February 26th, 2009 by Robin Green
Because of the hazards involved with including Web 2.0 technologies in many LMS and classroom learning systems, educators who want to use them must take extra precautions. It is their duty to supervise the use of these technologies to ensure that students are staying on track with the learning system activity.
Of course, many wonder whether or not this is a realistic expectation. Can educators realistically stand guard while students navigate such sites? Sometimes it may be best for educators to do the navigating while students observe.
Educators should discuss with students such issues as predators and cyberbullying, appropriate online behavior, and managing personal information. Products such as Open DNS and Panda Internet Security 2008 with built-in parental controls are also helpful. For more information educators might pick up books such as MySpace Unraveled and Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learning to Use the Internet Safely and Responsibility.
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February 26th, 2009 by Robin Green
Although many schools and districts continue to prohibit the use of Web 2.0 technologies like social networking sites, podcasts and wikis, more educators are coming to embrace them. In fact, the use of collaborative technologies is now included in many IT learning systems for educators, such as ITQ Learning & Skills, which is emerging in the UK as the IT qualification for practitioners in the Learning & Skills sector.
However, it’s often not easy to include these technologies sites in a learning system designed for young adults and children.
At the end of a YouTube video, for example, an invitation appears to go to the next slide or video. Despite classroom rules about drifting off-course, kids will be kids. And this truth creates the potential for Web 2.0 technologies to become inappropriate or dangerous in an LMS or face-to-face learning system, and also a potential source of litigation against educators.
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January 15th, 2009 by Robin Green
Businesses investing in online training and Web 2.0 learning systems are part of a global movement of interactive and collaborative instruction. But companies using such learning systems are also helping contribute to a new system that rejects the destructive cycle of e-waste which has historically dominated the electronics industry.
In 2008 alone, Hong Kong intercepted and returned 41 ship containers to US ports. The ship containers carried tons of illegal electronics waste from the US, according to the Hong Kong Environment Protection Department. By intercepting the ships and sending them back, Hong Kong prevented attempts by US companies to dump 1.4 million pounds of broken TVs or computer monitors overseas and an estimated 82,000 pounds of lead, a known toxin, in the devices.
Although online learning systems and cloud computing may help decrease e-waste, electronics “recyclers” need to be audited by companies seeking to dispose of electronic waste, to make sure e-waste isn’t simply exported to developing countries.
January 15th, 2009 by Robin Green
Cloud computing won’t only carry positive effects for online courseware learners, LMS students, and internet users in general, but it offers vast potential for the environment and impoverished nations as well. If people are able to access all software services in the cloud, the necessity for the newest computer models will disappear–any old computer with internet access will do.
The demand for other equipment like external hard drives will also decrease, as people simply reach into the cloud to access their data. Companies ranging from LMS and courseware companies to internet providers will be prompted to reform their policies.
Thinking “green” may suddenly shed its superficial catch-all status, and the computer industry might be forced to confront the end of its lightning speed production and dumping of e-products. Web 2.0 programs as well as LMSs and online education are already a big part of this slowly growing anti-waste revolution in the electronics industry.
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December 25th, 2008 by Robin Green
Many parents and educators continue to express concerns over learning through LMS-hosted courses and online learning in general, fearing that students’ development of social skills may be stunted. However, courses accessed via an LMS are able to provide various modes of communication tools that often not only allow students to interact and collaborate, but bring shy students out of their shell and give all students a voice they may not otherwise have in a face-to-face classroom.
Especially with the integration of Web 2.0 technologies in LMS courses, I see the concern over social interactions starting to fade. With tools like video conferencing and discussion forums students can articulate themselves with more forethought and build collaborative learning atmospheres that are often more interactive and academic than a face-to-face classroom.
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Coggno.com offers world-class LMS platforms.
December 5th, 2008 by Robin Green
Employee training across town, states, or countries has never been easier or more cost-effective. One way to efficiently organize training and team projects is to team up your LMS with Web 2.0 communication technologies. Web 2.0 and 3D virtual worlds technology can aid LMS-hosted training in a variety of ways.
Whether you’re operating in virtual worlds or other methods of online group collaboration, learners need to employ some basic tenets of successful communication.
Remy Malan, Vice President at Qwaq Enterprise, writes that the three important aspects of communication are speech, gesture, and sketch. The successful combination of these three capabilities allows learners to recreate online the natural ways we work in a group when we’re in the same physical space. Using these three modes, a team can build the trust that is necessary for virtual team collaboration or group learning on an LMS.
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Coggno.com offers premier online training courses.
November 20th, 2008 by Robin Green
Of course, a learning management system offers a cornucopia of functions to organize employee and student learning experiences, all without having to pay for gas. Whether it’s in real space or in cyberspace, most agree that speech is generally preferable to typing. A learning management system may be integrated with social software programs that provide virtual space for conference calls and meetings. In addition, we may even be able to talk to and hear back from programs using speech synthesis and speech recognition software.
But as technophile and BBC contributor Bill Thompson reflects, there’s “something special about being in the same space as someone else. However good the video link, however clear the audio…sharing the same space and breathing the same air makes a difference to the quality of interaction.” This is true with all kinds of communication–not just the use of a learning management system. With this in mind, employers and educators should strive to create blended learning environments whenever possible.
November 20th, 2008 by Robin Green
Teaming Web 2.0 technologies with online courseware is providing many students with a more interactive learning experience. And more online courseware teachers are beginning to choose which technologies they’d like to try out. Advertising styles becomes one factor worth considering for many online courseware teachers, and fortunately an increasing number of Web 2.0 companies are choosing less glaring and unobtrusive approaches.
But how do successful Web 2.0 companies like Facebook get away with running such miniscule ads? The key is thinking more creatively. Facebook uses what it calls “engagement ads” to invite users to comment on videos, attend an event, or send a virtual gift. For example, this year on election day, Ben & Jerry’s bought an ad that let users send a virtual ice cream cone to their friends (to advertise its offer of a real cone to anyone who votes). The beauty of social software is its voluntary interactivity, and advertising shouldn’t be an exception.
