November 5, 2009
Thanks to Sacha Chua (in her own words a enterprise 2.0 consultant, storyteller, geek, and more) I stumbled upon compfight which searches through Flickr for CC (CreativeCommons) pics.
Like Sacha I like the layout of the results page and they seem to fit in a lot more pictures than Flickr:
You can limit the search to include only CC images as well as images that are “safe” – which is always a handy feature.
Just remember to properly acknowledge the image owner.
October 27, 2009
Tony Karrer posted his list of best eLearning links again (Best of eLearningLearning).
So without further ado – here it is (with my comments, for what they are worth, in italics):
Best of eLearning Learning
October 9, 2009 to October 16, 2009
Upcoming Free Online Events
I never really comment on the webinars as I’ve never participated in one. But if it is possible for you, check out Tony’s links below:
- New Possibilities with Mobile Learning 2.0
- Mobile Learning Gains Momentum
- Tips for Teaching Synchronous Virtual Classes
- Online Interviews In Real Time: Webinar And Book Release Party
- Unleashing The Power Of Social Learning
Featured Sources
The following are the top items from featured sources based on social signals.
- Online Games for Teaching Business Concepts and Ideas– Kapp Notes, October 16, 2009 A post by Karl Kapp with a list of online games and the reason gaming is actually a very good tool for teaching business ideas and concepts to kids
- eLearning Portal Integration– eLearning Technology, October 13, 2009
- Mentoring vs. Training — Why Social Networking Isn’t Enough– aLearning, October 13, 2009 I was fortunate enough to be part of both formal and informal mentoring at my previous organisation and experienced it as extremely positive. The point that Ellen makes is very true “mentoring is not the same as training, and shouldn’t be substituted for it Social networking/social media are not the same thing as training, and shouldn’t be substituted for it, either.”
- Open Source E-Learning Development 5: Media Capture– The E-Learning Curve, October 14, 2009
- Live online learning – a free download– Clive on Learning, October 13, 2009 Onlignment has issued a free download e-book, A Facilitator’s Guide to Live Online Learning: covering planning and building and facilitating learning sessions and communicating with voice and live video/text and image. It looks like it could be well worth the download.
- Educational iPhone Apps to Make You Smarter– Kapp Notes, October 8, 2009 The iPhone still haunts me! For those who don’t know, the iPhone is way to expensive for me to afford it on my South African librarian salary. But I live in hope … one day you will be mine!
- Convert ILT to eLearning – Estimating– eLearning Technology, October 14, 2009 a great post from Tony for anyone who has ever wondered what the criteria should be when guestimating eLearning duration as a classroom course
- Rhizomatic Learning: What is it?– Dont Waste Your Time, October 12, 2009 David talks about Steve Wheeler’s presentation on Personal Learning Networks as well as Rhizomatic Learning which spontaneously shapes, constructs and reconstructs depending on external environmental factors
- Whose learning are you responsible for?– Internet Time, October 12, 2009 I like this quote from Jay Cross “Any organization that is committed to working smarter needs to assess the impact of helping employees learn at every step in their career cycle” smart words from a smart man!
- Leadership Development – First break all the rules– Free as in Freedom, October 11, 2009 Sumeet Moghe asks some great questions about developing leaders in organisations (such as ow about a Leadership Development program that targets the regular players in your organisation?) and advocates breaking some rules (such as Try to fill your future positions) in his post on where organisations can find leaders
- Helpful — Free — Resources for Finding LMS and LCMS Vendors– aLearning, October 11, 2009
- CCK09: does Connectivism want to change the world?– Ignatia Webs, October 9, 2009
- Reading: “College technology ‘catching up’ with students”– Dont Waste Your Time, October 9, 2009
- How a piece of 166 year old graffiti was (partly) responsible for e-learning– The E-Learning Curve, October 16, 2009 – a mathematician went out walking with his wife and had a breakthrough, but nothing to write on but a tree trunk – the first example of mobile learning perhaps? 🙂
- 3 Steps to a Driving Question for Project Based Learning– Blender – Training Solutions, October 16, 2009 –Tom Preskett makes the case that personal learning environments (PLEs) should be unique to each user, and should change according to the user’s needs and experiences
- Personal Learning Environments – Concept not Tool– Learning Technology Learning, October 16, 2009
- Game-Based Learning Impacts Youth Behavior/Attitudes– Web Courseworks, October 15, 2009
- Why You Should Have User Centric Tutorials for Software Products– The Writers Gateway, October 13, 2009
- Using Screenr to Create a Video Post– MinuteBio, October 12, 2009 – I’ve used Screenr quite a few times – its easy, fast and hasslefree and within minutes you can tweet your video or upload it to YouTube
- Rules for Social Media? Just say no.– Electronic Papyrus, October 12, 2009 – Hinoj talks about 4 misconceptions of social media (SM needs to be carefully monitored for accuracy; SM needs to be controlled; SM can waste valuable work time and best practices are the same for all)
- Guest post: “What’s New in Human Trafficking”– Business Casual, October 12, 2009 – talks about human trafficking are gaining popularity here in South Africa as we are the hosts for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, and while it’s not something I consciously think about each day it really is a very important issue
- If the world is changing, why am I studying about the guys that sent us down the wrong path?– Adventures in Corporate Education, October 10, 2009
- Interview with Brent Schlenker– Learning Visions, October 10, 2009
- Computer-based Games in Classrooms: Leveraging the Instructor– Vikas Joshi on Interactive Learning , October 9, 2009
- The danger of a simple story– Simply Speaking, October 9, 2009
- Your learner journey can start here…– ThirdForce Blog, October 9, 2009
Other Sources
The following are the top items based on social signals.
