Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
A Concept Map for a Cognitive Approach to Multimedia Learning
Here is a concept map I created a while back for a cognitive approach to multimedia learning. I thought it broke the concept down nicely and would be worth sharing here.
The Google Reader Next Button
I have been using Google Reader to follow blogs for a long time. For me, it is an indispensable tool that allows me to quickly scan information in the blogs I subscribe to. But once in a while, when I have time, I enjoy reading the blogs in the context of their original sites. That’s where the Google Reader next button comes in.
It’s a nice feature that Google offers where you can paste a button in Firefox that allows you to use Google Reader through just one link. Clicking on it takes your browser to the next unread item in your reading list, marking it “read” in the process.
To add the link to your Firefox browser, go to “settings” and then “goodies” in Reader.
Intel AppUp
Intel has launched a new service that delivers applications for Netbooks in a way similar to Apple’s store for iPhone and iPad apps. I don’t know how successful this service, known as AppUp will be. It’s offerings seem limited and overpriced, but a generic service targeted at NetBooks could take off eventually. Maybe using a platform like Adobe AIR would be a better approach, as a single app could be written once and played on a multitude of applications.
Ben Stein on Hatred in America
Ben Stein stated his Declaration of Conscience on CBS Sunday Morning today in response to the plague of hate that seems to be growing and increasingly accepted in our nation. I thought it was fitting.
“This is a big country. It is a great country, filled with opportunities. It is the magnet for those all over the world who want a better life. And while we face grim challenges from many directions, we make this pledge:
“We became a great nation because we are an open, loving nation. Most of us believe in a loving God. Whether we are believers or atheists, we believe in the rights of all. We welcome all who respect the rights of every other American. We welcome and respect all who want the same opportunities and legal protections for all Americans.
“We are a busy people, we Americans – rebuilding our economy, defending ourselves, educating our children. We are far too busy to hate. We will not preach hate, sell hate, try to get elected by hate. We will follow our forefathers’ example and only stoop to hate those who try to kill us. For those within our borders, unless they preach hate, our motto is always “Love thy neighbor.” We can and we will disagree about almost everything, but we will not do it in a spirit of hatred based on religion or race or sexual orientation or wealth or poverty.
“If our enemies want to live by hate, that is their loss. But we are not going to imitate their hatred. We live by love of our fellow man, and they will not stop us.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/17/sunday/commentaries/main6966357.shtml
TV-Fox
Filed under: Open Source, Open Content and Open Education, Uncategorized, Video |
Leave a Comment One of the many great things about the Firefox browser is the ability to add new features and utilities as extensions. It turns Firefox into so much more than just a browser. Firefox is free and open source to begin with, and there are literally thousands of free and usually open source applications that can be downloaded and installed. If one takes the time to tap into the sheer power of these offerings, Zotero for example, it becomes one of the great values available today in computing.
One cool extension that I recently stumbled onto is TV-Fox, which helps you to organized and easily browse TV broadcasts from dozens of nations. For someone like me who is interested in languages, international news, and foreign cultures, this is a gold mine. I have been watching internet broadcasts for years, but it has usually been more than a little frustrating in the past to try to find them. Many links were broken or never displayed properly in other sites I tried to use in the past. But TV-Fox installs as a toolbar in your browser and gives you instant access to hundreds of quality broadcasts from around the world. It actually makes surfing the links fun and entertaining. Just to see what’s out there. And best of all, the links seem to be monitored so that everything works. It is just one example of the many high-quality extensions that are available for Firefox.
Not So Fast
I have noticed a series of thought-provoking blog posts in the last few days regarding the rush to social media and the currently popular disdain by some for “experts” and academia in learning. Social media has the potential to transform personal and workplace learning in many ways, but I’m not so sure that it is going to replace more traditional learning and development methods in the radical way that many social media proponents are suggesting. Social media will have a significant impact for sure, but I think some are being a little too exuberant in the predictions they are making about how it will completely transform learning. I see more of a gradual evolution until social media tools become another tool in the learning and development toolbox, employed when it is appropriate and advantageous to use them.
Norman Lamont talks about the evolution of learning objectives and his flexible approach to using them. Ellen Wagner recently questioned why ADDIE seems to make some people so cranky. And Zaid Ali Alsagoff of ZaidLearn posted a nice piece discussing the benefits of the lecture and why it may still play an important role in learning environments, when used correctly.
Every one of these posts raises important questions about assumptions that seem to be dominating some areas of the field currently. As some wise person said somewhere, “everything in moderation and nothing in excess.” Rather than blind adherence to any single concept, no matter how shiny and new, it is the art of the learning professional to understand how to tailor a mix of methods that is appropriate to each unique learning situation.
