Content Management in Elearning - elearningpost Interview with Bob Boiko
Quote: "...technology changes a lot and focusing on technology is not the right thing to do. What's really important to me is figuring out what exactly you want from your learning system or information system. From my point of view, I have certain information resources that I would like to deliver to certain people in a certain way. That's not a technology question. That's not about what system I have. Rather its about what information do I have, who wants it and how do I deliver that information in the best possible way. Now obviously I would need a system to do that, but the infrastructure follows from the need I have, not the other way around."
Comment: I've said this before: elearning is an aggregation industry. Developments in the industries that comprise elearning sooner or later impact elearning. This is a good example. Content management is emerging rapidly. Within several years, discussion of elearning will focus heavily on content management. Why? Currently the industry (elearning) is too disorganized and confused to know what it wants and needs. Many false starts (followed by retracing steps - think Open University, NYU Online) have confused the core issues of elearning. What are the core issues? Instructor, organization, content, student. That's it. Nothing more is needed. Technology enables these four aspects to work together more effectively to foster learning. All four areas benefit from (forget benefit...they NEED) content management - . So, once elearning gets its stuff together, watch for tools, software, and processes that support core issues to thrive...and content management will be right up front.
Coincidentally, enterprise applications (like CRM or ERP or HRMS) will integrate with content management and learning systems to create (eventually - fingers crossed) a system that makes technology almost transparent (and all of these will be linked to (or comprise) knowledge management systems).
A colleague approached me earlier this week and said "Why are you so negative on classrooms? It's really coming through in your writing. You're a classroom teacher, after all." Thought about that for a while. I've concluded that I'm not negative on classrooms - I'm negative on the inefficiencies and abuses found in many classrooms.
Too many instructors view teaching as lecturing...so, lectures become little more than a one-sided, egotistical spoutings of knowledge. No (or little) attempt is made to ensure learning has happened. This is not a function of classrooms - this is a function of poor teaching...and it is poor teaching I'm ranting against.
Only critical content should be presented via lecture and then explored through application and interaction. Learning occurs as a result of reflection on, and validation of, content...this process is most often initiated through interaction. In this model (and online), content is not less important. The difference is in how content is explored...and to a degree who provides it - teacher, student, or both.
Effective teaching requires equipping students with the skills and beliefs to be able to provide for their own learning.
Jay Cross' blog has a new look...he switched to Movable Type from Blogger (as elearningpost did several months ago). Looks good.
Spam hits 36 percent of e-mail traffic - I believe it...it's getting worse (daily)
Choosing a Blogging Package for Students via SiT
Quote: "I was recently commissioned with the task of selecting an appropriate blogging tool for our upcoming Intellectual Property Weblog class. Selecting blogging software is becoming increasingly tricky, in part because there are so many packages out there, and because so many of them are so good. All have been appending each other's features as time goes on, making their advantages progressively less distinct."
Blog Days of Summer
Quote: "Blogs have grown from their sparse, grassroots days into a burgeoning forest of information and opinions for two reasons. First is the software, which has helped take some of the technical load off users - you don't really need to know anything about HTML or FTP to blog - and significantly lowered the barrier to entry. Second is the form itself. Blogs, which are time stamped and posted in reverse chronological order, read like a diary or journal. They are often brief, opinionated, and personal stream-of-consciousness etchings with links to other bits or blogs or news items or websites."
Comment: We are still at the beginning stages of a love affair with blogs. Traditional media, academia, and organizations are falling over themselves saying how great blogs are...and they are right. Only a matter of time, however, before the expectations of blogs far exceed what they actually can do. Blogs are about communicating and connecting...corner stones to organizational transformation - but that's it. If we make the simple concept of blogging complex, we lose their real value.
Think elearning is a quicker, simpler way of getting an education? Virtual Degrees Virtually Tough presents a slightly different perspective...it seems that the process of getting an online degree is just as rigorous as traditional education. The acceptance, however, by employers is still not great (though many schools no longer differentiate between classroom/online degrees.
Machinimas
Quote: "Part cinema, part video game, these so-called machinimas don't need real actors, props, cameras or sets -- just a home computer."
Comment: We'll see more of this in learning...has much potential, especially in simulations.
Information Architecture
Quote: "We often see interaction design and IA compared. Let's acknowledge once and for all that information architecture is the more difficult of the two."
Comment: Information architecture ("At its most basic, information architecture is the construction of a structure or the organization of information. In a library, for example, information architecture is a combination of the catalog system and the physical design of the building that holds the books. On the Web, information architecture is a combination of organizing a site's content into categories and creating an interface to support those categories. from 10 Questions about IA) WILL be an important role in the online learning design model. Coincidentally, I'm currently obsessed with online learning design models...current systems don't seem to work - they are too expensive or not flexible enough to account for the reality of an instructor's work day. I will post an article on this within the next month. MSWeb: An Enterprise Intranet #1 is an example of a massive IA project...
Collaboration Tools: What Works and What Doesn't
Quote: "Almost everything today seems to be sold as some type of a collaboration tool. As a starting point -- and to be sure we are on the same page -- let's define what a collaboration tool is: any product or service that lets multiple users communicate or share information."
Comment: Very basic article...would be more useful if examples of collaborative tools was included.
Ray Ozzie: "According to observers, there was formerly but a single effective way to get messages out to an audience - through major mass-market publications that possessed exclusive control of the final form of those messages. "Add Weblogs to that mix", one highly-respected and influential journalist recently wrote, and an entire industry's "world view was shaken"."
