September 29th, 2008 by Robin Green
We know that pedagogical material creators like textbook publishing companies and LMS software programmers often make a good living doing what they do. In addition, businesses using LMSs to train their employees often do well financially. But what about public and private school educators using those pedagogical materials and online systems like LMSs?
Teaching is one of those jobs that doesn’t end when you leave school–most teachers spend at least an hour or two at night preparing lesson plans, grading student work, etc. Add the task for many teachers of educating themselves about LMSs and online learning systems, and you’ve got a whole lot of take-home work. One vital element of our country’s advancement is the education of its citizens. Shouldn’t those responsible for that education be paid at least a quarter as much as engineers, doctors and lawyers?
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Coggno.com offers premier online training.
September 29th, 2008 by Robin Green
Ever taken a tour in a foreign country, city, or museum? Tours are an often underestimated way of gaining information. Whether it’s your first, second or tenth visit to a place, a tour introduces you to or reinforces your knowledge of a range of important information, using audio and visual stimuli.
The same holds true with the use of videos. Want to make your LMS as engaging and enjoyable as possible? One of Coggno‘s most powerful instruments is the video tool. It’s a sure-fire way to make your LMS interactive and memorable for your users. And whether you’re new to or have experience with Coggno, you might consider taking a video tool tour to see just how simple uploading your video can be. Log on to www.coggno.com and tour the video tool grounds to enrich your LMS experience.
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Coggno.com is a leading provider of world-class LMS platforms.
September 26th, 2008 by Robin Green
Have you ever visited the internet instead of a doctor? Many people look to website information for healthcare learning content. Such health issues range from patchy skin to a serious illness. But how reliable is the learning content in health-related websites, and how can you be sure? Is there any way to gauge the quality of health information on the internet?
Various organizations have developed criteria to help those seeking health learning content to evaluate websites. One of the first, and most widely used, is the Health on the Net Foundation (HON). One thing HON does to help internet users is provide a seal. Webmasters who want to display the HONcode seal on their websites must request evaluation by the organization. In turn, HON has the right to withdraw the seal if the learning content in the website no longer meets the code standards.
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Coggno.com offers premier LMS platforms.
September 26th, 2008 by Robin Green
In this technological era when students are so comfortable finding learning content on the internet, one rarely questions the fact that young people are indeed having an easy time online. But how computer-savvy are young people, actually? Are they making the most of the possibilities that the internet offers in terms of learning content?
In an effort to evaluate the computer literacy of young people in 2006, the U.S. Educational Testing Service gave the Information, Communication and Technology test to thousands of students. The results were surprising. They showed that most high school and college students lack critical thinking skills when researching online, determining the quality of website information, entering multiple search terms, and other necessary skills for acquiring learning content online.
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Coggno.com provides high-quality online training courses.
September 26th, 2008 by Robin Green
Web surfing may look and sometimes feel like a casual act, but it depends how you’re surfing. It’s a great way to take in learning content, if you do it right. Many young people who spend lots of time puttering online find themselves zoning out, overloaded with information and mind-numbing clutter.
Young people should be taught how to use some of their spare time for self-guided learning. Web surfing that doesn’t tire and overload, but energizes learners as they navigate and discover learning content that intrigues them.
Try this with your child: choose an internet newspaper. Read an article that looks interesting to your child. Any name, concept, or reference they don’t know–copy it. Open a new tab and paste it into Google, Wikipedia, etc. The exploration of learning content starts there and ends wherever they want!
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Coggno.com offers premier e-learning education.
September 26th, 2008 by Robin Green
Making your LMS text readable may sound like an easy task–just make the language simple and to-the-point, right? But it’s not quite as easy as you may think. It requires method, training, and practice. But is it really an important and effective aspect of LMS design?
Suffice it to say that best-selling novelists like Stephen King, John Grisham, J.K. Rowling, and Dan Brown all write at the 7th-grade level. Newspapers too. Moreover, experts recommend writing at the 7th-grade level for all information related to law and health, and some laws require medical and safety information to be written at the 5th-grade level. Readability is a subject worth diving into for anyone wanting to create the most concise and effective LMS possible.
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Coggno.com offers a wide variety of world-class online training courses.
September 26th, 2008 by Robin Green
In the creation of your LMS, readability is just one important aspect. Readability refers to the ease with which an audience processes the presented information. For example, short sentences are preferable to long sentences. Syntax, or word order, is another important element. Often writers don’t realize that complex or flowery language doesn’t necessarily appeal to their audience. In a tool such as an LMS, such language is not only unnecessary, but detrimental.
Of course, how easy a text is to read depends not only on the writer, but the reader too. The reader brings with him or her reading skills, interest, previous knowledge, and motivation. The text is where you, the LMS writer, come in. Features that determine the readability of your text are style, structure, content, and design.
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Coggno.com offers high-quality online training.
September 25th, 2008 by Robin Green
Let’s say you’re a business designing your learning management system, and you want to use Coggno to train your employees with maximum efficiency. You understand that Coggno’s Quiz Creator helps ensure that students are keeping on top of the content. But you keep in mind that you’re not dealing with middle-schoolers. Aren’t quizzes a learning tool for young learners only? In a learning management system geared to train adults, wouldn’t it be better to stick with other keep-you-on-your-toes tools, like interactive simulations?
The fact is that what works for young learners usually works for adults as well. Interspersing quizzes throughout the learning content, in conjunction with other assessment methods in your learning management system, will strengthen the effectiveness of your learning plan and enhance your workplace learning environment.
