It's that time of the year again...every publication has to publish anticipated trends for next year...Tracking the Digital Puck
Short article, stating the irrelevance of "e" in elearning...after all, it's all about learning: Has Anyone Yet Worked Out What Is So Special with "e"?
Gradual and Simple Changes to Incorporate ICT into the Classroom: "Since many campus-based instructors are sceptical of wholesale shifts, this short paper suggests gradual and simple changes to lighten the new instructor's ICT learning load and improve student learning."
Ross Mayfield offers some excellent links on social software and networks: "By all means, this isn't an all encompassing reader for Social Software and Social Networking, but some highlights from a personal perspective."
I've been encountering more articles about the negatives of RSS (why is it that every new technology is over-hyped as the cure for all our ails, and then when it gains some acceptance, it's dismissed as being dead?). The End of RSS (via Stephen) is an example of some of the drawbacks.
Collaboration recommendations (Lilia): "It is a set of recommendations designed to suggest a system in which people in the company are encouraged to publish information to each other and collaborate with and through that information."
If you've been involved in online communities, How many forum members does it take to change a light bulb? will ring true...(via mopsos). For alll the benefits of online communities, they can be very inefficient (and humorous).
Distance Education at a Glance: "In order to help teachers, administrators, facilitators, and students understand distance education, Barry Willis, the Associate Dean for Outreach and the Engineering Outreach staff present the following series of guides..."
I've linked to this before...it's a great resource for people trying to grasp the uniqueness of the Internet in learning. It nicely condenses major theories and approaches. The Web: Design for Active Learning: "This handbook will present the idea of interactivity as it applies to a cohesive design including high interface, content, and instructional design."
I frequently link to Denham Grey's articles. He consistently provides valuable insight into knowledge management issues. His blog is a must read...so is his wiki. Additional (recent) thoughts from Denham: KM is Easy! and KM Models
Seb Schmoller offers a link to excellent elearning support documents...the guides (for senior managers, department heads, learning technologists, teachers, etc.) look particularly useful.
The Knowledge Medium: Designing Effective Computer-Based Learning Environments: "We need to move beyond thinking about computers to automate and consider the strengths of the medium (which are many) and construct learning environments that take advantage of those abilities."
Just dealt with this issue several weeks ago: Avoiding Plaigiarism In An Online EnvironmentPart 1 and Part 2
Like it actually needs to be stated - Web Access a Central Utility: "The Internet has become such an integral part of American consumers' daily lives that families now routinely treat their home computer monitors as they once treated their TV sets -- as the central fixtures of their lives..."
As Google grows, critics emerge: "Google is about to join, I think, that rarified level enjoyed by Microsoft, the New York Yankees, the United States of America," said Hayson. "Too big, too powerful, too successful, too rich. And you're starting to see the rumblings right now."
Here's a problem I can relate to when using Internet sites in the learning process: On the Web, Research Work Proves Ephemeral : "Dellavalle's concerns reflect those of a growing number of scientists and scholars who are nervous about their increasing reliance on a medium that is proving far more ephemeral than archival. In one recent study, one-fifth of the Internet addresses used in a Web-based high school science curriculum disappeared over 12 months...It's a huge problem," said Brewster Kahle, digital librarian at the Internet Archive in San Francisco. "The average lifespan of a Web page today is 100 days. This is no way to run a culture." "
Jim McGee links to Digital IQ. If you score 110 or higher, you're a geek.
Testing students by mobile phone: "As the government announces plans to modernise the exam system, various experiments are going on with innovative ways of assessing what students know."
The Marketing of a President: "Online tools are a way to get people to act -- to meet in the physical world, to put up flyers and posters, write letters and checks, speak to other people face to face. And ultimately, to get out and vote. "The Internet is moving from information technology to organizing technology..."
Metadata, Taxonomies, And Vocabularies...another great resource from EdTechPost
eLearning in survival mode:
Quote: "Damien spoke about the preoccupation with 'cool' technology that puts coolness ahead of business benefits. This "technolust" has manifested itself in the appearance of every kind of eLearning product -- few of which really served a real business purpose. At the end of the day, all learning needs to be strategic and transformational, learner-centered and focused on contributing to the business."
Comment: The discussion is focused on corporate elearning...but elearning in the educational market faces similar "feature-itis" challenges. Just because we can do it (or a software program can) doesn't mean that we should. Simple, social tools are most often the best choice for learners. This summary (by Jay Cross) of a conference presentation includes some nice ideas...and controversial statements, including: "(1) RLO's [reusable learning objects] is a difficult concept to sell (b) complex object models can really slow development and (c) the technology is not available to really support this work. So, RLO's are simply not worth the time/effort. "
Via Info-Commons: Getting Started with RSS: The No-Brainer Method: "RSS is a bit baffling at first. Once you step in, though, you'll have an immediate "ah hah." These directions were written to get you from baffled to "ah hah" in less than fifteen minutes. "
The second edition of Making Sense of Learning Specifications & Standards: A Decision Maker's Guide to their Adoption is available by Elliot Masie. Good place to start exploring standards...the document is written in easy to follow language. Last version was about 45 pages, this one is 82...what does that tell you about the direction of standards?!?