- How to Create Screencasts You Can Be Proud Of, October 13, 2009 – 17 tips on making screencasts better for your viewers and easier for you
- 5 great resources to find out about Google Wave, October 14, 2009 – Jane Hart posts links to get you up to speed with Google Wave
- All things Twitter, October 14, 2009 – Jane again, this time with the ultimate guide to all things Twitter
- Learning to teach through video | In the Library with the Lead Pipe, October 14, 2009 – if videos become too technical they lose me (I don’t have a tech background) and Kim Leeder not only agrees, but posts about the ways you SHOULD be doing technical videos
- How to steer your client away from an information dump, October 13, 2009 – using branch scenario’s to make your training simple and effective
- Twitter Research – Best of eLearning Learning, October 12, 2009 – if you know someone who talks gets that glazed over look when hearing the words twitter or tweets send them this presentation
- Mobile Services Taxonomy, October 12, 2009 – gives a nice taxonomy of mobile services with emergencies at the top and an engaged community at the bottom
- How CarTalk can save your e-Learning, October 14, 2009
- Defining the ‘e’ in e-learning, October 15, 2009 – Elliott Masie goes through the evolution of elearning and the early methods of going e
- The keynote and the harshtag, October 9, 2009 – almost sounds like that song from Oklahoma “oh the farmer and the cowman should be friends“! But it’s actually about the keynotes at the Higher Ed Web Association’s conference
- PKM: our part of the social learning contract, October 15, 2009
- Mobile Momentum, October 10, 2009 – includes some useful pointers to various industry reports and posts
- What I’ve Been Up To: Some Social Media Training Resources, October 16, 2009 –
- Online Degrees Viewed More Favorably, October 15, 2009
- Positive Learning through Online Games, October 13, 2009
- My iPod Learning Mix, October 15, 2009 – Donald Clark shares his killer iPod learning mixes
- Warmth and Competence. How our Learners Perceive…, October 16, 2009
- A few web 2.0 resources, October 16, 2009 – links to IBM and Microsoft web 2.0 resources
- Cost Comparison: Instructor-Led Vs. E-Learning, October 14, 2009 – Paul T. Walliker gives a very good post about comparing costs with regards to cost per development and hour; factors influencing costs; constructs a model and gives you his key findings (I won’t spoil the ending and tell you which is cheaper, the instructor or e-learning)
- Knowledge Notebook, October 15, 2009 – Knowledge Notebook is designed for high school and college students to us for note taking, free association of notes, activity scheduling and smart views
Hot Topics
Google Wave (6)
- 5 great resources to find out about Google Wave, October 14, 2009
- Google Wave Invitations Available, October 13, 2009
- Opus Meets Google Wave, October 15, 2009
Learning Environment (16)
- A first look at Sakai 3, October 16, 2009
- Personal Learning Environments – Concept not Tool, October 16, 2009
- Open Source E-Learning Development 5: Media Capture, October 14, 2009
- How a piece of 166 year old graffiti was (partly) responsible for e-learning, October 16, 2009
Pedagogy (12)
- Creating games with Caspian Thinking Worlds software, October 16, 2009
- Learning to teach through video | In the Library with the Lead Pipe, October 14, 2009
- Twitter Research – Best of eLearning Learning, October 12, 2009
- Blackboard reinforcing the Status Quo, October 12, 2009
Toolkit (6)
- Open Source E-Learning Development 3: Open Office.org, October 9, 2009
- Open Source E-Learning 4: KompoZer Web Editor, October 12, 2009
- Twitter Research – Best of eLearning Learning, October 12, 2009
- My Top 10 e-Learning Tools, October 11, 2009
Twitter (43)
- All things Twitter, October 14, 2009
- Twitter; for your Business, October 9, 2009
- Twitter Research – Best of eLearning Learning, October 12, 2009
- Reading: “College technology ‘catching up’ with students”, October 9, 2009
LinkedIn (17)
- eLearning Portal Integration, October 13, 2009
- Social Network = Social Class?, October 13, 2009
- What’s an Online MBA Worth?, October 15, 2009
My education-based entries into EMC’s Innovation Conference, October 9, 2009
October 22, 2009
Cheryl LaGuardia from LibraryJournal posted a link to Facebook applications for Education.
Some of the applications are for using when writing your dissertation, others allow you to create flashcards on Facebook while others allow you to create study groups. My institution only started using Facebook recently – and the list includes some useful links.
Here is the complete list:
- Books iRead: Share the books you’re reading, and see what others think of books with this application.
- Flashcards: With this application, you can create flash cards to help you study on Facebook.
- SkoolPool: Get the lowdown on schools, online and otherwise, with this neat application.
- Rate My Professors: Find out what other students think of professors before you register for their class.
- BookTag: This app offers a great way to share and loan books out to students, plus create helpful quizzes for studying.
- DoResearch4me: This app makes it easy to gather information using your thesis statement, instructions, and more.
- Mathematical Formulas: Distribute formulas, solutions, and more with this application.
- SlideShare: Create presentations to send to students with this slideshow application.
- Calendar: This calendar app from 30 Boxes lets you organize your days, set reminders and share your calendar with others.
- To-Do List: Stay on top of your tasks with this Facebook to-do application.
- Zoho Online Office: You can keep all of your documents online, and even share them with classmates, students, and colleagues.
- UdutuTeach: UdutuTeach allows you to import courses from myUdutu (a course authoring tool) manage which people can take your courses, and track the learners’ progress.
- UdutuLearn: UdutuLearn lets you view courses that you have been given access to and shows your progress.
- Courses: Courses offers loads of functionality for online education, with features that let you add your courses, post announcements and assignments, search university reviews find classmates, create discussions and form study groups.
- Files: Powered by Box.net, this application makes it easy to store and retrieve documents in Facebook, so you can access them anywhere you have a connection.
- WorldCat: Use WorldCat to do research, catalog your library’s collection, and share information with students.
- HeyMath!: These mini-movies explain difficult math concepts, so these are great to share with students or use on your own.
- Study Groups: Get everyone together on your group project by collaborating with this application.
October 21, 2009
Technoratic will be publishing their State of the Blogosphere 2009 throughout this week.This annual study follows the growth and trends in the blogosphere.
For 2009, they took a deeper dive into the entire blogosphere, with a focus on professional bloggers.
This year’s topics include:
So far they’ve released the following:
It’s definitely well worth a click through.
October 6, 2009
I can’t believe it’s been a week since Tony Karrer‘s last “best of” list and I still haven’t been able to play with half of the sites he listed in his last list! But I’m sure this list will be filled with even more goodies for me to play with. 🙂 The links to Audacity makes me excited as I have that on my list of things to learn for October – thanks Tony!
Upcoming Free eLearning Webinars
Featured Sources
The following are the top items from featured sources based on social signals.
Other Sources
The following are the top items based on social signals.
Hot Topics
LearnTrends (17)
Audacity (12)
September 30, 2009
Kevin Muldoon at BloggingTips wrote an excellent post about the 101 blogs you should be subscribing to if you are interested in:
It really is worth checking out some of these!
September 29, 2009
There is another official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist
The video is really interesting and makes the case that while reaching people is easier than ever, connecting with them is getting harder and harder.
What really surprised me was the section at 2:55 where they compare John McCain’s $11 million raised in the tradition way (i.e. meeting and greeting) with Barack Obama’s $55 million which he raised by using social networking and not attending a single fund raiser. Mmmmm, I wonder if people will still claim that social networking is a geek fad that won’t last?
And this quote is my fav:
The computer in your cellphone today is a million times cheaper
and a thousand times more powerful
and about a hundred times smaller than the one computer in MIT in 1965,
so what used to fit in a building,
now fits in your pocket
what fits in your pocket now
will fit inside a bloodcell in 25 years
September 9, 2009
Information is beautiful posted a hierarchy of digital needs – kinda like Maslow 2.0 (click on the image to see a larger version)
Here’s how David explains his hierarchy:
In this diagram, each level in this hierarchy trumps the next.
