Chrisp's e-learning expriences » Uncategorized

E-Learning for indigenous population

chrisp11 — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 08:07:07 +0000

A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald I found quite interesting and thought I might share it. The article is titled ‘E-learning ‘key to indigenous education’. (SMH 2008). The article tells how language and other barriers for remote communities can be a serious disadvantage. It comments on how some of this challenges can be overcome with the help of e-learning. An is another wonderful example of the scope and depth that some e-leaning techniques can offer. They claim

“Technology also helps to build the confidence of the most disadvantaged students, most of whom have reading and writing skills significantly less than mainstream children of similar age” (2008)

The program is supported by the federal Government and is attracting some attention and more importantly some funding.

“CDU researchers Ruth Wallace said the e-learning software was proving to be an effective tool in the education of Aboriginal children. Traditionally, indigenous learners would have to start with a written text not in their first language, she said.Now with e-learning, they can actually start with something that looks more relevant” (2008)

http://news.smh.com.au/national/elearning-key-to-indigenous-education-20081107-5jx1.html

VARK: learning Style and e-learning

chrisp11 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:29:39 +0000

I have a strong preference for a visual style of learning.

10 on visual

It can be useful for online learning platforms. As the online world is a visual world. Sometimes the material is quite text heavy however when combined with visual cues i find it does work well. Graphs, diagrams and other visually based tools are also my choice when delivering training online also. I find it combines well power point presentations and similar formats. These formats a the preferred method for face to face training but they can also convert to the online platform.

Watkins Article: Preparing E-Learners for Online Success

chrisp11 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:14:36 +0000

Some of what Watkins suggests has a special relevance to me and my experience as a trainer. In my work we are just beginning to introduce or relatively recently have introduced various forms of e-learning platforms. They have generally proven effective however, they have not been with out challenges. As Watkins suggests these technologies have ‘created new demands on both learners and instructors’. Introducing these methods to groups who in the past may have been more accustomed to the age old classroom/face to face methods can be arduous and at times time consuming. But as Watkins suggests a little planning and preliminarily work in bringing the students ‘up to speed’ with the new technologies may be effective. I find that fear of the unknown seems to underpin some of the resistance that is encountered. The student will quite often see the new technologies as completely alien to what they know or what they have exprienced in the past. It is interesting to note however and Watkins does make the point that ‘e-learning typically takes many of the study habits from the traditional classroom’. If the student can quickly adapt their already developed study skills to the new platform confinence with the technology can build equally quickly.

“Webvolution”

chrisp11 — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:37:14 +0000

As the internet or ‘Web’ naturally evolves then the talk of these new technologies and methodologies generating social change surfaces. Just as it is said that the printing press was the catalyst for the french revolutions then maybe just maybe the current web technologies may generate a similar level of social change. The following passage is taken from a promotion blog, broadcasting for an up and coming conference conducted by an organisation called ‘ Virtual Worlds London’. This conference is being conducted for industry professionals and it certainly seems set to cover some interesting topics;

will be focusing on the spectral part of the gathering: the Future of E-Learning (Monday), a panel I have the honor to moderate. What will we talk about? For instance, its already evident that the intersection of Virtual Social Worlds and User-Generated Media is transforming E-learning. The panel will discuss the path for integrating Web 2.0 and Web 3D media to fundamentally transform enterprise collaboration, informal learning, and knowledge democratization, which drives organic growth within the enterprise.

http://www.mixedrealities.com/?p=649

Increases Bandwidth for eLearning

chrisp11 — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:18:58 +0000

A lot of educational institutions are releasing the benefits in establishing e-learn programs and investing a lot of resourse into creating them. One such program has been established by the ‘Florence Unified School District in Arizona’ in the USA. The school has found distinct benefits thatcan come from the e-learning approach and are prepared to invest heavily into it. There some some significant cost savings to begained with the expansion of e-learning;

The district estimated that the implementation is increasing IT by some 25 percent and is going to save about $100,000 per year on travel costs, staff time, and licensing fees.

