Robert “Bob” Bilyk from LodeStar will speak on “Tech Tools for eLearning Development: Pros and Cons and Comparisons” at the Digital Learning Forum’s monthly presentation on Monday, May 9.
Robert Bilyk
The presentation and discussion will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Room 150, 3M Auditorium, Owens Science Hall. Guests can arrive at 6:15 p.m. to network with other professionals in the Twin Cities area. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.
An information session on the University of St. Thomas Graduate Certificate in E-Learning and MA in Technology for Learning, Development and Change will be conducted at 8 p.m. following the program.
The program
Nebulae are interstellar clouds of dust and gas from which eLearning authoring tools are born. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of them – from open source to highly proprietary and expensive – from tools that promote the adoption of templates and rapid authoring to tools that spare no development costs and promote flexibility, versatility and control at the microscopic level.
In the early days of computer-based training, the choice of a language versus visual authoring system or the choice of a flow-chart design metaphor versus a paging metaphor seemed small in comparison to the technologies that touch eLearning today, from learning management systems to social networking to mobile computing to virtual worlds to Web services. The choice of tools is commensurate with the proliferation of technology and offers various alignments to the use of these technologies in eLearning.
This session offers a brief panorama of the eLearning authoring galaxy, but also a focused look at two tools that are as dissimilar and yet strangely complementary as matter and antimatter. This session will focus on the game-changing Zebra, the invention and inspiration of Dr. Michael Allen, who created Authorware more than two decades ago; and LodeStar, a template-based tool whose metamorphosis is the story of the emerging Web.
The presenter
Bilyk is an instructional designer and software developer who works on the Zebra team together with other programmers, designers and quality assurance professionals under the direction of Michael Allen. He is also the co-founder of LodeStar Learning together with Mark Burrs and is working concurrently on the sixth major release of the LodeStar eLearning authoring tool. Bilyk has more than 25 years of experience as a high school teacher, college teacher, founder of Cyber Village Academy, instructional designer and software programmer.
The Digital Learning Forum’s monthly presentation and discussion is sponsored by the Master of Arts in Technology for Learning, Development and Change, and the Graduate Certificate in E-Learning program in the Department of Organization Learning and Development at the University of St. Thomas.
