****************************************************
WAVELENGTH – The ID Newsletter of India – July 2006
****************************************************

Hello Friends,

Welcome to this issue of Wavelength.

I know that you expect me to talk about the relief that
the Monsoon has brought, but I shall not talk about it.
Not yet. Right now I am dying to share my feelings about
the IDCWC Online July-Sep session with you. IDCWC went
online on July 01, 2006 with four groups aboard. These
individuals who've joined us from all over India and
the US, shall be with us for the next three months,
experiencing instructional design the ID way. Thanks for
joining us, friends. I hope you will enjoy the course, the
discussions, the assignments, and of course your virtual
stay with us. We are glad to have you here. Registrations
for the next IDCWC Online session are open now.

Coming back to the weather...Monsoons are here. The last
two days have been cooler. I hope this dip in the mercury
resulted in a dip of attendance at your office too. I
sincerely hope that you took a day off to welcome the
rains. If you haven't, please do it now. The world is
richer and greener; everything seems so alive, so
vibrant! It will probably continue to look like this the
next month too, but the novelty would have worn off! So
let us take some time off and spend it with our loved
ones. Hopefully the richness of nature will permeate into
our thoughts and lives and enrich them too.

It's a very busy time at Wavelength. The IDCWC Online has
just gone online, and everyone is trying to make it a
great experience for the participants. Then there are
corporate trainings that would like to be conducted in the
same slots. And to make matters more interesting, there is
another online course in pipeline, for which the design
process is on. We would like to thank everyone; our
corporate patrons, the subscribers, the students, and also
those who plan to become one of these. We will endeavor
to rise and meet your expectations, every time you place
faith in us.

The Mystery of the Month article for July is an expression
of the pain I felt during the past two years. The Indian
youth possess some of the brightest minds in the world.
Yet most of those who make their mark have received some
part of their education abroad. Yet many who can innovate and
invent find themselves saddled with a job that doesn't align
with their interest. When this job pertains to writing or
creating visual art, vestigial academic dishonesty begins to
raise its head in the work of some. I hope this article,
along with some links, will find its mark.

The serial, "Managing the Ephemeral Time," ends with this
episode. Fredrick W. Taylor's thoughts on time management are
the focal point of this episode. If you would like to propose
the concept for the next serial, please let us know.

Here's a bird's eye view of Wavelength's Course Schedule. The
next session of IDCWC Online shall begin on October 01, 2006.
We have already opened the application process for this
session. If you wish to experience ID the ID way, review the
details of this course at our website and send us your
application form with the necessary documents. The next
course groups for IDCWC (Contact) and ASDC shall begin on
July 30, 2006. For the next EPCEC course group classes shall
begin on July 15, 2006. The calendar given below will provide
links to the details for each of these courses.

I wish you all the very best of everything in life. May each
moment of your life be filled with happiness and success! I
also thank the IDCWC Online participants of the first session,
for having faith in us. We will ensure that the course not
only comes up to your expectations but exceeds them.

Thanks and Warm Regards,
Shafali R. Anand

(Editor & Publisher, Wavelength)

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

From the Editor's Desk
Mystery of the Month
Serials: Managing the Ephemeral Time: Episode III
ID Section
Technology Section
Media Section
Site of the Month
Views
Surge Ahead
Laugh-a-little
Innoken Games
Signing Off...

-------------------------------------------
EVENTS CALENDAR for June 2006:
-------------------------------------------
1.The next session of IDCWC Online begins on October 01,
2006. Application process is now on.
*Read details of the course at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_online.htm
*View FAQs at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwconline_faqs.htm
*Experience sample learning interactions at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwconline_preview.htm
*Write to idcwconline@vibrantwavelength.com with your queries.

2.Wavelength's next course group for the Instructional
Design & Content Writing Certificate (IDCWC Contact)
course begins on July 30, 2006. Registrations are on for
this group. Read details at http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_details.htm

3.Classes for the next Flash ActionScript Developer
Certificate (ASDC) course group begin on July 30,
2006. Registrations on for this group. Read details at
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/actionscript_certificate.htm

4.Classes for the ActionScript 2.0 using Object-Oriented
Programming (AS2OOP) course begin on July 22, 2006.
Registrations are now open for this course group. Click on
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/actionscript2_oop_details.htm

5.The Effective Professional Communication in English
Certificate (EPCEC) course begins on July 15, 2006. Read
details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/english_communication_certificate.htm

6.Play Innoken online games - developed in India,
played worldwide. http://www.innoken.com/games.htm

***********************
From the Editor's Desk
***********************

http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/editorial.htm

***********************
Mystery of the Month
***********************
The Mystery of the Month" article for July 06, tries to
reach beneath the seemingly calm surface of plagiarism
waters. "What is it that motivates a person to plagiarize"
is the question that we try to answer through the article,
"Who Stole Creativity?" Click
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/who_stole_creativity.htm

The behaviorist mode of teaching, I think sub-consciously
leads a person towards academic dishonesty, which if not
treated early, can lead to the habit of plagiarism. Academic
dishonesty is a concept that could be taken more seriously
by our educational establishments. Following links will give
us some insight into what constitutes academic dishonesty
according to Northwestern University and The University of
California.

