***********************************************************************
WAVELENGTH – The ID Newsletter of India – December 2007
***********************************************************************

=======================================
H A P P Y     N E W     Y E A R!
=======================================

Dear friends,

Welcome to this edition of Wavelength.

Should I begin with the weather again?

I think I should, because weather is the ever-changing
constant in our lives. We all have the schema for weather
and for its ever-changing nature. Speaking of change, did
you notice that December was different this year? Well, it
definitely was different from the Decembers of the past
years. This December was hot! A minimum temperature of
14 degrees Celsius for a Delhi December is sizzling hot
while the minimum of 3.6 degrees Celsius is exceedingly
cold! And believe it or not, December 2007 saw both!

A hot December makes you very uncomfortable, doesn't it?
Just the way a new role makes one uncomfortable. The
article this month, addresses the discomfort of those
who've recently donned the robes of an eLearning
instructional designer for the first time. The best and
brightest, find it difficult to achieve perfection in
juggling the hats that an ID is supposed to wear. The
fresh instructional designer often finds
MHM (Multiple Hats Management) a bit tough.

This month, Wavelength's Mystery of the Month article,
"The 3Cs of Multiple Hats Management" attempts to
organize prioritization and time management for the
fresh instructional designer, through a simple
classification system - the system of 3Cs. I hope that
even seasoned instructional designers will find
something useful in this article.

About the courses and the training programs:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Instructional Design for Senior Professionals (IDSP Online)
Certificate Course - Session 3 (March 2008 - April 2008)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The IDSP Online's first session shall end today. The second
session begins tomorrow. Registrations for the third session,
which begins on March 01, 2008, are currently on. If you
have at least four years of content development/training
experience under your belt accompanied with a keen desire
to use ID knowledge to lead your team, enroll for the
IDSP Online course.

If you want to join the next session for IDSP Online,
write to us at: idsponline [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com.
Visit the IDSP Online page at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idsp_online.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Instructional Design & Content Writing Certificate (IDCWC Online)
Certificate Course - Session 8 (April 2008 - June 2008)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Registrations for the 8th session of IDCWC Online, which
begins on April 01, 2008, are now on. The seventh session
of IDCWC Online begins on January 01, 2008. The IDCWC Online
course has a secret agenda. It tries to make you fall in
love with instructional design. If you want to experience
the romance of ID, write to us at idcwconline [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com

Please visit the IDCWC Online page at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_online.htm

------------------------------------------------------------
5-Day Instructional Design & Content Writing Workshop
(Jan 14, 2008 - Jan 18, 2008)
------------------------------------------------------------
The 5-Day ID and CW workshop is just the right one for you
if you are a trainer or a content developer, who wants to
apply instructional design for creation of effective content,
but who is slightly short of time. Four organizations have
already confirmed their participation in this workshop. Write
to us at connect [at] vibrantwavelength[dot] com with your enquiries.

Please visit: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/instructionalDesign_trgworkshop_jan08.htm

The IDCWC contact course shall begin its next session on
January 27, 2008; while the ASDC (ActionScript 2.0 Developer
Certificate) contact course will begin its session on
February 03, 2007. As the classes for these courses are held
at Wavelength, Noida, only on Sundays; they are the right
option for those who stay in and around Delhi-NCR and who
want to learn either ID or ActionScript, in an
instructionally effective manner. If you want to enroll for
either of these courses call us at 9810324284.

I thank all our subscribers for being with us through the
last three years. Please stay with us forever. I thank our
clients for choosing us as their partners. I thank the
participants of our courses and training programs, for
placing trust in us and for making us proud with their
achievements. Please continue to achieve, and continue to
set standards...continue to make us proud; we shall strive
to do the same!

We found our wings when you gave us a reason to fly.

I wish you and your loved ones, an active, happy, and
fruitful New Year ahead. In the New Year, may your
decisions be always right, and may you always reach the
goals that you set for yourself.

Bye!

Thanks and Regards,
Shafali R. Anand.

******************
Table of contents
******************

From the Editor's Desk
Mystery of the Month
ID Section
Technology Section
Media Section
Site of the Month
Views
Laugh-a-little
Innoken Games
Signing Off...

*******************
Events Calendar
*******************

----------------------
Online Courses:
----------------------
1. The 8th session of IDCWC Online (Instructional Design &
Content Writing Certificate Online) course begins on
April 01, 2008. Read details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_online.htm
Please send us your queries at idcwconline [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com

2. The 3rd session of IDSP Online (Instructional Design
for Senior Professionals Certificate Online) course, begins
on January 01, 2008. Read details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idsp_online.htm
Please send us your inquiries at idsponline [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com

--------------------------
Training Workshops:
--------------------------
The 5-Day Instructional Design & Content Writing Workshop
shall be held from January 14 to 18, 2008. Read details at.
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/instructionalDesign_trgworkshop_jan08.htm

If you are interested in registering for this workshop,
please write to us at connect [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com.

