First I wasn’t going, then I was, and then the day before I was supposed to go I wasn’t again. But the morning of, I was back on. Aside from the fact that I got to spend some quality time with my wife which was the best part (man I hope she reads this) mLearnCon was great and I’m about to tell you why.
In no particular order, here are the things that stood out:
1) Robert Gadd from OnPoint Digital showed off the UI to his Mobile Learning system and it was awesome. It was awesome because in a world consumed by the great Flash vs. HTML5 debate, showing a responsive design interface was a breath of fresh air. For those who don’t know what responsive design is, may I suggest reading Ethan Marcotte’s book or checking out his website. The truth is, we should all be heavily invested in responsive design techniques if we’re going around saying Learning Anytime, Anywhere through mobile.
2) Examples of Learning Experiences using the Tin Can api. There were 3 great examples of ‘learning experiences’ that are so far away from courseware and all producing valuable data about the experiences that really caught my eye. First, Chad Udell’s company created the Tappestry app. A social conversation app. Second, the Goldstar app from Problem Solutions which is a goldstar reward system akin to the elementary school informal way of acknowledging achievements and Third, MAP Deck which is our own technology which is a mashup app for powerpoint based on Anan. There were other examples using Tin Can but what stands out about the three examples is their break from traditional courseware enabled through the potential of Tin Can. In my opinion, if you get Tin Can you’ll use it in ways that we haven’t yet thought of.
3) edCetra Training officially launched its ed!t authoring platform for mobile. To be honest, there was no big splash but any conversation we had about the tool revealed genuine interest and also confirmed a hole that we see in the industry which is an authoring platform that created a responsive design output by default. I just don’t get why there aren’t more tools simplifying responsive design but I’m so tired of hearing about HTML5 vs Flash that I am indeed excited about our existing clients using our system and its capabilities.
4) MAP Deck Visualizations – Wow. Rustici software really came through. Not just on our stuff but their support for all the vendors who chose to demonstrate their apps with the Tin Can api. The MAP Deck visualizations really showcased what you can do with Tin Can which is finally get L+D at the Big Data/Analytics discussion table.
5) Chad Udell’s book launched at the show with a high degree of success. Float Mobile is a shining light in an otherwise pervasively mediocre industry and seeing his book in the hands of so many people made me proud that I was able to provide an endorsement for the book.
6) Great conversations with a wide variety of people and I was glad that I was able to answer a ton of questions from attendees on Tin Can and generate more excitement over its launch.
Of course thats to the Guild for putting together another great event and being a premier sponsor of innovation within our industry.