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New Markets, Engaging Content and Innovation The LoD Mid-Norway Network (see http://www.lodnett.no/index.php?kat=English+Version&p=17|) hosted this fall meeting in Steinkjer, two hours by train from the airport of Trondheim. The meeting coincided with the official opening of the LoD Mid-Norway's new Web site, which serves as the information hub of the network consisting of eLearning companies, research organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies (see http://www.lodnett.no/index.php?kat=Members&p=17| for more information about the members of the network). The meeting, which brought together about 25 people—including representatives from Ireland, England, Finland, and the United States, as well as many from various parts of Norway—also had a unique social dimension, including a memorable "Viking dinner" as well as a visit the following day to Stiklestad, the place where a big Viking battle took place in 1030. Everyone will no doubt remember this visit for a long time! The meeting was opened by Erik Schøning, the director of LoD Mid-Norway and the main organizer of the meeting, in partnership with his colleague Tone Rostad. Erik and Eilif Trondsen jointly opened the LoD Mid-Norway Web site officially and kicked off the meeting. Stephen Taylor, who is now the chairman and facilitator for our European meetings because he has done such a great job in all the meetings he has led, then took over and led a round of introductions together with brief discussions of meeting expectations and goals before introducing the speakers. The first presentation—eLearning in the Agricultural Sector (this presentation and the others at the meeting are available to LoD clients at http://www.sric-bi.com/LoD/meetings/2002-10-10.shtml)—was by Anton Trætteberg of Sintef (a large research and consulting organization in Trondheim), who talked about the integration of eLearning and knowledge management (and the role of tacit knowledge) in the context of eLearning and the Agricultural sector. This integration is the focus of AgroNett Learning (http://www.agronettlearning.no), one of the members of LoD Mid-Norway Network. Anton is part of a team headed by AgroNett Learning, which is planning to use eLearning and story-based learning as a means to capture and share knowledge and learning among farmers in Norway. Because the agricultural sector is not a typical sector that eLearning vendors target very much, this interesting and path-breaking project has significant implications. The use of story-based learning content as a way to capture knowledge among farmers is also a relatively novel approach. The next presentation—Practical Experiment in a Norwegian Research Project—by Ivar Blikø, a colleague of Anton's at Sintef, followed with additional concrete work-related examples of eLearning closely connected to work processes and how technology can play an important role in capturing and sharing more experience-based and tacit knowledge that is not in books and manuals but is evident every day in practitioners' skills. Ivar's project with a machining company (PTM) that does custom production of very precisely machined parts for the oil and other industries uses video-based tools and digital voice-recording technologies to allow the capture and sharing of tacit knowledge and experience-based work practices. Use of these tools has not only enabled the company to reduce or cut out the use of workshop drawings (which capture either explicit or tacit knowledge less effectively than video and voice) but has also allowed this knowledge to be embedded and delivered to customers (with the final product). In this way, this technology has become a tool for customer learning or, more broadly, for enabling eLearning along the value chain. (See the LoD report that we did more than two years ago on this exact topic). Another benefit that Ivar and his Sintef team have found from the use of these kinds of video and voice-supported work instruction is reduced miscommunication among workers (and among the company and its customers). Ivar concluded by noting "the start of a knowledge management system that works...." After lunch, Thorleif Hjeltnes of TSIP, a research foundation that also is active in delivering continuing education and training and is associated with the university college of Sør Trøndelag, gave a presentation—Model for a European, Networked University (mENU)—describing a project involving four institutions in Norway, two from Greece, and one each from Italy, the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, and Spain. This project is one of ten selected for funding under the Preparatory and Innovative Actions—eLearning Action Plan that the European Union agreed to fund in 2001 as part of its effort to stimulate collaborative initiatives among universities throughout Europe that leverage information and communication technologies (see http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/elearning/projects.html). The TSIP project involves building virtual degree programs that leverage components of each contribution partner university. Thorleif's presentation described the underlying model as well as the key success factors. Some of these factors—such as status of eLearning for academic credit, standardization of learning materials, and systems that reward people who contribute—represent significant hurdles that remain before the mENU achieves sustainable support. Although this and many of the other educational eLearning projects funded by the EU are facing significant challenges and resistance among many academics and university administrators throughout Europe, indications are that progress is under way and that eLearning is gaining steady ground in most countries in higher education in Europe. I followed Thorleif with a presentation on the LoD report Research, Travel Observations, and Reflections, to update the LoD members on our research and travel activities. Two of our research reports, a travel report, and a summary of a symposium at SRI in September all address various issues related to learning objects (LOs), and we will continue to monitor and report on this topic regularly because LOs are now moving from the conceptual phase into deployments in the academic and corporate world. A recent Bulletin addressed another topic that we no doubt will revisit from time to time: eLearning in the context of enterprise applications. Reports in progress include a vertical study of eLearning in the oil industry, later to be followed by studies of eLearning in the financial industries, health/pharmaceuticals/biotech, and government, among others. Another report that is near the draft stage is Tom Barron's annual eLearning industry update. My presentation also summarized some observations that I made during my week in Australia in mid-September, followed by two days at Online Learning in Anaheim, California. The visit to Australia was particularly interesting. I was impressed by the considerable eLearning activity that is taking place in Melbourne/Victoria, Sydney/New South Wales, and Brisbane/Queensland. In Brisbane, a formal initiative is under way to build an eLearning cluster—an interesting development similar to what is emerging in British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Quebec, Canada (and these regional efforts are now connecting in an effort to formulate a national eLearning agenda and strategy). A variety of small Australian eLearning companies have built strong eLearning capabilities and are pursuing emerging domestic opportunities, but most of the companies I talked to also have ambitious plans to expand into U.S., European, and Asian markets in the future. Most are therefore also looking to form partnerships with companies in other markets—and because we have heard similar needs among LoD members in Europe and Asia, we will look for ways to connect companies with complementary capabilities and needs. Following the coffee break and opportunities for networking, Arlene Anderson, CEO of LearningPoint—an eLearning start-up leveraging technology from a Trondheim-based technology company, Intrapoint—gave a "high-audience-participation" presentation: One Size Fits (Almost) Nobody: Taking Advantage of eLearning Benefits. One of Arlene's points was that we need to move our attention from eLearning to relearning and finally to "Me-learning" and to use the tools that technology brings to enable greater customization and personalization of learning. To this effect, LearningPoint has authoring tools that users can learn in just a few minutes and then create content for a Web environment—using familiar Microsoft-based tools—and thus quickly customize and personalize the learning content for a particular learner and learning context. LearningPoint is also at work to integrate Autonomy's very sophisticated search technology into its learning environment in order to integrate formal and informal learning in new and unique ways. As this effort has always been an integral part of the LoD vision for eLearning—and is clear in a figure that we have used in a number of our reports (see below)—we will revisit this topic from time to time, particularly as new approaches and technologies emerge to tackle this integration problem.  In the final presentation of the meeting, Tore Huseth of the Steinkjer-based eLearning company Datapower—a learning-content-management company with an ambition to make great eLearning content—gave a presentation: Learning Objects: The Norwegian Practice. Tore's presentation added some new perspectives to what we covered in the LoD publications on learning objects that I referred to earlier:
Presentations:
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(Korean Inquiries)
(Japanese site)