Theory & Practice: Learning Content Management Systems
Quote: "Traditional methods for developing online learning material tend to be expensive, time-consuming, and require specialized skills that are often hard to acquire. To fully realize the benefits of e-learning, many companies have found "a better way" by using a Learning Content Management System (LCMS) to rapidly author, deploy and manage e-learning content."
Comment: Simple overview of difference between LCMS and LMS. Before organizations start thinking of investing in an incredibly expensive LCMS, open source options like Zope or PHP-Nuke should be explored...
Just a quick note: if any readers registered for the elearning non-course and I have not confirmed, please email me again. I lost several registrations when my computer crashed this morning...
Digital Libraries: Free as a Bird: Wireless Networking Libraries via elearningpost
Quote: "Now I understand the power and freedom that wireless makes possible. Wireless, however, is far from new to me; for two years I have used it at home. I have a Macintosh PowerBook with a wireless card and an Apple Airport base station connected to my DSL service. I can roam just about anywhere on my quarter-acre lot while happily surfing the net. But what I never experienced until Atlanta was the freedom of connecting out in the wide world, without paying a dime."
Comment: This article opens up the concept of Warchalking...see also new fad. Wireless will be huge...it will happen quickly...and it will create many concerns for service providers. Setting that aside - the benefit of wireless is the freedom it provides. In a sense, the full potential of the Internet is realized in wireless - anytime, anywhere.
Is our children learning?
Quotes: "Each year more than $5 billion is spent on computers in the classroom. But it's the tech companies that benefit...Training teachers to use technology, however, doesn't turn technology into a better teacher."
Comment: While this article is overly negative on the use of technology in education, it makes a very valid point: integrating education and technology often does not result in better content learning. I encountered this frustration when I first started with elearning at Red River College. Everyone I spoke with directed me to technical people. The focus was technology, not learning...and technology for technology's sake is useless.
The 99 cent KM solution
Quote: "I am not opposed to big, expensive, all-embracing KM solutions. I'm just suspicious of them. There is a difference. And I get more suspicious of them as they promise to automate more."
Comment: Much like Low Threshold Applications, this article focuses on simple, cost effective approaches to Knowledge Management. I think the biggest benefit to this simple approach isn't cost-saving - it's the increased likelihood of adoption. Simplicity gets used at a user level - complexity is often a "make work" project for boardrooms and consultants (and huge $$ wasted).
Spent the better portion of the weekend working on the "Teaching Online" course that we are developing to Distance Education. Going through the resources, I'm surprised at how difficult it is to truly "transform" rather than "transfer" content online. We have been focusing on making interaction the larger part of the course (versus content dumping). Two thoughts on that: 1. It's more difficult to design learning where students explore resources than it is to tell students what to think. When communicating, I feel I have to tell people what I want them to know. Not so online...I have to direct them to information and then, through effective assessment, ensure that learning objectives were achieved. 2. It is easy to get lazy as a designer and throw up links that aren't directly related to the intended learning objectives. Developing online resources requires constant focus on outcomes and objectives. In a classroom, if the design process has some inefficiencies, I can always "cover up" through instruction. This crutch is gone in elearning.
Question: I'm always surprised at how proponents of a new way of doing things utilize old techniques to communicate their concepts. For example, several years ago, I attended a session where the speaker focused on the end of the lecture as a means of communicating information. Guess what?...she lectured to get her point across. Or, people yip about how courses are changing...and the instructor is no longer the provider of knowledge (but a guide)...and we use a course to communicate this new approach. Seems silly. So, I'd like to set up a mailing list for approx 12 weeks that is a "non-course" course. Instead of providing any content, at the start of each week, I would post a concept and a link. From there, the group (max 15 people) would dissect and analyze the subject - providing the content through interaction. Not instructor, only a guide. At the end of each week, I would summarize comments and post them in essay form on elearnspace
Interested in this type of learning experience?? See Non-course Course. (It's free...12 weeks...would take some time commitment each week to contribute...done through Yahoo Groups. I'll send a list of weekly topics to anyone who expresses interest.)
Improvising Your Way Out of Trouble
Quote: "Why do some people suffer real hardships and not falter? Why do some organizations overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to prosper while other companies cave in at the slightest adversity?"
Comment: Great article discussing bricolage. Many designers and online instructors should be able to relate...often it seems the whole process is one of innovation and pulling together disparate resources.
Encourage Your Employees to Play...via Stephen's Web
Quote: "Simulations have become increasingly complex and realistic in the last few years. They have also become increasingly popular, both in universities and in corporate training settings."
Comment: For more information on game/simulation learning see Games & Simulations
A blog that's new to me (looks good) Weblogg-ed. "Weblogg-ed is maintained by me, Will Richardson, a teacher at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in beautiful Flemington, NJ. (Yes, beautiful and New Jersey can be used in the same sentence.) It's my place to collect ideas for weblogs in the classroom, to ask questions to the teacher weblogging community, and to reflect on my teaching. It's also intended to be a clearninghouse for sites and issues relating to weblogs in education."
Building Communities--Strategies for Collaborative Learning
Quote: "When put into a learning context, however, community can be a vehicle for connecting people to other people's stories and experiences, as well as mentoring, all of which result in accelerated learning and the sharing of tacit knowledge within an organization."
Comment: According to the article, 70% of what people need to know in order to do their job is learned outside of formal training. Organizations need to foster environments that allow for rapid (informal) dissemination of knowledge. John Seely Brown's article Growing Up Digital provides an excellent overview of workplace learning.
