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3D Training, Learning and Collaboration (3D TLC) taking place April 20-21, 2009 in Washington, DC, is the leading event for businesses seeking to understand and maximize business strategies using virtual worlds. 3D virtual worlds have broad implications for business not the least of which is cost savings and energy conservation. Topics range from the general use of virtual worlds in the workplace to specific examples of applications for e-Learning, onboarding, sales training, collaboration, meetings, and more.

Join us for exclusive keynotes from BP Group’s Joe Little and a special group keynote with executives from Johnson & Johnson, Chevron, Sun Microsystems and SAP.

Click the image above to find out more…

So I’ve decided my goal for 2009 is to try to create a working demos of each of the items on my eLearning 3.0 Wish List and post them here on this blog.

Also in 2009, you will start seeing interviews with creative and innovative people in eLearning leaders, sharing their concepts and ideas with you as well.

So here is my Wish List for 2009:

1. Quality verse Quantity – I’m hoping people/companies get away from the crappy voice-over-powerpoint training and focus on more engaging and better quality eLearning.
2. Edutainment – I think the US military is actually doing something right… they are using video game like systems to train their troops, saving a good amount of money and time.

• Air Force Uses Interactive Gaming Technology for Training
• Army is to Spend $50 Million in Edutainment for Troops

3. Confidence-based Learning – I would like to see better testing methods rather than just quizzes/tests. People can memorize facts all day long in their short term memory and recall them, but what if we actually made them learn and apply.
4. Social/Collaborative Learning – as Michael mentioned web-conferencing and tools like Yammer, Twitter, Ning, Facebook, etc… I think we are going to be a very large part of eLearning over the next year. A nifty example is Supercool School… people volunteer to teach a class and then member of this Facebook app/group take the class.
5. Mobile eLearning – With the iPhone, Blackberrys, Android and other mobile devices becoming more popular the next logical step is to turn these into on-the-go training resources. Over the next year I think we will see more of this.
6. Distance Education – With the global economic downturn, I think traditional universities are going to be pushed more to eLearning/Distance Education. Distance education is more profitable than traditional methods, but the quality is much lower. So if the quality was up-to-par with classroom training I think it would be a logical and viable solution for more universities.
   • Why Distance Education in a Rough Economy?

2009 is going to be an exciting year for the digital education realm.

Tell me your predictions or wish list!

“Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio — Air Force Research Laboratory’s researchers at Mesa, Ariz., unveiled the technological potential of its gaming research and development project publicly Dec. 1 during the 2008 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference in Orlando, Fla.”

This is another great example of military using video gaming technology for training purposes. It cost 100′s of millions of dollars to fuel planes and teach pilots how to fly, acquire targets, etc… whereas it may cost a couple of million to build a training game that is just as effective.

These types of flight simulators have been around for a long time in the gaming environment, but its very positive that the Air Force now see the value of eLearning.

Does this classify as eLearning 3.0? I think its a nice fit.

“World of Warcraft, move over. The Army is preparing to invest millions into combat training games and systems, in a move to prepare its soldiers for battle.

The Army is investing $50 million into video combat training games and gaming systems over the next five years, in a move to prepare soldiers for battle.

Darwars Ambush is one of the games currently used by the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Homeland Defense.”

Its amazing that the military sees the value in edutainment in a collaborative learning enviroment and is will to spend top dollar on it, but when you get to the corporate world people don’t necessarily see the value in investing in these type of technologies.

A few of the topics that will be covered in this blog collaborative learning, edutainment, social learning, the history of eLearning, and so much more. We will post interviews with industy leaders, as well as help keep you up-to-date on news and events happening in the eLearning world.