Opportunity in the numbers.

According to Doug Hutt (Texas regional president, Compass Bank), as quoted in this week's Banking & Finance column of the Dallas Business Journal, businesses are feeling good about sales and are less enthusiastic about hiring. No big spending, more emphasis on getting increased efficiency from staff and equipment.

Can you see your opportunity here?

3:43:31 PM    

From The Growth Coach.

"Your business is where it is and what it is because of your thinking and behavior to date. ... Do you spend energy on making excuses or making money?"

[Suzanne Gude]

3:35:16 PM    

Four bills expand SBDC services (US).

In the dead-tree edition of the Dallas Business Journal today (and presumably in its sister publications as well), there is an extensive article ("New programs eyed for small-biz centers") about four bills now before the Congress in Washington. These would expand the services of Small Business Development Centers. If the legislation is enacted, it would:

• Help small businesses comply with federal regulations;
• Develop entrepreneurial education programs for vo-tech schools;
• Support small business growth on Indian reservations; and
• Create peer networks for businesses that are already successful.

Worth going out and finding a copy of your local City Business Journal, I think. After reading it, you may wish to contact your representatives and express your opinions.

3:27:23 PM    

eLearning is not ePublishing.

This is an article from a year and a half ago by Bill Bruck, but it is just as applicable to the current buzz over podcasting. Worth a re-read!

[Collaborative Learning]

12:17:35 PM    

Tablet PCs continue to spread.

This one might not be your basic e- or m-Learning machine. MSRP starts at $1700. Reviewer notes that, "Unlike most tablet PCs, which are essentially designed for office applications, the C310 includes CPU, memory and graphics capabilities to support higher end 3D games, audio and video editing and CAD applications."

Another new Tablet PC announced.

Tom's Hardware Guide: Acer introduces performance Tablet PC with largest display yet.

Hmm, we are now seeing the spread of Tablet PC's into both smaller (the new Motion 8.4-inch) to larger (including the Toshiba M4 and this new Acer). Yes, the Tablet PC market is starting to rock and roll. Took a while to get here, yes, but we are here now. Watch for Tablet PC sales to go way up this year.

12:08:12 PM    

Principles for Evaluating Websites.

Principles for Evaluating Websites: "How do you know whether something you read on the web is true? You can’t know, at least, not for sure. This makes it important to read carefully and to evaluate what you read. This guide will tell you how."

12:07:19 PM    

Independent publishing.

Best Online Resources For Independent Publishers.

Sometimes the best resource of all is to just stop, pull together all of your findings, and see how to integrate them in an effective way in your daily workflow. Intelligent research and experimentation on the cutting edge requires also having time to slow down and learn how to actually fit new ideas and learned lessons into your own personal goals activities. Too many times the need for speed and for being first at trying…

Direct and Related Links for 'Best Online Resources For Independent Publishers'

12:05:56 PM    

Google AdSense.

Google AdSense: Get It!.

This entry was brought to you by Google

Let Google AdSense monetize your content and turn your website into a revenue-generator. AdSense delivers text and image ads that are precisely targeted to the content on your site. Apply online to join the AdSense program. Once you're approved, simply copy and paste a few lines of html code into your browser, and contextually targeted ads will start to appear on your web pages. And when people click on them, Google pays you.

12:05:08 PM    

Virtual school.

Online courses clicking as hot trend for students - Peter Bailey, Miami Herald. A growing number of Miami-Dade middle and high school students are picking up credits online, mirroring a national trend as educators debate the effectiveness of cyberlearning. The road to Tel Aviv borders on desolation, bleak desert terrain traversed by [Online Learning Update]

2:26:23 PM    

Perceptions about online teaching.

Navigating Distance and Traditional Higher Education: Online Faculty Experiences - Alice G. Yick, Pam Patrick, Amanda Costin; IRRODL. The academic culture of higher educational institutions is characterized by specific pedagogical philosophies, assumptions about rewards and incentives, and values about how teaching is delivered. In many academic settings, however, the field of distance [Online Learning Update]

2:25:09 PM    

Synchronizing Palm devices wirelessly.

More tools for m-Learning?

In Brief: DataViz ships new editions of RoadSync.

(InfoWorld) - DataViz is now shipping its RoadSync solution for Palm Powered handhelds and smartphones. Based on Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync protocol, RoadSync provides secure, wireless, and direct synchronization with Exchange Server 2003. RoadSync for Palm Powered devices offers access to corporate Outlook e-mail, complete with attachments. In addition to RoadSync for Palm Powered devices, editions of RoadSync are now also available for Symbian UIQ and Java MIDP 2.0 mobile handsets. Licenses range from $49.99 to $99.99 per user. Editions supporting Symbian OS-based Series 60 and Series 80 platforms will be available later this year.