Using HTML Email to Deliver High-Impact Episodic Training
Quote:"Newsletter-style HTML emails are an excellent option if you must deliver information to far-flung employees rapidly and inexpensively."
Comment:Newsletter emails are a great example of informal learning. Effective training/learning should not be an event (i.e. classroom) but a process.
Two things people seem to be doing...writing blogs or writing about writing blogs. See: Living in the Blog-osphere, A Nation of Bloggers and Googling by E-Mail (requires free registration). (for more info on blogging, see Mindboggling Blogging (from our first incarnation of elearnspace blog) or elearnspace - blogs.
What's the big deal?? Blogging is easy...and it's disruptive (must read article)...anyone can learn how to do it in minutes...and free hosting and software from sites like Blogger makes it even easier. Here's my prediction (it's very easy to make predictions when a trend is well underway!!..:)) - blogging will transform how people communicate...it will become absolutely huge. Company presidents, managers, teachers, professors, politicians (ok, I'm dreaming) will use this medium to connect with their audiences - communicating, clarifying, and sharing personal views - for the benefit of the company (or whatever organization).
Why is blogging going to be so big?...because it builds on the strengths of the Internet. Email, for example, is merely an extension of existing mail systems. As such, it is about bending a new medium to an existing process. Blogging is using a new medium for what it is good for - connecting and interacting.
True Confessions
Comment: Free registration may be required...This article lists major blunders in project management. Applies very well to elearning...I particularly like:
Jay Cross discusses Convergence. I agree. Silos need to be broken down so a complete, integrated concept of learning/work/KM/performance support can evolve.
Good discussion going on at ASTD/Learning Circuits Blog on the role of lectures.
Quote: "What I find most amazing about lectures is that in the pluri-millennial tradition of developing, producing, testing, marketing, evolving the product we call the lecture, no institutions and only a few individuals have bothered to think about how the thing works and attempt to turn it into an art form, or at the very least into an efficient service."
I'm completely fascinated by Ray Ozzie's Blog...check out his post on Nondiscretionary Controls. Getting insight into the thoughts and opinions of a technology icon like Ray (Lotus Notes, Groove) is amazing. Gotta love blogging...openly answer and address critics, respond to concerns, and clarify misunderstandings.
European Online Learning Blog
Comment: New blog...addressing European online learning issues...should be nice to have this connection to their online developments. Hope it doesn't become a marketing tool for VNU Learning (blog sponsor).
I've posted a new article on elearnspace...Lessons Learned Teaching Online. Basically just recounts some of the bigger things I've learned about the online medium. Let me know your thoughts...
Evaluating the usability of Web-based learning tools via Online Learning Update
Quote: "Web-based learning tools provide integrated environments of various technologies to support diverse educators' and learners' needs via the Internet. This paper reports the results from a study to experimentally compare two commercially available learning tools in a university course. We discuss the findings from this study in relation to basic usability issues that must be attended to when designing user interfaces for web-based learning tools."
Comment: Compares Blackboard and WebCT. It is important (critical?) for tools for be easy to use...or they will restrict elearning's growth. As one student voiced in the study "I found that I spent most of my time learning WebCT and not course material. A "learning" tool should not be making life more difficult for me."
The Age of Information Architecture
Quote: "For the most part, information architects are communicators and strategists."
Comment: Article is focused on web design...but as elearning advances, the development teams and roles will increasingly duplicate web design processes.
Five Choices: Or, Why I Won't Give Dave Pell Twelve Dollars
Stephen's at it again. He has issues with paying for content online. I agree with importance of content being free...and that it is difficult to make a career out of content creation when so many people do it for free (think web sites and newsletters). Stephen offers five suggestions for making a living creating content:
Great quote: "If someone brings a lot of new technology into your school district, and doesn't provide staff development, the only thing that will change is your electric bill." Ms. LeBeau's HomePage
Ray Ozzie - Weblog Policy
Comment: The public nature of weblogs requires some guidelines so sensitive corporate information isn't divulged. This article lists the guidelines at Groove. Interesting point...need to give it some thought. I generally maintain my blog and blog-summary newsletter on my own time. I guess I should at least follow the guidelines listed in the article and state "all opinions are mine and not my employers". hmm...legal stuff sucks.
Is Digital Learning Effective in the Workplace?
Quote: "Similar accounts produce similar conclusions-ROI is positive and grades are at least equivalent. But, equivalent test scores only partially answer the question posed here: Just how effective is digital learning when compared against an equivalent classroom event?"
Comment: Let it go...elearning has progressed beyond focusing on effectiveness when compared to classrooms. We can't keep answering a question that has been answered numerous times...and it's not an accurate comparison. One of the aspects of elearning that is often ignored is accessibility to learning. When students have access to online learning that they would not have in classrooms, the learning is at least 100% more effective...:).
With that said...this is actually a good article for people still trying to convince people/organizations of the the value of elearning. Final conclusion: digital learning is generally as effective as classroom learning...and factors like student motivation, expectation, and instructor support impact success rates.
410 students kicked out for not working
Quote: "Cincinnati's Virtual High School dropped 410 students, more than half its first-year enrollment, because the students did little or no work."
Comment: This article highlights what I think is a serious concern in elearning - the notion that online students do not succeed mainly because they are not self-motivated. I agree that in order succeed online, a student needs greater discipline than in a classroom...but, if elearning doesn't find a way to meet the needs of students who are not over-achieving, mature, and independent (in other words - 5% of society) then the future of the industry is bleak. I think poor instruction and awful design play the greatest role in student drop outs. Quit blaming the students. Design better, teach better...and capture a larger % of the potential elearners.
