LearningTimes Green Room

In this show, Dan and Susan review an article from Training Magazine entitled, “Seven Revelations about E-learning.”

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Show Notes:

Dan and Susan review an article from April 2006 Training Magazine: Seven Revelations about E-learning.

Article discusses Tweeter’s shift from classroom training to e-learning.

1. There’s no funeral yet for the classroom. Use the classroom to your advantage; simulations, role plays, etc. that you can best do face to face.
2. Designers need to curb course overload. Hunk things into smaller units. We don’t always need a full blown course.
3. Wham bam thank you mam works. Rapid instructional design. There are tools to help designers build courses quickly.
4. Somethings never change. You still have to find a way to engage the learner.
5. Some elements get lost in translation. Learning objects have not been as popular as we thought they’d be.
6. Designers need to understand learning styles. This also speaks to mindsets that come with certain professions.
7. E-learning is more effective to the work it supports. This spoke more to serendipitous problem solving that came from developing e-learning. Very fuzzy for both Dan and Susan.

This was a short article that puts forth basic ideas. We would like to hear from listeners about their own revelations through the past 5 years or so related to e-learning.

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

In this show, Susan and Dan are thinking about vacations and take on the theme of technology and leisure. They look at travel, connectivity and learning.

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Show Notes:

Susan and Dan are thinking about vacations and take on the theme of technology and leisure. They look at travel, connectivity and learning.

Technology and travel: Mapquest, searching accommodations, making reservations, flight arrangements, and so on. Susan tried to book a cruise online and had to call to talk to a customer service representative.

Reviews of other people are helpful, comparing prices.

GPS systems in cars or handheld models. Susan’s story of camping brother-in-law and his gadgets.

When you go on vacation, do you stay connected? Dan considers whether he’ll take the laptop.

Dan’s research: 26% of Americans still check into work when on vacation. Comparison of UK and American colleagues and the differences in how they handle vacations.

Susan goes technology-free for 3 weeks in August. She goes to a place with NO connectivity.

But she picks her campgrounds based on wifi, but that’s because she’s still teaching online.

Dan says 14% of workers who don’t check in still feel guilty. They discuss setting up realistic expectations for students and faculty and the importance of having backup plans.

This transitions to Fun Fridays, Susan’s kids’ project online. They are blogging about their Friday experiences. Interestingly, they were not interested in podcasting.

Technology and entertainment: Dan recently went to Disneyland, to the Small World exhibit. The moving puppets are dated technologically. How do they compare to virtual reality experiences? What would children say? How do “edutainment” places keep up with rapidly changing technology?

Susan suggests we all step back and enjoy what leisure time we have and asks listeners to share their plans and technology gadgets for travel.

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!