Posted 6:18 PM by George Siemens
From the department of "In case you care"...I've posted a new article on elearnspace: Impact of "Too Much Information". I detail some of my stresses and strategies in processing the mountain of information (you'd think I could have thought of something more original that to use an abused cliche :))...

In today's society, possessing knowledge is not the most valuable trait - information is developing too quickly to be a static "I have knowledge" scenario. Today, the most valuable skill is the ability to acquire, evaluate, dissemenate, knowledge and information quickly. Consider it a "meta-skill" - we need to know where to go to get what we need to know (say that 10 times fast...)

Posted 5:25 PM by Steve
From Steve's Head

Weaving the Tapestry...

I attended a meeting last week, where a number of instructors from our division compared the state of online learning in our respective departments. Now, I have to admit that I live my day-to-day life in my own little world...and on most days, it's a happy place, so I really don't complain all that much. As a result, I'm not really on top of the developments in other areas of our college. I usually hear little snippets of work being done, and then I go back and focus on the work on my desk that is crying for a little attentions. So I have developed a very fractured picture of what is being done in other programs.

When we sat down to share, I can honestly say that I was impressed with the depth and breadth of what was presented. A number of instructors have invested significant amounts of time finding software and then learning how to use it to develop interesting learning activities. This is an important development. When we look at the traditional classroom, there are so many different tools available to both instructors and learners to enhance the learning process. And there's a reason for that...the classroom has been around for centuries, allowing for significant experimentation and refinement of the teaching/learning tools being used. Good instructors have a variety of techniques they can use to weave together the threads of concepts and create vibrant, meaningful learning experiences for their learners.

E-learning is a far younger area. When you actually consider it's age, there is an amazing variety of tools and techniques available for use in online courses; however, the crunch seems to come in the application of these resources. There's a technical aspect that has to be considered - it takes time to learn how to use these tools. More importantly, it takes a lot of time and thought to figure out how to best apply the resulting resources in order to ensure that learners get a valuable educational experience in the virtual classroom. Despite the constraints in our schedules, it is important to continue to explore the options that are available for creating memorable learning experiences in the virtual classroom. I've focussed this week's links on a number of articles that look at how we can attempt to bring together the threads of learning to create vibrant virtual tapestries. I have said the word 'tapestry" far too often, so I will cease and desist before you start throwing virtual tomatoes! :-)

Till next week.

Steve

How to Make E-Learning Interesting

Quote: "Most people cannot be reprogrammed by a few hours' e-learning. When it comes to software, humans learn best from experience - especially by making mistakes. Computer simulations are an excellent way to provide vital mistake-making experience, yet most e-learning courses are little more than page-turning applications."

Comments: A good, quick read that identifies some of the short-fallings of many e-learning courses and provides some ideas for improving this situation. The author focusses on Authorware, which is a development tool that I like to use. Readers should know, however, that this software has a steep learning curve and is quite expensive. There are a number of other options, depending on what type of interactivity you want to incorporate into your course. Software Simuation Shootout Results is a good place to start looking for leads.

Moving the Camera

Quote: "Some organizations have done a good job, but in most cases what passes for e-learning has been a crude attempt to turn existing instructor-led training (ILT) materials into Web pages and spice it up with a few cool graphics and so-called interactivity. We are still thinking, often unconsciously, in terms of the classic classroom-style training model and trying to get e-learning to mimic it. We are still keeping the camera stationary."

Comments: This article compares the current state of the e-learning industry with the beginnings of the motion picture industry. The point? When the movie camera was first invented, people produced films that mimicked the way one watched a theatre production because that was what people were used to seeing. The camera's inherent strengths were not discovered till people began to use the camera based on its particular strengths instead of wedging it into the limited preconceptions of the day. The author argues that e-learning is suffering from the same problems - people are trying to recreate that which they are used to - classroom training - in an online environment.

Scenario-Based E-Learning

Quote: "A scenario is not a full-fledged simulation in the sense of an aircraft cockpit simulator, but it represents a realistic work situation and requires the learner to work through it. It differs from page-turner e-learning in that it requires the selection of behavioural responses to move through the lessons, instead of answers to content questions. As a result, it focuses on performance improvement rather than correct answers, supplies information only as needed, and boosts engagement by using images and sounds."

Comment: An interesting article that provides an alternative to creating expensive, time-consuming simulations. Among the other advice provided, the author recommends turning the process of writing learning objectives into something done after the project has been completed. First go out and discover what is needed and how it is going to be used - and don't get that information from the subject matter experts, but from the individuals that are actually going to be using the training and then doing the job.

