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WAVELENGTH -- The ID Newsletter of India -- July 2010
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Hello Friends,

Welcome to this edition of Wavelength.

I love the rains. I love to watch the changes that come
along with the rainy season. You must've noticed them too,
but I can't help refreshing your memory. Remember the time
when the summer was at its peak and we were dying to see
some rain? Do you remember what the plants looked like
then? The burnt curled leaves, the balding stems that
looked like they'd never be green again? Do you remember
what everything else looked like? The gray roads,
the yellow skies, and the moon hidden in a haze of
summer dust; all looked tired like they wanted to call
it quits.

Now look around. The rain has changed the way everything
looked. The plants are green and full of hope, the roads
look black and cheerful, the skies have turned a clear blue,
and the moon shines to make the night as bright as the day!

It all happened because it rained. Our industry today looks
somewhat dusty too; the eLearning content that we see
around us is a sad reflection of our academic decline. If
things were bad in the classroom, mindlessly digitizing
the content would make them worse. We can't expect changes
to occur automatically; we need to become the change agents.
The instructional designers of today have to become the
rain and wash away the grime and the dirt that covers the
beauty of knowledge.

Read the Wavelength article,
"Saving the Learning in eLearning - What can we Do?" at
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/articles/saving-the-learning-in-elearning.htm
to see what you can do to save learning, without even
stepping out of your current role. Bring about a change
that could become a movement - ensure that the content
remains effective.

This of course doesn't mean that the trainers shouldn't be
making their classroom training programs effective. If you
are a trainer, you should attend Wavelength's 3-Day workshop
on Instructional Design for Trainers. Here are the details.

=======================================================
:::: INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN OPEN WORKSHOP ::::
=======================================================

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I. Instructional Design for Trainers Open Training Workshop
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Program Code: IDT_10OW02

Duartion: 3 days (8 hrs/day)
Dates: August 19-21, 2010 (Thursday to Saturday)

The audience for this workshop is a trainer with at least one
year of training experience. This workshop focuses on the
design of effective training programs, through the use of
instructional design. If you are interested either in
attending the workshop or in sponsoring participants for it,
please get in touch with us immediately. Write to us at
connect [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com

Find the details of this training program at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/workshops/
instructional_design_for_trainers_workshop_aug10.asp

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About Wavelength's Online Courses:
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The upcoming sessions of our Online Courses begin on
October 01, 2010. We welcome the participants of the
upcoming sessions onboard. Registrations for the
October 2010 sessions are open now.

Here are the details of the courses.

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The IDCWC Online - Next Session begins: October 01, 2010
--------------------------------------------------------

The IDCWC (Instructional Design & Content Writing Certificate)
Online Course Details can be found at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_online.htm.

NOTE:
If you stay in NCR (Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, or
nearby areas,) you should consider enrolling for
the IDCWC Contact program for which the next session is
scheduled to begin on August 22, 2010. (details at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_details.htm ). This
course is offered as a 2-month intensive contact program
with classes at Wavelength Noida. If interested, please
call us at: 9810324284/9810412297/0120-4572760.

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The IDSP Online - Next Session begins: October 01, 2010
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The IDSP (Instructional Design for Senior Professionals)
Online Course Details are available at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idsp_online.htm.

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The CWWC Online - Next Session begins: October 01, 2010
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The CWWC (Content Writing for the Web Certificate)
Online Course Details are available at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/content_writing_for_web_online.htm.

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About Wavelength's Contact Courses:
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The IDCWC contact course: August 22, 2010
The ASDC contact course: August 22, 2010
The FAADC contact course: August 28, 2010

I wish you the best and I hope that with the improving
economic scenario we all will find new avenues to let
our creativity bloom.

Warm Regards,
Shafali

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Table of contents
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From the Editor's Desk
Mystery of the Month
The Cognitive Excursion
Shafali's Blog - THE ZEN OF LEARNING (http://thezenoflearning.wordpress.com)
ID Section
Technology Section
Cognitive Footprints
Views
Laugh-a-little
Innoken Games
Signing Off...

