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FocusOn Learn Conference 2017 Top 3 Takeaways

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Attending my first eLearning Guild FocusOn Learn Conference highlighting mobile, games, and video was fulfilling. I look forward to implementing and sharing the many new skills I have learned.

Ma ka hana ka ʻike.
In working one learns. [#2088]

The ʻōlelo noʻeau above describes my experience. One key quote that stuck with me from a session was to budget in "5+ minutes of playtime daily." [Take away #1] In order to stay innovative and engaged, we need to cognizantly build in playtime, especially when we have such busy lives. Since returning home, although I have not been able to integrate daily play time, I have increased my time to explore new apps or ideas that come up. I explored the Word Swag app an tweeted for my first play time since the conference ended.


My take away #2 was not something new, but a good reminder that the field of instructional design continues to evolve. Although mobile, games, video, virtual reality (VR) are key trends at the moment, it truly comes down to quality instructional design strategies and strategically mixing the use of apps and software to achieve your end product, a quality learning experience for your users.

Throughout the conference, I especially enjoyed the BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) sessions, in which I could explore and try new skills. The power of Articulate 360 and other tools such as Animoto, Go Animate, etc. to develop for multiple mobile device formats has truly allowed instructional designers to focus more on designing the learning experience vs. the technical aspects of coding and programming animations [Take away #3]. Reference my conference notes for screen shots and technical tips.
Image result for articulate 360

Lastly, of course I can't miss posting the new apps I've integrated since learning about them at the conference.

  • 53 (sketch & notes app)
  • Word Swag (text on image professional look in seconds)
  • Top Hat (create interactive lecture experience)
  • Adobe Capture (turns photos into production ready assets using mobile camera)
  • Office Lens (automatically modifies photos taken from an angle)
  • Bubb.li (create photos and stitch together to create VR hotspots & links)

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