So, if you get a new msg on Facebook, but your landline rings, you’ll take the landline call. You might have a spasmodic moment of ‘uh? wadd I do’. But, usually, you’ll take the call.
Similarly, if you get a new SMS whilst opening a new online dating message, you’ll be hard pressed not to read that SMS. It’ll take a great force of will. You may attempt to do both simultaneously. But if you really observe yourself closely, one will take priority – even if it’s only by milliseconds. The SMS will win your attention.
And so on up the chart…
It’s really interesting
September 4, 2009
Tracking Twitter‘s influence is becoming a hot topic right now, and it makes sense as millions of people tweet every day. Finding out how much influence these tweets have will be valuable information for organisations and marketers alike. One report that was recently published aims to do just that.
The Web Ecology Project published their The Influentials: New Approaches for Analyzing Influence on Twitter two days ago.
Using a new methodology based on the content and responses of 12 popular users, we determined measurements
of relative influence on Twitter. We examined an ecosystem of 134,654 tweets, 15,866,629 followers,
and 899,773 followees, and in response to the 2,143 tweets generated by these 12 users over a 10-
day period, we collected 90,130 responses published by other users.
Summary of FindingsAn analysis of our methodology and statistics suggests that on Twitter, among various configurable conclusions:
• mashable is more influential than CNN.
• sockington is more influential than MCHammer, while MCHammer is more influential than three major
social media analysts (garyvee, Scobleizer, and chrisbrogan).
• Celebrities with higher follower totals (eg., THE_REAL_SHAQ and ijustine) foster more conversation
than provide retweetable content.
• News outlets, regardless of follower count, influence large amounts of followers to republish their
content to other users.
August 27, 2009
You know the old adage show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are?
Well, according to the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project ICT users can be divided into 10 different groups or “tribes” according to your assets (the gadgets you have), actions (how you use ICTs) and attitudes (how you feel about the role of ICTs in your lives).
According to the report the 10 groups or tribes can be divided into two broad categories:
1. Motivated by Mobility: Five groups in this typology – making up 39% of the
adult population – have seen the frequency of their online use grow as their reliance on mobile devices has increased.
2. Stationary media will do: The remaining 61% of the adult population does not feel the pull of mobility – or anything else – drawing them further into the digital world.
Digital collaborators (8 per cent of the population) are very much about continual information exchange with others, as they frequently mix it up with online collaborators to create and share content or express themselves
Ambivalent networkers (7 per cent) are extremely active in using social networking sites and accessing digital resources “on the go” yet are not always thrilled to be contacted by others. They sometimes yearn for a break from online use and pervasive connectivity
Media movers (7 per cent) are the accelerants of user-generated content as they use their ICT assets to send material (say, a photo or video they have taken) out onto the Web.
Roving nodes (9 per cent) are active managers of their social lives using basic applications – texting and e-mailing – to connect with others, pass along information, and bolster personal productivity.
Mobile newbies (8 per cent) are occasional Internet users, but many in this group are recent cell phone adopters and very enthusiastic about how mobile service makes them more available to others. They would be hard pressed to give up their cell phones. http://www.sxc.hu/photo/441340
Desktop veterans (13 per cent) are tech-oriented, but in a “year 2004” kind of way. They consume online information and connect with others using traditional tools such as e-mail on a home high-speed connection. They are not heavy users of cell phones for much beyond a voice call.
Drifting surfers (14 per cent) have the tools for connectivity, but are relatively infrequent users of them. They say they could give up their Internet and cell phones. In spite of years of online experience, they seem to have checked out of the digital revolution.
Information encumbered (10 per cent) have average amounts of connectivity, but suffer from information overload and have a tough time getting their gadgets to work without help from others.
Tech indifferent (10 per cent) have limited online capability at home and, even though most have cell phones, they bristle at the intrusiveness cell phones can foster.
Off the network (14 per cent) lack the tools for digital connectivity, as they have neither online access nor cell phones.
They also have a test you can do to quickly find out which tribe you belong to.
I’m a Digital Collaborator 🙂 and here’s what they say about me:
If you are a Digital Collaborator, you use information technology to work with and share your creations with others. You are enthusiastic about how ICTs help you connect with others and confident in your ability to manage digital devices and information. For you, the digital commons can be a camp, a lab, or a theater group – places to gather with others to develop something new.
Seems they know me pretty well 🙂
Thanks to EmeraldInsight for the heads up on the report!
Click on the images for the copyright holders.
Ramblings from Africa 