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Events Calendar
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::: Instructional Design Workshop in August :::
-----------------------------------------------------

Instructional Design for Trainers Open Training Workshop
===========================================================
Program Code: IDT_10OW02

Duartion: 3 days (8 hrs/day)
Dates: August 19-21, 2010 (Thursday to Saturday)

The audience for this workshop is a trainer with at least one
year of training experience. This workshop focuses on the
design of effective training programs, through the use of
instructional design. If you are interested either in
attending the workshop or in sponsoring participants for it,
please get in touch with us immediately. Write to us at
connect [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com

Find the details of this training program at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/workshops/
instructional_design_for_trainers_workshop_aug10.asp

-----------------------------------------------------
::: Online Course on Web Content Writing :::
-----------------------------------------------------

The next session of CWWC Online (Content Writing for the Web Certificate
Online) course begins on October 01, 2010.

Please read the details of this course at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/content_writing_for_web_online.htm

Please send queries at: cwwconline [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com

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::: Online Courses in Instructional Design :::
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1. IDCWC Online Course
----------------------------
The next session of IDCWC Online (Instructional Design &
Content Writing Certificate Online) course begins on
October 01, 2010. Read details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_online.htm
Please send us your queries at idcwconline [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com

2. IDSP Online Course
----------------------------
The next session of IDSP Online (Instructional Design for
Senior Professionals Certificate Online) course, begins on
October 01, 2010. 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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A. Instructional Design Course
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1. The Instructional Design and Content Writing Certificate (IDCWC Contact) Course
begins its next session on August 22, 2010.
Find the details at: http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/idcwc_details.htm

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::: Technology Courses :::
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1. ASDC (ActionScript) Course
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Classes for the ActionScript Developer Certificate (ASDC)
course begin on August 22, 2010.
Registrations are open for this course group. Click
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/actionscript_3_as3_certificate.htm

4. FAADC (FLEX) Course
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Classes for the Flex 3.0 and ActionScript 3.0 Application Developer Certificate
(FADC) course begin on August 28, 2010.
Registrations are open for this course group. Click
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/flex_actionscript3_certificate.htm

3. AS3OOP (Object-Orientd Programming) Course
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Classes for the ActionScript 3.0 with Object-Oriented
Programming (AS3OOP) course begin on July 31, 2010.
Registrations are open for this course group. Click
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/actionscript3_oop_details.htm

***********************
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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Wavelength Article:
Saving the Learning in eLearning - What can we do?
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eLearning is fashionable today. Every publisher who has
ever published a book is dying to get a share in
the eLearning pie. Unfortunately, most of the content
that they create is a digital version of an existing
textbook! It's created without paying heed to the audience's
learning needs or the medium's requirements, and it is
extremely low on instructionally designed interactivity.
We often tend to forget that we are now dealing with a much
more sophisticated audience who doesn't go all agog when
he sees a smart looking drag-and-drop; he or she expects it
to be instructionally useful as well.

Read the Wavelength article,
"Saving the Learning in eLearning - What Can we Do?" at:
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/articles/saving-the-learning-in-elearning.htm
to orient yourself to your remote audience.

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The Cognitive Excursion
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This month, we are on a trip to Hollywood. While CLICK
will help you connect with the popular Hollywood Actors,
PEARL will take you into the land of laughter. HIVE is,
well, it's usual no-nonsense self!

Begin your Cognitive Excursion by clicking
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/cog_ex/cognitive_excursion.htm

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THE ZEN OF LEARNING [The June Posts on my Blog.]
http://thezenoflearning.wordpress.com
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Using Games in eLearning - Part II
- How are Games Different from other Learning Activities?
Posted: July 29, 2010
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<<<Quick Excerpt>>>... We all wish to be famous, or victorious,
or rich, or brilliant...essentially better than our neighbors
(real or virtual) in some or the other way. We play games
because games help us to vicariously fulfill our esteem needs...