The school will be offering many and varied educational services and ech of these are seen to benefit greatly from the implemtation.

Some of the programs being offered electronically to students and teachers include “virtual field trips, video conferencing for teacher professional development, and online dual enrollment courses from Central Arizona College for high school students,” according to information released by Trillion. “The district also started a program to ’share’ classes across the district by broadcasting high school courses and electives to students in multiple schools at the same time.”

Interesting direction taken by this institute. They see an increase of bandwidth from their server will create a service that is 50 times faster. It is set to dramatic increase their educational capacity.

Blogging and Fairness issues

chrisp11 — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 06:36:33 +0000

Blogging as a form of expression is gaining popularity across the globe. Seen now as an alternative news source issues surrounding its management, censorship and right of reply have arisen. The following article has been pasted from a blog site where some of these issues are being explored. It is worthwhile noting that there seems some concern for Australian blogger and the fairness in the way their contributions are managed.

Are Australian bloggers getting a fair go, asks alternative news site MyRightofReply.com

(1888PressRelease) October 10, 2008 – MyRightOfReply.com launched in early 2008, is an independent news opinion website which explores all sides of stories in the media breaking in Australia and around the world. The site gives bloggers, groups and corporations a chance to exercise their legitimate Right of Reply with forums submit a story, polls and blogs.

“With the growth in popularity of blogging and an explosion of blogging type news sites we want to put the question out there of whether Australian bloggers are being appropriately supported in their blogging as their US counterparts?” says Mr. Andrew Tijs , Editor of MyRightOfReply.com.

“US bloggers are now covered against defamation claims, allegations of copyright infringement and invasion of privacy,” says Mr. Tijs “and this is being presented along with an eLearning course in media law presented by a local university. This is a great model for supporting bloggers and we would like to see a similar model prominently in place in Australia.”

“Blogging is here to stay despite the many arguments initially deriding it. At MyRightofReply we are acutely aware that bloggers contribute a lot to the fabric of journalism and debate in Australia,” says Mr. Tijs.

“Added to that blogging is good for our mental health with research carried out earlier this year from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne showing that regular blogging makes people feel they have a better social support and friendship networks than those who did not blog,” says Mr. Tijs. “So for all these reasons we would like to see more support given to Australian bloggers.”

Webcasting: Expanding Business

chrisp11 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:47:31 +0000

E-Learning in it various forms continues to gain attention and increase in usage. It seems the business is adapting e-learning techniques when ever and where ever it potential exists. Stream 57 is a new form of webcasting that is expanding its footprint out of North America and into the European market with great zest. This form of Webinar is recieving positive reviews and as it would seem on the march toward greater exposure. The following passage has been taken from a recent business report compiled on the matter. It thought it was noteworthy given my current interest in the Webinar Technique.

NEW YORK, Oct 07, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Innovative Flash-based webcasting leader Stream57 has bolstered its international presence by opening its first office outside of the United States, with a new space in London’s West End.

It seems the Stream57 system is used for various different purposes. And the Europeans have certainly seem its potential in the areas of learning and education.

Stream57 is an energetic team that believes in the power of the Internet for learning, marketing and entertainment, with offices in New York and London. StreamLine 2.9, Stream57’s cutting-edge webcast and rich media software suite, brings a new level of interactivity to online video presentations and e-learning. Recently named #745 in the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies, Stream57 was founded in 2001 by President Ben Chodor, and has provided software and services for rich media delivery, webcasting and e-learning solutions for a wide range of distinguished clients, including several Fortune 1000 corporations, charities, higher education institutions and health care organizations

Industry Training Through Webinar

chrisp11 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:01:16 +0000

It has become apparent in recent times that the webinar format is a becoming a popular medium for industry training. Following are details posted from an industry site for training. I thought i would post them as an indication of the growing interest in the format.

