Der Auszeichnung zum Mitarbeiter des Monates in Deutschland entspricht in China etwa der Auszeichnung zum Modellarbeiter (nur hat dieser noch einen sozialistischen Hintergrund und wird nicht monatlich ernannt).
In sengender Hitze am Straßenrand stehend mussten sich die Kandidaten einer bekannten Beijinger Supermarktkette dafür die Vorträge ihrer Vorgesetzten anhören – neugierig beäugt und fotografiert von vorbeilaufenden Konsumenten.

If you want to sell your magazine through iPad, you have to sell it through Apple (which will take 30 percent). The company will not allow you to sell subscriptions on your own website. Ryan Chittum writes, "Apple justifies its controlling instincts by saying the iPad (and iPhone) are a 'curated platform.' But that has little to do with letting non-pornographic magazines sell subscriptions. Apple's behavior is setting it up for some serious antitrust scrutiny down the line. It will be well deserved. Meantime, the media had better get hold of this tiger before it gets hold of them." Ryan Chittum, Columbia Journalism Review, July 28, 2010 [Tags: Apple Inc., Subscription Services] [Link] [Comment]

Larry Ferlazzo introduces us to Drag On Video, which lets us splice YouTube videos in a web page and display them as a single unit. Warning! This will eat time if you let it! Still, I can't get over how fun this is to play with. Larry Ferlazzo, Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day…, July 28, 2010 [Tags: Video, YouTube] [Link] [Comment]

I still think there's something odd about the way websites have become 'apps' in Apple's world. But that said, here is a list of "top 10" education apps for the iPad. The list sounds remarkably like a list of websites: Evernote, MobileRSS, Pulse, FreeBooks, Kindle, Dragon Dictation, Seesmic or TweetDeck, iWiki, Delicious, YouTube and iTunes. I was thinking today about how really Apple is trying to replace the web with its own version, iOS, rendered as apps. Maybe Android is trying to be that too. On the other hand, my Palm uses WebOS based on Webkit. And it seems to me that we don't have to replace HTML, Javascript, CSS and the rest to have mobile platforms. Jeff Cobb, Mission to Learn, July 28, 2010 [Tags: Apple Inc., Video, RSS, Wikipedia, YouTube] [Link] [Comment]

Shades of Rocketboom, it's e-Learning Today TV! I'm not sure how long they've been broadcasting, but this 9-minute video - and handy links page that is attached - is basically a talking heads newscast, but it's nice and light and will be of interest especially to people in the K-12 sector. I think I've got the right website (the videos are mirrored all over the place). There doesn't appear to be a feed specifically for e-Learning Today TV, though. Denis Soukhanov, Learning Today, July 28, 2010 [Tags: Video] [Link] [Comment]

Kurt Jakob ist nicht der einzige (siehe seinen Kommentar zum Posting EiEiEiPad), der mich nach meiner Einschätzung zum iPad (Biblionetz:w02189) fragt. Seit bald zwei Monaten trage ich ein iPad mit mir herum Zeit also für eine erste Bilanz. Erstes Fazit: Das iPad ersetzt für mich kein anderes Gerät Das beunruhigt mich aber wenig. Da der Installations und Wartungsaufwand (bisher) gering war, geht ...

Skillsoft surveyed workers in medium and large European companies asking how they like to learn. "They like freedom and flexibilty yes – but also ... they want learning on demand, when it's needed. They can then carry out what they have learnt straight away – with the ability to go back over something again if they haven't quite comprehended the first time." The sense I get reading this is that there is a fair support for classroom learning, but also that people would really like to have the materials later at their fingertips when they need them, whether or not they attended the classroom learning. Via email from Donald H. Taylor, Learning and Skills Group. Various Authors, Skillsoft, July 28, 2010 [Tags: European Union] [Link] [Comment]

brittavoss: Kannte ich noch gar nicht: Google Font Directory mit Preview: http://code.google.com/webfonts/preview#font-family=Reenie+Beanie

