ePorfolios (via Darren): "The ePortfolio Portal serves as a resource to assist you in gaining knowledge around the concepts of eportfolios."
Comment: ePortfolios make so much sense, I'm surprised that the limited noise they are making in educational circles. Occasionally an article or website pops up...but never enough to gain a significant foothold. Why is that? I'm sure there are successful implementations of ePortfolios...they're just not very public (at least in my circle).
I'm not sure why many knowledge management theorists don't grasp this simple truth - Self-serving Social Networks: "The social software tools that maximize self-serving behavior with positive community impacts will best succeed."
End of Email Era: "The email era is coming to an end because replacement communication means such as Internet messengers, mini-homepages (dubbed "one-man media"), and SMS are wielding their power. As a consequence, the stronghold of email, once the favorite of the Internet, is being shaken from its roots."
Comment: I agree with the point this article makes (that many people are finding value in email alternatives for communicating)...but I disagree with its assertion that email is coming to an end. The "all or nothing" mentality that plagues most advocates of new technologies is evident in the article. I still use email. It is a part of my overall toolkit for communication - allong with RSS, blogs, IM, Skype, etc. It's not one or the other...it's about selecting the right tool for the right task. Often, that's still email.
A short article comparing current advocates for more open social learning (blogs, wikis, RSS) and LMS providers...with the internet and telecom conflict from several years ago (well, actually, that one is still on going): The LMS Wars: "And yet, as with the eventual victory of packet switching over dedicated circuits for voice and data traffic, the handwriting is on the wall. We may have to wait five or ten years, but the next generation of teaching and learning tools will look different and foster different teaching styles and results."
Personal Productivity
"In doing some additional research, I've been looking at the root causes of 'personal unproductivity', and concluded there seem to be three:
In October, Stephen Downes completed a Tour de Australia, delivering a series of presentations on technology and learning. I just came across this presentation: The Buntine Oration: Learning Networks. Stephen touches on significant issues in elearning (including the gap between "how it should be" and "how it is"): learning objects, content packaging, federated search, RSS, blogs and networks.
E-research without discussion doesn't help...this short article makes the important observation that "desk research divorced from discussion may be a bad idea in fast-moving fields". As Doc Searls asserts in relation to news and journalism: "But it's more than that. It's the toppling of journalism on a pedestal. It's the end of news as a lecture. It's the death of one-way media. That is what anchors embodied. And that is what we, the people formerly known as viewers/listeners/readers in the audience, have rejected. We rejected the old system of trust: If we trusted the person, it was thought, then we trusted what he said. Anchors equaled automatic authority. But no more."
As end users of learning, journalism, media, etc....we expect that our thoughts and reactions will somehow be filtered back into the original process. We are not entirely comfortable without a voice. We require the ability to debate, dialogue and interact.
Top 10 Tips for Implementing Elearning:
1. e-learning is more than online courses
2. Content is not the answer to every learning problem
3. Beauty is in the blend
4. Learning solutions must be appropriate
5. e-Learning is a strategic solution
6. An LMS is not a necessary prerequisite for e-learning
7. Coordinated e-learning efforts make sense
8. Success measures should be clearly identified
9. The right conditions need to be in place for e-learning to succeed
10. Just do it!
I've posted a new article on elearnspace: Learning Management Systems: the wrong place to start learning. While it sounds a bit negative on LMS vendors in general, what I'm trying to communicate is that the pursuit of effective online learning won't run through LMS'...unless they themselves make changes to their systems in keeping with the learning needs dictated by our work and societal trends.
New Directions in Learning (.ppt file): "The future of learning is written in the future of knowledge...We are in a period of transition – moving from the Modern era to the Information era...What constitutes knowledge is changing at a basic level...And so, too, therefore, learning."
Ten Technologies That Are Going To Change The Way We Learn:
Ladder of Participation...this model is intended to convey the stages of citizen's power and control (beginning with manipulation, and ending with citizen control). The ladder translates to teaching and learning. Many courses are structured to give the instructor control (treating the learners as "objects" to be manipulated into a place of "right thinking and knowing"). Moving up the ladder, however, learners gain control over their learning.
While on the subject of social network analysis, Canucktions is a great example of the value of visual displays of connections and relations between nodes (entities).
A large, but very useful, report: Linking Thinking - Self-directed Learning in the Digital Age: (via Seb) "This study was undertaken to explore the extent to which and ways in which Information and Communication Technologies or ICT (basically global networks of computers and other associated digital devices) have impacted on learning. Instead of looking at learning in formal education and training settings, I have chosen to consider the dynamics of independent self-directed learning, especially that which is undertaken by adults."
