David Kelly’s Curated L&D Content for the Week of 1/27/20

David Kelly, Executive Director, The eLearning Guild

This week’s curated content includes links exploring the following:

    • A curated list of tools that can help improve the accessibility of what you design and develop
    • A look at what makes 5G different, and what the new networks will enable
    • A useful tool for estimating the time it will take to speak a written script
    • A dive into the transmedia storytelling that is at the heart of Disney’s new Star Wars theme park experience
    • A technological breakthrough that could greatly improve social interactions for and with those with hearing limitations
    • Why Tim Cook sees augmented reality as the next big thing

Accessibility Tools for Designers and Developers by Lisa Dziuba
Accessibility is an underserved aspect of L&D design and development, often because accommodating the wide variety of disabilities people may have can seem overwhelming. This post by Lisa Dziuba curates a number of useful tools that can be used to test your content for accessibility, making it useful for improving your content and to improve your ability to design with accessibility in mind. 

The big differences between 4G and 5G by Clare Duffy
You’ve probably heard about the upcoming emergence of “5G” networks, but what exactly does that mean beyond just “faster”? This post by Clare Duffy does a great job of explaining not only the details of how much faster 5G will be, but more importantly what innovations that increased speed will enable. As you read this post, consider what these innovations mean for L&D and the orgainzations we support.

Script Timer by Kim Handysides
Have you ever been working on a presentation, or have text for an elearning course that requires narration, and wondered how long the audio will be? This tool from Kim Handysides provides a simple way to help calculate the spoken timing of your written script.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’s Best Kept Secret is in the Palm of Your Hand by Matt Cabral
This post by Matt Cabral explores the amazingly immerse experience Disney has built with their new Star Wars-themed addition to its theme parks, Galaxy’s Edge. I share it here not because I’m a big Star Wars fan (though I am), but more for the fascinating examples of transmedia storytelling that include quests that enable you to learn more about the land, interactions that help bring you into the story and more, all geared towards making this as immersive and engaging as possible. Are their ways you can integrate some of these ideas in your own work? 

Google sign language AI turns hand gestures into speech via BBC News
Every now and then a technology emerges that can truly transform people’s lives. This post explore one such technology that can read sign language and transform it into text. This has the potential to truly transform the lives of those with hearing limitations and those that interact with them. This is particularly true when you consider the role social interactions play in our learning. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook Expects AR: ‘Will Pervade Our Entire Lives’ by Peter Graham
This post by Peter Graham examines comments made by Apple CEO Tim Cook about augmented reality, including describing AR as the next big thing, and a technology that will pervade our entire life. I also find it interesting when people make comments about how a technology will empower learning without saying so directly, as is demonstrated in the post when Cook is quoted saying “You may be under the car changing the oil, and you’re not sure exactly how to do it. You can use AR,”

Three Great Reasons to Attend Realities360

The Realities360 Conference and Expo is the premier event exploring how augmented and virtual reality can transform education and training. The conference brings together early adopters from all over the world for a singular purpose: to share and expand proven practices and harness the potential of AR & VR for learning.

There are a host of reasons to attend the conference, but let’s focus on three specific ones that are unique when compared against other industry events.

A Conference with a Purpose: Supporting XR Adoption

When our team curates a conference, we usually have a guiding principle in mind that spaces every decision we make about the program. For Realities360, that principle is to support augmented and virtual reality adoption in our industry. In the case of emerging technologies like AR & VR, what is needed evolves each year. When we first held the conference we focused on understanding, and from there we shifted to add more skill-based sessions that explored how to design and develop these solutions. This year we’re excited to lean into use cases that give early adopters the opportunity to share their projects, and for attendees to learn from the lessons they will share.

A Focus on Solutions You Can Apply Today

While AR and VR are still emerging, they are technologies that have matured enough to solve problems and increase productivity for your organization TODAY. The Realities360 program is built with application in mind. You will find sessions that explore strategic decisions, tactical design and development tutorials, and case studies sharing proven practices that will provide you with knowledge and skills that will support you in your AR and VR projects today, and tomorrow.

Free Access to a Second Conference: Learning Solutions

New for 2020 is the collocation of Realities360 with the Learning Solutions Conference and Expo. While the focus of Realities360 is narrow, exploring the emerging landscape of augmented and virtual reality technology and how it can be used in education and training, Learning Solutions enables you to explore what works across the full spectrum of technology-enabled learning and development. Your Realities360 Conference registration provides you with complete access to the Learning Solutions program, giving you the ability to put what you learn about AR & VR into the broader context of your complete L&D strategy.

These are just a few of the reasons to consider attending Realities360 this year. Be sure to visit the event website to check out all the great experiences we’ll be hosting in Orlando this Spring.

Click here to learn more!

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