One talk that caught my attention was by Robin Good who is MasterNewMedia.

He asked people about what learning really meant to them and played back recorded video of answers from learned learning afficionados in to the conference.

Good finished by listing 12 things we must all learn to do well. I just managed to scribble these down, so here they are:

1. live healthily
2. read and understand what you’re reading
3. learn – the system and the method
4. be creative, anybody can be
5. empathise
6. tell truth from fiction, especially in the “news”
7. predict consequences
8. value yourself
9. live a meaningful life
10. communicate effectively
11. ask good questions
12. have good fun

It’s been full of variety, full of people, full of learning, full of challenges and full of fun!

Thoughts to follow sooner or later no doubt.

School of Everything is based on the simplest of ideas – that “everyone has something to learn, and everyone has something to teach.”

It’s a little like a dating agency, though I’m not sure whether they’ve considered speed-learning evenings yet.

Anyone can sign up for free to learn or teach. As of last night, there were some 1200 teachers registered.

Amongst the things that people want to learn, popular subjects include music, languages, driving and yoga.

The business model is likened to ebay’s – a small cut is taken by School of Everything each time a learner pays a teacher.

It’s a stunning idea, and it’s great that (erstwhile BBC colleague) Matt Locke at Channel 4 had the foresight to back it.

There certainly was an eclectic crowd at the launch, it was great to chat with and meet some of the team and the advisory board.

It’s a widely adopted and internationally recognised standard for tracking progress in online learning. It was first developed by ADL in the United States in 1999. The current release is SCORM 2004, though most large LMS vendors currently conform for to SCORM 1.2.

At the BBC, back in 2003, we developed our LMS, which was based on our philosophy of “learner-centred design”, to conform with SCORM.

For SCORM to work you need two components:

1. A SCORM-conformant learning management system (LMS)
2. SCORM-conformant content (based on sharable content objects, or SCOs) such as an online course or quiz

The term “conformant” is used instead of “compliance” for pragmatic reasons.

SCORM uses XML and a javascript wrapper (or API) to let the learning content communicate with the LMS.

Depending on the instructional design of your learning content, typically you might want to log certain information including:

• the completion of a section, page, video or simulation – this can then be used if the learner resumes at a later date to avoid having to re-start from the beginning
• a score that the learner has achieved, and the answers submitted in a quiz

A few sites and resources I’ve found useful on my e-learning travels:

• The SCORM homepage on ADL (Advanced Distributed Learning), includes all the specs and a downloadable conformance test suite
• SCORM definition on Wikipedia
• Rustici (pronounce the ending like the ending of “ecstasy”) Software – a really useful set of SCORM primers
• Rustici Test Track – a free web service to which you can upload and run your learning content to test it’s SCORM-conformance
• Popular sites bookmarked in delicious tagged “SCORM”
• YouTube video: The essence of SCORM in 30 seconds – you have to read this quite quickly

Try dragging and dropping 45 countries to their correct places on the European map in this Flash-based online learning game.

You have to be pretty accurate to get a right answer and there are no country outlines to help, only land and sea. I got 35 on my first go but learned enough to get 40 with an average error of 88 miles next time round.

Simple and effective.

Thanks to my mum for the link

More games available here.