Teaching Portfolios in Higher Education
Quote: "As part of the trend towards enhanced accountability, it is now commonplace for institutions of higher education to clearly flag a commitment to teaching quality..."
This has been making the rounds on elearning blogs/listservs: Free Culture. Lawrence Lessig offers makes four critical observations:
Internet2: Time to Shed Dot Vertigo
Quote: "The dot-com implosion has left many managers wary of the promised wonders of information technology, but those who ignore the next phase of the Internet-dubbed Internet2-do so at their peril."
Comment: When ever something is declared as "dead" (like the Internet recently), you know it's big and very much alive.
System snubs qualified teachers via Kairosnews
Quote: ''Requiring excessive numbers of pedagogy or education-theory courses,'' the report said, ''acts as an unnecessary barrier for those wishing to pursue a teaching career.''
Comment: Not sure what to think about this. I think the article is too one-sided - i.e. against the value of formal instruction on how to teach. One comment sounds great in theory..."Once we get the kind of people we want, we can train them in the schools.''...but the reality is that most education institutions are too busy to make that a focus. Generally, I'm in favour of the value of informal learning as being the equivalent of formal learning (developing a skill through actual work rather than through formal education)....but that is not the tone of the article. The article devalues the role of education theory courses in developing qualified instructors. Translating that to the online environment, it would suggest let people who know their stuff teach it. Horrible mistake based on my experiences as an online student. Teachers MUST be trained before they teach online...if not, student dissatisfaction and high drop out rates are inevitable.
What are exams telling us?
Quote: "Everyone - government, teachers, employers - now claims to believe in the importance of lifelong learning. Yet the exam system persists in pretending that intellectual capacity, and quite possibly one's future in the workplace, can be summed up by a few scripts scribbled in the school hall one hot afternoon in early summer. For how long can we go on pretending that introducing more and more tests is the same thing as improving education?"
Comment: Assessment needs to be authentic - it needs to duplicate real life where possible. I'm sure most people can remember a student from high school who had great grades, but failed to translate that into their career. Ideally, people who do well in school/college assessments should do well in their careers - if assessment is aligned with the real world.
Accountants bridge technology gap...quick read on how many accountants increasing their understanding of technology in order to better do their work. A glimpse of what needs to happen in teaching/training profession?...:)
Flip side: if teachers have to become technologists in order to use elearning...elearning will bomb. This survey The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools reveals a real problem that will not be resolved through increased teacher training (though that is a big part of the solution!). We need a low entry level into using technology for teaching...so teachers can start quickly and without too many technical skills. After all, word processors became popular only after they became fairly easy to use. Teachers need to be encouraged to use low threshold applications as a starting point. Start small...but begin now!
Let Users Control Font Size
Quote: "Tiny text tyrannizes users by dramatically reducing task throughput...I'm hereby launching a campaign to get Microsoft to make user preferences override any fixed font size specification in Web designs."
Comment:Makes sense...but I can relate to the desire to make a page "look nice" before making it functional. Sometimes what works best doesn't look great. For a designer, this is difficult to stomach! However, as the article mentions, absolute font sizes aren't great for many web users. So, when using style sheets, all text size should be relative to the base font so the user can adjust to their preferences.
Back to Basics and the Next Big Thing
Quote: "His students were among his harshest critics. They blamed him for their frustration at having assignments crunched by bit-stream bandits who stole files that were submitted, or simply when the system wouldn't open the work that was planned for a given seminar. It wasn't a pretty picture. His course evaluations suffered accordingly...Too often our use of technology can stand apart from our consideration of good teaching."
Comment: Wow...can I ever relate. I've found teaching online makes me (the instructor) the scape goat for everything that goes wrong - slow connections, lost documents, student errors - you name it - it's my fault. Most students are fairly understanding (as I discovered during a course taught this spring using streaming video), and they'll offer comments for improvements. That's great. My concern still always is - how does this impact evaluations? What does the organization think of a drop in student satisfaction as expressed in my evaluations? When it comes to experimentation, everyone needs to be committed to the process - student, instructor, organization. There needs to be tolerance for painful growth...and experiementation needs to be valued for it's role in innovation.
10 Secrets to a Shared Purpose via Column Two
Comment: Translates to teaching (or at least collaborating) online.
Net savvy students to teachers: You just don't get it!
Quote: "The only answer is more teachers like Diane Teal who recognize that the revolution has begun, and that it can't be stopped. So rather than being beaten down by the technology, teachers must use it, use it, use it, and use it again to do what school is supposed to be about - learning about life and the world around us."
Comment: The article mainly focuses on the usual "teachers aren't ready for tomorrow's student" theme. I think administrators and instructors need to take a "long view" on integrating technology. Foster an environment where experimentation is encouraged...an then support instructional staff. Let instructors integrate technology where they are most comfortable...and use low threshold activities (LTAs) to build confidence. Start small and grow.
Schools get an 'F' in tech use
Quote: "Computers may now be nearly as common as blackboards and lockers in U.S. schools, but they are not meeting the needs of Internet-savvy students, according to a study released Wednesday."
Humour me, spend a few minutes looking at this: WebCT e-Packs.
