Final Assignment - Web 2.0 Implementation Plan

Final Assignment - Web 2.0 Implementation Plan

For my organization, e-learning is still a relatively new experience. Although, in some ways, we are behind the times – this is not necessarily a negative, perhaps it might even be viewed as somewhat positive. The reason for this is because now that we are turning towards the implementation of e-learning technologies, we have unlimited possibilities in terms of what technologies we choose to implement.

I have learned much about Learning Management Systems (LMS) and learning tool add-ons which enhance the LMS software itself. These applications alone could take years to go through, yet alone master. They are very powerful tools by their own rights, and are important technologies to consider during the e-learning implementation process.

However, until taking this course I did not fully comprehend just how these available technologies might be used. If a software package included a voice recording program – I most likely would have ignored it, never realizing that this action would limit the overall learning experience of my learners.

Through-out the Adult Learning Certification program I have discovered the importance of meeting the needs of the various learning types. A facilitator must consider learning styles such as: auditory, visual, kinesthetic and multi-model.

From my own online learning experience, much of the learning methods have been visual. Resources are presented via text, they are read and responded to via online discussion forums.

I feel as though my own e-learning experiences have somewhat hindered my outlook and approach to e-learning. Until taking this course, I had not considered that there may be other possibilities (rather than text) for presenting content. I had a very narrow focus and am incredibly happy to have had my view expanded.

In terms of ideas for implementing Web 2.0 technology into e-learning courses within my organization. I believe that there is much possibility.

1) Twitter and Weblogs. I feel that this technology would be wonderful for grade-school/university students and reflective activities. In terms of corporate training, I think that we may have difficulty convincing management that weblogs should be incorporated into our training processes (for reflection that is).
However, instead of having our learners create individual weblogs – the learning department can make use of this technology by offering a weblog in which it continuously updates. If new programs are being offered, or departments will be effected by potential learning opportunities, we can use a weblog to let everyone know. This technology will really help to keep us connected with our employees.

2) RSS Feeds can also be incorporated within our organization. There are many sites that offer Standards/Codes/Practices/Trends which are continuously being updated. If these sites can be linked to a corporate Aggregator, employees will have access to the most current information, perhaps without even realizing how. I truly believe that this is a simple technology which can be implemented, but that will offer great benefits to all disciplines.

3) Flickr Account – I believe that this is a wonderful program, however, in terms of a corporate environment we may consider using it to promote team experiences however we must be careful due to privacy issues. What we don’t have to worry about though, is promoting our own company. We can take pictures of our projects and post them to a portfolio/slide show. Our company can have its own Flickr site to promote itself, as well as to give those outside of our organization (as well as inside) an idea of what we do. We can use this type of slide show / website during our employee orientation sessions – the slide show is quite professional and I think would enhance the overall impression of our new employees.

4) Skype/Chat Forums – This technology is very handy. My organization currently makes use of it as many of our employees are international. Until taking this program I did not realize that Skype supported conference calls. It’s nice to know in case our software ever “crashes” at an unexpected moment. ; )

5) Podcasts/Screen-casts – I think that this technology will enhance the overall learning experience of the learners. I love the idea that lessons can be audio as well as text based (visual). A learner can read along if they wish, or they can listen – whatever their preference. Incorporating podcasts (or audio clips) into an e-learning lesson will really help to engage the learners, it is different than traditional learning and after spending all day at work, employees will most likely appreciate the ability to listen to their lessons (or portions of it). Clips can easily be incorporated into the lessons now – or if we modify the lessons, have the flexibility to enhance the lesson. Learners with audio preferences will definitely appreciate this technology! Also, if my “-casting” skills as improved, I will consider incorporating short video clips to vary the content delivery mode.

6) Wiki’s – For the Wiki assignment, I described the advantages of having a Wiki within our organization. A Wiki would help departments better understand each other – help “fit” the organization together (how departments relate and influence one another) and internally, departments can make use of them to help offer explanations of varying subjects (i.e. what is a switchgear?). I believe that Wiki’s have the ability to help the entire organization work together and learn about the overall “happenings”. They are easy to use and with enough time, have the ability to really enhance not only the learning experience, but the work experience.
To incorporate a Wiki we will need a lot of support from our employees, many of them have their own questions which are easily answered by others (Subject Matter Experts) … these experts will have to make time to help create the Wiki, I believe this can be done though. From my experience, most people like helping each other learn and derive a sense of satisfaction in knowing that they were able to contribute to the overall “picture”.

Currently, my organizations learning goals is to bring us up to date with current industry learning practices, provide flexibility to our employees in terms of availability and time (hence e-learning implementation) as well as help to bring our overall organization together.

The above Web 2.0 technologies will help to contribute to all three functions. They will help to keep our organization connected – internal communication as well as external information sources (i.e. RSS Feeds). Because they are Web based technologies, employees will have access to them no matter their time or location (accessibility). The applications will also provide a higher quality of learning experience as well as help to meet a variety of learning needs/styles because there is more opportunity to use different functions (i.e. audio, visual [pictures/movies], interactive media). Finally, because the information will be accessible to all, employees will have no excuse for not being informed; this will bring the organization together as a team.

As I discovered myself, new technology can be daunting. However, with enough “championing” and encouragement from upper management, the push to use these technologies will be felt. The training department will have no choice but to team up with the technology department in order to create a strong support system in which employees can rely upon while discovering how to use the new technologies we chose to implement.

I believe that as long as we are patient, take measures to help employees understand how to use the new technologies available to them – the long term benefits will be felt.

To sum it all up, the course is only the beginning for me in terms of these technologies. I have come to understand that we are not limited to traditional methods of communication or training styles. Web 2.0 technologies offer so much in terms of variety and as facilitators we must learn to make use of these resources so that we will be able to maximize the overall learning experience for our learners.

Thank you!

Podcasting - Episode 2

Hello, please follow the link below to hear a podcast about podcasting and learning.

http://dadadaddad.podbean.com/mf/web/hfmk5b/Podcasting-Episode2.mp3


This is the second podcast that I have done - it was fun to add in a bit of music.

Thank you!

Screencasting - Episode 1

Ok - so my screencasting experience has not been as smooth as I would have liked.

To make a long story short - I had A LOT of trouble uploading my screencast to another URL.

Bob helped me a lot, and provided me with some hope that I might be able to figure it all out on my own. I FINALLY was able to post my screencast...and although a bit small...here it is...WHOOO HOOO!!



Thanks...

FlickR

I went a little crazy uploading photo's onto FlickR. I have a weakness and it is photo's ... I can never decide which ones to put on because I love them all.

Honestly, I found Flickr to be less intuitive compared to Facebook and MySpace. At first I thought you could only edit photo's via isolating them from the batch. After I played around with it (created sets, etc.) I discovered that you can edit/delete pictures just by clicking them.

Once I did begin to understand the varying functions in FlickR I realized that it had a lot to offer. The slide show feature is a really nice tool.

As a learning instrument FlickR is a nice idea. I have a friend that teachers for a private school, every year they take a vacation to a new country - this year they are going to Cambodia and Vietnam. When I thought about Flickr as a learning tool, I thought that it would be nice for the class to share their experiences with friends/family as a group.

I also think that art/design instructors can use this type of site so that their students can publish their work. If they make their sites public they might receive feedback which may help them. Even if they keep their sites locked, the gallery mode is a neat concept.

Flickr has a lot to offer for more informal means of learning (in my opinion of course) however, in more formal corporate environment, I haven't really been able to come up with ideas on how it might be used...except for learners to share experiences with each other...perhaps someone will have suggestions for me???

Thanks...

RSS Feeds and Learning

RSS Feeds are a completely new concept to me (like almost everything I've learned about over the past few weeks). I think that they hold a lot of opportunity to help faculty stay connected and to become "learned" not only in their respective discipline, but others as well.

I was impressed that RSS Feeds could be shared between collegues through Twitter. "Hey guys, check out this link/feed" From there, you just add it to your aggregator and you have the opportunity to be regulary updated (i.e. a journal or magazine).

I think that the Aggregator is an amazing technology because it helps you track your favourite information. It really does help to save time, also if you have the ability to go into it and select a link of interest, and then pass it along to a collegue without them having to wait "forever" - it saves a lot of time.

RSS Feeds are a great idea and I think that instructors/learners alike should be encouraged to subscribe to, and follow, several feeds prevelant to their course content. It will help them stay current with the information they are learning and this knowledge will add to the quality of discussion within the classroom.

Overall, I can see how RSS Feeds are considered a powerful tool to use in the classroom, they truly are another method of enhancing the resources used to expose a learner to a subject.

As for my own personal experience, I am enjoying the Aggregator (I'm using Google Reader and have found it fairly straight forward) ... I'm also feeling slightly... sophisticated ; )

Thanks...

DIGG

WoW....so what are my thoughts on DIGG????

Well, DIGG is another first for me.

I think that overall, it's a great idea, but a lot of the posts I've discovered vary between "crap" and "fantastic". I did a "Digg Search" for "learning" and up popped a variety of articles... including:

Is Cocaine to Blame for Global Warming?
Why Does Glenn Beck Hate Jesus?

in all fairness, there were practical articles as well (i.e. link to the New Yorker).

However, as much as I love technology, I think that something like Digg or Delicious is difficult to suggest and use with a younger class.

It's clearly difficult to screen examples, and as an authoritative figure, I don't know how justified you can be in recommending that kids go out and randomly read these articles. I realize that on their own they would probably find these things - however, in my opinion, instructors don't need to initiate that awareness.

I think that a site like DIGG is more appropriate for an older audience. It works really well with an agreggator - There is a lot of information out there, but once you've narrowed down your search to things that really interest you ... there is a lot of potential in keeping up to date with similar posts/articles.

Overall, I like the concept of Digg - I think that I would read an article based on popularity alone - and often times I don't think that I would be let down. Digg has the ability to expose an individual to an idea or concept that they had never been aware of until they noticed that 500 other people "dug" it.

I shall continue with my Digg journey, and perhaps I will change my mind on the use for younger classrooms - however, for now, my opinion remains that I would not encourage a younger audience to search through this site.

Thanks..

The Potential of Blogging and Training

I did not realize the full potential of training and blogging until I read the chapter on blogging. Until this course I had always thought that a blog was an online diary, and I suppose it can be and is for some; However, it can also be used for so much more.


I think that facilitators who encourage their students to participate in blogs are very 'future forward', and that the overall idea of blogging as a whole is very creative.

I believe that blogging has the ability to enhance the overall quality of education provided as well as provides a different method of learning to help capture the overall learning needs of a larger population (meaning they have a blended learning experiences and those that may benefit from an online environment have that opportunity [i.e. shy student]).

Students who are encouraged to create their own blogs, to research and link with others' blogs, and to participate in course blogs are being given an opportunity to maximize their learning experience because the resources they use are more involved.

The chapter mentioned that blogging can lead to an improvement in critical writing skills. I agree with this. Knowing that your work has the potential to be critiqued by an unlimited audience most likely will make one pay closer attention to the final product. As well, when reading and commenting on anothers blog, skills are learned to make comments more 'politically correct' - these skills can be transfered to many aspects of life.

Reading about how classes have had authors participate in their blogging experience (related to that book) was wonderful. As a student, knowing that the author is "listening in" would not only make the learning experience more memorable, but also more meaningful. This example really made me think about how small the world can be, about how easily we might connect with each other and share our ideas. Blogging holds vast potential in this regard.

I think that blogging can also open up opportunities in terms of feedback. An instructor has the ability to post questions and view responses. Based on answers, the instructor will be able to tell whether or not the learners have grasped the necessary meaning of the course. Also, the instructor can post questions on how to make a course better. Anybody might comment and the instructor may receive some ideas for improving the content or method of delivery.

I have learned that blogs can be either an individual experience or a group experience. It enables freedom of expression, and if done properly (thought involved) opens a world of potential in terms of communication.

The idea of blogging and training is still new to me. However, seeing how great a resource it has the potential to be, makes me believe that blogging cannot be ignored by a facilitator, it should be USED.

The internet is a wealth of resources, and I don't think I fully understood this until now. As facilitators it is our responsibility to help our learners better themselves, and in my opinion, this means making use of as many resources as possible (of course within reason). Blogging is only one of those sources of knowledge, but it is an important one and cannot be ignored.

I am happy to have read about how blogging has been used by others in their classrooms. It has given me new insight into training methodologies as well as made me think about how I might bring my instruction into the future (where it should be!)

Until next time!!