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I don't know whether to be outraged or just gaga with bemusement at the Chronicle of Higher Education's latest folly. The article in question is titled "YouTube Better at Funny Cat Videos Than Educational Content, Professors Say." There is, in fact, no reference to cat videos anywhere in the article, nor possibly in the researchers' work (I've written them and asked, but haven't received a reply back). Rather, what we have is a short article telling us that "while many students turn to YouTube when looking for help with their homework, it can be hard to find good-quality educational clips there." This, of course, is outrageously false. And badly argued. As Alan Levine summarizes, "Two experts in biology looked at web videos for keywords in their discipline, and they found it wanting. Therefore, the only thing YouTube is Funny Cat Videos." Alan Levine, CogDogBlog, July 27, 2010 [Tags: Video, Research, Quality, YouTube] [Link] [Comment]

Oh, I think this point in defense of lectures is exactly right. "If you recognize that the complete sentence is 'Lectures don't work…for inexperienced or lazy learners,' then you realize that using 'active learning' with professionals at a formal conference is insulting to your audience. You are assuming that they can't learn on their own, without your scaffolding." Now, sometimes they can't actually learn, even if they are professionals - if they are learning outside their domain of expertise, for example. But people who are interested and motivated and able to learn on their own need little help - they'll turn a lecture into active learning in their own way, through note-taking, engaging with the speaker, or simply listening with an active, questioning mind. Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, July 27, 2010 [Tags: Online Learning, Experience] [Link] [Comment]

Very nice talk from David Gauntlett titled "Making is Connecting." The thrust of this 9 minute video is that new media supports creativity, and this creativity creates happiness through meaningful work and ties with community. Tim Kastelle relates this to his own work (and unknowingly, to mine): "we connect ideas to people. This is the outbound side of Connection. I write about the idea connections that I make in my blog – as people read it, they start connecting with the ideas. I give as many public talks as I can..." Tim Kastelle, Innovation Leadership Network, July 27, 2010 [Tags: Video, New Media, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

Letzte Woche Party auf der Autobahn. Und jetzt, die Stimmung ist verflogen, nach den Ereignissen rund um die sog. Loveparade. Einen Kilometer etwa entfernt von unseren Büros in Duisburg fand das Unglück statt. Es ist schon so viel dazu gesagt worden. Es bleibt furchtbar für die Familien und Freunde, für die ganze Stadt.

weitere Neuigkeiten vom Duisburg Learning Lab unter mediendidaktik.de

Tony Bates reports, "Recently the Open University of Hong Kong launched its free digital platform called ‘Open Learning ‘." From the description: "Open Learning gathers together a wealth of audio-visual educational materials and courseware unit covering a broad range of subject areas…There are TV programmes produced by the University's Educational Technology and Publishing Unit, and recording of talks and conferences….The platform leverages on rapidly developing social network technology to engage with learning communities. It incorporates tools for creating personalised pages and a learning log where individuals can track their learning experience." Note that the Open Learning page has a musical soundtrack, which might be inconvenient if you're recording something while browsing. Tony Bates, Weblog, July 27, 2010 [Tags: Experience, China, Audio, Personalization, Video, Networks, Online Learning Communities, Learning Communities] [Link] [Comment]

Here's another contribution to the discussion around whether class blogs should be open. "It my opinion," argues Kathleen McGeady, "it is more harmful to "protect" students through a closed blog than it is to open their eyes to the real world of online technologies through open blogs. To me, having a closed blog feels like 'pretending to use technology' and the full benefits of blogging cannot experienced." Some good discussion in the comments follows her post. And it makes me want to question the whole idea of whether blogging in a closed environment is "safe". I wonder whether students who are bullied, privately and discretely, with the teacher's compliance, feel "safe" in such closed environments. Or whether they just feel there's no way out. Kathleen McGeady, Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom, July 27, 2010 [Tags: Experience, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