* http://www.northwestern.edu/uacc/defines.html
* http://hep.ucsb.edu/people/hnn/conduct/disq.html

****************************************************
Serials: Managing the Ephemeral Time: Episode II
****************************************************
With this issue we conclude the serial, "Managing the
Ephemeral Time." I hope the serial has helped each one of
us in some or the other way. Here are some more links,
with some more tips. A small tip that I would like to
offer here is: Don't try to take all the tips at a time.
When we try to take a lot upon ourselves, we often give up;
but when we take things up one by one, we are able to
carry them off rather well. I guess the answer lies in
our ability to learn and automate. After we've learned
something well, our mind tries to free the space for new
learning, by automating what we have learned. The same is
true for these tips. Select one that you feel would be the
easiest to follow, perfect it...then move to another.

With this prologue (a rather longish one) I present some
more good links.

Though the article "Making Time" at http://www.sba.gov/managing/growth/makingtime.html
speaks to the businesswomen, I think most of the tips
given here could help all of us.

Another link that attracted me with its simplicity is
http://www.rio.maricopa.edu/distance_learning/tutorials/study/time.shtml
This link addresses learners but the tips given here,
once again, apply to all of us. I am really keen on
"Learn to say NO" tip. We can really make a lot of time,
if we learn to say No to things that we have no emotional
or logical reason to do.

Some professional advice on time management based on the
ideas of Frederick W. Taylor comes to you through the
article, "Managing your time." Click
http://www.pediatricservices.com/prof/prof-12.htm
to read this nugget full of some new innovative ideas
that can help you organize your life.

All the best! I hope this serial helped you transform
some wasteful moments into quality time.

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

-------------------
ID Concepts
--------------------

1.Click http://epitome.ce.gatech.edu/iowa/assistant.html to
access the Instructional Objective writing assistant. This
tool attempts to summarize the design of a course in terms
of Bloom's Taxonomy. I am not completely convinced of its
efficacy in course design, but probably I am missing
something. Do try it out; it seems to me an
interesting concept.

2.If you've found yourself wondering what verb should you
use for framing an objective, click
http://www.naacls.org/docs/announcement/writing-objectives.pdf
for lists of verbs against each of the three learning domains.

------------------------------
Language & Culture
------------------------------
This month onwards, I intend to streamline this section
by providing links that allow us to sneak a peek into
different cultures. We've devoted a lot of mind space to
the connection between culture and instructional design.
Now it's time that we began expanding our knowledge
of different cultures.

Culture in Focus: Singaporean

1. The culture that we explore this month is Singaporean
culture. Click http://www.expatsingapore.com/general/culture.htm
for an idea of their festivals, customs, and cultural
taboos. This knowledge will come in handy when you work
on courses that reach a diverse audience. For example, a
management case study where a Chinese gentleman gifts a
clock to his guest, would perhaps sound horrible to
Chinese ears. For the Chinese gifting someone a clock is
taboo as it signifies death!

2. You can find more information on Singaporean culture at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Singapore
(This link gives you a lot of other information about
the popular culture of Singapore through a small menu
at the right side of this page.)

3. For more information on "Singlish" the interested reader
may wish to click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Colloquial_English.

-----------------------
Writing Style
-----------------------

1.The article, "STYLE IN BUSINESS WRITING" at
http://www.uoregon.edu/~ddusseau/101/199/style.html opens
with a stark yellow background, which may motivate you
to escape; yet the content here makes a lot of sense. It
seems business writing style is not much different from
technical writing. Use short sentences (businessmen are
busy people,) simple sentences, use active voice...so what
else is new? To find out, click the link given above.

2.I read this excellent review of JK Rowling's writing
style at http://www.epinions.com/content_84904611460 and
felt that I should share it with you. Did you like it? Oh,
you did. Well, here's another one...
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/printed-books
/harry-potter-series-j-k-rowling-in-general/1022317/

Anything as subjective as writing style can be interpreted
in a thousand different ways. So if your current reviewer
is not happy with your style, don't worry. Who knows, your
next reviewer may fall head-over-heels in love with it!

