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WAVELENGTH – The ID Newsletter of India – February 2008
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Dear friends,

Welcome to this edition of Wavelength.

Spring is here again, smiling at us benevolently, asking us
to take care of our dear Earth, and reminding us that each
time she visits us, we have one year less to do our bit for
making our lives and our future better. Spring is the time
when we are motivated to clean out our attics and make
everything new and bright. The attics of our minds too become
cluttered through the year and this lovely spring is a
reminder that we should check our skills to find whether
they need to be honed or whether new skills need to be
added to our current skill-set.

A skill that needs to be honed by all trainers, young and
old, experienced and inexperienced, is the skill of
identifying the snakes and the ladders of training; the
snakes that we should avoid and the ladders that we should
seek out! This month's article "The Snakes & Ladders of Training"
lists some indicative dos and don'ts for making training
sessions effective and interesting.

---------------------*** NEW SECTION***--------------------------
THE COGNITIVE EXCURSION
(http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/cog_ex/cognitive_excursion.htm)
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This month, we also introduce
a small and dainty section called "The Cognitive Excursion"
to our newsletter.

This section shall be available at the Wavelength site
and would interest those trainers and instructional
designers who are in love with training, learning, and
life. The humble beginnings of this section can be seen
in the HIVE and the CLICK. If you are wondering what they are,
I invite you to join Wavelength's cognitive excursion at http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/cog_ex/cognitive_excursion.htm

Now about Wavelength's Courses and Training Programs:

The IDCWC Online and the IDSP Online courses continue to
make waves in India and abroad. The number of our
participants has been seeing a steady increase. It is
said that if about a third of a company's business comes
through customer references, the company is doing a great
job. I am proud to say that more than half of Wavelength's
participants have been referred to its courses, by
Wavelength's previous participants! I thank everyone who
has recommended a Wavelength course to his or her friend
or associate. It is through you that we derive our strength
to continuously march forward on the path of quality.

------------------------*** NEW ***------------------------------
Instructional Design & eLearning Training Workshop
(3 Days - March 27 to March 29, 2008)
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If you are interested in discovering how good instructional
design can transform a three-day program into a learning
experience that makes a mark and then continues life-long;
while you learn how to use instructional design for effective
content creation; write to us at connect@vibrantwavelength.com

You can find the details of this training program at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/instructionalDesign_trgworkshop_mar08.htm

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Instructional Design & Content Writing Certificate (IDCWC Online)
Certificate Course - Session 8 (April 2008 - June 2008)
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Registrations for the 8th session of IDCWC Online, which is
beginning on April 01, 2008, are now on. If you've heard of
the IDCWC Online and the magic of instructional design, and
if you want to become one of the magicians, write to us at
idcwconline [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com

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

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Instructional Design for Senior Professionals (IDSP Online)
Certificate Course - Session 4 (July 2008 - August 2008)
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The foruth session of the IDSP Online is beginning on
July 01, 2008. If you have at least four years of
content development/training experience and you wish to
connect with your content development team on their wavelength,
enroll for the IDSP Online course. The fourth session of
the IDSP Online shall begin on July 01, 2008.

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

Also read the views of the IDSP Online first session participants at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participantviews.htm#idsponlineviews

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Wavelength's Contact Courses at Noida
(The IDCWC and The ASDC Courses)
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The IDCWC and the ASDC (ActionScript Developer Certificate)
contact courses will begin their sessions on March 30, 2008.
The classes for these courses are held at Wavelength, Noida,
only on Sundays. If you want to enroll for either of these
courses call us at 9810324284.

I hope that you will find our new addition, "The Cognitive Excursion"
section interesting and...in the long run,
also intoxicating.

Take care,

Thanks and Regards,
Shafali R. Anand.

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Table of contents
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From the Editor's Desk
Mystery of the Month
The Cognitive Excursion - *** NEW SECTION!!! ***
ID Section
Technology Section
Site of the Month
Views
Laugh-a-little
Innoken Games
Signing Off...

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Events Calendar
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Online Courses:
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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 4th session of IDSP Online (Instructional Design
for Senior Professionals Certificate Online) course, begins
on July 01, 2008. Read details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idsp_online.htm
Please send us your inquiries at idsponline [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com

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Contact Courses:
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1. Classes for the Instructional Design & Content Writing
Certificate (IDCWC Contact) course begin on March 30, 2008.
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 March 30, 2008.
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 April 26, 2008.
Registrations are open for this course group. Read details at
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/actionscript2_oop_details.htm

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

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Mystery of the Month
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In the game of Snakes and Ladders (the same as Pipes and
Chutes,) we wish to avoid being eaten up by the snakes
and we hope to find a lot of ladders on our way HOME.
Unfortunately, the game of Snakes and Ladders is a game
of chance. We can't control our fate, especially when
the only thing we can do is roll the dice!