Comment: This is your future (or anyone who teaches online, at least). In the next several years, interactive, multi-media content will be available for a wide range of topics. Just like we now select textbooks for a course, we will select e-packs...out of necessity. Current models for moving resources online are not sustainable or practical - too expensive and instructors just don't have the time (for that matter, an educator's schedule (as in it's insanely busy) is the greatest foe to an open, free online environment - instructors abdicate control of content to for profit providers - not because the want to, but because their schedule gives them no other choice. Who can flog their own resources? We need what Stephen Lahanas refers to as a content guild...).
The concept of e-packs is great...and the end result will be better learning for students. Only issue will be the expense attached to it.
I had a chance to interview Stephen Downes, senior research officer with the National Research Council of Canada. He has a balanced view of what elearning is and what it's supposed to do - a rare perspective. Usually it's "elearning is the new Utopia" or "elearning sucks".
Quote from the interview: "Learning will become a lot less structured, more open-ended, where the educative process is part of the work, where we don't have this artificial separation between learning and doing."
Wireless computer nation expected in five years via Ray's Techno News Blog
Quote: "In five years a wireless network will spread worldwide, said education professor Curtis Bonk, who specializes in computerized education."
Quick snap shot (basic) of the current elearning industry: A Moving Target: eLearning Vendors Take Aim in a Changing Environment...also lists variety of learning management systems.
Super PDA could replace the PC
Quote: "You should be able to roll into your office, take the e740 out of your pocket, and plug in a desktop PC keyboard and monitor for word processing and Web surfing...Do you still need a desktop PC?"
Comment: Complaint I usually hear when trying to convince others that the future is PDA/wireless is "sure it's convenient and portable, but I can't work on a small screen like that." Ok...this article takes care of that argument. The expansion module for this PDA allows a user to connect a monitor...so, essentially the PDA becomes a desktop you take with you. Cool.
The media titans still don't get it
Quotes: "New technology thing came along. Couldn't figure it out. Seemed important. Threw a lot of money at it. Down a hole. It's over now, thank God....And that would be the story's end, if it weren't for one stubborn fact that refuses to vanish -- instead it just sits there, center stage, after the curtain has dropped behind it, thumbing its nose at the booing crowd: The Internet itself hasn't gone away."
Comment: Focused on clash between existing media and new media...though I think the article says much about people "not getting it" when it comes to technology and education. Too often, elearning gets dismissed by people who have never taken a course online (very appropriate example of this in the article - a Time Warner/AOL executive doesn't understand an aspect of marketing online, to which a colleague responds "Rich, why don't you invest $21.95 in an AOL subscription and consider it due diligence?"). How true. If online learning doesn't make sense, take an online course. The experience is in the doing, not the discussion. In education, like media, "the peculiar, unique traits of the Net are shaping a new kind of human discourse."
ABC's of Elearning
Quote: "E-learning is not meant to replace traditional schooling; rather, it uses technology to create a virtual learning experience that augments the physical classroom. In the working world, we will rely increasingly upon e-learning to keep ahead of our jobs' learning curves."
Comment: Article doesnt' say anything new, but does highlight the utilitarian aspect of elearning - it only has value when it does something for the learner or organization.
Internet Addiction
Comment: Hmmm...Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). I may suffer from it...:) (I feel fine, thanks!). Be sure to check out the IAD questionnaire.
What Is "Usable" e-Learning?..."Don Norman gives us a clue about how we can start this critical conversation. He is quoted as saying that for e-learning, "usability is not the major issue; learnability is.""
Blended Learning Models
Quote: "The term blended learning is used to describe a solution that combines several different delivery methods, such as collaboration software, Web-based courses, EPSS, and knowledge management practices. Blended learning also is used to describe learning that mixes various event-based activities, including face-to-face classrooms, live e-learning, and self-paced learning."
Webchats from Michigan Virtual University
Looks good - I've attended these before - usually very informative. I'm looking forward to the session with Jane Knight from eCLIPSE - currently elearnspace's site feature.
Getting an Answer Is One Thing, Learning Is Another
Quote: "The problem, I'm starting to suspect, is that people may have learned to resist the idea of absorbing a foundation of information before they start accumulating details. We've thrown so much complexity at people, during the past 20 years or so, that users have had to develop a defense mechanism: "Just tell me what I need to know!" But when we do this, we wind up with people who are merely following recipes that might as well be magic spells."
Comment: This article makes an excellent point - our "just-in-time", "just-for-me" approach to learning is in danger of creating a surface level, shallow thinking learner. When a learner is so overwhelmed that he/she fails to question underlying assumptions...building upon foundations of others' (potentially erroneous) thoughts, we are at risk of killing the heart of learning - validation and questioning. Learning, after all, doesn't happen by reading or even interaction...learning happens when a learner pauses, reflects and evaluates content. Obviously, there is a need for "just answer the question" learning, but current trends seem to indicate that most learning is heading in this direction. That's not good. We also need foundation building.
Interesting combination of links over the last several days - reminds me that elearning is an aggregation field. We are impacted by what happens in a number of disciplines - leadership, knowledge management, technology, business, education. In one of my comments recently, I stated "We're sort of in a limbo stage - knowing what we don't want to be...but not yet knowing what we will be." ...we need to transition to truly effective elearning (no idea what that is...:)). This won't happen without communication and collaboration across disciplines...which leads to the concept of community.
Community is important to online learning professionals. In elearning, no one knows everything that needs to be known. One of the benefits of a community is the contact made with people you would never talk to on your own effort - simply because you can't see a link between what they are doing and what you are doing. In a community, these people connect and find similarities that lead to innovations.