*******************************
Technology Section
*******************************

------------------------------------------------------
Learning Content Creation Technologies
------------------------------------------------------
1.If you are into eLearning content development, you are
probably neck-deep into Flash ActionScript programming.
The buzz and hum of ActionScript 3.0 has long been in
the air. In office canteens, near the coffee vending
machines, at the "cigarette-ki-dukan", wherever two or
more elite programmers meet, they talk of AS3. If you
want to know what Garry Grossman, the inventor of
ActionScript and Emmy Huang the senior product manager
for Flash Player have to say about AS3, click
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/actionscript/articles/actionscript3_overview.html

2.You may want to figure out how to migrate your AS2.0
code to AS3, click http://livedocs.macromedia.com/flex/2/langref/migration.html
for a table that tells you about the differences between them.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Learning Content Management Technologies
--------------------------------------------------------------

In the article, "Learning Management Systems: The wrong
place to start learning," available at
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/lms.htm George Siemens
discusses the drawbacks of using learning management
systems to impart learning. He notes that while using
learning management systems we often use "statistics of
"students enrolled in our LMS" and "number of page views by
students" as an indication of success/progress." as parameters
to judge the success of a learning program or course. This
shifts the focus from learning to technology.

******************
Media Section
******************

My favorite links among those listed here are those listed
in the Art Concepts section. Monet's art teaches us a
lot more than art...it teaches us about life.

Art Concepts:
-----------------
The Masters - Claude Oscar Monet
Last month we began a series on the Great Masters. This month
let's allow us to be impressed by one of greatest
impressionists of all times - Claude Oscar Monet (1840-1926.)
To understand Monet and his art better visit the
following links:

1.http://www.intermonet.com/colors/ informs us about Monet's
color preferences, his partial blindness due to cataract, and
how it impacted his style as well as choice of colors.

2.http://www.intermonet.com/oeuvre/ is a gallery of Monet's
painting, which takes us along on Monet's artistic journey
through life. Remember to view the Water-lily series
paintings. They are awe-inspiring.

Graphic Design Concepts:
---------------------------
http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_winter/
Topics/graphic-design/
provides some excellent guidelines for user interface
design. I especially appreciate the ones about avoiding
the use of all capital letters, and limiting the use of
blue for small font-sizes. I recommend this excellent
article to all those who are engaged in graphical user
interface design.

Media Technologies:
--------------------------
Probably all of us have heard about the advances that the
being made in the direction of using media technology
(virtual reality) for teaching medicine and even
conducting surgeries. http://k-2.stanford.edu/papers/vwsim98/ provides
you a brief description of "Frog Island" a "VRML world for
teaching vertebrate biology for high school and
middle school students."

Photoshop Pros:
-------------------
Here's a link that should interest you if you love to
de-rasterize. De-rasterize? I mean vectorize! Check out
"Vector Art with Photoshop" a tutorial on vectorizing
photographs at: http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-vector.html
Don't forget to watch the video while you are there.

Flash Fans:
-----------------
Come Fly with Me, Scarecrow, The Ripper...what? Oh, no!
Did it sound like that? I didn't mean it to. I was just
listing a few cool animations from http://www.magicpen.net/main.html
These animations by Gary Davison are fantastic. The ideas
are so fresh! Other than the ones mentioned earlier, also
check out The Great Fish Escape. Oh! What an escape!

3D Dons:
-----------------
Do you love Tolkien's visualization of the middle earth?
If you do, you probably would also like "The Hobbit's
Dwelling" at http://www.highend3d.com/gallery/gallerylarge.php?id=289
This dwelling took the artist, 60 hours to complete. I
wish I were a virtual hobbit, who could rent it for the
summers. Hobbit Homes are cool as they are much like
five-star burrows in the mountains!

******************
Site of the Month
******************

The Site of the Month for July 2006 is
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/
Before I take you on a guided tour of this site,
let me tell you why I feel that this is good site for kids.
Kids learn through exploration. They are naturally curious
about anything that moves or looks different. Well, this
site is populated with animations that may look frivolous to
an adult, colors that may look weird to you and me; yet that
appeal to a child.

If you haven't clicked the link yet, please do it now,
so that we can start on our journey together. Here are
some aesthetic and instructional highlights of this site.

1. Check out the vibrant menu in the center that begins
demanding your attention the moment the site loads.

2. The cute pup at the bottom of the page distracts you from
the content of the page, demanding that you participate in
the virtual pet name poll.

