The rapid eLearning blog

A very nice blog written by Tom Kuhlmann about techniques to use in eLearning.  Very professional. Usually simple ideas but very effective, generally supported by multimedia presentations; a great resource for professional development.

You can subscribe to “Rapid e-learning” and you will receive emails every time a new post is published.

L&D 2020: Shaping change in learning

T&J, a magazine in workplace training and L&D (learning & development), is conducting a research project that will look at “what may lie ahead for L&D professionals in the future”. Here’s an excerpt of the description of the project:

Imagine the world of work in 2020. Flexible working has grown enormously and is now common especially among white collar and professional men – and in manufacturing and construction one in five men work full-time hours over four days rather than five. Moofers (Mobile Out of Office Workers) are those growing numbers of people who don’t have a specific place of work; they work in a location best suited to the task in hand – often in restaurants and clubs with designated rooms and office services so moofers can make their deals and recharge themselves and their equipment at any time of day, or night.

These are just some of the possible scenarios proposed in the first stage of an ambitious research project being conducted by TJ and the Institute of Employment Studies; entitled Learning and Development 2020: shaping change in learning the aim is to look at what may lie ahead for L&D professionals in the future.

The researchers have looked at four key questions:

• How will changing demographics and workforce mobility affect the nature of learning required?
• How will the changing nature of business and work affect the type of employee development required?
• How will developments in neuroscience, psychology and adult education influence how people learn?
• How will new technologies, communications and social networks support people’s development?

The first stage of the project is completed and the findings are available at <http://www.trainingjournal.com/assets/documents/TJ-Survey-Report-2008-v3.pdf>

LDNet, the support network for learning designers

http://www.flinz.ac.nz/course/view.php?id=18
A site from New Zealand on Learning Design, with five sections:
- Learning technologies
- Learning resources
- Learning supports
- Learning activities
- with the Learning Design process in the centre.

Designing e-learning

http://designing.flexiblelearning.net.au/index.htm

This site shows the many ways you can use e-learning to engage learners, provide flexibility and improve quality in vocational education and training (VET). It can be used as an individual guide, or as a resource for professional development and training sessions.

This site has four sections:

• Gallery of Strategies an A-Z showcase and guide to adding the ‘e’ to learning programs
• Learning Design show-and-tell stories of successful e-learning, plus guidelines
• Assessing Online a comprehensive step-by-step guide for VET professionals
• Further Information useful sources to help you move on.

Evaluation rubric or blended courses

The reference text by D. Randy Garrison and Norman D. Vaughn, “Blended Learning in Higher Education: Framework, Principles, and Guidelines” (Jossey-Bass, 2008 ) includes in its appendices a “Redesign Guide for Blended Learning” and a “Project Proposal Form” and a “Template for Preparing a Blended Learning Course Outline” that would be useful in helping faculty understand where to start with course design . The “Quality Matters” rubric also is applicable for blended courses.

What does a high quality online course look like? A rubric developed by CSU-Chico [rubric in pdf]

How to get Faculty interested in online learning?

An account from George Mason University:
Building Faculty Skills and Confidence: The Faculty Fellows Program

Online conferencing for Faculty training

Berkeley College has published an account of their use of conferencing to deliver professional development and support to academic staff:
Using Intranets Conferencing for Online Faculty Training and Support to Augment an Already Comprehensive Plan for Online Faculty Support