Just recently, as usual, I was researching the latest eLearning trends as part of my continual improvement and looking into what I should start focussing my energies on this next wave and made me think just how far back does eLearning go? And who was the first person or company to provide eLearning? It turns out that eLearning really got going in 1953 when the University of Houston offered television based classes. A few years later, the first adaptive teaching system (named SAKI) went into commercial production. Basically, with this system, the course got more challenging as learners improved. How cool is that? Video based instruction goes back this far!
When I was creating eLearning in the 1990s, some of the eLearning content I was producing consisted of video files that were massive. The files wouldn’t fit on a floppy disk and computer hard drives weren’t very big back then either. Thankfully, these things called Zip Drives were available (expensive, but available). The content I published was burned to a CD, and then I hired a CD replicating service to mass produce my content. Then, with the ever-growing popularity and power of the Internet, the need for CDs went the same way of the dinosaur. While many people think the Internet got started in the late 1990s, it came along far earlier. In 1969 the U.S. Department of Defense commissioned the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), which became the Internet as we know it today. Also from my research, I found that in the 1970s, a company started delivering live training over corporate networks in what they dubbed “virtual classrooms.” By the 1980s, the first Computer Based Training solutions (CBT) were rolled out. Sure, those first CBTs were little more than teaching machines and limited in scope, they were nevertheless CBTs and delivered effective training. Isn’t that all interesting? I do. Well, from all that reading and history lesson, make sure you remember that this industry is not as new as you think.
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Published by theirishduck
I love the ability where I can plan, prioritise, design, develop and deliver blended learning solutions for a variety of markets. I love to consult and advise about the best use of digital learning and improve design standards in line with evolving ways of working. I also enjoy to keep up to date with, understand and regularly recommend emerging technologies and practice to improve individuals, teams and organisational capabilities.
With over 12 years digital learning experience and demonstrated experience in both instructional design and eLearning development, I have also a lot of experience conducting training needs analysis including how to leverage principles such as design thinking and root cause analysis to understand and address performance gaps. I also have led many facilitation workshops and even presented at iDesignX and Game Developers Conferences both here in Australia, Wales and in the United States.
I bring loads of coding experience in Java, ASM, C++, HTML, JavaScript, SCORM and xAPI, as well as proven capability using Adobe Captivate, Trivantis Lectora and Articulate Storyline 360 Studio authoring programs. Of course, Adobe Creative Cloud is also part of my toolbox which I also use daily. Being taught traditional and advanced 3D animation techniques, I love hand drawing and polymer clay sculpture, but can also use the Blender, 3D Studio Max, Maya and Softimage applications.
With strong multimedia, training and programming backgrounds, I understand modern learner behaviour including micro and social learning, I am very familiar with most LMSes and app-based (XCode and Android Studio), adult learning models and e-solutions.
I also possess the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, whilst being pro-active in delivering work independently with minimal supervision, but enjoy working in teams.
I've been told I am a resilient, relationship focused guy which can manage and navigate conflicting views and stakeholders/subject matter experts.
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