Read the full post at http://thezenoflearning.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/
using-games-in-elearning-part-ii-how-are-games-different-from-other-learning-activities/

Note: This is the second post in a multi-part series.
Read the first part (Using Games in eLearning - Part I - How
Games and eLearning Came Together?) at:
http://thezenoflearning.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/using-games-in-elearning-part-i/

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ID Section
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ID Concepts
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Online courses of every sort and of every conceivable quality
are filling up the learning space with an alarming rapidity.
What is it that you can do to make your content stand out? Well.
You can either take the longer and the harder road of learning
instructional design and designing every activity from scratch,
or you can use some pre-fabricated strategies to make your
content effective. Time constraints often force the best of
the instructional designers to take the second path. Find a
road map "Instructional Strategies for Online Courses" at:
http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/instructionalstrategies.asp

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Language & Culture
------------------------------------
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/cultural-links.html is
an excellent resource for those who are interested in reading
about the different cultures of the world.

------------------------------
Writing Style
------------------------------
Do you have a writing style?
Why don't you find out which famous writer you write like?
Click http://iwl.me/ to find out.

And if you want to first discover what Writing Style is, there's
no better way to begin than this crisp Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_style

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Technology Section
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eLearning has come into our classrooms, and it plans to stay.
What does it imply for our schools? "Managing e-Learning: What
are the Real Implications for Schools?" a paper by Helen Boulton
discusses the pros and cons of this development. Find the pdf at:
http://www.ejel.org/Volume-6/v6-i1/Boulton.pdf

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Cognitive Footprints
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B. F. Skinner or Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in 1904.
Skinner is one of the most famous behaviorists and is best known
for the Theory of Operant Conditioning. His propensity towards
behaviorism can be remotely connected with his inability to
become a fiction writer.

Skinner is known for his theory of Radical Behaviorism better
recognized as Operant Conditioning, which states that learning
takes place when the learner "operates" on his or her
environment and receives feedback from the environment.

Among Skinner's other notable inventions is the Operant Conditioning
Chamber also called the Skinner box, in which he conducted
several experiments on rats and also on pigeons!

* Read about Skinner, his theories, and his methods at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner
* Find Skinner's biography at: http://www.bfskinner.org/BFSkinner/AboutSkinner.html
* Watch his teaching box video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXR9Ft8rzhk

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Our Readers and Course/Workshop Participants Views
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Read what the Course Participants feel about Wavelength's Courses:

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1. The Content Writing for the Web Certificate
Online Course (CWWC Online) Participants' Views:
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http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participants_views.htm#cwwconlineviews

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2. Instructional Design and Content Writing Certificate
Online Course (IDCWC Online) Participants' Views:
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http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participants_views.htm#idcwconlineviews

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3. Instructional Design for Senior Professionals Certificate
Online Course (IDSP Online) Participants' Views:
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http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participants_views.htm#idsponlineviews

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4. Wavelength Trainings/Workshops Participants' Views:
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http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participants_views.htm#trainingsworkshopsviews

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5. IDCWC (Contact) Course Participants' Views:
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http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participants_views.htm#idcwccontactviews

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6. ActionScript Developer Certificate Course
(ASDC) Participants' Views:
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http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/trg_participants_views.htm#asdcviews

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7. The ID Newsletter Readers' Views:
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http://www.vibrantwavelength.com/views.htm

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Laugh-a-Little
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Some of the most natural humor comes from children.
For example:
Did you know the name of a major disease associated with
cigarettes?
Answer: Premature Death.

You didn't know, did you?
But the children do.

Find out what the children have to say: http://www.adprima.com/humor.htm

Instructional Designers are part-psychologists. Here's some
psychology humor for them.
http://www.workjoke.com/psychologists-and-psychiatrists-jokes.html

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

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Signing Off...
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All the best! Until we meet again, same time and same place,
in your mailbox!

Shafali

Shafali R. Anand
Editor & Publisher, Wavelength the ID Newsletter
Director & Chief Instructional Architect
Wavelength eLearning Consulting and Training Pvt. Ltd.

eMail: shafali [at] vibrantwavelength [dot] com
Blog: The Zen of Learning (http://thezenoflearning.wordpress.com)
Twitter: Follow Wavelength News (@wavelengthnews) at http://www.twitter.com/wavelengthnews

Wavelength eLearning Consulting and Training Pvt. Ltd.
A-84, 2nd Floor,
Sector 65, Noida-201301, India.
Phones: 9810324284 / 9810412297 / (0120)4572760
http://www.vibrantwavelength.com

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