The Rapid Elearning Blog

The Rapid E-Learning Blog - ewear fashion for elearning success

One of my favorite parts of going to elearning conferences is meeting so many of the industry’s thought leaders. During my recent trip to the Learning Solution Conference in Orlando I ran into one of my mentors and a real elearning pioneer, Dr. Werner Oppelbaumer.

I was able to get some time with him for a brief interview. We discussed the industry and where he sees things going. I also asked for a sneak peek at some of his innovative technology research.

The Rapid E-Learning Blog - Dr. Werner Oppelbaumer discussing the future of elearning

Lots of elearning people are using Twitter. What do you think about Twitter and social media, in general?

Werner: I am a big fan of social media, especially in the work place. It’s a great way to keep lazy people busy. They used to distract others with their long water cooler conversations and endless barrage of help for every little thing. This impacted the bottom line because they consumed the time and resources of more productive people.

Now with Twitter they are able to sit at their desks and feel like they are making an important contribution to humanity as they share all the important information that busy people are missing because they are working.

Ok…let’s talk about opportunities. What are you excited about?

Werner: Even if times are tough there are always opportunities. We’ve seen lots of improvement in our industry with technology like rapid elearning tools.

But learning is much more than multimedia technology. For years we’ve focused on desktop technology and then we looked at mobile. But what have we missed?

Clothes! And it’s been there right in front of our eyes for years.

We hypothesized that most people wear clothes when participating in an elearning course. And our studies have proved us right. Based on our findings, 87% of elearners wear clothes while taking their courses. Surely there’s an opportunity there with this huge untapped market.

The Rapid E-Learning Blog - people wear clothes while taking elearning courses

We did some digging and sure enough, there is ample opportunity. Our studies are showing a direct correlation between successful knowledge transfer and what people wear. There’s a lot to learn about the emotional connection between clothing and the learning experience.

We immediately began to prototype some ideas that we think will push our industry forward. Here’s a quick tour of what we are currently working on in our research labs.

The Rapid E-Learning Blog - Dr. Werner Oppelbaumer research labs presentation for elearning wear and mobile learning

Click here to view the research lab demo.

That’s fascinating. Thank you Dr. Werner for sharing your expertise and letting us take a sneak peek at the future of elearning.

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25 responses to “Want E-Learning Success? Make Sure Your Learners Are Dressed For It!”

LOL Happy April Fools Day! 🙂

April 1st, 2012

Funny made me laugh 🙂 My father had one of those suits in the 70s. I am aging myself.

I tested the link on the iPad and to my surprise it plays. How did you create that?

April 1st, 2012

Ausgezeichnet Tom! We can always count on you to bring us the most cutting edge advice. 🙂

April 1st, 2012

Now I’m pretty sure the post was part of an April Fool’s stunt. But the presentation ran on my IPad. Is that also an April Fools stunt?

[…] See the original post here: Want E-Learning Success? Make Sure Your Learners Are Dressed For It! » The Rapid eLearning Blog […]

So….is that T-shirt gonna be in the Articulate store or do I need to take the picture down to the booth at the mall and make it myself?

April 2nd, 2012

Nice one Tom really funny. Just a quick question though. How did you create the drag & drop effect? I have been wanting to do something like that with Articulate for ages but not succeeded.
Thanks again.
John

Hilarious! Thanks for the laugh!!!

April 2nd, 2012

Ha! Thanks, Tom. I couldn’t wait to get to work this morning to see what gem you and Dr. Werner had in store for us. You never disappoint us.

April 2nd, 2012

Absolutely hilarious. I hope I don’t lose any teeth in my work!

April 2nd, 2012

I was told we have a little budget this year for something innovative. I am SO pitching this at the next staff meeting! 🙂

@John: the demo was built with the Storyline beta. What’s cool is the drag and drop only took about 10 seconds to build. It should also work on the iPad in case you have one and want to see how it works on the iPad.

Made my day. Thanks, Tom.

April 2nd, 2012

This was fantastic! What great information! Really a paradigm shift for me – clothes. I think I’ll try that. Thanks, Tom, you fool. 🙂

April 2nd, 2012

Tom-
Thanks for the humor.

This was laugh-out-loud funny, I especially loved the blended learning wrestling videos! Thanks for inputting a little humor into our day.

Ahh a breath of fresh Werner! Happy April!

April 2nd, 2012

Fantastic! Thanks for the April Fools fun!

April 2nd, 2012

Thanks for sharing your encounter with Dr. Oppelbaumer! It’s nice to hear what he’s been up to. I suppose I’d better join the ranks and consider what I wear when learning…or lack thereof.

Tom, I thought you were a rock star in eLearning…take comfort in knowing that you can also make it as a German short film director. Or a short German film star. lol

Keep up the good work. Looking forward to your Seattle dog and pony show. Knock ’em dead in Portland! -Jill

Good one – thanks! 😀

April 2nd, 2012

Leuchtend als immer, Herrprofessor!

April 9th, 2012

Great blog as usual Tom!

In the Research Lab Demo, I was wondering how you got the check marks on the product boxes to work even if the user was not going throgh the presentation linearly. i.e. if I saw the second product first, it only checked the second box etc. I can do this, but only if the user goes through it in order, 1, 2 and 3.

Thanks for your help.

@Noureen: the check marks were created with Articulate Storyline. It’s actually pretty simple to do so since the visited states are built into the app.

Thanks Tom. Looking forward to release of Articulate Storyline.
Noureen