We need to learn of developments in fields outside of our own. With that said, check out Kairosnews. A good example of what could be an effective community for elearning professionals. Registration is free.
Knowledge Management Just-in-Time
Quotes: "Doctors need to stay current on 10,000 diseases, 3,000 medications, 1,100 lab tests and 400,000 articles added to the biomedical literature each year. Sounds like a job for the field of knowledge management...Embedding knowledge into everyday work processes is time-consuming and expensive. It's not an undertaking that anyone in his right mind would tackle without a very good reason."
Comment: In a society of information overload, whatever organizes the information carries the greatest value. Knowledge management and just-in-time training will be huge. Worth reviewing in light of the article posted earlier today on "Getting the Answer"...what if just-in-time learning doesn't leave room for context...
Training for Distance Learning Faculty
Quote: "It is my opinion, based upon my experiences, that rigorous training of faculty by an online educational organization is an important element in student satisfaction and in the success of the distance learning program."
Comment: A basic article that emphasizes a critical concept - the need for online teachers to be properly trained. Presents four components: 1. Training prior to teaching the first online course, 2. Support during first online course, 3. Ongoing training, 4. Ongoing faculty evaluation.
Leading is teaching: Cycles of Leadership
Quote: "To succeed in this knowledge era, every leader--CEO, CIO, or middle manager--must get everyone in the company to contribute to the collective knowledge pool, and in turn get employees to act faster and more effectively."
Comment: Gee, ya think? When knowledge is scarce (or any commodity), those who control it have power. When knowledge is abundant, those who are able to direct (or influence) the flow of it have power.
Learning with Confidence
Quote: "Does education help prepare students to successfully cope, risk, and innovate in a rapidly changing world? A fearless approach to learning, one where mistakes are valued for the lessons they provide, is recommended. Far too often, students allow themselves to be immobilized by fear of making mistakes."
Comment: Great article by Steve Yurkiw. I've long held that the foundation of innovation is experimentation. People are not encouraged to experiment if an organization does not have a high tolerance for failure. In our society today, failure has a bad reputation - too bad. Controlled experimentation is the only way organizations will transform themselves.
A New Role in Higher Education (.pdf)
Quotes: "Until technology becomes a core part of the teaching environment, it will not be seen as truly strategic...higher education must move technology beyond the nineteenth-and twentieth-century paradigm of text-based education. E-mail, threaded conversations, chat rooms, and "containers" for depositing electronic essays are simply extensions - very poor extensions - of very old communication protocol."
Comment: YES! I agree completely. We bring our old mindset to new technology. Currently, most elearning is not innovative - it is a duplication of classroom teaching. We still do not completely understand how this media will evolve...and currently, we are untethering (is that a word?) from previous views of learning...only problem is we haven't really latched on to anything new. We're sort of in a limbo stage - knowing what we don't want to be...but not yet knowing what we will be.
When Online Services Reflect Bad Policies
Quote: "By designing services for online access from the student's point of view-and especially by using a holistic, integrated approach-many policy and procedural issues within the campus can be addressed. Just as integrating technological tools into the teaching and learning process has forced a re-examination of policies and practices in the classroom, so do these tools become an opportunity to re-think how the whole institution provides services to students."
Comment: YES!!!
Seven Myths of Knowledge Management via Learning Circuits Blog
Quote: "If you look at how companies approach knowledge management, you can see that the problem is in the execution. Companies commonly make catastrophic mistakes by falling for one of these seven myths..."
Comment: Good simple overview of knowledge management (KM) myths - in most of the seven examples, replacing "knowledge management" with "elearning" works...which makes sense, considering KM, elearning, and performance support are all cousins.
Ten Keys to Quality Assurance and Assessment in Online Learning
Quote: "This paper summarizes the results of a nationwide empirical study performed in the United States, in an effort to systematically identify the factors that determine the quality of e-learning courses. We investigated how to design quality into web-enhanced courses, how to ensure delivery of a quality support system for online learners, and how to assess the quality of online courses. This is the first in a series of reports on the outcomes of this investigation and how to use what we learned. This first report focuses on instructional design of quality courses."
Comment: Nothing new here...but still a good review of quality elearning...two statements stick out "Learning is spiral"..."Learning is messy".
12 Principles of Collaboration
Comment: I've come across this list before...very nice summary. The page links to a 35 page .pdf explaining the concepts in greater detail.
...and while we're on a technical theme: Future of Technology lists some neat possibilities - from software that literally writes itself (aspect-oriented programming) to online games to artificial intelligence security. Interesting thing with these types of predictions - they are usually way off - short or over (weren't we all supposed to have flying cars by 2000?!?). Some of these, though, are pretty safe - in particular what will happen with video (MPEG4).
Intuitive Intelligence Can Transform Business This is nuts! (not the article...that's ok...) but check out the little button above the article title called "Order Reuse Permissions - Rights Link"...I clicked on it - and up pops this place order box. I'm presented with options on what I want to do with the article. I can send it in an email, publish it on a website, etc. So, I selected "send in an email", listed 1 person, hit the get price button...and, voila - $250 dollars. Let me say that again - $250! THAT IS INSANE!!! Completely. No price is listed for linking to the article...but for all I know, I owe them several hundred dollars. If this is the future of content on the Internet, it sucks.
Microsoft and Open Source is worth a quick glance. The comment that struck me is Microsoft's desire to build "tighter links with its (open source's) early-adopter community."...which is Latin for "we need to figure out how to compete effectively against these guys"...on the flip side, any organization - Microsoft or a school/college/university, needs to find ways to connect with early-adopters. The future of an organization is rarely in head office - it is in a back corner somewhere with an innovator pushing boundaries of how things are done.
Understanding the Process of Innovation
Quote: "Lack of creativity is rarely the reason for lackluster products and services coming out of the pipeline. "There's usually some process by which a potentially great idea gets prostituted into something lackluster, or by which the wrong idea gets put forward.""
Comment: The concept of innovation applies direcly to elearning. Moving resources online involves transforming, not transfering content. Previous mindsets of what it means to teach need to be challenged and evaluated. True innovation, however, is always a shock to the organizational structure...and I guess that's normal (it sucks, but it's normal). A healthy organism always tries to kill off what is abnormal.
Redefining Community: Small Colleges in the Information Age...see Positioning for the Future
Concourse Project via SiT
Quote: "Whether you teach elementary school and are interested in learning about new ways to integrate technology into the classroom or are a published University professor or technology program director, the Concourse Project affords a unique online community to learn, share ideas, collaborate, forge new professional relationships, debate the latest trends, and otherwise surround yourself with like-minded colleagues who have a sincere interest in the future of education."
Comment: Looks like the skeleton of what could develop into a good online learning resource...often, however, after a few months, these types of sites die. The need for this concept is obvious...I have yet to come across a online learning community that I can really get excited about participating in (Kairosnews comes close...I'll see how it and Concourse Project evolve).
Gene Semchych, Steve Yurkiw, and I are currently developing a course on "Teaching Online". Should be available by September 30. We had discussed the title...we all feel that online teaching is actually facilitation, not teaching. However, for many, the term facilitation means nothing. So, we betrayed our deeply held views of what it means to teach online, in order to make sense to potential students...the course itself focuses on the process of facilitating - in case you care.
Personally, my "big" unspoken goal is for students of the course to appreciate the simplicity of using technology. Elearning does not have to be a massive project. It can start with a simple discussion thread to a classroom course...or email...or incorporating Internet searches, etc. The best way to encourage technology adoption is to let users see it's benefits.
As we are going through development, I find how much easier it is to talk about concepts than to actually practice them :). Student success begins with the planning and development. At early stages in development, we focused on piloting, student perceptions, designing for interaction, profiling our students, highlighting remedial resources, creating global outcomes supported by course activities, support documents (communication guidelines, technical help, etc.)...on and on. My development for classroom teaching was never this student focused.
A Knowledge Base for the Teaching Profession: What Would It Look Like and How Can We Get One?
Quote: "The authors of this Type 2, Level B paper (General Articles and Expert Positions based on documented research with clearly stated recommendations) call for systematic collection, archival, and sharing of "trustworthy" research that is based on the actual practices of classroom teachers. The researchers contend that the concrete "craft" knowledge of teachers is more "user-friendly" to their colleagues than that usually produced by educational researchers."
Comment: Great info on how technology impacts academic performance and higher order thinking/problem solving.
Teachers go to school to learn technology
Via: Educational Technology
Quote: "With many of their students already tech-savvy, some area schoolteachers spent the summer brushing up on everything from the Internet to PowerPoint."
Comment: This has been a gripe of mine for a while...teachers need to learn at least the basics of technology. Current classroom teachers will be future elearning teachers (well, many of them). An organization needs to take a multi-year perspective to begin icreasing teacher confidence level with technology. How an organization achieves that is open to opinion. I think the best way is to make resources available and allow innovators to play. I don't think the education/technology convergence is at a level yet where a majority of teachers are adopting it.
Why Collaborate Via Scripting News
Quote: "As many of us who had spent years immersed in the PLATO environment left and entered the "real world", we were shocked and dismayed to find a world lacking electronic connection. And as I entered the business world, it simply made no sense to me that computers were being used solely for computing and "data processing"; the collaborative online work environment that I'd taken for granted, that I'd used day in and day out, was simply missing in action. Our work lives are all about interpersonal connections, our businesses processes are structured into connections amongst people and systems that must be coordinated. What better use of technology than to help people to connect?"
Comment: From Ray Ozzie's Blog, of Lotus Notes, Groove fame. Two points: 1. Getting people to collaborate is not easy. It usually only happens out of necessity. Collaborating is difficult...it goes against the grain of what many believe - I'm important if I "own" knowledge...versus I'm important if I share. 2. This is, once again, a great example of the value of blogging - the opportunity to read the personal thoughts of Ray Ozzie. Without blogs, this wouldn't happen...hear his own comments on it: "Second, personally, what does it feel like to be juggling my own personal communications on a regular basis such that I intuitively "feel" what is public, and what is private, and for what groups, the way that I "feel" when I work in eMail and Groove today. Transparency can be good, but what and where are the tradeoffs? I am the CEO of a company; what will happen if/when Groove is a public company, and how will it impact how I can and do communicate? What can I learn from other corporate officers who run external blogs?"
Motivating and Retaining Adult Learners Online
Comment: Excellent. This 151 page .pdf journal tackles of retention, motivation (several chapters), the role of the instructor, communities, etc. The most effective way to retain students, from my experience, is a well designed course and an involved instructor.
The bottom line: effective learning versus low per unit cost
Quote: "In a scathing article at E-learning magazine, consultant Frank L. Greenagel attacks the current state of the art in e-learning. He argues that an obsession with low unit cost and a disregard for learning effectiveness has led to courses that are interoperable but "puerile, boring and of unknown or doubtful effectiveness"."
Comment: Based on an article posted last week. The concept of ROI and costs for elearning projects needs to be revisited. I don't completely agree with the notion that effective learning can't be low cost( as is insinuated in this article). Simple courses with high instructor/student contact may use email, PalTalk, Groove, etc to foster interaction. An LMS isn't even needed (put those stones down...). The focus, however, needs to be on effective learning. Course designers and instructors need to use the decades of research in education theory. As I've stated before - organizations are at risk of falling into to errors - 1. Assuming that elearning is completely different from regular learning, and 2. Assuming that elearning is the same as regular learning. Elearning is a different mode of learning...but at it's core, it still functions according to established learning theories and concepts.
Information overload: learning to take your time
Quote: "Today, we are compelled to act quickly. Acting quickly and acting intelligently are not necessarily the same thing. The more mobile calls we make and take, the more emails we receive and send, can make us less, not more, productive. To be successful we need to learn how to take our time."
Comment: Similar to an article by Elliot Masie last month: Learning Perspectives: Slow Down, You Move too Fast.
E-Learning In Crisis
Quotes: "We have access to the greatest invention in human history, a storehouse of all human knowledge, and the primary effort by educators and publishers seems to be to make it as difficult to use as possible...People are becoming increasingly dissatisfied because they see that the real value in education - what I call the services - are being replaced with pre-packaged content (what some on some of the lists have been calling CD-ROMs online). But the value - the market return, the profit generator, call it what you will - is in the service: the online discussions, the one-on-one with a qualified instructor, the quiet seminar with a few interested individuals. This value is the reason we still go to in-person conferences (lord knows it's not the papers). This value is why people pay hundreds of dollars for a university course."
Comment: Great report by Stephen Downes. I don't think he'll win any popularity contests, however, from the "big boys" in elearning. What he describes as being wrong with the industry is in huge conflict with the efforts of LMS/LCMS/content providers. Significant drivers of industry - think WebCT & Blackboard - have convinced many that the heart of successful elearning involves large, expensive projects/software applications.
I've stated it before...the future success of elearning is directly linked to the ability of educational institutions (or corporate training departments) to put simple tools in the hands of instructors. No one needs an LMS to start an elearning project...it helps, but it's not needed (see Bottom Line article below). Elearning is learning - technology is a tool or an enabler. Unfortunately, large software/content corporations are attempting to shape the industry so that learning must flow through their pipelines. I hope Stephen's vision wins out.
What's Next?
Quote: "Six CEOs of companies that build business technology share their insights on where the industry is headed-toward the real-time enterprise; true multimedia convergence; and kinder, gentler customer relationships."
Great example of the use of elearning to support products: Macromedia - Video Tutorials. Imagine purchasing a new DVD player, car, computer, etc., and rather than being left to purchase your own books/courses, the company provides value-added learning resources. Elearning as a marketing tool - this will be more and more common over the next several years.
Connecting Technology and Curriculum
Quote: "The instructional digital divide can be explained by many factors, including the low quality of the available software; limitations in the school schedule; inadequate professional development on technology instruction, and an overwhelming number of school priorities that crowd out time and money for technology...In high standards schools, technology should not be a reward or an extra; it should be directly embedded in an assessment-driven curriculum."
Comment:The author offers seven key components to improve integration of technology and curriculum. I agree that the points listed are important. Personally, I'd put together a two point list: money/resources and change management. Resources need to be available for developers and instructors to move content online...and, like anything new, a change management process needs to be initiated. The last point (change management) is probably the most commonly ignored aspect of implementing elearning. For most people, the issue isn't technology - it's change. Implement a new system for parking/class scheduling, etc., and the same confusion/resistance occurs.
SCORM: Clarity or Calamity?
Quote: "The SCORM spec is going to be successful almost by default, but unless all e-learning specifications turn the focus from infrastructure to pedagogical soundness, they are in danger of becoming instructionally irrelevant."
Comment: The real value of SCORM will be dictated by how it is adopted at a user level (some good quote from Stephen Lahanas at the end of the article). If instructors and course designers have to become IT professionals to use SCORM, it will fail...miserably.
Good article on the various roles in elearning development: How to Manage the E-Learning Development Team...this model may be very effective in developing larger corporate/academic elearning projects. It isn't practical for all elearning or for all organizations. Think colleges - hundreds of programs, thousands of courses. Financially impossible to move all courses online (not all will be suited for online...but many will be). A rapid development model (which ensures quality) needs to be developed to make it possible for an average instructor to access resources to help him/her move content online - still using the professionals as outlined in the article listed above...but in a much more informal manner.
Conditions for Classroom Technology Innovations
Quote: "The primary purpose of the study was to address "why don't teachers innovate when they are given computers?" and "why don't teachers integrate computers in their teaching in more meaningful ways?""
Comment: Excellent questions. Significant (successful) change is rarely mandated - it is fostered. Currently, technology and teaching are still in early stages of courtship. I think administrators should focus on making resources available to those instructors who are interested, and initiate a soft "change management" campaign to promote the uses and values of technology...and stop expecting teachers to become IT staff. Let teachers be teachers - and give them access to resource people to help them integrate technology.
Most instructors who are resistant to technology don't fully understand what a quality online course looks like. Common conversation: A: "This can't be taught online."...B: "Have you taken an online course?"...A:"Ah...no." First instructors need to be introduced to what technology and teaching really is all about. Let them see a course...let them watch students interacting digitally...let them observe a facilitator interacting with students. For many, online learning is still fuzzy. The view needs to be focused.