Background Information for Your Next E-Learning Course During the year I conduct dozens of elearning workshops. I dedicate a large part of the workshop to graphic design because based on what I see, it’s an area that challenges many elearning developers. Most of the people I meet have a training background. They may have some graphic design skills, but they usually find their roots in training. So they tend to be stronger in instructional design than graphic design. Elearning courses are mostly a visual medium which means that graphic design is a key part of building effective elearning courses. What will the course look like? Regardless of how you approach your course design, the course has to look like something. In today’s post I want to offer a simple trick to help you get past the standard PowerPoint design or that template-screen look. Change Your Background Image It’s amazing what a nice background can do for the look of your screen. Many rapid elearning developers will use the application’s default background or a pre-built template.
The 21st-Century Digital Learner How tech-obsessed iKids would improve our schools. Credit: David Julian I give presentations to educators at every level, all around the world. All of the teachers are earnestly trying to adapt their educational system to the twenty-first century. During my talks, however, I typically look out at oceans of white hair. It is a measure of the malaise of our educational system that these old folk -- smart and experienced as they may be -- think they can, by themselves and without the input of the people they're trying to teach, design the future of education. One of the strangest things in this age of young people's empowerment is how little input our students have into their own education and its future. This is unacceptable and untenable. So, whenever and wherever I speak, I do my best to bring my own students to the meetings. What do I find? My approach, when conducting these panels, is to first ask the students a few setup questions: What experiences in school really engaged you?
Planning for Responsible Tech Integration In February of 2012, full-time classroom teacher and technology author Bill Ferriter will be presenting to the Technology Committee of the Wake County Division of Principals on both the changing nature of teaching and learning in the 21st Century and the steps that school leaders can take to craft careful technology integration plans for their schools. This wiki page will house materials for this presentation. Thought for the Session Making technology decisions in schools is (sadly) a lot like herding cats. Shared Brainstorming Several years ago, the Wake Education Partnership released a report that asked a critical question: What DOES a world class public education that prepares students for the global economy look like in action? Additional Slides for Today's Session Evaluating Your Current Reality One of the first steps that you can take to ensure that your school is tackling digital projects that are sustainable is to think carefully about your current reality.
Icebreakers Brief Description Icebreakers are short group activities that allow the various people inside a new group:to get to know each other;to become more comfortable with discussing the topic of groupwork; orto become more comfortable with expressing dissenting views. History (if applicable) When to use Use icebreakers at the start of a group activity to engage them to get to know each other and establish relationships for the rest of the gathering. How to use The facilitator invites all the participants to take part in the icebreaker. Tips and Lessons Learnt The facilitator should keep time so that the icebreaker does not eat too much of the time set for the meeting itself but also allow enough time for the participants to get to know each other and interact until they feel comfortable with one another. Examples & Stories From KM4Dev Discussions:Marc Steinlin: "Today I have just opened the Inter-agency Conference on Local Economic Development. Who can tell me more? (add your name/contact email) Tags
Creating Learning Experiences That Connect, Inspire, and Engage Photo by Beth Kanter, Net Funders Conference, October, 2011 A few days ago I opened the door on a new learning journey. I am very excited about upcoming peer learning projects that I’m working on in 2012, including several for Packard grantees in India, Pakistan, and Africa as well as the e-Mediat project in the Middle East. Content Delivery Is Not Learning On New Year’s Day, I heard a story on NPR about some research on instructional techniques used by many college professors – the lecture and how it is less effective in an age information abundance. Illustration by Beth Kanter I’ve known this for years, ever since I read Richard Mayer‘s educational research in his book, The Handbook of Multi-Media Learning. The NPR story was part of a series called “Don’t Lecture Me“. Before he class, he assigns a pre-reading from the textbook. It is far less work to slap together a powerpoint presentation and prepare the content. That’s the theory at least. Techniques 1. A few ideas: 2. 3. 3. 4.
The 21st century pedagogy teachers should be aware of Interpersonal learning , personalized learning, second life learning , 3d learning, collaborative learning and virtual learning , these are just some of the few buzz words you would be be reading so often in today’s educational literature. Things have changed , old methods and pedagogies are no longer relevant. The teacher-controlled learning where pre-constructed information is presented in a formal and standardized classroom settings becomes very obsolete. Advancements in technology and particularly social networking technologies are changing the whole educational framework . It is evident now that we are in front of two different versions of learner one is labeleed the the 20th century learning and the second is called the 21st century learning. To help you better understand the pillars of this pedagogy you need to watch this short video to see how different the 20th century teacher from the 21st century one. 20th century and 21st century teachers Collaborative team work.
Here Are Ten Rules to Create Engaging Elearning At the recent ASTD conference, I was asked how to create engaging elearning. If you’ve been reading the Rapid E-Learning Blog for a while, then you know I’ve tackled this subject before. I decided to pull ten ideas that are fundamental to building good elearning courses. Rule 1: Don’t Create the Course This is probably not the advice your client wants to hear. But let’s face it; there’s quite a bit of elearning that’s just a big waste of time. Besides, many of the courses we create are just sharing information that’s already available in other places like the organization’s intranet or via job aids. Rule 2: The Course Needs to be Relevant to the Learner Most boring courses are the result of the content not being relevant to the learner. Also, consider that not all learners are created equal. The key to interactive courses is not multimedia, rollovers, or drag-and-drop interactions. Rule 3: Understand Your Objectives Rule 4: Free Up the Navigation Here are a few things that bug the learners:
Create a Personal Learning Network Creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN) What is a PLN? A PLN is a way for you to make connections and share ideas and resources. You have one with colleagues that you work with. You can also have one online where you can reach and connect with educators from around the state, country, and world. Lots of Great Resources on Personal Learning Networks Quotes about PLN's: @kylepace:Because of this PLN,not only do I grow professionally, but I have made professional connections and friendships around the world @wmchamberlain: #edchat a PLN lets us access the best of the best, not just someone close by. @djainslie: My PLN opened the world to me 'the world is open' @JasonFlom: PLN's flatten the world, removing barriers to collaboration, corroboration, and general camaraderie. @wmchamberlain: #edchat a pln gives me hundreds of intelligent people to solve my problem. @cybraryman1: A PLN is a collection of interconnected minds that share ideas and information. How to get started with a PLN: