Welcome to a worldwide learning network

OER Commons is the first comprehensive open learning network where teachers and professors (from pre-K to graduate school) can access their colleagues’ course materials, share their own, and collaborate on affecting today’s classrooms. It uses Web 2.0 features (tags, ratings, comments, reviews, and social networking) to create an online experience that engages educators in sharing their best teaching and learning practices.

These learning materials are freely available online for everyone to use, whether you are an instructor, student, or self-learner. Examples of OER include: full courses, course modules, syllabi, lectures, homework assignments, quizzes, lab and classroom activities, pedagogical materials, games, simulations, and many more resources contained in digital media collections from around the world.

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Source: OER Commons

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Online degree can be convenient alternative to campus by BILL GAITHER/The Register-Mail

When Darlene Smith wanted a bachelor's degree, the 47-year-old Galesburg woman went online.
Smith, a life-long Galesburg resident, finished a degree in business and management of information systems from Kaplan University last fall without ever setting foot on a campus. She and her two daughters, ages 6 and 17, will travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., next week to participate in graduation ceremonies.
Based in Davenport, Iowa, Kaplan University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The for-profit school offers associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees online and on its physical campus.

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Source: Register-Mail Online

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eLearning Africa 2007

eLearning Africa 2007, the second International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training, will take place from the 28th to the 30th of May, 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya.
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Source: CHECKpoint eLearning

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Creating Content in Flash Format

Brandon Hall Research's 763-page new report "Creating Content in Flash Format: 41 Authoring Tools to Produce Engaging Online Learning Experiences" highlights tools to create engaging, interactive content in a bandwidth-friendly format.
By Janet Clarey, Adam Cunningham-Reid, and the staff of Brandon Hall Research.



Organizations tell us that they’d like to build more engaging, interactive e-learning content as part of their blended strategy. Research suggests that many organizations have moved out of the start-up (using minimal off-the-shelf content) phase of e-learning and are now mature practitioners.
Statistics suggest that more e-learning content will be developed in-house in the future. All this e-learning content will be authored in many forms – from static pages to rich, realistic simulations, games, scenarios, and assessments.
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Source: Brandon Hall Research

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Profs Debate Use of Laptops in Classrooms by SYLVIA A. CASTILLO

As the growing presence of laptops changes the Harvard classroom, students and professors are working out new rules to determine the computers’ proper place.
Some embrace their use in lecture halls, saying laptops allow students to take faster notes and look up references that may have eluded them.
Others have banned computers from their classrooms completely, arguing that they distract students and damage the classroom dynamic. To date, no College-wide policy exists.
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Source: The Harvard Crimson

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Framework For Conceptualising The Impact Of Technology On Teaching And Learning

Article by Price, S., & Oliver, M. (2007). A Framework for Conceptualising the Impact of Technology on Teaching and Learning.
The Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 10 (1), 16-27.




ABSTRACT:
Although there is great interest, and considerable investment, in adopting technology within Higher Education, it is less clear what this change means to the people who implement or experience it. Presently, there is no consistent framework used to study and explain this phenomenon. In this paper, we propose a framework that can structure and guide work in the area. Work carried out as part of a Kaleidoscope-funded project (see Price et al, 2005) to explore the impact of technology, providing an overview of current research in this area is described, outlining a framework of approaches to researching this topic, and providing an example of empirical work that fits within this methodological framework. Findings from the case study reported here focus on the role that models of teaching and learning play in the process of technology adoption and will be used to elaborate on the themes emerging from the review of existing research. The paper will conclude by considering the framework’s role as a foundation for further work in this area.
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Source: Distance-Educator.com

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E-portfolios are the wave of the future by Harry Grover Tuttle

Here is yet another example of E-portfolio-Based Teaching, I thought you may find interesting.

E-portfolios can be a great way for educators to track student progress and inspire them to examine how and what they learned — and what they need to work on.

Effective 21st century assessment reaches beyond traditional testing to look at the broader accomplishments of learners. Assembling an e-portfolio, or electronic portfolio, is an excellent method for assessing students' progress toward school, state, or national academic standards, as well as 21st century skills. An electronic portfolio is a purposefully limited collection of student selected work over time that documents progress toward meeting the standards. Work may be collected over a semester, a year, or even several years, passing from one grade level and teacher to the next.
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Source: TechLEARNING

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Virtual Mentoring in Higher Education: Teacher Education and Cyber-Connections

Article by Sandy Watson, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, appears in Volume 18, Number 3 (2006) edition of International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

This study explored the benefits and limitations of mentoring relationships between pre-service and practicing K-12 teachers. Thirteen pre-service education students at a university in the southeastern United States and 17 practicing teachers from four states participated. The student participants were in their senior year in a teacher education program, during the semester just previous to their student teaching experience.
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Source:
International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

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A new look at learning by Cindy Votruba

At some schools, Smartboards are replacing more traditional teaching tools at the front of the classroom and are helping get kids more involved in learning.
Kids can “dissect” a frog with them, place states into a map and catch up on homework with them.
Read more...

Photo by Cindy Votruba

Source: The Marshall Independent

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Podcasts transforming campus life by BRIAN LEE

Monterey Institute of International Studies students may soon be taking their professors with them to the library - and to the gym, on the bus and even on road-trips - in downloaded lectures they can listen to on portable music players.
Since the introduction of digital music players like Apple's iPod five years ago, the devices have gone from classroom nuisance to homework resource by providing lectures on the go. Advances in portable computing have allowed students to put an entire year's worth of lectures in their blue jeans pocket.
Say goodbye to heavy backpacks.

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Source: MontereyHerald.com

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Is Online Help E-Learning or E-Larming?

Increasing droves of students are seeking late-night or last-minute homework help from online tutors, the Brigham Young University NewsNet reports, and peers and professors are asking the usual questions: Will they learn? And will they cheat?
The answers appear to be: maybe and maybe.

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Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education

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E-learning and Disability in Higher Education

Take a look at this excellent book below. It's by Jane Seale.

Most practitioners know that they should make e-learning accessible to students with disabilities, yet it is not always clear exactly how this should be done. This useful guide evaluates current practice and provision, and explores the tools, methods and approaches available for improving accessible practice.

Examining the social, educational and political background behind making e-learning accessible in higher and further education, it provides advice for the key stake-holders involved in e-learning provision on the opportunities that e-learning can offer students with disabilities, the impact of accessibility legislation, guidelines and standards on current e-learning practice, the reliability and validity of accessibility related evaluation and repair tools, and practical guidelines for 'best practice' in providing accessible e-learning experiences.

Published 2006-06-29

Buy this book

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Classroom Collaborators by John K.Waters

JOHN CHAMBERS, CEO of San Jose, CA-based computer networking giant Cisco Systems, paced the main stage in San Francisco's Moscone Conference Center, admonishing the members of his audience like a Southern preacher, warning them to prepare themselves for a revolution.
"Do you ever watch your children doing their homework?" he asked. "They're listening to music, instant messaging, and chatting on the phone at the same time.

These aren't distractions you're seeing, but new forms of collaboration. You may not like it. You may say, ‘That's not for me.' But believe me, that'll be you in five years.

You will change your form of collaboration, in your business and in your personal interactions....Collaboration is the next frontier. It will be enabled by different concepts and different devices, but it will be about the power of the human network in ways we are just beginning to understand."

Read more...

Source: THE Journal

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New 2007 Horizon Report names Mobile Phones as ''Next Big Thing'' in Higher Education

The annual Horizon Report is produced by an elite, global team of higher education technology visionaries who evaluate and pinpoint the top six technologies due to influence college campuses, with an approximate timeframe for "major impact." Rave Wireless and Apple (for the iPhone) are the only vendors listed as references in the mobile phone section of the Report, which is issued through a joint effort between the New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI).
The 2007 Horizon Report listed mobile phones third, with expectations that this technology will have a "major impact" on teaching and learning in higher education in 2-3 years, right behind user-generated content and social networking which will realize their full potential within the next year.
Read more...

The 2007 Horizon Report

Source: Broadcast Newsroom

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K12 Academics

Below is a link to a very interesting as well as informative web site run by Chris Glavin.

It is devoted to providing resourceful information for a number of topics in education and disabilities and disorders.

Chris Glavin has created an information page for Blended Learning including the current usage of the term, alternative usage, animated blended learning, Pre e-learning and non e-learning usages, current non e-learning-based blended learning, models used by Language Schools & books for Blended Learning.

K12 Academics has established relationships with hundreds of Camps, Museums, Zoos, Exhibits, Memorials, State & National Organizations, Websites, Universities, Institutions, Libraries and International Programs.

If you are looking for a web site or information on a school, organization, museum, consultant, library, camp, study abroad program or support in your area you can find it here.

Although the site name is K12 Academics, there is helpful information for college-bound students on this web site.
K12 Academics is updated daily.

Read more...

Source: K12 Academics

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Reports from the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C)

Don't miss these reports from the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C).

Making the Grade by I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman
Online Education in the United States, 2006 represents the fourth annual report on the state of online education in U.S. Higher Education. Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and based on responses from over 2,200 colleges and universities, this year’s study, like those for previous years’, is aimed at answering some of the fundamental questions about the nature and extent of online education:

• Has the growth in online enrollments begun to plateau?
• Who offers online courses and programs?
• Is online education becoming part of long-term strategy for most schools?
• How do Chief Academic Officers rate the quality of online courses?
• What barriers do academic leaders see to widespread adoption of online learning?

The survey analysis is based on a comprehensive nationwide sample of active, degree-granting institutions of higher education in the United States that are open to the Public.
Published 2006
Read more...

Blending In by I. Elaine Allen, Jeff Seaman and Richard Garrett

Blending In: The Extent and Promise of Blended Education in the United States, builds on a series of annual reports on the state of online education in U.S. Higher Education. This study, like the previous annual reports, is aimed at answering some of the fundamental questions about the nature and extent of education in the United States. Unlike the previous reports that focused exclusively on online learning, the current report examines blended (also called hybrid) instruction. The findings are
based on three years of responses from a national sample of over 1,000 colleges and universities.

Questions examined in the report include:

• Have the course and program offerings in online education entered the mainstream?
• Are blended courses more prevalent than fully online courses?
• Do blended courses hold more promise than fully online courses?
• Are blended courses simply a stepping stone for institutions on the way tofully online courses?
• Do students prefer blended courses over either fully online or face-to-face courses?
Published 2007

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E-portfolio-Based Teaching continuous

Here are some other examples of E-portfolio-Based Teaching, I thought you may find interesting.

These two features appears, in February/March 2007,Volume 3, Issue 3 edition of Innovate, focus on a significant trend in the use of technology for enhanced professional communication: e-portfolios. Cara Lane emphasizes the importance of e-portfolios as a way for students to develop effective online presentation skills for their future careers. In offering the results of a survey administered to participants in an e-portfolio contest, Lane highlights the key proficiencies that students should develop to ensure the long-term value of their e-portfolios as records of their professional and academic growth. Vicki Lind gives a more focused look at e-portfolios in the context of a music education program, illustrating the ways in which this medium allowed student teachers to document their distinctive skills, their instructional strategies, and the ways in which they align their teaching with state standards.

The Power of "E": Using e-Portfolios to Build Online Presentation Skills
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e-Portfolios in Music Teacher Education
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Source: Innovate journal of online education

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Workshop on Scenario-Based e-Learning (SBL): Creating Highly Engaging e-Learning, Faster and Lower Cost

e-Learning expert Dr. Ray Jimenez presents Creating Highly Engaging Scenario-Based e-Learning (SBL), a high-interactive and high-discovery workshop that place participants on the spot, while creating highly engaging, real-life applications. The workshop is also designed to expand the use of software to construct SBL architecture and development.
Workshop starts on June 5, 2007.
Read more...

About Vignettes for Training (VFT)
Vignettes for Training (VFT) is an e-learning services company. VFT assists clients develop and convert content to highly engaging online learning, implement a Metrics Drive Learning Systems, and host the programs through VFT's secure web servers. VFT also delivers a unique blended e-learning workshop for instructional designers, trainers, managers and executives.

Source: SBWire

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Principles of Effective Online Teaching and Advanced Principles of Effective e-Learning

Principles of Effective Online Teaching

Principles of effective online teaching helps you understand and develop your own e-learning by presenting various approaches, options, and decisions involved in e-learning. The book also provides the necessary overview of constructs, relevant pedagogical theories, and definitions common to the field.

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Advanced Principles of Effective e-Learning

With the global academic community currently focused on student learning outcomes achievement, assessment, and continuous improvement, e-learning strategies provide effective measures than can assist educators and educational administrators in the satisfaction of key objectives. Whether it is creating and incorporating simulations, building courses and curriculum, engaging in virtual team building, managing online programs, concept mapping, developing an electronic portfolio program...
Read more...

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E-portfolio-Based Teaching

Here is some papers, about E-portfolio-Based Teaching, I thought you may find interesting.

Some ideas are better in theory than practice, writes Shari Wilson, who found the much-praised approach gave students needless fears and the wrong motivations.

Read more...

Source: Inside Higher Ed

From Application To Graduation And Beyond: Exploring User Engagement With E-portfolios And The E-advantage

This paper is an expanded version of a paper presented at the EDEN conference, Vienna, June 2006. It expands the model of learner engagement in the e-portfolio process and defines types of engagement experienced by the user. The factors which impact on the type of engagement enjoyed by the user are numerous and the paper will argue that feedback provision and relevance are the two most important issues which affect learner engagement and engagement type. Technology is not a barrier to the user but to the educator. Ownership is a secondary factor and in this study is shown to have little impact on the engagement process. The paper will also look at the e-advantage as reported by the users and try to examine why learners choose to use e-portfolios.

Read more...

Source: European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning

Related Links

E-portfoliopædagogik

Hvad er dansk e-portfolio konsortium?

OnEdge - temanummer om e-portfolio

E-portfolio – en mognadsprocess eller återvändsgränd? Se nedenstående link

Roger Ellmin paper

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ITU gennemfører webcam-eksamen fra Nicaragua

IT-Universitetet i Ørestaden gennemførte i sidste uge en speciale-eksamen med en studerende via webcam fra Nicaragua.

Den vellykkede videokonference via Skype er, ifølge Computerworld, blandt danmarkshistoriens første eksamen med en studerende på webcam.

Skype var valgt som kommunikationsmiddel, da eksamenen skulle have været endnu mere eksperimenterende med en visuel trevejskommunikation, som netop Skype tilbyder.

Læs mere...

Source: Computerworld

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Digital teaching environment improves learning results at all levels

With the help of a modern digital teaching environment and rich multimedia content the teaching process can be individualized and differentiated to match individual student needs, improving learning efficiency on all educational levels.

Read more...

Source: Learningbusiness.fi

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Universities register for virtual future by Stefanie Olsen

If you want to know what higher education will look like in a few years, you might ask Charles Reed, chancellor of the largest four-year university system in the United States.

Read more...

Source: CNET News.com

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Research Perspectives from Sloan-C Blended Learning.

Sloan-C collect and share resources for educators and administrators involved with blended and hybrid learning.
The following below are resources contributed from the Sloan-C community.

THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF UNIVERSITY FACULTY WHO TEACH USING A HYBRID INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL

By Udeme Taylor Ndon

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

ABSTRACT

There is a rapid increase in the use of the hybrid instructional model by the postsecondary education community to deliver instruction. The face-to-face and virtual (online) classes are believed to use different instructional media and methods to address the needs of different learners. These learning environments were typically employed independently of each other. How instructors manage instruction within each environment could be a challenge. With limited information about how teachers manage teaching and learning using this model, the purpose of this study was to investigate and provide insight into the essence of faculty members’ experiences. The research addressed these questions: How do faculty members experience the hybrid instruction in postsecondary education? What meanings do they ascribe to the experience(s)?

Read more...

Keith Bourne is the Chief Operations Officer for the Sloan Consortium. Keith has a background in finance, marketing, technology, and online education. In addition to serving as the COO of Sloan-C, he has worked with experts in the field on various projects including research on blended learning, business strategies in online education, marketing online programs, and emergency ALN. Prior to his work with Sloan-C, Keith founded the company Web2URadio, a wireless music service provider, in 1998 and served as the Chief Marketing Officer until 2001. He has several years experience in developing marketing and sales strategies. He received his BSBA from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his MBA from Babson College.

Keith Bourne's blog

Related Link

Upcoming Sloan-C Events
Blended Learning

Blended Learning: Research Perspectives Publication

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RUC vil podcaste forelæsninger

Roskilde Universitetscenter kaster sig nu ud i podcasting og internetadgang til forelæsninger.
Podcasting kan nemlig bygge bro mellem uddannelser og de studerende.
Syddansk Universitet var det første danske universitet der begyndte at podcaste forelæsninger i foråret 2006.

Vi satser først og fremmest på at sammentænke de elektroniske medier med vores projektpædagogik, og der er ingen tvivl om, at digitale optagelser af forelæsningerne vil betyde en langt bedre udnyttelse af den viden, der videregives,« siger prorektor Henning Salling Olesen ifølge Jyllands-Posten.

South Kent College i England er gået skridtet videre og har udstyret alle studerende med et gratis eksemplar af Apples iPod Nano til at høre undervisningen som podcast, hvis de skulle være forhindret i at møde frem til forelæsningen.
Læs mere...

Source: Ingeniøren

Henvisninger
Roskilde Universitetscenter
South Kent College
Apples iPod Nano
Liste over SDU podcasts
Podcasts - Sådan gør du

Læs også
Syddansk Universitet i Second Life
Professors using blogs, podcasts as teaching tools

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Virtuelt projektarbejde

Her er et par gode råd hentet fra ERHVERVSBLADET, Virksomhedsrådet lørdag den 17. februar 2007.

Nedenstående spændende spørgsmål er besvaret af Claus Hellmann Hansen.

Jeg arbejder for et internationalt firma, som har besluttet at arbejde så virtuelt som muligt.

Jeg deltager i et projekt, hvor vi gerne vil opbygge et positivt klima med megen tillid. Men vi har indset, at det er vanskeligere end ved normale projekter.

Vi arbejder i fem forskellige lande. Kan I hjælpe med et par gode råd?

Læs svaret

Kilde: Erhvervsbladet

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it’s learning 3.1 is a powerful Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

it's learning is a springboard to knowledge.

It is specifically designed for schools and universities.

Its’ defining characteristics are unrivalled flexibility and user-friendliness.
The intuitive platform allows everyone to master the technology in order to succeed with his or her learning activities.
A strong focus on the implementation process ensures that each school gains an optimal set of pedagogic tools for reaching its particular objective.
Read more...

Reference
Absalon - KU’s nye fælles Learning Management System - it's learning
UNI•C it’s learning

Source: it's learning

Related Link
New functionality in it’s learning 3.1
Video tutorials
Courses Spring 2007

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Coming soon: a new and improved version of elearningeuropa.info!

Coming soon

A new and improved version of the elearningeuropa.info portal will be launched soon. The new version was developed with the aim of simplifying the services offered by the portal and to help portal users find more relevant and interesting information in a faster and easier way.

NEW! Create your own user profile!

As a registered user you can publish your member profile on the portal and by doing so provide more information about yourself to members seeking to enhance their professional network. A published profile will appear in the portals new “Members” listing and other users will be able to view it. The member profile shows information about your interests in e-learning and your participation on the portal, and enables you and other members of the portal to better locate fellow community members with similar interests and ideas.

Read more...

Source: elearningeuropa.info

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EDUCAUSE Quarterly

The latest EDUCAUSE Quarterly is now online, featuring articles on what online courses offer for residential universities; making research cyberinfrastructure a strategic choice; instant messaging in higher education classes; and laboratory-based distance learning.

How Students Develop Online Learning Skills
Successful online students share their secrets for getting the most from online classes, focusing on time management, active participation, and practice
By Alan R. Roper

Read more...

Source: Educause

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Learning at a Distance…The Close-Up

Every student lives a life outside of school; some of us might even have families or children that need to be cared for and many of us may struggle with the stressful goal of getting a higher education, amongst all the other hassles of life.

As a result of the time required on campus, some students may be hindered from performing their daily duties as responsible adults. Another option for obtaining an education may be through Pensacola Junior College's online distance learning program, eCoast Campus.

Read more...

Source: ecorsair.com

Related Link

Distance learning

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Pepperdine podcasts lectures, speeches by RYAN HAGEN

Recorded lectures from the Dean’s Executive Leadership Series and by some professors are allowing students to study up and sleep in.
Earphones seemed to be everywhere at Pepperdine, as students relaxed from their studies with the latest additions to their iPods. But in the last year, Pepperdine began recording some of its lectures, and professors have been experimenting with it as well.
“You can be studying, stop, go eat dinner, go on a date, and finish up,” said Associate Professor Susan Salas, who last year began recording supplemental lessons in one of her classes, Advanced Narrative Digital Short Production.

Read more...

Source: Graphic Pepperdine University

Related Link

The free iPod tutorial

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State’s diploma mills draw academic ire by Adam Jones

At Chadwick University in Birmingham, students can get a graduate degree based on how much of life they’ve seen. But graduates seeking employment with the federal government would be wise to leave that degree off their resumes. A government investigation uncovered 463 federal employees had claimed degrees from unaccredited schools, including Chadwick. Alabama education leaders hope to reverse the state’s reputation as a haven for diploma mills by strengthening laws regulating how private colleges like Chadwick are set up.
Read more...

Source: Tuscaloosa News

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Special Reports on Virtual High Schools and Interaction in Distance Education

Here are some reports I thought you may find interesting.

Virtual High Schools

This 37 page report covers the developments in the changing conditions in learning in K-12 education. No other phenomenon has changed the conditions of learning in K-12 education more than the emergence of virtual high schools. Students in search of an advanced placement course or a course to learn a popular language have to go no farther than their keyboard to find an unprecedented array of offerings.

Read more...

Interaction in Distance Education

In this 22 page Special Report, Rick L. Shearer, M.A., MBA, Assistant Director of Instructional Design and Development at Pennsylvania State University's World Campus, and co-founder of Distance-Educator.com, presents his analysis of the concept of interaction in distance education.

Read more...

Source: Distance-Educator.com

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Local colleges, universities use cyberspace as virtual clasroom by KATE HENDERSON

Keeping pace with technology, local colleges and universities are beginning to incorporate more online courses into the educational system; something professors said is both a good and bad thing.

Andrew Robinson, department of communication studies at EIU, said right now there is a strong demand for online learning, especially for non-traditional students.

Read more...

Source: Journal Gazette and Times-Courier online

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The future of collaborative videoconferencing

Have you participated in an interactive videoconference? Traditional, "room-based" videoconferencing has involved either H.320 (ISDN) or H.323 (IP) connections to room-based equipment that generally is fixed in place after installation. Portable units on carts (like the Polycom Mobile Responder) have been available for some time, but tend to be less common in U.S. K-12 schools than fixed-room codecs.
Videoconferencing offers great potential for students and teachers to collaborate and interact with each other. In Oklahoma where I live, however, it seems most videoconference equipment in K-12 schools is used for dual-credit courses offered by community college instructors for high school students or high school language classes offered by a teacher in another district. Some school districts, like Howe Public Schools in southeastern Oklahoma, engage students in a wide variety of collaborative videoconference projects and virtual field trips, but districts like Howe tend to be the exception rather than the rule.

Read more...

Source: Techlearning blog

Related link

Wesley Fryer

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E-learning comes of age

The sudden surge towards video-sharing websites like Youtube or Google video is more than a fad – it’s a sign of global cultural change.
And that change means big things to E-Traffic Solutions, a Saanich company rapidly emerging as a global player in the distance-education market.
E-Traffic once had to work hard to generate interest in its electronic education and assessment tools. But John Juricic, one of E-Traffic three founding partners, says that today, more and more corporate and government clients are expressing interest in electronic education or e-learning.

Read more...

Source: Esquimalt News

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Introducing IQity: a New Way in Online Education that Expands Learning Parameters for All Ohio High School Students

Altair Learning Management is introducing the IQity Learning Suite for grades 9-12 - a new way of thinking about online education and the traditional classroom.
Designed to unleash imagination as well as technology, IQity redefines the parameters for online learning. It's truly a classroom without walls that offers students and teachers all the tools they need to unleash the full power of their creativity.

Read more...

For more information, visit http://www.IQ-ity.com

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10 signs your degree is fake by EUGENE SCOTT

Online education is a $10 billion-a-year industry, up from $2.5 billion in 2004, according to the "Postsecondary Education Factbook." Enrollment for online courses is projected to reach about 1.7 million U.S. students this year, more than three times those enrolled in 2002.
Some online programs have been accused of being degree mills: fake universities that sell college diplomas, not an education.

Use these tips for identifying degree mills.

Source: The Journal News

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At University of Florida, Distance Learning Moves Off the Planet

There's no excuse for being late to Paul Fishwick's class, even though it's held on an island, one that does not appear on the map of the landlocked University of Florida in Gainesville. That's because students can just teleport in.
Fishwick, a computer science and engineering professor, is teaching one of at least two classes offered at UF this semester largely in cyberspace -- specifically, the trendy three-dimensional online world called Second Life. There, Fishwick's "avatar," the character that represents each player in Second Life, leads discussions among some 30 other avatars controlled by upper-level UF undergraduate and graduate students in CAP 4403/CAP 6402, Aesthetic Computing.

