Posted 8:14 PM by George Siemens
Learning content. Theirs, yours, mine and ours.
Quote: "Though far from a run course, we pretty much know what form elearning content will take: learning objects. While the debate about the term's exact definition continues to rage, it is clear that chunks of content smaller than a complete module or course, but still large enough to be more or less self-contained will be easiest to insert into any specific course. This is what makes them re-useable in other courses. The trickier question is where the learning objects come from in the first place, and who is allowed to re-use it."
Comment: Another article on learning objects that focuses on reusability. Forget reusability (well, not completely)...think personalized instruction - that is the real value of learning objects. With that said, the author raises the issue of how learning objects will be handled in terms of ownership - a very relevant concern in education systems where value is derived from "content owned".

Posted 7:54 PM by George Siemens
Enhanced Thumbnails
Quote: "Enhanced Thumbnails is a proprietary visualization technique that makes it easier to find relevant content quickly within documents and document collections."
Comment: Has potential. I would love to have this feature when I'm searching through documents on my hard drive :)..try the demo...only takes a few minutes. "The study showed that people using Enhanced Thumbnails found the answers to their queries 29% faster than when they used text summaries, and 22% faster than when they used plain thumbnails."

Posted 7:45 PM by George Siemens
This goes on record as being one of the most frustrating computer stories I've heard: Shifted Librarian - On Being the Digital Job ...I'll have to print that out and post it for new students who complain about technology...:). It can always get worse...