On 04/14/2011,
in content development, aggregation, repositories, tools, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
On 04/11/2011,
in Australia, consortiums, content development, aggregation, repositories, online learning,
by Daniel Christian
Originally saw this at
one of Stephen Downes’ blogs
Excerpt:
In particular, the report outlines the operations of two significant distance-learning institutes in Australia:
- Open Universities Australia (OUA), a consortium of universities providing distance-learning opportunities for students across Australia.
- eWorks, focusing on Technical and Further Education (TAFE), equivalent to college education level courses.
This report outlines unique features and best practices of both organizations, details specific roles within the organizations, and explores options for potential collaborations and project partnerships.
Open Universities Australia (OUA), a $70 million for-profit consortium which originated in 1992 with Federal Government funding, is now fully funded from student fees and projected to double in growth in the near term. 70% of students receive financial aid. As a consortium, it relies on the reputation of its constituent members. The board, comprised of participating university chancellors and independent directors from the professional workforce which includes an academic committee, governs the introduction and quality of programs and vets new providers. Most course work is delivered asynchronously with increasing progression towards synchronicity. Demand (rather than supply) drives new courses which are offered to complement existing courses in accordance with market forces. More than $1 million is available to aid in development of online delivery of existing face-to-face courses.
eWorks, a support service of The Australian Flexible Learning Framework (AFLF) develops (rather than delivers) content, based on nationally mandated curriculum competencies for the Vocation Education and Training sector (VET) sector, and coordinates access to existing vendor products into a single environment, generated from a single platform. Standardization of both learning objects and formats for storage and accessibility resulted in a federated search engine: the Learning Object Repository Network (LORN). Success of LORN relies on standards compliance by each state and territory.
On 04/08/2011,
in collaboration, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital audio, digital video, graphics, media/film, productivity / tips and tricks, tools, vendors, web design and production, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
On 03/25/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Adobe, art, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, ideas, instructional design, interactivity, interface design, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, media/film, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, online media, presentations, quality, teaching & learning, teaching online,
by Daniel Christian
Adobe Museum of Digital Media, A lecture by John Maeda
From DSC:
If online courses could feature content done this well…wow! Incredibly well done. Engaging. Professsional. Cross-disciplinary. Multimedia-based. Creative. Innovative. Features a real craftsman at his work. The Forthcoming Walmart of Education will feature content at this level…blowing away most of the competition.
This is also true for materials like the item below!
On 03/23/2011,
in content development, aggregation, repositories,
by Daniel Christian
The Art of Content Engineering — from inkling.com by Rob Cromwell, Co-founder and VP, Engineering
Here are three reasons our unique software-oriented approach to interactive content creation makes sense.
On 03/18/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, adult learning, career development, change, collaboration, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital textbooks, distance education, informal learning, instructional design, learning ecosystem, learning theories, lifelong learning, microlearning, online learning, online media, pace of change, professional development, publishing, RSS, social learning / networks, social media, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, textbooks, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
After looking at some items concerning Connectivism*, I’ve been reflecting upon the following questions:
- What’s the best way for us to dip our feet into the constantly moving streams of content?
(No matter the topic or discipline, the streams continue to flow.) - What’s the optimal setup for K-12 based “courses”?
- What’s the optimal setup for “courses” within higher education?
- How should L&D departments deal with this phenomenon?
- How do publishers and textbook authors want to address this situation?
Thinking of Gonzalez (2004; as cited in Siemens (2005)) description of the challenges of rapidly diminishing knowledge life:
“One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete. Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18 months according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD). To combat the shrinking half-life of knowledge, organizations have been forced to develop new methods of deploying instruction.”
Stephen Downes addresses this and points to a possible solution to this phenomenon in his presentation from 3/15/11 entitled “Educational Projection: Supporting Distributed Learning Online.”
Excerpt/slides:
.
I need to put more thought into this, but wanted to throw this question out there…more later…
* From DSC: Some of the items I looked at regarding Connectivism — some directly related, others indirectly-related — were:
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.
Downes, S. (2005). An introduction to connective knowledge. Retrieved from http://www. downes. ca/post/33034. Downes noted that this was published in Hug, Theo (ed. ) (2007): Media, knowledge & education – exploring new spaces, relations and dynamics in digital media ecologies. Proceedings of the International Conference held on June 25-26, 2007. November 27, 2007.
