Category: Trends

Imaginative Gridlock

In A Failure of Nerve; Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, Edwin H. Friedman tells a fascinating story.

In 1493, the publishers of the Nuremberg Chronicle stood on the brink of a transformation that would profoundly change the way they lived, worked, and related to one other. But they couldn’t see it coming. They were so paralyzed by the emotional bombardments of their time they even left several pages at the end of the book blank so their readers could record “the rest of the events until the end of the world.” Continue reading “Imaginative Gridlock”

The Future from My Rearview Mirror

On my journey to becoming an eLearning Expert I have taken the Gallup Clifton Strengths Survey several times to discover my Signature Themes. My top 5 are very consistent—I always get Futuristic. I nod in agreement as the Clifton Strengths survey says, “The future fascinates you.” I guess that explains why I‘m drawn to articles written by futurists.

I just read an interesting article by Kevin Drum in the July/August of Tech World “Welcome to the Digital Revolution.” Kevin challenges us that the best lens at gaining the elusive glimpse of the future may be the past. Continue reading “The Future from My Rearview Mirror”

Stories From Around the eLearning Fire

We often picture our primitive ancestors gathering around a fire to share stories. Amongst the tribe members, the seasoned imparted experience to those with less experience. Survival depended on Continue reading “Stories From Around the eLearning Fire”

Experts and eLearning Ecosystems

The term “elearning ecosystem” appears more and more frequently in eLearning writings. As a leader in eLearning, I like this metaphor—not because it’s scientifically-based and sounds cool (although it is and it does), but because I find the metaphor reflects some foundational changes influencing eLearning instructional design. Continue reading “Experts and eLearning Ecosystems”

The Building Blocks of OER

We’ve put together an infographic of OER data for you to share with your colleagues, department chairs, and administrators. Let’s build relationships and keep the conversation going to increase OER awareness and adoption on campuses across the world. Continue reading “The Building Blocks of OER”

Finding your OER Champions

Throughout our OER series, we’ve explored the value open educational resources bring to students, instructors, and institutions as well as where to begin with OER. Last week, we discussed using a model to bring open educational resources (OER) to your institution by building relationships with key influencers and OER champions.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, your institution probably has OER champions already.

Typically, OER are first adopted by the hard sciences. But you likely have another partner: Continue reading “Finding your OER Champions”

Tips for Bringing OER to Your University, Institution, or School

In our OER series, we’ve explored how cost-friendly open educational resources (OER) can replace the expense of traditional textbooks. We’ve looked at where to find OER as well as how to choose quality materials. By now, you’re probably wondering how to bring OER into your institution.

Continue reading “Tips for Bringing OER to Your University, Institution, or School”

Bringing Value to your Learners with OER

You walk into the campus student bookstore. Classes started last week, and you just got paid at your part-time, minimum wage student job. You nervously add the cost of the stack of textbooks in your head.

You don’t have enough cash. You never have enough cash.

What do you do? Put some books back? Continue reading “Bringing Value to your Learners with OER”

Diving into Open Educational Resources (OER)

With the rising costs of textbooks, it’s imperative that universities and colleges find cost-friendly, quality learning materials for students. Enter Open Educational Resources (OER), stage left. Continue reading “Diving into Open Educational Resources (OER)”

Personalized Learning

Innovation in the digital world seems to move at the speed-of-light.  As I wonder what the conversations around digital learning will center on in five years, I believe the lasting dialogue will be “personalized learning.”

Those of us in the world of educational technology know of the rhetoric around the term, but we do not seem to have a shared understanding of its meaning.  Many use the omnipresent phrase to refer to efforts to tailor instruction to each student’s unique needs and preferences.  Continue reading “Personalized Learning”

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