[InfoWorld: Top News]

2:23:30 PM    

Mad Ave marketing mumbojumbo.

From the story: "The question remains whether all media should be treated on the same basis in terms of engagement, because finding the right metric that works across all media is difficult." Right.

'Engagement' May Supplant 'Frequency' as Metric. Madison Avenue has turned to "consumer engagement" as its new media planning metric - one that could replace "frequency" as the multiplier in most media plans, MediaPost reports(via... [MarketingVOX - The Voice of Online Marketing]

2:21:52 PM    

Dept. of "Huh?"

Study: Online users in U.S. don’t know Internet lingo. The average American doesn’t know the meaning of “phishing,” one of the most serious online threats, according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. [Computerworld News]

2:19:25 PM    

Comparison of face to face and real-time online learning results.

A Matched Study between a Face-to-face Section and a Real-Time Online Section of a University.

"The issue here, therefore, is not which venue is better or worse. The intent of this inquiry was simply to understand – in terms of similarities and differences – online and F2F learning settings, findings upon which we hope can lead to more relevant online learning theories that result in improved teaching effectiveness across the board. ...In sum, during these three hour sessions, it was found that the nature of online non-turn-taking environment afforded online students more time to express themselves compared to students learning the same material F2F. ...Perhaps the most surprising finding to emerge from this matched study – one that we feel may have the greatest implications and application – is the issue of hyper-time, or the extra time that is created online – time that allows for additional data flow and increased productivity. "

[IRRODL]

9:44:07 PM    

Tags, social networks, and e-Learning.

If you are designing e-Learning using the constructivist model, this weblog entry from John Udell and his associated InfoWorld article ought to be on your "to read" list.

"Dynamically self-updating collections shift information management into a higher gear, but it's the social dimension of tagging that really kicks things into overdrive. "

[John Udell's Weblog]

3:46:26 PM    

Dealing with demotivated e-Learners.

“According to the results of my summative evaluation, the students have gone from thinking they can succeed, to believing they’ll fail. They don’t know what to expect, and they don’t know where to turn for help. They feel isolated, and the learning activities make them think they’re failures,” said Claremond.
[E-Learning Queen]

9:47:41 AM    

Indian e-Learning industry.

Size and growth estimates.

[The Learned Man!]

10:19:59 PM    

m-Learning hitches.

Forget Java on mobile phones - it's too crippled to do anything worthwhile.

From Lifeblog: A comment on social moblie apps.:

QUOTE

Here's my proposal, forget the smartphone and deploy something that can be used with simple Java phones. Indeed, I've seen some cool stuff there, too, but nothing out in the wild, yet.

UNQUOTE

10:07:32 PM    

What happened to technology in education?

Beyond the Horseless Carriage.

Beyond the Horseless Carriage (.pdf) The author of the paper (Gerry White) explores reasons why technology has not provided the same level of impact on education that it has on business, manufacturing, and finance. In the process, he explores stages of information and communications technology development, as well as learning theories.

10:04:19 PM    

Outsourcing your e-Learning project.

Outsourcing requires careful planning. Be sure to factor in costs for conducting due diligence, communications, oversight, international travel and training. [Computerworld News]

10:02:20 PM    

Macromedia-Adobe merger moves forward.

The merger is expected to close in the fall.

Macromedia, Adobe set merger vote date. The companies reiterate that they expect the merger to close in the fall, subject to regulatory approval. [CNET News.com]

9:59:26 PM    

Million-dollar weblog!

Look ma, seven figures and no salespeople!.

Congrats to Jason Calacanis for getting to the million-dollar-a-year level with his weblog business.

9:55:55 PM    

Is podcasting the "killer app for corporate communications and training?"

Well, that's what this article claims. I am still skeptical. The podcasting model, applied to training, so far is just another way to deliver a lecture. (Still waiting to see how the latest development of iPod delivery -- including video -- works out.)  However, the writer does offer an interesting example that somewhat gets away from the lecture model (it's still non-interactive, however):

"Thousands of sales reps and business partners around the world can zap the audio files straight to their MP3 players, burn them to an audio CD, or just listen from their laptops. In this five-part audio series, employees meet the host and follow sales leaders from their company and a competitor as they try to sell solutions to a fictitious client. Company executives interject commentaries and respond to call-in questions."

from [GRONSTEDT GROUP]

Please note that this link does not come from an RSS feed and the site is not a weblog. The article title, in case you have to look for it, is "Podcasting: Killer app' for training and corporate communications?"