More affirmation of the growing viability of VoIP: Internet calling verges on mainstream
IBM donates code to open-source project: "Software consortium Eclipse on Tuesday announced that IBM's contribution will form the basis of the Visual Editor Project. The goal of the project is to expand the existing palette of tools that software programmers use to design graphical user interfaces, or GUIs, for custom-built applications."
Learning About Learning Objects (via LOVCOP)...another learning object community.
Effective Change Management in Higher Education: Argues for flexible learning and online learning as solutions to the current challenges facing higher education...and then provides a comprehensive discourse on change management.
I've seen this link on several sites recently: Information Architecture References. Excellent resource (though several of the links no longer work).
Elearning Recommendations (via Maricopa)
Quote: "Eighteen members of the Estrella Mountain Community took eight months (November 11, 2001 - June 2, 2002) to conduct a broad investigation into the best practices related to learning with technology."
Comment: Includes recommendations relating to pedagogy, technology, faculty support, learner services, and marketing. Summarized...good for skimming.
A strong rant on the ineffectiveness of training, knowledge management, and elearning:We are the Problem: We are selling Snake Oil. It would be nice to see a follow up article on the solution to the stated problems...
Management Systems for Institutions of Higher Education. Good links to various LMS/LCMS articles and resources...also describes a horrific installation of an "academic management system".
Neat resource page: The Critical Thinking Rubric
Jay Cross offers his perspective on various elearning trends: Internet Time Outbound...he comments on blogs, informal learning, workflow learning, and social network analysis.
We Are All Connected: The Path from Architecture to Information Architecture
Quote: "Architecture is commonly defined as "the art or science of building, specifically: the art or practice of designing and building structures and especially habitable ones...Richard Saul Wurman defined information architect as "the individual who organizes the patterns...creates the structure...the science of the organization of information." In a broader sense, IA is about creating a set of blueprints for information-related projects and products that builders-designers and programmers-can construct."
Comment: Elearning design is still evolving. Methodologies and efficiencies have not fully materialized yet. Looking at the processes of other (in some cases more established) fields can assist elearning designers. The principles of information architecture offer many insights into organizing information for end users.
Interesting series of charts/facts: 10 Things I Bet You Didn't Know About Google...via cogdogblog
Questions matter: "It seems far harder to ask a really good question than to supply a correct answer - yet we tend to value answer people (aka experts) way above folks that ask 'dumb' questions."
Great resource on communities of practice(CP listserv). Simple, visual explanations of terms and concepts.
Electronic Portfolios White Paper (via Scott): "We have only just begun to understand the true potential of eportfolios as conceptual thinking is realized within a software environment called an electronic portfolios management system."
A Peek Behind the 'Wallop' Firewall : "Microsoft Research is looking at how to leverage blogs, RSS feeds, wikis and other social-networking tools."
Big changes coming in the communications industry: Why the Bells Should Be Very Scared: "Free voice calls transmitted over the Internet are fast becoming mainstream. To survive, today's phone companies must adjust, radically."
Notes From KM Asia: "A large percentage of the audience, it seemed, had some KM project in place, and were attending the conference either to seek legitimacy for what they were doing, or to learn about what they ought to be doing."
Resource Profiles: This article by Stephen Downes is fairly intense reading...continuing his long-running exploration of the difficulties of extracting meaning from resources...see One Standard For All: Why We Don't Want It, Why We Don't Need It and Meaning Use and Metadata).
This article deals mainly with resource profiles ("a multi-faceted, wide ranging description of a resource")...proposing that, due to the subjective nature of object descriptions, multiple, distributed descriptions need to be employed. Don't let the fairly technical nature of the article deter you...it's a valuable discussion on the creation of a system intended to provide trustworthy descriptions of resources. Includes an extensive evaluation of metadata types.
The Ten Most Violated Homepage Design Guidelines...mostly common sense...most items are applicable to elearning design (though at a very basic level)
Very useful Online Writing Resource (by Les Hanson): "This section contains links to various online resources that may help you with your writing: dictionaries, style guides, and online reference sources."
Bookmark this: Nanotechnology Course, you'll need it eventually. Just like some people can be categorized as "hubs" (i.e. the ability to connect many people with many other people)...so too with nanotechnology. Of all the trends and concepts being thrown around, this is the one with the greatest ability to impact everything we do. (via instapundit)
A very worthwhile read: The Semantic Web, Syllogism, and Worldview: "Much of the proposed value of the Semantic Web is coming, but it is not coming because of the Semantic Web. The amount of meta-data we generate is increasingly dramatically, and it is being exposed for consumption by machines as well as, or instead of, people. But it is being designed a bit at a time, out of self-interest and without regard for global ontology. It is also being adopted piecemeal, and it will bring with it with all the incompatibilities and complexities that implies. There are significant disadvantages to this process relative to the shining vision of the Semantic Web, but the big advantage of this bottom-up design and adoption is that it is actually working now."
