Home-Based Entrepreneur

Monday, May 17, 2004

I guess I have a soft spot for Alan Cooper because .... I guess I have a soft spot for Alan Cooper because he's sort of the godfather of interaction design as a discipline, and his book was influential in getting my current position created at Bridges. I sometimes disagree with their stuff, but it does get me thinking.

Today's Cooper newsletter has an interesting article about designing products for offshore development. In my previous ruminations on outsourcing, I left out my belief that interaction design may be one of those jobs less likely to be sent offshore. Not to say that some parts of the design process couldn't easily be exported, but someone still has to decide why a product should be built and what exactly it should do (how it looks, behaves, functions). Although the article focuses mostly on creating documentation for outside developers, it also reads like a manifesto for good interaction design in general, and contains gems for instructional design or e-learning production regardless of where the code is written. [Jeremy Hiebert's headspaceJ -- Instructional Design and Technology]
5:32:39 PM

Offshoring increases at faster pace, Forrester says. As U.S. businesses continue to stretch their capital-expenditure budgets, the pace at which they use offshore service providers is picking up, according to a report released Monday by market research company Forrester Research Inc. [InfoWorld: Top News]
5:30:21 PM

EdTech2004 elearning conference. EdTech2004 elearning conference The Fifth Annual Irish Educational Technology Users' Conference, Ireland's biggest eLearning conference, consisting of over 50 presentations, is taking place in the Institute of Technology, Tralee on the 3rd and 4th of June. Full details may be... [John Jennings - Stuff]
2:56:14 PM

In-Depth eLearning Tutorials. eLearn Magazine: In-Depth Tutorials This link provides some very useful tutorials in the eLearning space.... [John Jennings - Stuff]
2:54:24 PM

BEST ONLINE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES. Sloan-C - Publications - Journal: JALN This study examines how best practices in online instruction are the same as, or different from, best practices in face-to-face (F2F) instruction... [John Jennings - Stuff]
2:52:21 PM

Moodle 1.3 Beta released. Moodle - A Free, Open Source Course Management System for Online Learning Moodle 1.3 Beta is now available, containing much-wanted features like Calendars, Blocks, RSS Support and easy integration of video, sound and animation.... [John Jennings - Stuff]
2:50:49 PM

Introduction to ActionScript Animation in Flash. Introduction to ActionScript Animation in Flash [via del.icio.us/]... [John Jennings - Stuff]
2:49:12 PM

How far from activity theory?.

I've got a very scary feeling that with my personal KM model I reinvent activity theory... This wouldn't be a big surprise since both activity theory and my (mainly tacit) understanding of how people learn and develop have the same roots in the work of Vygotsky.

Just a result of simple exercise of thinking if I could use a triangle instead of three circles...

[Mathemagenic]
2:43:55 PM

A bit basic, but the chart might be useful.

Managing the Matrix: Using Multimedia in Distance Learning Projects.

A short exploration of media characteristics and impact on learning Managing the Matrix: Using Multimedia in Distance Learning Projects . It's applicable beyond distance learning...

[elearnspace]
1:55:30 PM

The Promise of E-Portfolios. (via Rick Barter)

Webfolios may have the most significant effect on education since the introduction of formal schooling. When fully matured and implemented by capable professional educators throughout every discipline in an educational institution, webfolios promise a viable alternative to current, high-stakes testing, which focuses education on test-taking rather than teaching and learning.

[Weblogg-ed - Using Weblogs and RSS in Education: Weblog Theory]
1:49:44 PM

Weblogs Pass the Test. I just realized I never got around to adding this often linked article at the Online Journalism Review which is really an interview with Dr. Kaye Trammel, Alex Halavais, Jill Walker and Cori Dauber.

Are Weblogs a passing fad or a revolutionary new form of communication and publishing? That's still an open question, but the presence of blogs in the academic environment makes it more likely that they'll survive and thrive in the long term. Educational types aren't just using blogs to teach or spread their research. They are turning their research lens on Weblogs themselves, whether the context is within schools of law, journalism, communication or library science.

[Weblogg-ed - Using Weblogs and RSS in Education: Weblog Theory]

1:48:01 PM

Opera Wins the RSS Browser Battle.

Go ahead. Download the 7.50 demo. Then, click on an RSS feed. Watch what happens. Looks like I�ve got a new tool to recommend for all syndication n00bz. Yes, Robin just posted about it in this very channel, but� you�ve gotta see it to believe it. Mozilla and Microsoft need to pick up on this MAJOR clue.

By chris@pirillo.com (Chris Pirillo). [Lockergnome�s RSS & Atom Tips]
1:46:59 PM

Online lessons feature Philippine teachers - Hiroko Ihara, Daily Yomiuri. With the use of fast, low-cost broadband Internet connections rapidly expanding in Japan, an increasing number of affordable online live English lessons are appearing as part of a growing e-learning market. Fourhalf, an e-learning venture firm in Yodo [Online Learning Update]
1:45:31 PM

Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. What elements should be included in a VLE?

The puzzle of Virtual Learning Environments - Avgoustos TSINAKOS, TOJDE. INTRODUCTION: "Asynchronous Distance Education", is the educational process in which educators and educated they do not coexist essentially in the same natural space and the simultaneous attendance of both sides is not required during the educational s [Online Learning Update]

1:44:03 PM

Computers in the Classroom Debate. If you have about five hours with nothing to do, head on over to Slashdot and check out this thread on the value of computers in the classroom. It stems from a review of Todd Oppenheimer's The Flickering Mind, which, from everything I've heard, deals a stinging blow to the whole technology in the classroom model. The stories of success and failure go back and forth, and the debate is as passionate as they come. But one theme that seems to run through most is that teachers are just not prepared to make good use of the technology they have. Now, that is not an indictment of teachers as much as it is one of the system that trains them. Personally, obviously, I think technology plays a crucial role in the classroom but only when the teachers using it have a attain a fluency that allows them to be creative with its implementation.

And the great thing about Weblogs and wikis and the rest is that fluency is relatively easy. You don't need hours and hours of training to see the potential of this. I know we have a long way to go with multimedia and handhelds and the like, but provided they have the access, this is something we can do now. And I think if more people could engage their children and their teachers via the transparency that the technology provides, maybe people will be able to recognize the benefits more easily. [Weblogg-ed News]

1:26:42 PM