3. Click the "Stories" link. The top banner that addresses
the parents (well, who has the money?) has too many
animations, which ensure that whether you like it or not,
you pay attention to it. This banner of course has many
faces, so that every time the page loads, you are tempted
to click. This NG Kids magazine ad is everywhere, of
course in different forms.

4. The rollovers are "tashani". Try them out - the smart
shark as well as the games icons.

5. The colors that are used. Purples and yellows - they
are kid-colors; they look good in summers as well as
winters. Think of a red-yellow theme - good in winters,
bad in summers; or a blue-white theme, good in summers,
but bad in winter. I think these colors work around the year.

6. Check out the "What's Hot" and "Top Stories" sections.
The topic is a bond between the kids and the content.

7. Now click any icon in the "Features" section. I clicked
the first link about elephants. The colors changed, but
the theme remained the same (complementary colors.) The
interface used clean and simple.

8. Check out the mountain climber that ascends or descends
when your move your mouse over the left menu.

9. Also move your mouse over the top menu, which has
circular buttons ("stories," "sound-off" etc.) The simple
effect brims with life and energy.

10. I haven't come to the content yet. I read through the
feature on elephants. The stories are simple, elegant, and
their authenticity is supported by photographs.

11. Click the "Games" link from the top menu. If you
expected Flash adventures, you were mistaken. Most of
these games are knowledge-games that help the kid
learn while playing. Those who are engaged in content
creation for a kid-audience should explore this link
in detail.

I think I should leave you here to explore the site in
more detail. If you still haven't clicked the link, here
it is once again - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/

**********
Views
**********

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

2. ActionScript Course Students Views:
-----------------------------------------------------
Click on http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/wavelengthians.htm#asdcstudentviews
to read what ours students feel about the ActionScript
course (ASDC) and Wavelength.

3. Instructional Design Course Students Views:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Click on http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/wavelengthians.htm#idcwcstudentviews
to read what ours students feel about the Instructional
Design course (IDCWC) and Wavelength.

************
Surge Ahead
************

Have you caught yourself wondering whether there is
some eLearning intelligence service that found this
cool job for your cubicle-mate?

Check out the following:

=============
HURIX::MUMBAI
=============

Lead Instructional Designers (Exp:3 to 4 years)
Technical Writers/Instructional Writers (Exp:1 to 2 years)
Designation: Elearning Consultants (MBA IDs):(Exp:Fresher)
http://www.hurix.com/current_openings.html
===========================================

AND...

=============================
Instructional Design Jobs:
=============================

-------
US
-------
NIIT:: Project Manager (Exp not mentioned)
http://www.niit.com/Admin/ASP/Aboutus.asp?
Section=Global&L1=Employment&L2=Current%20Positions

--------------
Mumbai
--------------

PRAXIS TECHNOLOGIES::Project Managers/Leaders(Content)
Exp 1 to 5 years
Team Leader(Writing and Instructional Design)
Exp 4 to 6 years
Instructional Designer (Exp 2 to 3 years)
Instructional Writers (Exp 1 to 2 years)
http://www.praxistechnologies.net/careers/careers.html

LEARNING MATE::
Instructional Designers (Exp:3 to 8 years)
Team Leader - Writing and Instructional Design (Exp:5 to 8 years)
Lead Instructional Writer (Exp:3 to 5 years)
Instructional Writer (Exp:1 to 3 years)
http://www.learningmate.com/index.html ->Careers ->here

LIONBRIDGE:: Content Writers (Exp. Not mentioned)
LIONBRIDGE::Technical Writers (Exp not mentioned)
LIONBRIDGE:: Instructional Designers (Exp. Not mentioned)
http://www.lionbridge.com/careers/empdisplay.asp?chkJobCat=18&
chkJobCat=12&chkJobLoc=45&chkJobLoc=44&intPageID=584&jobSearch=Search

-------
PUNE
-------
BRAINVISA:: Project Manager (3 to 7 yrs pune)
http://www.brainvisa.com/opening3.html

BRAINVISA::Content developer / Content writer
(Exp 1 to 3 years, also at NOIDA)
http://www.brainvisa.com/opening4.html

BRAINVISA::Instructional Design Project Lead
(2 to 8 years, also at NOIDA)
http://www.brainvisa.com/opening5.html

-----------
DELHI NCR
-----------

NIIT:: Instructional Designers (2+ years) ::
Also at Mumbai
NIIT:: Senior Project Managers (8+yrs (4-5 yrs in eLearning)
http://www.niit.com/Admin/ASP/Aboutus.asp?
Section=Global&L1=Employment&L2=Current%20Positions

