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WAVELENGTH – The ID Newsletter of India – July 2007
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----------------------- NEWS! ---------------------------
Wavelength Launches the IDSP - Online!
Instructional Design for Senior Professionals Online Certificate Course
( http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idsp_online.htm )
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Hello Friends,

Welcome to this issue of Wavelength.

Let me give you a quick weather update from Delhi. Monsoons
are here and outside my window, raindrops are dancing on the
leaves of Harsingar and Champa. I bought a new, big china cup
adorned with little red and yellow flowers, to celebrate the
Monsoons. It now stands at my left (I am left-handed,) steaming
invitingly, but I will take the first sip only after I've
written this paragraph...well! I have!

Umm! The tea is delicious. Have you brought in your cup yet?
If you haven't, do so; then let us embark upon our mission
to strengthen the instructional design abilities of the Indian
eLearning and training industry. Who forms the industry...you
and I. This newsletter is you and I, and between us, I have
something to tell you.

If you've been in the industry for a while (four years or
more) then this is for your ears. Wavelength launches its
second online course! And this course is for the senior
professionals of the industry - It is the Instructional
Design for Senior Professionals Online Certificate Course!

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An ID Course for Senior Professionals!
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The details of this sparkling new course are available at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idsp_online.htm but here
is a synopsis for your convenience.

If you have more than four years of work experience in areas
such as eLearning, Training, or education, and you want to
learn instructional design to add finesse to your work,
this course is for you.

This 2-month course is designed to address your need to
learn instructional design, analyze instructional design
problems in relation to your work, and come up with
instructionally sound solutions within moments. It assumes
that you have ample experience to evaluate and map the
instructional design concepts to your work, and that you
have moved beyond designing courses and writing scripts
"personally".

The first session begins on November 1, 2007. Write to us
at idsponline[at]vibrantwavelength[dot]com with your inquiries.

Following are the WORKSHOPS that Wavelength is organizing
in August and September.

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1-Day Workshops:
------------------------
The 1-Day workshops on Instructional Storytelling and SCORM,
successfully concluded on June 16 and June 23, respectively.
These workshops generated a lot of interest in the eLearning
and training industry and organizations such as Bharati, Keane
Worldzen, Jaiprakash Information Technology, Sify eLearning,
Tarang Infotech, and ST Microelectronics sponsored their
participants for them. Heartened by the response Wavelength
is organizing these 1-day workshops once again.

If you wish to attend these workshops or would like to sponsor
your participants for them, the following links will provide
the details. You are also welcome to write to our Trainings
Coordinator at connect[at]vibrantwavelength[dot]com

A. Instructional Storytelling for Trainers and Content Developers
(August 18, 2007 - Saturday.) http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/instructionalstorytelling_training_aug07.htm

B. SCORM Training Workshop
(August 25, 2007 - Saturday.) http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/scorm_training_aug07.htm

C. Flash Components Training Workshop
(September 15, 2007) http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/flash_components_training_sep07.htm
(If you are an ActionScript developer who wants to learn how
the different components of Flash are implemented in
web-content creation, this workshop is for you.)

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5-Day ID Training Workshop: (September 24-28, 2007)
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The Instructional Design & Content Writing Training Workshop
that was held at Wavelength this month concluded successfully.
Oracle Bangalore and CSC India, Noida sponsored participants
for this workshop. In the past month organizations have spoken
to us about organizing this workshop again and we are
glad to announce the dates. This workshop will be held once
again on September 24-28, 2007.

Visit http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/instructionalDesign_trgworkshop_sep07.htm
for the details of the workshop. For registration please
contact us at connect@vibrantwavelength.com.

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...and the FREE workshop!
------------------------------
On August 26, 2007, Wavelength shall organize a FREE 3-hour
workshop "eLearning for Trainers", which should interest
trainers who wish to understand the enigmatic yet
compelling nature of eLearning content.

The details of this workshop are available at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/eltworkshop2.htm

The Instructional Design & Content Writing Certificate
(IDCWC Online) Course:
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The next session of the IDCWC Online course shall begin
on October 01, 2007. If you are interested in joining the
October - December 2007 session of IDCWC Online, please
send in your applications, or send your queries to our
IDCWC Online Course Coordinator at
idcwconline[at]vibrantwavelength[dot]com

Before I leave you with this newsletter, I would like to
thank all of you for being with Wavelength and for
inspiring us to do our best. Be with us forever.