"Open education is a critique of our formal, institutionalised systems of education," writes Richard Hall. "Or so it should be," he adds. There are risks. In open eduicational resources, for example, "the focus becomes techno-determinist." Or they "simply replicate or re-produce a dominant political economy, in-line with the ideology of accepted business models." Or that "we fetishise the outcomes/products of our labour as a form of currency." Or "that we fetishise the learner as an autonomous agent." In other words, he writes, "The production and re-use of artefacts is of secondary importance to the social relationships that are re-defined by us, and the focus on people and values that are in-turn assembled through open education." Via Pontydysgu. Richard Hall, DMU Learning Exchanges, July 27, 2010 [Tags: Open Content] [Link] [Comment]

Reinhard Bauer von der Donau Universität Krems (Mitarbeiter von Peter Baumgartner) ist mit einer spannenden Idee auf mich zugekommen, nämlich „Writers´ Workshops“ in der Nachwuchsförderung, genauer in Doktorandenveranstaltungen, einzusetzen. Seine guten Erfahrungen damit im Zuge von Konferenzen zur Musterforschung haben ihn dazu veranlasst (auch Peter hat darüber hier in seinem Blog berichtet). Was ich wirklich bemerkenswert fand ist, dass Reinhard gleich einen konkreten Vorschlag für eine Forschungsnotiz gemacht hat! Ich habe das sehr gerne aufgegriffen und innerhalb weniger Tage haben wir auf diesem Wege eine Forschungsnotiz (sie ist hier bereits online zugänglich) erstellt, in der nicht nur beschrieben wird, was „Writers´ Workshops“ sind (weswegen ich das jetzt hier nicht extra erkläre). Man kann da auch lesen, wie wir das im Doktoranden-Kolleg „Lifelong Learning“ der Universitäten Graz, Klagenfurt und Krems einerseits und im Doktorandenkolleg der Professur für „Lehren und Lernen mit Medien“ an der UniBw München andererseits mal ausprobieren wollen. Quasi wie von selbst sind wir da zu unserem ersten „Gastautor“ bei unseren Forschungsnotizen gekommen – unkompliziert und schnell. Wäre ja eine tolle Sache, wenn das öfter mal passiert. Ein großer Dank geht da an Reinhards Engagement!

Ich bin gespannt, wie uns die Umsetzung gelingt, ob meine Doktoranden jetzt nicht komplett davon überfahren sind und auch mitziehen, und welche Erfahrungen wir damit machen.

flattr.com ist ein neuer social micropayment Dienst aus Schweden, mit dem sich geschätzte Websites mit einem Klick monetär unterstützen lassen. Ich definiere einen monatlichen Betrag, den ich fürs flattrn ausgeben will (Relevante Frage: "Was sind mir die Informationen aus dem Web wert?" ) und klicke überall wo mir ein Webangebot gefällt auf den Knopf flattr this! Ende Monat wird dann mein fixer ...

Many of you are either working alone or on very small teams with limited resources.  With some creativity, you can do quite a bit.  In fact, many of my tips and tricks came from working in a similar situation.  It’s amazing what can be done do with a computer and a little duct tape.

With that said, working solo has some drawbacks.  One of the biggest is not having peers (or a more experienced person) who can help you brainstorm and think through the process of building a course.  You really are left to fend for yourself.  Or so it seems.

In the past we looked at how to navigate social media and manage all of the streams of information.  We also discussed ways that being part of the community can help make you an elearning superstar.  With today’s Internet and social media, you can redefine who’s a peer.  And that’s a good thing. 

I get a lot of emails about how to get started with elearning or how to learn more.  One of my first suggestions is to jump into the community forums and start asking for help.  It’s good for help and for your career.  In today’s post, I want to highlight a recent interaction in the community that shows how you can become better in your elearning design. 

A Quick Note about Communities

Communities typically work like the image below.  Most people aren’t active participants.  They kind of lurk at the edges looking for a quick tip here or there and following the threads.  Only a handful is active in real conversation. 

Lurking isn’t bad.  There’s nothing wrong with looking for the quick tips and tricks.  Who really has the time to hang out in communities chatting about elearning?

