Digital Dialogues

June Blogging

Well - its a little late - but the editor is suffering from end of semester marking challenges!
This month is looking exciting as our blog and newsletter become virtual. Visit our blog regularly from the 5th July for the "live" reporting from BlogTalk2.0 in Vienna. The July newsletter will incorporate some of the new technologies and practices from the UK and Europe.

How will you know when this blog was been updated?
Well - you have a couple of choices! Drop by regularly or use a RSS feed - or aggregator. I use Bloglines - it's free! You register with Bloglines, nominate websites (including this blog) and it collects updates through RSS feeds. When you sign in (or you can be notified directly onto your desktop) - updated sites of your choice are highlighted!
http://www.bloglines.com

A recurring theme that arose as I collected and researched for this month's newsletter is the future...things are hotting up in the technical world - wireless networks are popping up everywhere; Sony has announced their exit from the PDA market - claiming the PDA will be replaced with the mobile phone/PDA hybrid like Blueberry.

One perspective I'm particularly interested in for the future of learning is the development of socially connected learners - through blogs, wikis, or some other new form of networked connection. Did you know I can send entries to my blog from my mobile? That's called moblogging!

Did you notice we've started a BlogRoll (some people call it a blogodex) - it's in the left-hand column - it's a roll of e-Learning blogs - do you have any you'd like to include? Let me know and I'll add them!

The developers of TypePad - the software that powers this blog - are keynote speakers at BlogTalk 2.0. It will be fascinating to hear their thoughts and predictions as the blogging phenomon increases momentum!

So - fasten your seat belts - the future is just in front of us - looks like we're in the midst of more revolutionary changes and predictions about the future of work will have direct impact on our learning strategies!

Talk to you from London & Vienna!
Anne BB

The Present and Future of Work

This is a "MUST SEE"!
Follow the link and register to view the webcast - it's about 1 hour long - it's FREE - and it's fascinating from 2 perspectives!
Firstly, the content is really engaging and very relevant to all educators and learning professionals. These ideas and predictions about work will influence and shape our practice and how we survive and deliver meaningful learning opportunities.
Secondly, the technology! The quality is great - sound and video! Think of the potential uses - particularly in a pre-recorded format that can be viewed more than once, at anytime!
Don't go past this one!!!!
http://www.groove.net/default.cfm?pagename=webcast_fow

What are your thoughts? Please add some comments and let's get some dialogue happening!

The Present and Future of Work

By Thomas Malone
I haven't read this book yet - I'll be reading it over the semester break - however, I have downloaded this free chapter from the link below and it looks fascinating...!
http://www.groove.net/default.cfm?pagename=webcast_fow_resources
Or buy the book through Amazon.

Have you read this book? Why not send us your review?

Free Books!!!!

Here's a fabulous resource - with free sample chapters to download from over 200 book titles!!
http://www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=363&flag=363

Q&A with Saul Carliner

By Lisa Neal, Editor-In-Chief, eLearn Magazine
While we're looking at future issues and trends - this recent interview with Saul Carliner highlights some interesting observations:

Few observers are as astute as Saul Carliner, an e-learning veteran who examines data and trends to predict where the industry is going and why. Saul has a foot in multiple worlds: He has extensive industry experience, serves as assistant professor of educational technology at Concordia University in Montréal, Québec, and has authored five books including the forthcoming Advanced Web-based Training: Adapting Real World Strategies in Your Online Learning (with Margaret Driscoll). Saul, a frequent conference presenter, was an invited speaker at E-Learn 2003 on the implications from an annual survey of training directors. Saul and I followed up a conversation at the conference with the e-mail exchange that follows:
http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage/sub_page.cfm?article_pk=12101&page_number_nb=2&title=FEATURE%20STORY

What are your thoughts on this article? Feel free to add comments!

Aristotle - The Knowledge Web

The link below is from Danny Hillis' "Edge - the Third Culture" website. There are some interesting essays on the future of learning.
Scroll down, past the essay on "The Reality Club" (you can read that later) to "Aristotle - The KNowledge Web" - some thought provoking comments for learning professionals!
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/hillis04/hillis04_index.html

Bus Drivers Are Honing Their Skills with E-Learning

By Paul Harris

It’s easy to garner accolades about e-learning from members of the workforce who are familiar with computers. But what about those who aren’t? How successful is online or CD-ROM learning for workers who aren’t especially computer literate, and how can you overcome their natural resistance to it?

Learner readiness has become the focus for many organisation's implementation strategies - this case study shows you that sometimes your assumptions about learners being unfamiliar with computers is not an inhibitor to learning!

Read the full article at Learning Circuits:
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/may2004/harris.htm

Quote for the week

"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn"
John Cotton Dana