Kop, R. & Hill, A. (2008). Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, v9 n3 p1-13 Oct 2008.
Tracey, R. (2009). Instructivism, constructivism or connectivism? Training & Development in Australia, December, 2009. p08-09, 2p. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. ISSN 0310-4664.
Kerr, B. (2007). A challenge to connectivism. Retrieved at http://learningevolves. wikispaces. com/kerr.
Sims, R. (2008). Rethinking (e)learning: A manifesto for connected generations. Distance Education Vol. 29, No. 2, August 2008, 153–164. ISSN 0158-7919 print/ISSN 1475-0198 online. DOI: 10. 1080/01587910802154954
Lisa Dawley. (2009). Social network knowledge construction: emerging virtual world pedagogy. On the Horizon, 17(2), 109-121. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1880656431).
Hargadon, S. (2011). Ugh. Classic politics now extends to social networking in education. Retrieved from http://www. stevehargadon. com/2011/03/ugh-classic-politics-now-extends-to. html.
Cross, J. (2001). Crowd-inspired innovation. Retrieved from http://www.internettime.com/2011/03/crowd-inspired-innovation.
Rogers-Estable, M.. (2009). Web 2.0 and distance education: Tools and techniques. Distance Learning, 6(4), 55-60. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2017059921).
Marrotte-Newman, S.. (2009). Why virtual schools exist and understanding their culture. Distance Learning, 6(4), 31-35. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2017059881).
Hilton, J., Graham, C., Rich, P., & Wiley, D. (2010). Using online technologies to extend a classroom to learners at a distance. Distance Education, 31(1), 77-92. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2074810921).
Attwell, G. (2010). Personal learning environments and Vygotsky. Retrieved from http://www.pontydysgu.org/2010/04/personal-learning-environments-and-vygotsky.
On 12/27/2010,
in 24x7x365 access, accreditation, adjunct faculty, blended learning, career development, content development, aggregation, repositories, copyright/ownership/NFTs, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, e-books, e-readers, educational games / serious games, elearning, faculty/staff, formal learning, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, informal learning, leadership, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, open courseware and systems, personalized/customized learning, strategy, training / L&D, trends, ubiquitous learning,
by Daniel Christian
eLearning predictions for 2011 and beyond — from Web Courseworks.com by Jon Aleckson
Excerpts:
This summer I attended the 2010 Distance Teaching and Learning Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Some very interesting topics came up in the facilitated Think Tanks, and I wanted to share some of the predictions that were developed from these active group discussions regarding where eLearning will go in the next ten years.
…
Below you will find a table that summarizes the different opportunities and challenges that were predicted to arise in the next ten years by the participants in the conference Think Tanks and by [Jon Aleckson].
| Opportunities | Challenges | |
| Learner |
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| K-12 Instruction |
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| Corporate Training |
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| Content |
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| Learning Environment |
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| Faculty |
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| Administration & Management |
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| International Perspectives |
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On 05/10/2010,
in blogs / blogging / vlogging, chemistry, content development, aggregation, repositories, physics, tablets,
by Daniel Christian
On 05/10/2010,
in adjunct faculty, business side of he, change, changing business models, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital textbooks, disruption, e-readers, entrepreneurship, faculty/staff, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, publishing, using teams,
by Daniel Christian
Earn more, charge less
He also spends less money publishing them. With his original textbook, he printed 3,000 copies and had to store them, so he didn’t break even for a while. That’s not the case with creating e-textbooks.
“You don’t have to have a bunch of books laying around, you don’t have to have the initial startup costs,” Chamberlain said, “and then you can send that savings on back to the students.”
For the past five years, Florida State College at Jacksonville has been driving down the cost of textbooks for its students through the SIRIUS initiative. SIRIUS brings together between 50 and 75 faculty members to create course material and textbooks for classes they’re qualified to teach, said Chief Operations Officer Jack Chambers. So far, they’ve developed 20 interactive general education courses.
The textbooks cost $60.98 in print, but this fall, they will publish online through CafeScribe at a price of $48 each. Eleven other colleges will use them as well.
Before the courses publish, a team of content specialists, instructional designers, quality assurance staff and multimedia personnel review them, as do expert faculty members outside the college (emphasis DSC).