----------------------
Contact Courses:
----------------------
1. Classes for the Instructional Design & Content Writing
Certificate (IDCWC Contact) course begin on January 27, 2007.
Registrations are on for this group. Read details at
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_details.htm

2. Classes for the next Flash ActionScript 2.0 Developer
Certificate (ASDC) course group begin on February 03, 2007.
Registrations are on for this group. Read details at
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/actionscript_certificate.htm

3. Classes for the ActionScript 2.0 with Object-Oriented
Programming (AS2OOP) course begin on February 23, 2007.
Registrations are open for this course group. Click on
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/actionscript2_oop_details.htm

***********************
From the Editor's Desk
***********************
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/editorial.htm

***********************
Mystery of the Month
***********************
Are you a new and enthusiastic instructional designer who
has just joined an eLearning company? Are you experiencing
the onslaught of a variety of activities, which seem to be
remotely relevant to your primary job description? Are you
wondering whether completing the various formats and
attending the numerous ad hoc or scheduled meetings; is
more important than designing or developing content? Are
you struggling to complete your work in time (or at least
in reasonable time)?

If your answer to the above questions is "yes," then you
are new to MHM or Multiple Hats Management. The Wavelength
article, "The 3Cs of Multiple Hats Management" attempts to
classify an instructional designer's daily tasks into
the 3Cs, and helps you prioritize them to plan your day.
Click http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/planning_multiple_hats.htm
to read this article.

**********
ID Section
**********

-------------------
ID Concepts
--------------------
Reflect upon this.

When Mr. Falana (Mr. someone else) isn't promoted, it is
because he didn't perform well, or because he isn't smart
enough! But when I am not promoted, it's because my
seniors are scared of competition or because I didn't
get the opportunity to perform! But then, if I am promoted
it's due to my hard work and my intelligence; but when
Mr. Falana is promoted, it's because he had an opportunity
to work on that fantastic, high visibility project!

There are two points to be noted. The first point is
that humans can't stop themselves from giving reasons
(supplying causes) for the events they observe. The
second, and the more important point is that the
reasons always have some personal bias. If you are
curious, learn about Fritz Heider's Attribution theory at:
http://www.as.wvu.edu/~sbb/comm221/chapters/attrib.htm

----------------------------------
Language & Culture
----------------------------------
Lev Vyogtsky's theory of social cognition clearly lists
the effects of culture on learning. "Vygotsky and
Social Cognition", a concise article available at
http://www.funderstanding.com/vygotsky.cfm, introduces
the social cognition learning model and lists its
interpretations.

------------------------------
Writing Style
------------------------------
If you've just entered the hallowed portals of content
writing, here's a lovely reference site for you. Click
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/index.html and save
it in your favorites. This page displays five sections
(the second section may not interest you much.) Click
each to browse through its content. I especially
recommend "Grammar and Punctuation" and
"Improving your Writing Style."

*******************************
Technology Section
*******************************
-----------------------------------------------------
Learning Content Management Technologies
-----------------------------------------------------
If you know about the Blackboard-D2L scuffle then the article
"DISTANCE LEARNING AT NJIT: THE UNIVERSITY THAT HOLDS
THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TRADEMARK" would interest you. The
virtual classroom in use at NJIT used many of the features
that Blackboard sued D2L for incorporating in its LMS.

The good news from the battlefront is that the judges
dismissed the first 35 claims made by Blackboard, about
two months ago. Read this very old press release at
http://www.njit.edu/v2/News/Releases/3328.html and wonder
about prior-art! Those who are interested in the details of
the BB/D2L case would find the exhibits at
http://www.desire2learn.com/patent/files.html enlightening.

******************
Media Section
******************
Please click the following link to view the November 2007
issue of the Media Newsletter.
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/media_nletter_tz53kt_oct07.htm

******************
Site of the Month
******************
Click http://www.vodafone.com/flash/future/application/index.html
to access the site that sits in the throne called Wavelength's
Site of the Month. Click the "Launch with Introduction Link".

This site is built on the idea that technology is going to
revolutionize the way we entertain, work, belong, and care.
Here are the things to watch.

