Posted 1:45 PM by George Siemens
Steve confesses he is up to his elbows in turkey...and will be back next Tuesday…

Posted 1:37 PM by George Siemens
Over the last while, I've paralleled content here and in the new movabletype (MT) blog...I'm in the process of moving archives over (the auto archive doesn't work for me...). If you have a second, pop over to elearnspace blog and email me any thoughts. Some benefits of MT: ability to post comments...rss feed (blogger has this as well...just never set it up)...better categorizing (MT is much more useful for content management)...permanent links to blog posts.

Posted 1:28 PM by George Siemens
Preparing students for online learning is one of the most important ways to improve student retention in online courses. I often come across news/research that states online learning suffers from high dropout rates...leaving the impression that it is the medium that causes the dropouts. This is false. The problem is not the medium...it is a lack of understanding of, and focus on, the things that are unique to online learning. Obviously, when an attempt is made to replicate classrooms online, the result will not be as effective as using the Internet medium for "what it is good for". Improving student success online has at least three components: design better materials, better trained teachers, and increase student preparedness.

I've posted a new article on elearnspace: Preparing Students for Elearning, summarizing last week's discussion of the elearning noncourse.

Posted 8:03 AM by George Siemens
E-Journey on E-Learning
This site provides a broad overview of elearning...includes overview of what elearning is, scope, structure, trends, and resources...link-rich.

Posted 8:00 AM by George Siemens
The Curse of Product Convergence
Quote: "Why is so much advertising so deadly dull? Perhaps it's the lack of real product innovation. Products that are new and different and serve a real need.
One culprit, in our opinion, is the concept of product convergence. Instead of trying to create exciting new products, companies are spending billions trying to combine existing products."
Comment: This article reflects a trend in educational products - the LMS that does it all. End result - a series of second rate tools that do nothing very well. I believe that integration of products (via dashboard-like concept) is far more effective than convergence in educational tools...this way, the strengths of each tool are retained, rather than diluted.