Fortunately, we have better means to control the outcome
of our training programs - we have the instructional logic
to fall back upon. The Mystery of the Month article,
"The Snakes & Ladders of Training" lists a few dos and
don'ts that can help us enhance or training programs
further. Click http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/training_snakes_ladders.htm
to read this article.

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The Cognitive Excursion ( NEW SECTION!!! )
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This month, the Wavelength newsletter introduces
the Cognitive Excursion for our intellectual audience.
This section will provide you an opportunity to play
some cerebral games and sharpen your skills while you relax.

The Cognitive Excursion brings you two stopovers this month -
the HIVE (The High Intensity Verbal Espresso) and
the CLICK (The Constructive Logic Infused Cognitive Kinesthesia.)

Check them out at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/cog_ex/cognitive_excursion.htm

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ID Section
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ID Concepts
--------------------
The Cognitive Load theory is an extremely interesting and
useful concept. It helps explain why the amount and the
speed of learning vary in different learning conditions. An
extremely useful article "Visualization and Instructional
Design" by Dr. John Sweller (the proponent of the cognitive
load theory) is available at:
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/trynew/sweller-visualinstructionaldesign.pdf

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Language & Culture
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Cross-cultural communication interests all of us. The
whitepaper at http://www.dattnerconsulting.com/cross.html
discusses cross-cultural communication. The whitepaper
begins by exploring the differences in data interpretation,
the application of attribution theory to the behavior of
people, and then the negative influences of stereotypes
and prejudices.

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Writing Style
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A short but useful guide on technical writing is available
at: http://www.ent.ohiou.edu/~valy/techwrite.html

A more elaborate guide for technical writing can be found
at: http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/

Among other types of writing, this site also provides
guidelines for writing business plans, proposals, progress
reports, and user guides.

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Technology Section
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Learning Content Management Technologies
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At http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num1/net/default.html you
will find an interesting article titled,
"ON THE NET - You've Got some GALL: Google-Assisted
Language Learning". This article discusses how Internet
has transformed our language. This article also discusses
the use of Google as a learning tool.

Also check out, "7 Things You Should Know About..." at
http://www.educause.edu/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutSeries/7495
On this page, you will also find information on some great
websites, applications, and blogs. I think that this page
opens a small information portal for all those who would
like to learn more about the Internet terminology.

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Site of the Month
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The site that is crowned the Site of the Month for
February 2008, is a very different kind of site. This isn't
a Flash site. It is a site created in the traditional manner,
and the content of the site too belongs to the medieval world.
This is the site of Dungeons & Dragons Online.

So let's begin.

Click http://www.ddo.com/ to arrive in the fantastical world
of dungeons, dragons, elves, mages, dwarves, and of course,
humans!

Isn't the site different?

1. The graphics are awesome! The colors are fantastic, and
the treatment is artistic. It is a site created by artists.

2. As the site speaks of a world, which was full of dragons
spitting fire and of humans and othe races fighting the
dragons and other fantastical monsters; it is built to
display the theme all over. The fire, the armor, the edges
of the panels; everything is designed to lift you off your
feet and sweep you into the world of dungeons and dragons!

3. Check out the panels and the icons. Look at the details.
For example, the corners of the top panel display the skull
of a dragon. The texture of the panel margins displays the
gray rock from the dungeons.

4. Roll your mouse over the red buttons. Observe the rollover
effect. It is a simple effect where a steel arrow appears,
and another panel containing the submenu rolls down; but the
effect is in harmony with the overall look and feel of the site.

5. Now, let's navigate. Click Compendium > Races! Another
page loads (and it loads really fast!) If the names of the
races have been troubling you, you can now discover more
about them. Each page is crafted with care...each page looks
different but belongs to the site.

6. Now choose Wallpapers from Downloads. If you are interested
in a great looking wallpaper, you can download it from
this page.

If you liked this site, you may want to try the sites of
Unreal, Ultima, Warcarft, and Age of Mythology too.

Here's the link of this site once again. Click
http://www.ddo.com/ to experience a different world.

Enjoy!

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Views
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***NEW!!!***
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1. IDCWC Online Course Participants' Views:
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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. IDSP Online Course Participants' Views (first session):
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Click http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/wavelength_certified_ids.htm#idsponlineviews
to read the views of our participants from the first session of the IDSP Online.

3. IDCWC (Contact) Participants' Views:
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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.

4. ActionScript Course Participants' Views:
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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.

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

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Laugh-a-Little
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Here are the laughs for February.
Click http://www.swissdelphicenter.ch/en/humor.php for
some technical (not technical writing) humor.

And click http://www.soulwork.net/humor.htm for some
trainer humor. What? You can't find any? Scroll down.

Writing content is quite similar to writing a college
paper. If you don't agree, click
http://www.thehumorarchives.com/joke/How_to_write_a_college_paper
Do you agree now?

Keep smiling...keep laughing!

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

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Signing Off...
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I wish you a lovely Spring and a wonderful year ahead.

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

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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

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