By Stephen Downes
August 5, 2004
Contextualized Learning: Empowering
Education
This article identifies three major
features that will characterize contextual learning: a
greater emphasis on organizational learning; learners that
will be increasingly empowered to shape when, where and how
they learn; and ways to deliver learning embedded into the
job. These seem essentially correct to me, and suggest the
directions the development of learning technologies should
take. By Steve Rae and Tony O’Driscoll, Chief Learning
Officer, August, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Preliminary Peer Study Results Enterprise
Learning Services
Reflecting some comments I've
made about learning design, this survey finds that "content
development processes are inefficient. The manual steps
required to gather learning materials and need for
collaboration apparently hinder the development process."
The usual caveats about online surveys apply, and the
authors are careful to note the limitations of this work.
PDF. This item and the next via ROInet. By Ben Bradley,
GrowingCo, July 30, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Executive Coaching Has Measurable Impact on
Enterprise ROI
According to the article, "A
recent survey of 100 senior executives released by Right
Managements Consultants, a Philadelphia-based career
transition and organizational consulting firm, found that
coaching strategies have had a measurable impact on ROI.
Senior executives report better relationships with their
direct reports, supervisors and peers, improved teamwork
and greater job satisfaction." Seems to me that if it works
for executives, it ought to work for other staff, and may
well have a greater impact on ROI, since (one would think)
there is a greater need. By Kellye Whitney, Chief Learning
Officer, August 4, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Where To Find Great Images For Your
Site
Robin Good is recommending FotoSearch, but I have to warn, the
photos here cost a fortune (even the 'free' photos have
shipping charges, and are free only if you spend a certain
amount of money). There are non-commercial photo archives,
such as Stock
Exchange, but as Good notes, some types of photos are
not available there; additionally, the server was beyond
capacity when I tried to check it out. By Luigi Canali De
Rossi, Robin Good, August 5, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
E-Learning Benchmark Established with Launch
of the Institute of Financial Services' KnowledgeBank
The corporate community is often well ahead of
the academic community in the deployment of e-learning
technologies, and this announcement is a case in point.
What is significant about this item is this: "RetrievalWare
enables the retrieval of very specific information by
'slicing-and-dicing' search results using dynamic
classification - the ability to mix concepts, terms and
expressions across multiple categories to quickly isolate
desired information." The key here is the concept of
'dynamic categoization' - the automated sorting of items
into categories in real time (I do the same sort of thing
on this website, but with nowhere near the power of this
software). This functionality is provided by a company
called Convera, and a perusal of their White Paper bank is strongly recommended
(you'll have to register). By Press Release, Business
Wire, August 4, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Manage Digital Rights with the
OMA
Good overview article on digital rights
management as seem through the eyes of the Open Mobile
Alliance (OMA), the consortium that handles content for
mobile devices such as cell (mobile) phones. This market is
somewhat unique in that the vendor controls the hardware,
which means that DRM functionally can be integrated into
the telephone's design. It is worth noting (though the
article doesn't, for some reason) that OMA DRM is based on
the Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL). Good list of links
at the conclusion fo the article. By Max Kington, IBM
Developer Works, July 27, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
WebCT and MERLOT Form Strategic Partnership
to Energize Inter-Institution Learning Content
Exchange
The deal means specifically that
"MERLOT will offer 'WebCT' as a pick list option for users
searching by either subject matter or technical format."
Consequently, "They will pinpoint WebCT-ready content
produced by faculty, institutions and publishers, including
IMS standards-based learning modules, question databases
and quizzes." One wonders, in the world where learning
objects are supposed to be system-neutral, why it should be
necessary to search for 'WebCT ready' content. Or why, for
that matter, MERLOT would find it necessary to sign a
special deal with an LMS vendor at all. By Press Release,
Business Wire, August 4, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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