1. Before moving forward, take a closer look at the first
page (the one with a lot of black background and white text.)
Check the little horizontal cursor, which runs along the
text as the voiceover reads it. When the voice pauses the
cursor too pauses.

2. When you click the "Ready to Play" button at the bottom
right, a menu with options A, B, C, and D, is displayed
along with a beautiful guide. When you select an option
the guide uses the simulated touch screen to help you
choose the option.

3. I chose option B from the Choose Theme menu. It is called
"Working/Munich". The portrait of Maryke Lange, a German
Asst. Curator, fills the screen. Click the "Ready to Play"
button at the bottom-right of the screen.

4. On the next screen, the inverted quote of Vodafone is
your cue for clicking. Click it to meet the smart and
successful Maryke. Move your mouse around on the screen
to see more cues.

5. Select Communicator to display the Communicator Technical
layer. Explore the layer for finding out more about the
communicator. If you don't find this very interesting, you
may want to click the Electronic Newspaper and
select "Experience".

6. The site allows you to make decisions by providing you
the option of selecting from two options for each scenario.
Thus, this site provides you layered interactivity. If Maryke
agrees to travel to Berlin in place of her boss, you
board a plane with her and see some other work-related
technologies of the future.

7. As you continue your exploration, you come across
different transitions and animations effected with
great finesse.

8. Check out all the four storylines. They have the future
technology woven into them with perfection. For the depth
of detail, this site is extremely light and loads easily.

If you haven't begun your journey yet, click
http://www.vodafone.com/flash/future/application/index.html
If the site doesn't load at once, click the Refresh button.
Enjoy!

**********
Views
**********
------------------
***NEW!!!***
------------------

1. IDCWC Online Course Participants' Views:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Click http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participants_views.htm#idcwconlineviews
to read what the course participants feel about the
Instructional Design ONLINE course (IDCWC Online) and Wavelength.

2. IDCWC (Contact) Participants' Views:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Click http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participants_views.htm#idcwcviews
to read what the IDCWC Contact program participants feel
about the Instructional Design course (IDCWC) and Wavelength.

3. ActionScript Course Participants' Views:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Click http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participants_views.htm#asdcviews
to read what the ActionScript Course participants feel
about the ActionScript course (ASDC) and Wavelength.

4. Reader's Views:
-------------------------
Click http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/views.htm to read
what readers feel about Wavelength.

***************
Laugh-a-Little
***************
Who says laughter is not serious stuff!

The use of humor in instructional design is a tricky affair.
We often try to avoid the use of humor not because we don't
appreciate its potential, but because we are also aware of
the risk. Humor writing is tough. It is probably the most
difficult kind of writing. If you still want to try, begin
by reading, "Humor Writing - It's a Laugh!" at
http://www.authorhouse.com/AuthorResources/WritingFeature/HumorWriting.asp

I quote from the article -
"They (the methods of writing humor) are:
* The Use of Surprise;
* Creating A Sense of Superiority;
* Exaggeration and Embellishment; and,
* Comedic Timing."

(Is that how you add the quotation marks around bulleted lists?)

Another article with 10 tips for writing humor is
"Top Ten Tools for Writing Humor" available at:
http://www.shawnolson.net/a/556/top-ten-tools-for-writing-humor.html.

And now for some serious (and scary) stuff about jokes,
click http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/30/leno-sues-you-stole-my-jokes/
to read "Leno sues: You Stole My Jokes!"

Laugh carefully.

****************************
Innoken Online Games
****************************
http://www.innoken.com/games

**************
Signing Off...
**************
I hope you enjoyed this issue of Wavelength. Today is the last
day of the month, and also the last day of this year; so it is
also the time to make resolutions. One of my resolutions
is - In 2008, I will make sure that Wavelength reaches you in
time! Another resolution is - I'll find a nice dentist who
doesn't scare the hell out of me with medical horror stories!

Until then, goodbye and keep smiling!

Shafali

Shafali R. Anand
Editor & Publisher, Wavelength the ID Newsletter
Director, Wavelength eLearning Consulting and Training Pvt. Ltd.
shafali [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com
Wavelength, Link House, 2nd Floor,
C-4, Sector 10, Noida-201301, India.
Ph: 9810324284 / 9810412297 / (0120)4315505
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com

*************************************************************************
Feedback: Write to me with your views on Wavelength at shafali [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com
with "Wavelength Feedback" written in the subject.

Suggest Links or site for "Site of the Month": Publish an article in Wavelength or suggest links– Check out http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/contribute.htm

Subscribe/Gift Subscription/Unsubscribe - Click on http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/subscribe.htm
*************************************************************************