If all you want is a quick tip or fast help, then it’s fine to be on the outside.  Just jump in, get some help, and go back to work.  However, there is a lot of practical value in becoming part of your user community.  Let me share a few ways:

• Real people get real help.  No one knows the lurkers who quietly observe and pull out the help they need.  When you ask questions and engage in conversation, you become a real person.  And people who are in the community want to help real people.  Become part of the 5%.
• Become an expert.  What’s common to the community is that everyone is developing expertise in some capacity.  Sure we all come to it from different angles and levels of experience, but ultimately what binds us together is our pursuit to become better at what we do.  Share what you know and try to help others, too.  You’ll feel better and your goodwill pays dividends when you need help.
• Virtual brainstorming.  If you’re working solo, odds are that you don’t have a place to think out loud or bounce around ideas.  The community offers that.  Are you working on a course and trying to figure out how to do something?  Do you want some feedback from others?  Jump into the community and ask.

A Practical, Real-World Example

It’s one thing to talk about learning communities.  But it’s another to make it a practical reality.  The truth is most of us don’t have time to hang out in online communities.  We have work to do and can’t spend every waking hour checking links in Twitter, following threads in forums, and updating Facebook pages.

Because of this, most people don’t fully participate in community activities.  That’s fine.  However, here’s a recent community interaction that is both practical and a great example of how the community offers real valuable help and not just good discussion.

Joe Deegan is a recent Articulate customer.  And he’s quickly learned to get his value out of the community.  A while back he posted a question looking for ideas on building an interactive sales course.  My guess is that he got at least ten good ideas to play around with.

Just the other day, he posted another question in the forums:

I am working on a project where I am creating a slide that looks like the inside of a store that my users work in. I am having a hard time adding perspective to the floor so that it looks 3D as if I am inside the room. I’ve seen many of you do a great job of this so I wanted to get your ideas on how I can make my scene look better.

He uploaded a quick screencast of what he wanted to do; and then asked for some help.

You can follow what happened in the community by clicking this link.  But I’ll give you a quick rundown.

His question generated a good conversation and some advice which compounded as others jumped in.  It produced a few screencasts, some quick prototypes, and a great discussion.  By the end of it, Joe interacted with six others and came away with some good ideas.  His one-person team sure did grow.

I especially like the way Bruno took the essence of the conversation and created a quick screencast that not only addressed the original question, but also shows some great PowerPoint tips.  Check it out, below.

 

Click here to view Bruno’s tutorial.

Think about the value Joe brings to his workplace.  When they hired him, in a sense they also hired a team because Joe comes bundled with his network of resources.  So if you’re a Joe Deegan and want to learn more (or just need help with your courses) don’t be afraid to jump into the community.  You’ll find it a great experience and get the tips and tricks to help you grow as an elearning developer.

Tidbits:

• If you want to stay on top of the Articulate community, be sure to subscribe to Jeanette’s weekly update.  She posts every Monday and pulls in great discussions, tweets, and many of the practical tutorials shared by the elearning community.
• I’ll be in Madison, WI on August 4-6 at the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning. Since I’m in town, I’m free to do an informal Articulate jam session where I can answer questions and offer tips & tricks. Contact me if you’re interested and I’ll provide some details.
• Don’t forget the Baton Rouge conference on October 12. Sign up here & use RAPIDBLOG code to save $30.  It’s a great value and you’ll get all of the files we create.  I’ll be arranging an informal jam session for that one, too.

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I agree with Scott Rosenberg - far from 'remembering everything', the web forgets things far too easily. That's why I created my site in the first place - to store stuff that I knew would disappear from discussion lists and bulletin boards. Don't believe me? Try to find anything I posted on my old NewsTrolls site (I can't give you a link because the domain was auctioned out from under me). That stuff - thousands of posts, hundreds of articles - now lives on only in my personal archive. And even that archive is incomplete, because we had an ISP that deleted content randomly when our disk space limit was reached. The web permanent? Not likely. Via Tom Hoffman. Scott Rosenberg, Wordyard, July 26, 2010 [Tags: Discussion Lists] [Link] [Comment]