Registration for this live webinar is available on a per-person basis. Participants attend an online session from work or home; anywhere with a computer with internet access (at least 56K) and a telephone. The fee includes one connection to each of the four, 90-minute conference calls via toll-free phone number and assigned personal ID number; one connection to SAE’s online meeting center (via WebEx); and access to a secure course in the SAE Learning Center that contains the webinar presentations, class session recordings, supplemental materials, and assignments. Early registration is encouraged to allow time to review the preparation instructions that will be sent via e-mail and to access course materials.
NOTE: All sessions will be recorded for later playback should you be unable to attend on any of the dates/times listed above

Further Webinar Reports

chrisp11 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:08:09 +0000

News report from 2004 detailing the expanding use of webinars for business use.

Tectura is leveraging Webinars in the following ways:

* Hosting Webinars to get the company’s message out. These are usually focused on Microsoft’s product information and vision. “This allows us to take our message and span it across the U.S., and it gets information in front of prospects faster,” says Petrzelka.

* One-on-one prospect-facing Webinars. Tectura has project teams spread throughout the U.S., and these sessions enable them to come together with clients.

* Internal-training Webinars. Tectura has 15 widely dispersed offices. Webinars help in the conduct of sales and product training. For example, when the firm rolled out Microsoft CRM internally, it used a Webinar to train the staff.

The firm holds one major national prospecting Webinar, several one-on-ones, and approximately four smaller internal sessions per quarter. Attendance has ranged from 60 to 300 people each. “People used to believe that participants in Webinars weren’t serious buyers or strong leads, but we’ve found we’re closing more leads through Webinars than in our live events,” says Petrzelka.

Tectura’s experience illustrates what many accounting resellers and vendors such as Best, Intuit, Accpac, and AccountantsWorld are finding to be true–interactive Webinars are engaging, and provide hands-on tips that help their clients and staff reach and maintain goals for business.

“We started conducting Webinars because our accountants wanted information before their clients got it, and Webinars are a perfect fit for this,” says Trae Harris, Intuit training specialist.

Taylor Macdonald, Best’s senior vice president for business partners, agrees. “Webinars are becoming the norm because you can’t get to every city with live seminars. And our partners are finding Webinars invaluable because they reach a geographical client base they wouldn’t have been able to reach.”
<http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20188846_ITM>

E-Learning in Social Activism

chrisp11 — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:49:45 +0000

E-learning is now being applied for a myraid of different educational purposes. One purpose or use for the e-learning approach that gets rarely mentioned is that of education for social change. In this entry I have pasted a section for the Journal of Distance Education. The article is tittled e-learning and union mobilisation. It documents and describes an account of e-learning in practice as applied by the Canadian trade union movement; an interesting read:

‘E-learning has obvious contributions to make toward overcoming the problem of space for national and international labour movements. It can help connect dispersed populations for the purposes of solidarity and mobilization. At the same time, in the case of already overworked activists, e-learning can become yet another element of their activist life for which they barely have the time. In one sense, then, e-learning may find a particularly useful application among novice activists who, possibly assured by the pace and anonymity of e-learning, can nevertheless find preliminary entry into the types of informal apprenticeships and mentor-ships of union activism while also building a basic set of skills and sensitivities. More fundamentally, we saw that the oral culture and learning traditions of organized labour did not mix easily with e-learning environments. However, we conclude that when we recognize articulating activity systems as essential to the realization of a learning process and steps are taken to interlink the on-line and off-line worlds, e-learning has something significant to contribute. The emergence of labour history as a topic in one workshop showed us an important example of how heightened attention, functioning activity systems, and hence learning can be generated. Especially when we see critiques of e-learning from the activists/participants in this research, it becomes clear that these and other points must be taken seriously if the technology is to become more than a novelty. This tells us that e-learning can be nothing less than a form ofmobilization and action in the real world, linking past struggles to present struggles, if it is to retain its relevance.’ (Sawchuk, 2002 p.11)