Thanks and Warm Regards,
Shafali.

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Table of contents
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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...

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Events Calendar
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Online Courses ( Yes! You are right. Now there are two!):
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1. The sixth session of IDCWC Online (Instructional Design
& Content Writing Certificate Online) course begins on
October 01, 2007. Read details of the course at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_online.htm
Send us your queries at idcwconline[at]vibrantwavelength[dot]com

2. The first session of IDSP Online (Instructional Design for
Senior Professionals Certificate Online) course begins on
November 01, 2007. Read details of the course at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idsp_online.htm
Send us your inquiries at idsponline[at]vibrantwavelength[dot]com

--------------------------
Training Workshops:
--------------------------
1. 1-Day Instructional Storytelling Training Workshop
(August 18, 2007) Read details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/instructionalstorytelling_training_aug07.htm

2. 1-Day SCORM Training Workshop
(August 25, 2007) Read details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/scorm_training_aug07.htm

3. 1-Day Flash Components Training Workshop
(September 15, 2007) Read details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/flash_components_training_sep07.htm

4. 5-Day Instructional Design & Content Writing Training Workshop
(September 24-28, 2007). Read details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/instructionalDesign_trgworkshop_sep07.htm

If you are interested in registering for any of the above
workshops, please write to us at connect[at]vibrantwavelength[dot]com

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Contact Courses:
----------------------

1. Classes for the Instructional Design & Content Writing
Certificate (IDCWC Contact) course begin on August 26, 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 August 26, 2007.
Registrations are on for this group. Read details at
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/actionscript_certificate.htm

3. Classes for the next Flash Certificate (FCC) course group
begin on July 29, 2007. Registrations are on for this group.
Read details at http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/flash_certificate.htm

4. Classes for the ActionScript 2.0 with Object-Oriented
Programming (AS2OOP) course begin on July 28, 2007.
Registrations are open for this course group. Click on
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/actionscript2_oop_details.htm

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FREE Workshops:
----------------------
1. 3-Hour Free workshop "eLearning for Trainers." (August 26, 2007)
Read details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/eltworkshop2.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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The ubiquitous effect of culture on content has been felt
by all of us. Often when we create content for eLearning,
we assume that the content will be delivered to a
homogeneous audience. We assume this homogeneity on the
basis of their demographics and their current occupations.
Unfortunately, online content delivery is almost never
implemented to a culturally homogeneous audience.

The instructional designers need to address the diversity
in the online audience. It is this diversity that we seek
to identify and address through the Wavelength article of
this month. Click http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/culture_audience.htm
to read "Culture Considerations for a Diverse Audience".

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ID Section
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-------------------
ID Concepts
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Though controversial, the theory of multiple intelligences
fascinates. Intelligence, that was initially classified into
seven different types, by Dr. Howard Gardner; now is classified
into eight types. This theory helps us understand why some of
us are more skilled in some areas and not so skilled in some
other areas - and why these areas are different for different
people. Do you dance? I don't. Do you draw? I do. Do you
sing? I don't...why?

Click http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr054.shtml to
read a crisp and clear article "Multiple Intelligences: A
Theory for Everyone" by Anne Guignon at Education World.

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Language & Culture
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In the previous issues of your newsletter, we discussed
the impact of culture on content design and development.
This month let us review our current understanding of
culture. Let us begin by looking at a few definitions of
culture at: http://www.tamu.edu/classes/cosc/choudhury/culture.html

Some of these definitions don't impress me a lot. (Culture
is communication, communication is culture...do you agree?)
However, some do. I like the first definition the best.

In corporate training programs, we often find ourselves
wrestling with the impact of organizational culture as
well. To understand this formidable opponent, click
http://www.soi.org/reading/change/culture.shtml

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Writing Style
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If your educational background doesn't boast of a degree
in English literature, here's a short and succinct PowerPoint
Presentation that shall introduce you to the mysterious
terminology of literature. Click http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/stennille/ST3/poetryppp/tsld001.htm
to learn about alliteration, simile, metaphor, and
personification. What...you already know all about it...then
discover acrostic poems, quatrains, cinquain! Advance to
slide seven of this presentation and find out.

A glimpse into the Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
can be had at http://www.grammarbook.com/
This site should be a cool addition to the favorites folder
of the project managers.