6:55:39 PM    

The future of RSS.

It's not just weblogs any more.

From Video RSS Feeds to a New Browser With Integrated RSS.

In a mix of interesting RSS news, a new multimedia search engine provides customizable RSS feeds with the latest video content, a friend discusses the future of RSS beyond blogs, Tom Forenski questions whether confusion over RSS audience metrics is holding back online media and most importantly, AOL launches an IE-based browser with RSS capabilities.

Direct and Related Links for 'From Video RSS Feeds to a New Browser With Integrated RSS'

2:16:52 PM    

More about Moodle.

Oddly enough, I was talking to someone about Moodle over dinner last night at our local ASTD meeting. Moodle is not well-known outside the academic community, which is too bad. The biggest objection to it that I have heard comes from corporate IT groups, which either don't trust open-source systems or they fear the amount of support that might be required, or both.

Moodle Blogs. So here's the question of the day...what's this world look like when Moodle adds it's blog component (due out soon) so that students can exist in the very safe, collaborative space of the CMS while creating and producing their work and then use the blog module to open up the door to the public just a crack to publish? I am loving Moodle, and I obviously love blogging. Seems like a pretty inviting scenario if you ask me. [Weblogg-ed News]

2:13:43 PM    

Fold n' Drop.

This is cool: Fold n' Drop. New interaction technique for dragging and dropping between overlapping windows. There's a video that demonstrates it on the site.

2:08:19 PM    

(InfoWorld) - The business-networking site provider LinkedIn on Tuesday launched an organizational directory service for groups such as professional organizations, alumni associations, and industry-conference organizers.

"For alumni associations or industry conferences [LinkedIn for Groups] provides a way to advertise the organization through its members. Word of mouth is the strongest form of marketing," said Konstantin Guericke, cofounder and vice president of marketing at LinkedIn.

Another example of how LinkedIn for Groups can be used is to help technology conference organizers plan the event, send invitations, and keep in touch with attendees after the event's conclusion.

Pricing for the premium versions of LinkedIn for Groups starts at $5,000 for the first year. A free version of LinkedIn for Groups will still be available.

LinkedIn's basic networking site has over 3.2 million users, most of which are professionals and executives who use the service to manage existing business relationships, according to Guericke.

Next month LinkedIn plans to launch another set of premium, paid services targeted at job recruiters and research analysts.

SEE ALSO:

11:01:17 PM    

Educate your readers.

Common Blog Mistakes and Users Can't Distinguish Blogs.

A recent study by the Catalyst Group shows that users couldn’t distinguish a blog from a standard site and also points at some other common blog mistakes. Number one is that RSS wasn’t presented appropriately and two that there’s no e-mail subscription option.

Direct and Related Links for 'Common Blog Mistakes and Users Can’t Distinguish Blogs'

10:59:10 PM    

Monetizing RSS Feeds.

VNU Business Media Europe Partners With FeedBurner.

Building on its history of innovation, VNU is first-to-market with RSS advertising powered by the world’s leading feed management company. VNU Business Media Europe, a leading global information and media company, announces a partnership with FeedBurner, the market-leading feed management and monetization provider. This relationship will provide VNU with a variety of revenue-generating RSS-related services for its publishing platforms….

Direct and Related Links for 'VNU Business Media Europe Partners With FeedBurner'

10:57:37 PM    

Enhanced podcasts.

This might be the improvement podcasts needed in order to provide an effective e-Learning (m-Learning?) tool.

HOW TO make Enhanced Podcasts (images, links and more with audio)

Posted by Phillip Torrone on July 18, 2005 at 12:51 AM

Apple's new iTunes 4.9, iPod color, allows you to view (and listen to) "enhanced podcasts" these are audio files that can have slideshows, URLs and some cool features we have discovered. Apple's included documents and a Wiki was all I needed to make our MAKE enhanced podcasts, but I also wrote a how-to. Here's how to get, make and all you need to know about enhanced podcasts! As a bonus, we put together some fun ideas we think many might use...

[MAKE:BLOG]

9:42:43 AM    

Looking for the bigger picture.

I'm quoting George Siemens verbatim here, not because I agree with everything he says in his post but because he is getting at something that seems very important to me as well. My view is that we really don't understand yet what learning is or isn't, and so we have no business saying that "learning is this and no other view is acceptable." This is true of behaviorism as much it is of constructivism. We just aren't that smart yet. If we were, we could produce perfect, one-trial learning every time for every individual on any topic.

Learning as a social process?.