Note in particular the "6 C's" for online participating in the online realm:
As I've mentioned previously, I'm currently enthralled with the concept of social network analysis (SNA). An understanding of information/knowledge flow through an organization would seem to be as vital to the information age as creating oil pipelines in the manufacturing age. A quick overview of SNA: "In the context of knowledge management, social network analysis (SNA) enables relationships between people to be mapped in order to identity knowledge flows: who do people seek information and knowledge from? Who do they share their information and knowledge with?"
This should be useful - Google Scholar: " Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web."
Deviance or Innovation: "New technologies are emerging every day and approaches to learning that were not previously possible, are now a reality. A learning organisation's ability to harvest and adopt ideas from the fringe may well be the key to its success, or even its survival."
Scoping "Social Tools": "Social tools (or software, technologies) are fundamentally the tools dedicated to helping people be social. Tools for instant messaging, blogging, emailing, social networking, photo-sharing are all tools to help people be social."
Comment: The social tools are the core of what I envision to be alternatives to LMS. When content is viewed as the most valuable contribution to learning...and LMS will suffice. When interaction and connections are viewed as the most valuable aspect of learning, then social tools (connected, but specialized) are the logical choice. The problem with this, however, is that many social tools still look quite amateur...and while often built on open standards, they are too complex to allow an average person to connect and link with other tools. For all my praise of social tools, end-user friendliness (for making connections) seems to be the fatal weakness. It's easy enough to set up a bloglines/flickr/del.icio.us/blogger account. Getting them to all play together nicely is beyond the skill level of most.
E-Learning Adventures Beyond the LMS: "Given the marketing muscle behind the major LMS developers and their complete dominance of the e-learning space, it’s hardly surprising that many people see an LMS as “the solution” to their future learning needs...In fact, an LMS is often the albatross around the neck of progress in technology-enhanced learning." (via James)
Periodically, I throw out some critical views about monolithic enterprise Learning Management Solutions (LMS). The bulk of my concerns would be attended to if LMS developers read and follow this advice: "Companies like the one I was talking to need to pay attention to just two things (at least on the technology side): (a) their core competency and (b) great integration points that are based on standards and easy to use."
Podcasting isn't going away anytime soon...here's Phil Windley's del.icio.us links on podcasting.
elearning-reviews: "elearning-reviews provides those interested in research on elearning with concise and thoughtful reviews of relevant publications. The most important goal is a well-balanced selection of seminal publications as well as interesting up-to-date publications from the various disciplinary perspectives."
KM in small companies: "I do not think small company KM [knowledge management] is any different from enterprise KM, only there are more tacit exchanges, closer relationships and improved information flow due to co-location and awareness of what others are doing or thinking."
Experiencing Knowledge: "The efficiency of today's knowledge management experiences has been limited by the personal ability of individuals to process knowledge. Through years of less-than-optimal knowledge-seeking, many older adults have developed ingrained habits of mind that can be difficult to re-pattern in response to a rapidly changing world. Those who were born well before the advent of contemporary information technology tools often face difficult adjustments in the workplace; significant resources must be devoted to retraining and staff development. Meanwhile, the youth of today have fewer of those habits and expect—even demand—better as we continue to benefit from the improvement in Web technologies such as Google. Such generational differences with respect to these tools will no doubt become less pronounced over time, but it is clear that we remain in an era of transition."
Social Software: "Social software is any software that enables people to interact with one another. To me there are five broad classes of social software. There is software that enables:
Google and Internet OS (via Emergic): "The more I look at what Google is doing, the more convinced I am that we're witnessing the birth of the next Microsoft."
Etienne Wenger's website is a useful resource...he lists publications and resources on communities, learning, knowledge and meaning. Too bad, however, that he doesn't offer a weblog. It's nice to know what his views were in the past...but more important (at least to me) to know what he's thinking today.
Knowledge Transportation: "...one-size-fits-all of corporate KM is no longer the rule of the knowledge sharing game. Personal tools can indeed blend quite nicely with corporate tools, as long as they do complement each other. It also shows that interoperability standards don't need to be very complicated to work."
Classrooms or E-Learning, Instructors Remain Central: "What happens to instructors and classrooms when an e-learning-based corporate university is formed? Do instructors follow buggy whips into oblivion? No, but the subtle shift in emphasis from training to learning affects the role of the instructor. Training is something the company does to you, but learning is something you do for yourself. That fundamental change puts the learner in control."
Online Learning Environments: via Stephen...and as he says: "Massive list of links covering blogs and blogging, chat, computer-mediated communication, ommunity building online, e-mentoring, e-moderation, teaching and learning online and wikis."
Social Network Analysis wiki provides useful links to software, primers, and SNA in business (among others). (via Bruce).
Related: the SOCNET wiki continues to develop into a valuable social network resource.
Computer and Video Games for Learning (.pdf) (via Jane)...an excellent resource on games and learning (probably the most complete analysis I've encountered). An honest review of the social/psychological implications of games, examples and uses, as well as a section on design recommendations for edugames.
