Bill Brandon
Editor, Learning Solutions, The Learning Guild
Bill Brandon is the editor of Learning Solutions. He has designed, managed, and delivered instruction since 1968, and has been an e-Learning practitioner since 1984. Before becoming the editor in 2002, Bill held instructor and management positions in the United States Navy, Texas Utilities, Atmos Energy, TGI Friday’s, and The Sales Consultancy. The co-author of eight books and the author of dozens of articles on technical topics, he has also developed programs for major conferences and owned a consulting business. He is a past president of the Texas Chapter (now the Dallas Chapter) of ISPI, and for 10 years led the Learning Technology SIG of the Dallas Chapter of ASTD. Bill is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and now lives near Dallas, Texas.
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Book Review: The Online Learning Idea Book, Vol. 2
Volume 2 of Patti Shank’s The Online Idea Book is now available. Continuing with the approach she used in Volume 1 four years ago, Patti has updated the book with over 80 new ideas from practitioners in the field, covering new approaches to online learning, such as the use of social media, new tools, and other innovations such as Pecha Kucha.
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Digimodernism and Learning
Technology extends what we can do at work, at play, and in our careers. It also reorganizes relationships and culture. Designers who think effective use of mobile technology is just a matter of fitting learning content onto smaller screens, or who approach social media as just another learning delivery channel, may be missing the bigger picture. Here are some ideas to consider.
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Review: Michael Allen’s Successful e-Learning Interface
While User Interface (UI) guidelines help designers solve usability issues on Web sites, eLearning must satisfy a different set of needs in order to provide an effective experience for learners. This learner interface can be at odds with the UI requirements. The latest volume in Michael Allen’s e-Learning Library will guide you and your team safely through resolution of these conflicts.
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Book Review: Consulting Basics by Joel Gendelman
Consulting is not a career for everyone, but if you are making a change in that direction, it would be good to have reliable advice that will help you get started. Here’s a review of a book that can be your guide.
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Book Review: Sharing Hidden Know-How, by Katrina B. Pugh
Efforts to learn from our own experience, as a way to become better organizationally, have not always worked out in recent years. It’s hard work to collect, catalog, and access “lessons learned,” and all too often the process has been over-complicated and time-consuming. Here is a review of what may possibly be the best approach to date for this essential activity.
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Updated Classic: Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting
Success in business is the result of paying attention to and understanding the emotional and personal dimensions of our workplaces. This goes doubly for consulting, whether as an internal agent of change or an external advisor. Peter Block shows you how to get there.
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Book Review: Designing mLearning, by Clark N. Quinn
In this age of mobile devices, all of us in the learning field need to learn to think differently about what we do. Change is upon us, and Clark Quinn has produced a superb guide to help us meet the challenge of a strategic shift in our world.
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Book Review: Virtual Presentations That Work by Joel Gendelman, Ed.D.
Experienced face-to-face presenters often have great difficulty learning to be effective in Webinars and other virtual presentation situations. If you have to teach managers, salespeople, and executives how to be compelling online presenters, this book is a great resource.
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Book Review: The Mobile Learning Edge
Gary Woodill, senior analyst at Brandon Hall Research, has contributed a new book to the slowly growing library of books on mobile learning, The Mobile Learning Edge. Here’s a review.
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Book Review: Tools of Engagement, by Tom Bunzel
As organizations adopt social media for corporate communications and marketing, e-Learning pros will need to help managers and executives learn about it. Here is a textbook that may help.