Today I participated in an online chat hosted by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). The chat--The E-Learning Developer's Toolbox--featured Thomas Toth of www.rainbow.com as a Subject Matter Expert (SME). Today's chat was run using software from eShare Technologies and lasted for an hour and involved 50 participants. The session contained some great information. For instance, Toth recommends that Authorware NOT be used for developing Web-based Training (WBT) unless the following three conditions can be met:

1. Learners have a VERY fast connection to the Web.
   
2. You're positive that all potential users can access and download a BIG plug-in.
   
3. Potential users are PC savvy and able to deal with the plug-in's interface.
   

Authorware is better suited for developing Computer-based (i.e., CD-ROM-based) Training (CBT).

For WBT Toth recommends using the Coursebuilder add-on for Dreamweaver. He also said that WBT should be produced in "good ol'" HTML and that "out of the box" applications on the market typically attempt to include DHTML, XML or other solutions in an attempt to overcome browser-specific delivery issues.

We were told that today's session will be archived on the ASTD's site next week. Once the transcript is posted, I'll add a link to this post.

Back to the topic of Learning Objects...
I think that one of the major problems with Knowledge Objects/Learning Objects as an area of study is one of semantics. Just what is a Learning Object?

This and other topics are addressed in a threaded group discussion at the elearning forum. This forum contains more great resources on this topic--I found the archives to be especially valuable.Go to this link and navigate to Jay's entry from August 13, 2001 for Jay's take on the notion of "size" and Learning Objects.

The forum is moderated by Jay Cross, CEO of InternetTime.com
NOTE: Jay's site is a *FANTASTIC* reource for information on eLearning.

The What are Learning Objects is another great resource on this topic.