Inviting Writers for eCube

Starting July, you have the chance to win a surprise gift from eCube each month for next three months. All you have to do is write a post on eCube on anything related to training, learning and education. I'll be giving away one free gift each month for posts on eCube*.

Some suggested areas on which you are write a post:

• Designing better instruction


• How to write for different audiences


• Writing scenarios, dialogs


• Tips on different type of scenarios for various types of content


• Project management in instructional design projects


• Extracting content from SMEs, interviewing SMEs, best practices of involving SMEs in a project


• Tips on different types of interactivities that can be included in our courses


• How to learn content


• Collaboration tips for instructional design projects


• Selling your design idea to stakeholders


• Tools for rapid elearning, rapid protoyping


• LMSs and issues of deploying elearning content


• Creativity, thinking out of the box


• Leadership, people mentoring, training and developing instructional design teams


• Instructional design theories and practices


• Industry trends in elearning and content


• Any news about companies that might be of interest to the eCube community


• Anything related to training, learning and education

Send me an email at manishm at ecube . co . in to register on this site. I will approve your first post before it is published live.

* Fine print:

- There must be at least 4 posts in the month for anyone to be eligible for the gift, even if all four posts are written by one person.

- Your gift will be shipped free within India only.

eCube LinkedIn Group now 500+

The eCube LinkedIn Group membership quietly crossed 500 a few days ago. The group is 518 members strong as I write this. This is an open group of learning, training and education professionals. Do join in the conversation ongoing there.

Instructional Designers Community of India - FAQs

This post is written by Rupa Rajagopalan

Hello All,

This post has answers to frequently asked questions about the Instructional Designers Community of India. This is relevant to all those who want to be a part of the Instructional Designers Community of India.

Please take time to read through the questions and answers.

Now here are the FAQs:

What is the Instructional Designers Community of India?

The Instructional Designers Community of India is a non-profit community for learning professionals or anyone interested in the field of Instructional Designing.

What is the goal of the community?

The goal of the community is to:

• Actively promote Instructional Design in India


• Create a vibrant platform for collaborative learning on Instructional Designing


• Build a thriving community of learning professionals

Who can be a member?

Anyone who is interested and involved in design, development, and delivery of learning programs is welcome.

Is there a member registration fee?

No. There is no fee currently. However there will be a nominal fee once the community is registered.

How often will the community conduct meetups?

There will be a meetup once in a month only in Bangalore. The community will cover other locations in future.

How do members in other locations participate and learn what is happening in the community?

After every meetup, the minutes of the meeting will be published. If possible, video recordings will also be made available. Webex online meeting is also being considered as a possible solution.

What activities would the community undertake?

The community would primarily focus on sharing information about Instructional Designing.There would be expert talks, workshops, reviews, discussions on blog posts and articles.

How can I contribute to the community?

You can share your knowledge in Instructional Designing by conducting a session or delivering a talk. Everyone and anyone interested can send proposals to the volunteers.

The topic could be anything related to Instructional Designing or any other aspect of learning and development.

Here are some clues:

• You read an interesting blog post and want to talk about it


• You saw an interesting e-learning course and want to discuss it


• You are very good at using an e-learning tool and want to introduce the tool


• You want to conduct a short workshop on a particular topic in Instructional Designing


• You are an expert learning professional and want to share your experiences

Will there be online activities?

Yes. The community is planning to conduct free webinars, online forums and discussions.

Does the community have a website?

This is in progress. Please expect an announcement soon.

Does the community have a mailing list?

The group in Linkedin would be the mailing list for the moment.

Where do I get news and updates about the community?

Watch out the blog: The Writers Gateway.

How do I join the community?

Please join the group in Linkedin.

Who do I contact for any queries?

Please contact any one of the following people:

• Ram - ramarao.simhadri@gmail.com


• Rupa - ruparajgo19@gmail.com


• Vijeesh - vijeesh.shankar@gmail.com

Where will I get announcements about the meetups?

Please check the group in Linkedin and the blog: The Writers Gateway.

In case you have a question that is not in the list, please feel free to leave a comment or mail me.

Flashback of First Year of eCube

The first post on eCube was written on 10 Feb 2007 and we approach completing the first year of eCube. And end of a calendar year is always a good time to reflect on the year gone by. So here's a flashback of activity on eCube in 2008, and well, close to its first year of inception.

Started off as an experiment to use Web 2.0 tools for collaborative learning by reflecting on our experiences, eCube has in the last 11 months or so has had 86 posts by 20 authors attracting 175 comments. This blog has managed to clock more than 11,000 views in about 6,000 visits.

Top 5 viewed posts/pages on eCube have been:

1. Directory of elearning companies in India - eCube

2. The second Working/Learning blog carnival - Manish Mohan

3. Gagne's Events of Instruction - Some Thoughts and Views - Taruna Goel

4. Design- Human Centered Design vs Activity Centered Design? - Anamika Biswas

5. Instructional Design: Two Questions - Sandipan Ray

I also want to mention Login Vs. Log In. While this is at close 6^th place, Login vs. Log In appeared in many search results. There are a lot of people searching for the correct usage of Login, Log In, Logon and Log On. This post is at close 6^th place.

Authors who contributed with most posts on eCube are:

1. Manish Mohan

2. Taruna Goel

3. Anamika Biswas

4. Sonali Malik

5. Anjalie Choudhary, Rupa Rajagopalan and Viplav Baxi

Some posts also attracted fair amount of conversation in the form of comments. Top 5 posts with most comments were:

1. Gagne's Events of Instruction - Some Thoughts and Views - Taruna Goel

2. Instructional Design: Two questions - Sandipan

3. Do We Need Instructional Designers for Technology Content Projects? - Manish Mohan

4. Do Instructional Design Training Programs in India Need a Revamp? - Rupa Rajagopalan

5. Design- Human Centered Design vs Activity Centered Design? - Anamika Biswas

6. What would you like to do better as a Learning Professional? - Sonali Malik



Google Analytics provides the following statistics:







The eCube community also thrived on Facebook (153 members) and LinkedIn (181 members at last count and growing).

Announcing eCube Community Site

Announcing the launch of eCube Community Social Networking site. Connect with other like minded professionals in the field of learning, education and training. Create your own social networking friend circle, write your blog, form groups to discuss specific topics, and share bookmarks, photos and files.

Register now and join the community. Set up your profile to share your interest and skills.

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Century on eCube Facebook Group

eCube Facebook group membership is now 102 strong. This networked community has members from India, USA, UK, Canada, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Czech Republic. The community collectively provides experience in instructional design, training, competency development, media, technology, project management, sales, HR, and business management. There are clients, vendors and consultants in the community. I encourage you to tap into this very rich and experienced community.