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Recap of ASTD TechKnowledge 2013: Day 1

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Okay, the first day of ASTD TK13 has wrapped up – at least from the expo side of the house. Excuse any strange text breaks – writing from the WordPress iOS app.

Let’s jump right in for the game action.

TOUCHDOWN

I was really impressed with a few new products
Go! Animate
A unique product that uses the power of animated figures

  • Can output to MP4 or Flash, I loved the MP4
    It can be embed into your web site, added to your LMS, but to me the real awesomeness is the ability to add into any authoring tool.
  • Thousands of characters to choose from, including backgrounds
  • Can add your own audio or use one of their audio tracks – which surprisingly were not bad, actually quite a few were good
  • Can synch audio with the character’s lips – I love it!
  • You can add your own video and better yet, can have your character appear and watch the video
  • Oh, did I mention you can create your own character right in the product, including changing outfits and much more
  • It’s one big drawback – no support for SCORM, but hey, since it is ideal for sticking in to your course, rather than as a standalone authoring tool, it works

    • SaaS product and streaming included. Pricing is low.

    Please note they do not yet support HTML5, but again with MP4 no worries – it can be seen on any tablet, including iPad

    Mango

  • Learn a foreign language software
  • Easy to use, features include 45 languages, uses color coded phonetic semantics – identifying each word in various colors to match the word in the other language — i.e. in my example – seeing the word in English, viewing it in Hindi
  • Ability to hear the speaker, then you speak into the product and it compares to the speaker
  • Follows a conversational approach to learning – which is so much better than hearing the word and then repeating it, with zero idea on what it means and more importantly, how to use it in general conversation

    • I see it not only as a standalone but also as a course or courses within a learning platform

    INTERCEPTION

    CODEBABY

    Not sure what is going on here, but the product which was cutting edge a couple of years back, looks stale. One of their problems has always been the price point – way too high, but now others are in the game and why they don’t necessarily have the design similar to CB, they do have the ease of use angle. Which CB does not.

    FIELD GOAL IS GOOD

    I have been told that Articulate Studio 13 is targeting a launch anywhere from Q2 to Q3, but don’t be surprised if it gets pushed back into Q4.
    That said, I will be providing a product review on Studio 13 before it is launched – AN EXCLUSIVE. I’ll be providing updates on this in the near future.

    FIELD GOAL ATTEMPT – BLOCKED

    Out of all the shows, this is the one show that brings the most decision makers, and yet the number of vendors here is not great. Equally surprising are the lack of LMS vendors. I mean a huge amount are not here.

    Makes no sense to me. Although I do think one reason is the location. San Jose is not ideal for companies on the east coast and it is not a “must” want to visit location. Las Vegas which is where the show is held – every other year – is a far better location.

    Still the numbers are disappointing.

    That’s it for now. Thursday: Recap day two of the ASTD TK13 show, including expo. – another blog post.

    E-Learning 24/7

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