The annual spring conference of The eLearning Guild opened today in Orlando, Florida, with a record 1,300 participants registered for the event. There are over 200 learning activities scheduled in the three-day program, delivered by 130 presenters.
Here are some highlights from the two days of pre-conference activities and the first morning of the conference itself.
Pre-conference events
As in previous years, the Adobe Learning Summit was sited at the same hotel and served as a kickoff event for many. In addition, the Conference was preceded by the two-day Foundations Intensive and by a day of optional pre-conference Certificate Programs. The Intensive drew over 90 participants, who gathered to learn how to put together their e-Learning strategy and plan, with the guidance of a distinguished group of experts. The Certificate Programs were also well-attended; Joe Ganci’s intermediate to advanced level class on Adobe Captivate, and Michael Enders’ intermediate to advanced Articulate Studio were the most popular, with literally every seat in the large conference rooms taken.
Opening day
Today, learning got an early start with the Morning Buzz Discussion Groups, and received a boost from the opening keynote.
Morning Buzz Discussion Groups
These Groups kicked off at 7 am. A dozen sessions, aimed at peer sharing, addressed topics as diverse as “Selling your e-Learning” and Webinar strategies, to using Magic as a strategy, mobile learning, video snacking and telling stories quickly with video, to instructional design for the attention-challenged. All of them attracted sizeable groups of early risers; the most popular topics overall were mobile learning and synchronous e-Learning.
The Morning Buzz gets participants off to an early start! Judy Brown, Neal Lasher, Anita Rosen, and Erin Gibbens on Mobile Learning lead the discussion of Mobile Learning.
The opening general session
Heidi Fisk, co-founder of The eLearning Guild, started the general session with a quick review of the history of the Guild and its growth. From its beginnings in early 2002, the Guild has grown to 42,000 members in 150 countries. It is now the largest professional group for professionals who specialize in the design, development, and management of online and technology-moderated learning.
Doctor John J. Medina, author of Brain Rules, presented a very energetic, entertaining, and informative session on “Brain Rules for Learning.” Dr. Medina is a developmental molecular biologist specializing in human brain development and the genes involved in the genetics of psychiatric disorders. He teaches at the University of Washington School of Medicine and at Seattle Pacific University.
His keynote presented what we know about how the brain works, what we don’t know, how we as instructional designers can use this knowledge, and where future opportunities lie. One of Dr. Medina’s key points is that it is high time for brain scientists and instructional designers to get together and collaborate. Both groups deal with information processing, but from different perspectives, and each group has experience and information about what works in facilitating learning.
More to come!
At press time, participants were enjoying lunch and comparing notes, planning what to do in the afternoon. If you weren’t able to attend this year’s conference, you can follow along on Twitter by monitoring hash tag #ls2011. Many participants are blogging the sessions as well.
You’ll see more photos in Learning Solutions Magazine tomorrow!
