Staying Current
Overview
Few things change more rapidly than technology. As the larger technology community changes and evolves, elearning is impacted. The theoritical learning aspects of elearning have been debated for centuries. Learning theories are not changing very rapidly...it takes decades for constructivism to be accepted (or behaviourism...or whatever).
Technology issues, however, are forcing elearning to constantly change. As new technologies develop, they are often integrated into elearning. Recent trends of web conferencing, XML, synchronous instruction (Centra, HorizonLive) are often quickly adopted by at least a fraction of faculty at colleges and universities. Educational professionals need to stay current with these trends for two reasons: to shape their adoption to ensure educational soundness prevails...and to be aware of future trends that may impact today's development.
Staying current in elearning trends can be a daunting task. An educator must be aware of forces in business (for corporate elearning partnerships), education, and technology. It is important to select valuable, focused and trusted resources of information. Subscribing to a good listserv, visiting technology sites, reading elearning blogs, or relying on aggregators can significantly reduce the time spent staying in touch with new trends and issues. |
Resources
eLearning
Resources and News
A feature of elearnspace...a regular newsletter (or you can read the blog
online) of critical trends and issues in elearning, technology, and education.
Focused on trends impacting designing, developing, delivering and managing
elearning.
Stephen's
Web (OLDaily)
An excellent resource. Daily links and commentary on elearning. All news
stories are archived and searchable.
EduTech
Bloggers
Blogs of note in the technology/learning field.
elearningpost
"Corporate Learning, Community Building, Instructional Design, Knowledge
Management, and more"
Internettime
Blog
Good resource. Regular posting of learning and technology resources.
Learning
Circuits Blog
Blog hosted by various leaders in the elearning field. .
Serious
Instructional Technology
Regular posting of technology/learning related resources and news.
Web
Tools Newsletter
Each issue is link-rich and focused on one topic. Search back-issues for
a feel of the resource.
Blogs
by Ray Shroeder:
Techno News
Educational Technology
Online
Learning Update
I have no idea how Ray does it...posts daily (most weekends) and manages
to present an excellent range of topics. Great resource.
Slashdot
Good site for staying current on a wide variety of technology issues.
Very active community.
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