Onfolio: "Onfolio is a PC application for collecting, organizing and sharing information you find online." ...as Will notes: "You knew that sooner or later all of these fun little disparate tools would start coming together in one app, and it looks like Onfolio has taken a first step in that direction."
Any effective knowledge management program must start with the end user at the center. Most KM implementations fail because they violate this principle. Instead, they define what the organization wants to know about itself, then devise a complex, centralized "canister" to dump knowledge into...and then tell employees to use it (occasionally, for added effect, they'll also mine emails and other data, generating neat graphs about how knowledge flows through the company). But, "What's in it for me?!?". If I, as an end user, use your system, how will I benefit? I'm sounding like a broken record, but blogs, wikis, and other simple social tools give the end user benefit...and once they have a reason to use the tool, the corporation benefits. That's the key to relevant successful KM implementations. PKN and Social Networks Change Knowledge Management (via Jack) says it well: "Personal knowledge networking and social networks give individual knowledge workers direct control over the enterprise's intellectual capital and enable a new "grass-roots" approach to knowledge management."
It sounds great, but I'm afraid it will largely not happen. I see similar things with the elearning market - so many viable alternatives to LMS offerings...and yet the cry of managers is "control, standardized look and feel (has that ever really helped learning?), enterprise-wide, etc.".
Several years ago, I stated that Macromedia's greatest asset is its high level of Flash penetration - far greater that Real Player, Media Player, or Quicktime. Flash Steamlines Video on the Internet makes the same point: "You know, if I went home and I clicked on my TV tonight, and a help system came up that I had to read before I watched the program, I'm taking that TV back. So this is what we're able to correct with Flash , and the reason we're able to correct it is because of the deep penetration of Flash Player. So interesting enough, in terms of people who have capabilities and can watch Flash video today, what that equates to is 94 percent of all connected desktops on the Internet today can watch Flash video."
Digital Mismash: "It is all adding up...either to become a complete mismash, or a complete convergence, depending on who you speak to."
Comment: Interesting things are happening in the realm of digital content - cable companies providing phone services...phone companies providing TV services, iPods distributing content (not just music)...Microsoft pursuing video games and home entertainment, etc. The telecom, traditional entertainment (i.e. TV and Cable), and new media (i.e. internet-based content providers) are rapidly heading towards a significant collision. At stake: the device whereby we receive our content (mobile - cell phone? iPod?), the means (Satellite? Wireless?), and the source (small decentralized (bloggers)? traditional? (big media companies)? Our information/entertainment acquisition processes will be altered dramatically over the next 3 - 5 years.
Is Wiki under your radar?: "Blogs are not the only collaboration game in town, though. Recently, I decided to bone up on the concept of the Wiki, a collaborative environment that is gaining traction in corporations. In fact, your employees might already be Wiki-ing without your knowledge. Despite its whimsical name, the underhyped Wiki concept could become one of the more useful and easy-to-implement tools in your IT management arsenal."
Comment: Wikis are currently the tool I'm most excited about for sharing knowledge. Blogs are typically one person, one way...wikis are many people, many ways. Wikis are the most effective "knowledge garden" tool I've come across. I'm currently using wikis in several courses as a learner. They are excellent tools for collaboration, learning, and knowledge sharing. Blogs have certain limitations and appeal to people who are comfortable standing alone and voicing their thoughts (the two biggest resistance points for potential bloggers: 1. I don't have time, 2. I don't want everyone reading my work). Wikis appeal to a much larger base...as the finished product is more group-based.
Podcasting (very simply - audio blogging) is getting much attention from bloggers. I've come across dozens of resources over the last week. Here's a few worth exploring:
Podcasting for Education
Edupodder Blog
iPods, Podcasting, and Learning
M-Learning: "Forget wikis, blogs and other online learning tools -- one professor says the future of higher education is mobile."
Comment: Interesting article, projecting a vision of mobile learning. Unfortunately, the typical "all or nothing" approach of new technology exists. Why does a good concept like mobile learning have to be presented as being in conflict with (or an improvement of) simple, social online learning tools? Why not both, each for their own purposes?
A critical point learning designers (and knowledge management projects) need to understand - Instability of Preference: "One is that preferences are highly unstable. Another is that, when you ask people to explain what they want, their preferences tend to shift toward the conservative, familiar, and easy to explain."
Evolving Technologies (via Scott): "Each year, the members of the EDUCAUSE Evolving Technologies Committee identify and research the evolving technologies that are having the most direct impact on higher education institutions..." This list includes:
Learning object hype has been low for the last year. The odd item pops up about progress with a repository, or some LMS formalizing connections with existing repositories...but mostly, things have been quiet (I'm assuming that the hypesters have moved onto other subjects (wireless?), leaving those who remain to actually make LO's work). Here's a nice overview if you fall into the latter category: Learning Objects: A Practical Definition (via Jane Knight)