Best New Technologies: "The November edition of Business 2.0 (only available on-line to subscribers) has selected Social Networking Applications as the Technology of the Year."
Nice: Google tests desktop search "Search company Google is testing software that lets people navigate the Web without opening up an Internet browser, placing itself in a field that Microsoft has designs on--desktop search."
I've taken many online courses over the last year, and I'm beginning to feel that the instructor/designer hand in organizing content is actually a drawback to learning. Content in courses is presented in a manner that makes sense to the instructor (someone who already understands the content very well). Learners, however, have different approaches to understanding. Some prefer a big picture overview...followed by exploration of its individual parts. Others prefer to experience learning sequentially.
Content is viewed as "the point of learning"...when in reality, content is a conduit to learning (that is, the content should lead to reflection, discussion, exploration...which in turn, result in learning).
Learners also have different reasons for taking a course. Course content should be responsive to the reason for taking a course. A manager may want a basic overview of the subject matter, an employee may need to acquire new skill sets, a student may be building a foundation for future courses. Each has a different need for content...based on their motivations for learning. None are served well by static content presented the same to all learners.
The static content approach creates an additional problem: Courses do not successfully capture two of the most significant parts of the learning process: learner-to-learner interaction, and learner produced artifacts. If content is static and Instructor-selected, contrasting viewpoints will not be heard.
Learning content creation should involve the learner...presentation should be dynamic (personalized to the learner's learning style and reasons for taking the "course"). While it is unrealistic to simply give learners access to a database of learning objects and say "everything's in there...go learn", it is important to minimize the instructor/designer's voice in content organization...and move the choice to the learner.
A course organized in this manner starts with learning objects...but not as a means of simply creating efficiencies (costs or development time) in course development. The intent is to create learning that is learner focused...moving beyond the current three month model and serving a variety of needs - reference, knowledge management, performance support.
The Ubiquitous Network Society of Today: "The role of mobile phones in the ubiquitous network society is going beyond that of an enhanced communication tool. In the not-so-distant future mobile phones will feature wallet, credit card, key and commuter pass functions, not to mention remote-control functions to control electrical home appliances and entertainment systems."
What Keeps Universities from Embracing e-Learning?:
Quote: "Much of the focus in e-learning today--from analysts, industry observers, consultants, and technologists--is on e-learning in the corporate world. But the biggest impact and opportunity for e-learning may ultimately be in education. Most governments want to raise the skills and education level of its population, but to date e-learning has had little impact in this area."
Comment: There is actually quite a bit of activity in elearning in education...problem is that it is created as a duplication of the physical classroom. New model being built on outdated needs...
Knowledge Management Survey (.pdf). Nothing too new...basically states that the concept is still new and adoption is still in its infancy...but the concept has important implications on overall organizational activities.
If you have any interest in networks, Work on Networks is a great overview. The article details major developments in understanding networks from 1960 on. Lists work and resources by Milgram, Granovetter, Wenger, John Seely Brown, Gladwell, and others. The value of this document is in the extensive links and resources it provides.
I found this excellent resource via Jim McGee: The Link is the Thing - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. The series explores network analysis in complex systems. The first two articles are fairly complex, but the third article provides a nice series of strategies based on the results of network analysis.
The Perfect Wiki:
Quote: "I got to thinking about wikis a little more last night, and I started to wonder where the dividing line between wikis and blogs lay. What makes a wiki a wiki?"
Comment: I'm still waiting for wikis to "take off" in popularity. Years of talk, high profile successes, yet the concept has really not moved much past a small geek crowd. Wonder why...Is it too open? Too foreign an idea? Too democratic?
David Wiley, in preparation for a presentation, is exploring the future of learning objects
Summary of knowledge management basics: KM Fundamentals
A project by initiated by several colleagues at RRC (Paul Little, Jody Baty)Learning Objects for Teachers: "The goal of LOFT is to provide faculty and course developers with a forum in which to exchange ideas regarding the effective use of Learning Objects in an online course development." Free membership.
Going the "Simulation Way": Q&A with Clark Aldrich: "What computer games introduced is content that is much richer than books, but just as scalable. There are two additional types of content that computer games bring to the conversation. One content type (or color) is systems based, and the other is cyclical (or interface) based. Systems based content exposes users to complex interactions, allowing them to ping the system in various ways and watch the results. I believe learning that does not involve understanding a system is vacant, and of no real use beyond learning simple processes."
The November/December edition of The Technology Source is available. As usual, some interesting articles, including: