Marketing 2.0

E-learning 2.0

Here is an excellent article written by Stephen Downes and published in eLearn magazine. Downes does a great job summing up the development and current state of e-learning, while anticipating future directions. There are many important trends highlighted here and most are linked to additional sources. The article itself strikes me as a good example of hyperlinked learning — using the power of the web to inform, open doors, and provide a pathway for user-centered, active learning.

Link: eLearn: Feature Article.

Using weblogs to create engaging learning experiences

This article, from the Australian Flexible Learning Community discusses how weblogs can be used to facilitate training. The author lists three key attributes that make blogs successful - personal point of view, chronological postings and byte-sized posts.

LearnScope

Virtual Classrooms, Actual Education

This article from the March issue of Inc. magazine gives a good overview of e-learning and its application in both the business and academic realms. With new technologies such as weblogs, delivering training via the Internet has never been easier, especially for small businesses.

Inc.com | Virtual Classrooms, Actual Education

The Guerra Scale

Tim Guerra and Dan Heffernan have developed a scale to quantify the range of content that can be used in online education. They use a familiar 1-10 scale with 1 representing reading text on a screen (e.g. PDF document), to more interactive and complex simulations, right up to 10 which is a virtual reality environment. Moving up the scale requires much more development time, skill and interaction.

I liked their examples drawn from a sales training curriculum. Their experience illustrates how e-learning can be applied in a sales environment. In some cases, the PDF file is really the most convenient format for the reps to access. In other cases, where skill-building and coaching are essential, the authors developed some nice sales simulations - essentially role plays that can include coaching tips from star performers.

Guerra Scale