Knowledge management basics.

Sharing Knowledge.

Sharing Knowledge (.pdf) has been receiving quite a bit of attention in various knowledge management blogs. It's essentially a case study of how to create a knowledge sharing environment in smaller organizations. Most of the suggestions are basic and should be familiar to those who have been following KM developments. The document does provide a nice overview of wikis, communities of practice, and general (physical) workspace design.

12:46:21 PM    

Thinking outside the "course" box.

Theories for Informal Learning Design?. Many different theories exist which try to explain how we learn. Based on those theories, we have numerous approaches to learning design. The whole field is quite connected (inbred?)...and boring. [Connectivism Blog]

12:30:55 PM    

Group collaboration tool.

Profile - Chalk. In a short but interesting announcement, Chalk was introduced to the world. Chalk is a Ruby on Rails and Ajax-powered web application to collaborative manage your daily life. Quoting the introduction: Designers, programmers, writers, family, friends - anyone. We all want tools that make us more productive, especially when we’re working in groups. Chalk gives any [...] [TechCrunch]

12:27:14 PM    

People learn more when they enjoy the experience.

Please note: you must join in order to read the article ($15/yr) or pay $5 one time to read the document. An interesting study, but not earth-shaking and I'm not sure it's worth the five bucks to read the details not in the abstract.

Psychological Type and Asynchronous Written Dialogue in Adult Learning - Lin Lin, Patricia Cranton & Beatrice L. Bridglall, Teachers College Record. This study explores how adults learn from asynchronous written dialogue through the lens of psychological type preferences. We asked participants to discover their dominant and auxiliary psychological preferences using the Personal Empowerment through Typ [Online Learning Update]

10:51:58 AM    

Read the fine print: Have you given away your rights to your own intellectual property?

Distributed Learning Meets Intellectual Property Policy: Who Owns What? - Veronica Diaz, Campus Technologies. The rise of eLearning and technology in higher education—including distance education, digital repositories, and electronic courseware products—has changed the way faculty and institutions regard ownership and control of these materials. A new market exis [Online Learning Update]

10:49:27 AM    

A new meme: Connectivism.

Staying Connected. If you're not reading the Connectivism Blog by George Siemens you should. I find his theories of learning and education as influenced by the Read/Write Web to be really interesting and in many cases profound (at least for my feeble brain.) But it's just such a mind shift when you start thinking about how these technologies are all about connections, connections to people, to ideas and to information.

As a learner, I need a way to have a connection back to the original knowledge source. Knowledge reflexivity is simply a means of ensuring that as the original knowledge source changes, we have a connection which ensures we remain current. The way most education is designed today makes this very impractical (imagine a designer emailing each learner who has taken a course informing them of a core knowledge change). The issue stems from the left over remnants of learning design from a society and era of greater stability. But reality has changed for learners. If I take a course, I should have some level of reflexivity for some period of time.

10:39:41 AM    

mLearning Introduction.

Literature Review in Mobile Technologies and Learning.

An extremely useful introduction to the subject of mobile learning technologies.  Literature Review in Mobile Technologies and Learning (via Smartmobs): "Newer developments in mobile phone technology are also beginning to offer the potential for rich multimedia experiences and for location-specific resources. ... The challenge for educators and designers, however, is one of understanding and exploring how best we might use these resources to support learning."

10:37:30 AM    

US only: Phone co. DSL gets a boost against cable.

FCC: DSL, Like Cable, Now an 'Information Service'. Phone companies need not provide high-speed internet lines to competitors that provide similar services, the Federal Communications Commission ruled by a 4-0 vote on Friday, saying that digital... [MarketingVOX - The Voice of Online Marketing]

10:34:26 AM    

Relayed from InfoWorld: Macromedia marks release of Studio 8.

(InfoWorld) - Macromedia on Monday takes the wraps off Studio 8. The new suite includes enhancements to Dreamweaver and Fireworks, and now houses Contribute and FlashPaper, as well.

Studio 8 includes an upgraded Flash 8 development tool with new video workflow capabilities and an easier but more powerful UI, said Jim Guerard, vice president of product management and marketing at Macromedia. Flash 8 also brings enhanced graphic effects and animation, and the capability to more effectively author mobile content, he said.

[InfoWorld: Top News]

10:28:47 AM    

Doing well by doing good.

Being able to customize is what the Internet is all about. If you aren't, you're missing the boat.

To Internet Stores, It's All About the Personal Touch. Robert Beaver, the chief executive of Zazzle.com, said that contrary to rhetoric about how customization can kill profit margins, margins at Zazzle "are very good." By BOB TEDESCHI. [NYT > Business]

10:24:42 AM