"I like the potential for collaboration, immersion, aesthetics, creativity, social interaction," Fishwick said. "There are a lot of different dimensions I think are valuable to educators."

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Source: The Live Newswire

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Don't miss these stories about Mobile technologies

Mobile Learning: The Next Step In Technology-Mediated Learning by Ellen Wagner, Ph.D.


Mobile technologies are everywhere today — more than 1.5 billion of them, according to a recent report by Strategy Analytics with 10 percent year-over-year adoption expected through 2008. Cell phones, PDAs, iPods and handheld game consoles are just a few examples of the devices that have become common, everyday accessories.
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Source: Chief Learning Officer


Automated video podcast production and delivery

Podesk is a unique and complete solution for video capture, encoding and podcast delivery. Everything is automated : a single drag’n’drop publishes your video straight to your web site, iTunes+iPod or iTV ! Record directly from your webcam, and Podesk will take care of the rest.
Podesk is the only solution that combines a desktop utility that encodes video, prepares meta data and uploads the video, combined with an open source blog platform with all the tools to set up video podcast distribution easily.

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Class Podcasts: Bolstering Courses or Cutting Attendance?

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Second Life: The Official Guide

Here is a perfect Official Guide for anyone interested in the virtual universe Second Life.
This book explores in detail every aspect of Second Life's rich and multilayered virtual world, explains how it works, and offers a wealth of information and practical advice for all Second Life residents.
This exclusive guide offers a wealth of tips, analysis, and information about living in Second Life, the rich, multi-layered 3D virtual world inhabited by nearly a million residents. You'll find out everything from how Second Life began and where it's going to the truth about earning a real-world income and what's needed to enjoy the metaverse's vices and virtues.

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About the Author
Michael Rymaszewski is an award-winning author of more than 20 computer books. Wagner James Au is a journalist embedded in Second Life and runs the New World Notes blog. Mark Wallace publishes The Second Life Herald and a blog about virtual worlds. Catherine Winters is one of Second Life's longest-tenured residents and runs the scripting wiki. Cory Ondrejka is CTO of Linden Lab and created the Linden Scripting Language. Benjamin Batstone-Cunningham is a Linden Lab programmer and scripting expert.

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Købmandsskole flytter undervisning til Second Life

Studerende på Århus Købmandsskole bliver nu undervist i den virtuelle online-verden Second Life.

Århus Købmandsskole flytter nu en del af sin undervisning til Second Life. Det er studerende på multimediedesigner- og datamatiker-uddannelserne, som fremover får undervisningstimer der foregår inde i Second Life. Det skal give de studerende mulighed for at studere en dynamisk verden live, og for at perspektivere faget 3D-modellering til en hel aktuel verden, fortæller Christel Bach, der er uddannet arkitekt og underviser på multimediedesign-uddannelsen på Århus Købmandsskole.
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Eksterne henvisninger
What is Second Life?
Linden Lab
Second Life Insider
Second Life: Lyt til fremtidens digitale målgrupper

Kilde: ComON

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Gatlin Learning and Los Angeles Valley College Announce e-Learning Center Website

Gatlin Learning, Inc. has partnered with Los Angeles Valley College to host a Website for The eLearning Center, a comprehensive resource of online continuing and business education courses.

With The eLearning Center, colleges and universities create unique, co-branded sites where from they can offer courses from leading online content providers for direct sale to students and corporate training customers. Each portal is customizable and generates revenue for LAVC, while Gatlin handles all the site’s administrative needs at no cost.

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About Gatlin Learning, Inc.

Gatlin Learning, Inc. is the Internet’s foremost resource of e-learning content. Thousands of self-study courses from the world’s leading online education companies have been amassed at The eLearning Center and are available for direct sale to students anywhere in the world. Gatlin Learning partners with businesses and institutions of higher learning to create completely individualized portal Websites where students have direct access to both certificate and non-certificate, non-credit courses. The result is a comprehensive and user-friendly one-stop shop where students and business professionals can meet their continuing education needs and get on the fast track to a long and successful career.

Source: Newswire Today

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