I'm getting a bit frustrated with the continual statements that learning is a social process. Certain types of learning certainly require a social process. Other types of learning are not at all socially enabled. I'm a strong advocate for the value of individuality in learning (especially group learning). My interest in learning networks stems from the individuality of each node in the larger network. For example, if a corporation designs an effective learning network (effective being defined as having diverse features with high level of learner control - i.e. blogs, wikis, mentorship, communities, access to resources, etc.), then any one node within the network can increase the value of the entire network simply by learning. If I'm connected within my organization, when I expand my knowledge, the entire organization benefits.

What does this have to do with social learning? Well, most learning is actually not social. When I wish to improve my own competence/learning, I may take numerous approaches - reading, researching, searching online, thinking, etc. The social element of learning occurs when I engage my network for feedback and understanding. It's very important that each node within a network brings value to the network, rather than simply attempting to learn together with the network. When an individual comes to the network as an individual with unique ideas, beliefs, and experiences, she is able to challenge and learn from/with the larger network. However, when an individual simply enters the network, without contributing individuality, she is largely an unnecessary node (as she simply reflects the existing content of a network).

As I've stated before, different types of learning are important for different learning needs. Plugging someone with no knowledge of a field into a network is probably not the best approach. Some base level of learning (even if only the terminology) needs to be present before meaningful interaction and contribution to the larger network can happen. This isn't to say that a newcomer to a field would be completely lost in a network...but that a base level of competence often needs to exist before the full value of the network can be utilized.

As well, a primarily social view of learning also overlooks many of the affordances of technology. I can learn (learning defined as actuated or actionable knowledge) from a computer program, an intelligent software agent, or a contextually appropriate learning resource (i.e. when I need to do the task, the learning resource is mediated by technology). So, yes, learning does have a social component, but anyone who has spent much time learning and interacting with technology will assert that it is not the only (or perhaps even the dominant) aspect of learning. My biggest issues with constructivism center on the emphasis that learning is social and largely subjective. As stated, yes it can be...but it's only a part. A large, more integrated model is needed to adequately express learning today (shall I plug connectivism again? :)).

3:41:42 PM    

Centralization and decentralization in e-Learning.

I don't think the problem is that many educators are unwilling to acknowledge the trends that are unfolding in the learning sphere, it seems to me that many educators simply do not see the trends at all, or if they do they don't understand those trends as being relevant to them. The same thing is true of many e-Learning vendors and may be true of e-Learning entrepreneurs too.

Co-opting the creative revolution: "Digital technology is providing people with the tools to produce and share content like never before, and it is set to throw the relationship between them and institutions into turmoil, say experts."
George Siemens Comment: It's disturbing that many educators seem unwilling to acknowledge the same trends unfolding in the learning sphere.

3:33:39 PM    

Do we believe in knowledge as a democratic process?

Trusting Wikipedia. Alex Halavais has an interesting post about ways we might think about certifying the value of Wikipedia, and I think he gets it right when he argues that just assigning academics with PhDs or "acknowledged experts" to do the work is probably not the right way to do it [Weblogg-ed News]

9:35:13 AM    

Screencasting, vlogs, and video weblogging.

This has been developing for about a year now, right along with podcasting. Video weblogs, screencasts, etc., are more expensive than either weblogs or podcasts but they may offer a tool for workstream instruction and for network marketing. Read the Wired article referenced in J.D. Lasica's weblog.

New screencast blog opens (recording of computer screens).

J.D. Lasica, on his blog about new media, talks about a new Screencasting blog.

These are the new tools of technology evangelists.

Over the next six months I predict you'll see an explosion of screencasts. The Blogcast Repository is yet the first to build a directory of a bunch of interesting screencasts.

Technorati tag for Screencast.

Wikipedia definition of Screencasts.

Do you have a favorite screencast?

9:30:21 AM    

Online video editing and post-production.

FORscene is a revolutionary online video editing and post-production system allowing video producers, directors and editors to do online what was until now executed on dedicated software and hardware in a physical studio. 

via [Robin Good]

2:23:45 PM    

Want to be a writer?

Take a course online from the Open University.

How to click as a writer... - Sue Elkin, Telegraph. As any professional writer will tell you, as soon as you mention what you do to pay the bills, someone will say, in a dismissive or envious way: "Oh, I've always thought I could do that. I just don't have the time/discipline/motivation to get started." So [Online Learning Update]

2:14:25 PM    

A to Z e-Learning directory.

U.S. institutions that offer undergraduate- and graduate-level courses, certificates, and degrees online. List is searchable. 

[US News and World Report]

2:04:40 PM