E-Learning: The Second Wave

Quote: "There's a lot of talk in e-learning circles these days about the arrival of the "second wave." Granted, just trying to catch a ride on the first wave proved a challenge for some would-be e-surfers. But in nearly every facet of the e-learning movement, signs are that the next wave is coming. And in spite of gloomy reports and the shaky economy, the second wave may be rolling in faster than you think."

Comment: An interesting look at the maturing e-learning market. The author identifies a number of trends that may signal an upswing, including evolving standards, learning objects, more user-friendly technology, and revised visions about return on investment (ROI). It's a good read, though I think the area of learning objects is a little over-simplified. If you take the author at his word in this area, you may see the same multi-coloured lego look in your courses. While this may look great when you consider toy fortresses, when applied to e-learning this could result in garish products that can confuse learners with its variety of styles and looks.

Posted 8:50 AM by George Siemens
Inside the Black Box (Thanks to Seb Schmoller)
Quote: "In terms of systems engineering, present policy seems to treat the classroom as a black box. Certain inputs from the outside are fed in or make demands-pupils, teachers, other resources, management rules and requirements, parental anxieties, tests with pressures to score highly, and so on. Some outputs follow, hopefully pupils who are more knowledgeable and competent, better test results, teachers who are more or less satisfied, and more or less exhausted. But what is happening inside? How can anyone be sure that a particular set of new inputs will produce better outputs if we don't at least study what happens inside?"

Posted 8:14 AM by George Siemens
An Analysis of Online Education and Learning Management Systems in the Nordic Countries via Online Learning Update
Quote: "This article presents the results from an analysis of online education and Learning Management Systems (LMS) in the five Nordic countries. The analysis is based on literature review and in-depth interviews with 20 selected Nordic training managers. The analysis comprises a broad range of institutions from primary education, secondary education, higher education, distance education, and corporate training."
Comment: Interesting (but long) article...very significant quote: "The institutions do not seem to be especially loyal to, or dependent on, one provider of LMS system. Several institutions prefer self-developed systems. They perceive the commercial systems as expensive and complex and want to develop the systems to support their special needs. They wanted cost effective systems with the ability to handle continuous enrollment and integration with student administrative systems and economy systems. In the future, the open source strategy may have an impact on the LMS market."

Posted 8:06 AM by George Siemens
Transitioning Technical Instructors
Quote: "New Horizons’s version of synchronous learning is called Online LIVE Learning. It’s actually part of a larger strategy called Integrated Learning which blends 20 years of experience in learning with e-learning technologies to give customers a choice of learning medium, whether in the traditional classroom, facilitated instruction on the Web, or online self-study. The goal is to offer the same catalog of courses across all modalities. Indeed, many organizations are trying to create online learning experiences that go beyond adapting the classroom to the Web.
Comment: Article does a fair job of detailing some different aspects of the synchronous learning...offers a transitioning schedule...as well as basic guidelines on adjusting instructional methods.

Posted 7:53 AM by George Siemens
A New Company Tries to Sort the Web's Chaos (Free subscription required)
Quote: "But at a time when the valley's digerati are bemoaning a technology industry recession and the death of innovation, Mr. Hawken's Grokker software, which is intended to allow personal-computer users to visually make sense of collections of thousands or hundreds of thousands of text documents, is creating a buzz. The software is attracting significant interest from large corporations and universities."
Comment: The article highlights a new company Groxis - a visual approach to information organization - allowing users to see how information fits together. From the site: "Grokker builds precise and detailed knowledge maps containing visual cues and relationships between the data. The map itself contains powerful metadata that vividly describes the “nature” of the data collection. The Grokker product enables map generation and the ability to collaborate, extend, edit, delete, save, and share any attribute or subset of the map. This approach allows the Grokker to negotiate any type of network, file system, or database saving time, resources, and most importantly, generates far more useful results."
Other visual programs, kartOO, Antartica and Vivisimo, are also mentioned in the article.
Good quote from another article on Groxis: "But we need more sophisticated methods for gathering, massaging and making connections among all the pieces of information that enter our lives each day -- everything from e-mail to Web pages to phone numbers and more. So when I see useful tools, I pay attention."

Posted 7:26 AM by George Siemens
Toward Participatory Journalism
Quote: "So what should news sites be working towards? To borrow a phrase I picked up from Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis at Hypergene MediaBlog, I believe news sites need to start heading towards participatory journalism. What is meant by participatory journalism? To me, the phrase means not only allowing but actively encouraging people to interact with the news."
Comment: Participatory journalism transfers very well to the concept of participatory learning. In both journalism and learning, the model has been one of "I know, now I'll tell you - because you don't know". The notion that the user of learning materials/journalism has a voice and a valued opinion is surprisingly new. Yet, more and more, successful courses/instructors/institutions will need to abolish the viewpoint that the learner is the target of teaching...the learner should be the focus of learning.