effect, turning them into "zombies." 

In some cases, zombie computers are used to attack other systems.  In others, they allow a cracker access to the computer's data.  Typically, Trojans are spread through adware or viruses.  According to Microsoft figures, Trojans far outnumbered other types of security breaches, including e-mail worms and rootkits. 

These numbers suggest that we have a long way to go in the battle for digital security.  As new digital devices appear, and as more of these devices interact digitally and exchange valuable data, the prevalence of malware is going to become an exponentially increasing problem.

Source:  ZDNet

Employers Googling Job Candidates... And Often, They Don't Like What They See

With the post-graduation hiring season in full swing, young job seekers might want to take care what they post about themselves on their MySpace profiles or blogs.  Increasingly, Web-savvy employers are searching for information on prospective candidates.  And often, what they find gives them pause.  Consider this example:

When a small consulting company in Chicago was looking to hire a summer intern this month, the company's president went online to check on a promising candidate who had just graduated from the University of Illinois.

At Facebook, a popular social networking site, the executive found the candidate's Web page with this description of his interests: "smokin' blunts" (cigars hollowed out and stuffed with marijuana), shooting people and obsessive sex, all described in vivid slang.

It did not matter that the student was clearly posturing. He was done. "A lot of it makes me think, what kind of judgment does this person have?" said the company's president, Brad Karsh. "Why are you allowing this to be viewed publicly, effectively, or semipublicly?"

Oops. College students entering the "real world" have always known that the lifestyles and laid-back norms they've enjoyed before are less than welcome in the workplace.  But with more people of all ages posting personal information online, the variances between college life and corporate life are becoming more pronounced.  Perhaps schools need to stress more strenuously the reality that one's seemingly innocent actions can have repercussions years later.  But then again, if an employer objects to something that's a fundamental part of your personality, is that someplace you really want to work anyway?

Secondly, this is one more nail in the coffin of our traditional notion of privacy.  If someone can learn volumes about your personal life by surfing the Web, is that an invasion of privacy?  Not if what they find is material that you yourself posted for others to read...

Source:  International Herald Tribune

Take My "CrackBerry," Please!

The addictive nature of BlackBerry devices has earned them the nickname "CrackBerries."  For its guests who want to go cold turkey (for a little while, anyway), the Sheraton Chicago Hotel will lock up their BlackBerries so they can try new and different things -- like actually interacting with people.

The hotel does not charge for the service, and guests can request their BlackBerries back anytime they want (then again, those really bent on kicking the habit might try leaving the bloody things home).  It would be interesting to learn the longest -- and shortest -- times that the hotel has been asked to hold a BlackBerry in protective custody.  For such a predicament says more about our 24/7 work culture than the devices themselves.

Source:  CNN.com