INFOPRO:: Instructional Designers (Exp:1 to 3years)
http://learning.infoprocorp.com/careers/careers.html

MAGIC SOFTWARE:: Program Managers/Project Managers
Project Leaders (Exp: 8 years)
http://www.magicsw.com/careers.htm

--------------
Chennai
--------------

LIONBRIDGE::Lead / Sr. Instructional Designer
(Exp 3 to 4 years)
LIONBRIDGE::Project Director/Sr. Project Manager/
Project Manager(Exp 5 to 10 years)
http://www.lionbridge.com/careers/empdisplay.asp?chkJobCat=18&
chkJobCat=12&chkJobLoc=45&chkJobLoc=44&intPageID=584&jobSearch=Search

APTECH:: Instructional Designer / Content Writers
(Exp:Min 1 year)
::Also at Pune and Mumbai
http://www.aptech-worldwide.com/current_openings.htm

===============================
Flash ActionScript Jobs
===============================
--------------
Mumbai
--------------

PRAXIS TECHNOLOGIES:: Flash Developersr
(Exp: 1 to 2 years)
http://www.praxistechnologies.net/careers/careers.html

LEARNING MATE:: Flash Developer(Exp:1-3 years )
::Team Leader, Flash (Exp: 4 to 6 years)
http://www.learningmate.com/index.html -->careers

APTECH::Lead Multimedia Developers and Programmers
(Exp:3 years or more)
http://www.aptech-worldwide.com/current_openings.htm
(also at Pune)

--------------
Delhi, NCR
--------------
MAGIC SOFTWARE:: Flash Programmer/Analysts
(Exp: upto 6 years)
http://www.magicsw.com/careers.htm

===============================
Media Jobs:
===============================
--------------
Chennai
--------------
SIFY::
Senior Executive - Web Page Designer/Creative GUI,Portals
Exp 2 to 4 years
http://sifycorp.com/scripts/workcontents.asp?id=21

APTECH::Lead Graphic Designers & Artistes
(Exp:3 years or more)
http://www.aptech-worldwide.com/current_openings.htm
(also at Mumbai)

--------------
Delhi, NCR
--------------
MAGIC SOFTWARE:: User Experience Developer (Exp:1 to 3 yrs)
:: Senior User Experience Developer (Exp:3 to 5 yrs)
http://www.magicsw.com/careers.htm

--------------
Mumbai
--------------
PRAXIS TECHNOLOGIES:: Graphic Designer
(Exp: 1 to 3 years experience in designing UI)
Team Leader (Graphics) (Exp: 4 to 6 years)
Graphic Visualizer (Exp 2 to 4 years)
http://www.praxistechnologies.net/careers/careers.html

LEARNING MATE: Graphics - Team Leader (Exp:6+ Years)
:: Graphics Illustrator (Exp:2 to 4 years )
:: Graphics Designer (Exp: 1 to 3 years )
:: Visualizer (Exp: 2 to 4 years )
http://www.learningmate.com/index.html ->Careers ->here

***************
Laugh-a-little
***************
Are you ready for a good laugh? Here are some links that
will help you forget your worries and rejuvenate you
through a healthy dose of laughter.

Let us begin with some funny pictures.

Here's something on time-management...(Is it really funny?!)
http://www.ahajokes.com/crt080.html
and on Internet Honesty...
http://www.ahajokes.com/crt004.html
and when you don't know...
http://www.ahajokes.com/crt037.html

Here's some technical writing humor from
http://www.writejustified.com/humor.html BTW, is there
is need to justify writers; don't they do better
unformatted! Do scroll down to the signs and notices.
That's where the real fun is.

"Sneak Peek - A day in the Life of A (Software) Technical
Writer" by Alfred PM, a Bangalore-based freelancer,
cannot be strictly categorized as humor - It may make
you a bit sad too, yet, the interactions between
RobotRama and JavaSrinivas are very real. Click
http://www.stc-india.org/indus/012006/humor.htm to find
out if you agree.

****************************
Innoken Online Games
****************************
If you want a break, take a refreshing dip in the
fun-filled waters of Innoken. The wave of Innoken games
has begun to spread through India, join in for your
share of fun.

Click http://www.innoken.com/games.htm to play a game of
your choice.

**************
Signing Off...
**************
I hope you enjoyed this issue of Wavelength.

I look forward to meeting you again, next
month - with more with more information, news, humor,
and enthusiasm...right there, in your mailbox!

See you next month! Bye!

Shafali

Shafali R. Anand
Editor & Publisher, Wavelength the ID Newsletter
Director, Wavelength eLearning Consulting & Training
shafali@vibrantwavelength.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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