LSDX 2021 Week 1: What I Learned

After week 1 of LSDX 2021 (Learning Solutions Digital Experience), I summarized key highlights, tools, and resources to support elearning.

When I attend conferences, I take lots of notes. I find it’s helpful for my own learning if I pull one or two key points out of those notes to help me remember the sessions. Week 1 of the Learning Solutions Digital Experience (LSDX 2021) has been a lot about new tools, so this post includes links to some of these new tools and resources.

Learning Solutions Digital Experience (LSDX 2021)

Learning Trends to Know, Adopt, and Grow Your Skills

Nick Floro talked about a number of trends in this session (more than 6, honestly), but he also shared a bunch of resources. You can see the resources at https://sealworks.team/LSCON

A few resources I noted:

  • Descript: Automatically transcribe audio and edit audio like a document. This site also has Overdub, which allows you to correct VO recordings with AI.
  • Pixar in a Box: Free course from Khan Academy about how Pixar makes films
  • Amazon Lex: Chatbot tool where you can quickly build a chatbot using templates and parameters
  • Marker.io: Review websites, add comments, and draw on the screenshots to mark the exact problem. While this is meant for bug tracking, it would be useful for elearning reviews too. The pricing is designed for teams rather than consultants, but it still might be worth it in time saved.

Adopting Agile Design to Create and Collaborate

One idea Nick Floro shared in this session was to use Google Analytics to track usage data on courses. That’s so simple, it should have been obvious. I’m so used to thinking about just the data in the LMS that I hadn’t considered adding that little bit of Javascript to enable Google tracking for aggregate usage data. While Nick’s team does a lot of custom HTML5 development, I wonder if that would be possible with some of the authoring tools by editing the js file.

Nick also shared the Remove.bg site, which removes backgrounds from images. You get one image for free, and then can use credits or a subscription for more. You get free previews to see if it works before you decide to pay for a specific image.

The What, Why and How of Adaptive Learning in Workforce Development

This session was presented by Manoj Kulkarni from Realizeit, an adaptive learning platform. While a lot of the discussion around adaptive learning centers around adapting individual courses or making personalized course recommendations, this presentation took a broader view. It looked at improving adaptability at the enterprise level. Adaptive learning is a means to an end. There are numerous ends and goals possible. It’s important to prioritize your ends and what makes sense in your organization. Also, adaptive learning isn’t just about technology. This requires change management.

The Science of Nanolearning: Why Text-Based Courses are the Future of Learning

This session was presented by Michael Ioffe of Arist. Arist is a platform for creating text message courses. These can be sent via SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, Teams, or other platforms. This would be useful for providing reinforcement after a training. I could see this as a short promo or prework before a more in-depth program too. You can use the free plan to try out the system.

Mobile Coach, a Platform to Design and Manage Chatbots

Vince Han provided a demo of Mobile Coach, a tool to create chatbots. These are programmatic chatbots, driven by rules and triggers. They could be used for nudges, reminders, and short quizzes to reinforce other training. If you’d like to see it in action, text Hi to (801) 609-3592 or visit their website to try a chatbot.

Authoring Powerful, Responsive Experiences with PeBL Pro

The new authoring tool PeBL Pro was demonstrated by Judy Katz. This tool is currently in public beta. It’s a tool designed to be fully responsive and work on any device, but still provide more powerful customization and interactivity. One big differentiator for this tool is the option to share answers with peers; most authoring tools don’t have any social learning options built in. A short answer question can be graded manually by an instructor, shared with peers, or self-graded with a “guided evaluation”: a checklist to help learners assess their own work.

Accessible Deep-Dive COVID course

I didn’t take many notes during DemoFest. After all, if this conference was in person, I would have been wandering the room, not taking notes. I did note one link from Diane Elkins from Artisan E-learning. They produced a course with quite a bit of interactivity, but it’s still all accessible. You can see it yourself with free registration. It was a great example of how accessible content doesn’t have to be ugly or boring.

Looking forward to week 2

I’m looking forward to week 2 of LSDX. Next week will include more of the traditional LSCon sessions, rather than focusing so heavily on product and tool demos. I will be presenting on 5/12 on building branching scenario prototypes in Twine. If you’re attending the conference, please come to my session. (Note that the time is wrong in the image below–it’s at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT.) For a little preview, check out my Branching Scenario Prototype in Twine.

LSDX 2021
Build Branching Scenario Prototypes Fast with Twine
May 12, 2021 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM ET (time corrected in alt text)

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