Quality Assurance, or QA, is a critical component for success in software development. I am often suprised that we don’t apply more effort to strong QA when it comes to developing online training or learning. In this segment I address the key elements of QA and how they can and should be applied to e-learning.
Rob Reynolds Continue reading ‘QA for E-Learning’
Archive for December, 2004
Here is a recap of significant posts in the edublogging community from the past 48 hours. Continue reading ‘Daily Tribute’
Fetishizing one’s presence on the screen, selecting attributes and appearance to meet the demands of a virtual space, bringing together wish and wish-fulfilment — these are the underlying emotional energizers in many e-learners. Unfortunately, facilitators and instructional designers seek to put limits on the pursuit of transformative potential, and develop instructional strategies that encourage conformity of thought, action, and intellectual input. Why go to such efforts to stifle creative thought? The answer is simple. It is scary. This is particularly the case when text meets image, and the presence of an individual in the e-learning space is highly personalized, and deliberately crafted to evoke an emotional response. Continue reading ‘Stop! You’re Scaring Me! Hyperidentities in E-Learning’
If Google’s presence weren’t already ubiquitous enough, news surfaced last month that the search giant is developing tools that will allow us to search for needle clips in the haystack of Internet digital video. Naturally, Google’s growth is beginning to alarm Microsoft. The Redmond company used to tbe the group that controlled our information. But that was before the Web. Continue reading ‘Information Control’
Here is a recap of significant posts in the edublogging community from the past 48 hours. Continue reading ‘Daily Tribute’
An article about robots being used in Japan to help prevent senility in the elderly was posted on Slashdot last week. The article has a picture of a young woman talking to one of the new Snuggling Ifbots, 45-centimeter robots with glowing faces and the conversational ability of a five-year-old child. In addition to possessing several million patterns of word phrases that they use when spoken to, the robots can also sing songs, play trivia or quiz games, read out loud from news sources, and inquire about various health functions. Continue reading ‘Wanted: A Human Touch’
Good mentors have the ability to see us for who we really are and, at the same time, for what we might become. I had the good fortune to have two strong mentors in the first four years of my scholarly career. These two men made a profound difference in my life and the decisions I made. Through their examples, I also learned what it takes to be a good mentor. Continue reading ‘A Tribute to Mentors’
Here is a recap of significant posts in the edublogging community from the past 48 hours. Continue reading ‘Daily Tributes’
Will Richardson posted comments today about responses he received to some blogging evangelism at the Educational Media Association of NJ Conference. While most people were “really impressed by what we were doing,” he said, “they just didn’t see it happening at their own schools.” Continue reading ‘Behind the Technology Learning Curve — Education as Usual’
[Editor’s note: Today we begin a new weekend series devoted to issues concerning technology and the military. The series will be authored by Susan Smith Nash. She has been involved in developing online curriculum and courses for active-duty and deployed military since 1997. The courses she helped develop number in the hundreds and represent at least 20,000 enrollments, at least 5,000 of which were active duty military or military dependent enrollments. Her first military distance learners were Army National Guard, who sent their work from the Balkans where onsite instruction was impossible. She guided teams that developed programs for all branches of the military–active duty, national guard, reserve units, and special operations stationed overseas, both deployed or temporary duty–who were often in harm’s way. The resulting programs and courses have been taught to a full spectrum of military personnel, ranging from junior enlisted to close-to-retirement officers. Many of her online programs have been enrolled in by military through Navy PACE, eArmyU, Coast Guard Ship to Shore, and the Department of Defense. Her son is a Lance Corporal in the US Marine Corps.] Continue reading ‘Considerations for Young Enlisted E-Learners’
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