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Technology Section
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Learning Content Creation Technologies
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As the times change, we will see ourselves creating a lot of
content for m-learning or mobile learning. Mobile learning
entails the use of PDAs and other hand-held devices (with an
Internet connection) for learning. http://www3.telus.net/~kdeanna/mlearning/
presents information on:

* Benefits and challenges of mobile learning
* Technologies required
* Applications that assist in creation and management of m-learning content
* Links to resources related to mobile learning
* some interactives

The section on technology is particularly interesting. Click
http://www3.telus.net/~kdeanna/mlearning/technology.htm
to access it.

Click http://www.m-learning.org/demos/demo.htm to access the
pdfs of some m-learning examples.

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Learning Content Management Technologies
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http://www.learningcircuits.org/2003/sep2003/singh.htm provides
a comprehensive overview of mobile learning in "Leveraging
Mobile and Wireless Internet". The section, "Going mobile—a paradigm
shift" is especially interesting.

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Media Section
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This section is now part of Wavelength's Media Newsletter. For
the content of this section and for many other interesting
media-related resources and activities, click
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/subscribe.htm and subscribe
to Wavelength - The Media Newsletter!

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Site of the Month
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The site of the month for July, 2007 is a site that is
different. It's a riot of colors, it is a work of art, and
it is also a website. Click http://www.communicatorworld.com/home.aspx
to visit the site of Communicator world.

Here are a few cool things about this site.

1. The Pre-loader shows an iconic Smiling Buddha with bulbs
lighting around him as the site loads. Innovative? Well,
wait till you see the site.

2. The site loads. The Smiling Buddha smiles and wiggles
his ears every now and then. He seems happy, and why
shouldn't he be. After all, he sits (or floats) in the
center of a beautiful amusement park - the communicator
world...right?

3. The media crazy people (such as I) could spend a lot of
time gazing at the finesse with which the graphics are
executed. The graphics use a mixed approach - they depict
perspective in some areas (check the train, the islands,
the buildings, the kettle-house, etc.) but use a flat
two-dimensional treatment in others (especially the
trees.) However, the overall effect is awe-inspiring.

4. I don't know what those cute little people are up to.
They can be seen lounging at the pool-side, carrying
bulbs (ideas) from one place to another, going into
various buildings, watering the grass to grow bulbs (!),
then charge the bulbs, and take the bulbs into the temple!
The temple houses their portfolio! Click the temple to
view its interiors.

5. In the temple, the Buddha presides. However, what is
more important from our viewpoint is the portfolio. Did
you find it? Click it for a closer view. The page-turning
animation is cool - so is the graphic treatment given to
the book-base.

6. My favorite section in this site is the Profiles
section. Click the teapot (or the Tea-building) and click
"View Profiles", to view the profiles of those who work
at the Communicator World. Can you recognize them from the
little figures that were busy charging the idea-bulbs in the
homepage? The concept is integrated so well...it's amazing!

I hope you enjoy this vibrant site and learn from it. Have
you visited the site yet? If not, click http://www.communicatorworld.com/home.aspx
and immerse yourself in a delicate and colorful experience.

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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/wavelength_certified_ids.htm#idcwconlineviews
to read what the course participants feel about the
Instructional Design ONLINE course (IDCWC Online) and Wavelength.

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

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

4. 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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If you want to learn how to use humor in writing, I
recommend Wilbur Smith's, River God. If you don't have the
time to read the book, then the following jokes will make
for some quick and happy reading.

Here are some writing tips that should bring a smile to
your lips:-)

http://www.metrodirect.net/writershome/humor/how-to-rite.htm
has some extremely useful writing tips.

If you are an aspiring author, you will appreciate the
first definition on the page http://www.metrodirect.net/writershome/humor/dictionarily.htm

A more serious note on humor is evident in the article
"Using Humor in Training" at http://www.hendonpub.com/publications/lawandorder/trainingupdate.aspx

If you are a dog-lover, do click http://www.top20fun.com/funny_jokes/5337.html
to acquire a basic understanding of the canine property
laws. However, I'd like to change the tenth law - it should
read, "Even if it's broken, it's mine."

If you want to read a
simple article on "Humor in Writing", click
http://www.ellisparkerbutler.info/epb/biblio.asp?id=5340
to read a short, inspiring article by Ellis Parker Butler.

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Innoken Online Games (FREE!)
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http://www.innoken.com/games.htm

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Signing Off...
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I hope you enjoyed this issue of Wavelength. I shall meet
you again next month at the same place - your mailbox.

See you next month! Bye!

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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with "Wavelength Feedback" written in the subject.

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