BloggingCreatively

Collaborative Experience

2006-05-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

I'm glad that I got a chance to participate in this class. I've learned things that I had never heard of...Blogs, Wikis, Social Bookmarking, etc. Also, I'm still a little, I mean overwhelmingly confused as to what an OPML file is and how to use it. You can forget about the RSS feeds...I know how to save them but not how to create them or if you can. Time was an issue with me as I only had time on the weekends but then quickly realized that I don't have much time on the weekend either.

In order for the class to be effective I would be charging up front. Make some accountability for the folks to ensure the committment is there. A better overview of the different tools up front would be useful as I had no idea on most and found myself spending a lot of time doing research to find out what was what.

Collaborative Learning

I'm excited to get together a collaborative learning session and be able to set up my first wiki to see how it works but there is rarely a chance for me to do so in my corporation. It would have been nice to see a lot more collaborative learning during the project assignments instead of a bunch of discussion using the discussion groups.

Web 2.0 / eLearning 2.0 Tools
I do see how Social Bookmarking can be useful but I'm still a bit confused as to how I would move the tool from one browser to another. Okay, someone please help me out on this one.

Use in corporation
I'm really not sure how I can personally incorporate the use of these tools in my organization at this point. I'll have to think on that one. All in all, I'm glad that I had this experience. I'm sure that I'll be able to use some of it some how some way. I'm thinking about sharing the information with my co-workers so that we can collaborate on how to put this knowledge to use.

Team 1 Reflection

2006-05-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

What i've learned from this exercise from team 1:

Taking a Blended learning (BL) approach will be cost effective for corporations. BL provides a variety of choices for the learner.

To complete this exercise, we did not have to collaborate on anything. We used our blogs as part of our discussion.

Collaborative Learning Project Post

2006-05-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

Team 1 Project

Question #2:
Name a key factor to consider in selecting the right blended learning approach and explain why you chose that factor. Article

Answer:
One key factor to consider in selecting the right blended learning apporach would be, "what are the characteristics of my audience?" To have this question answered will prove how effective training can be. You need to know your audience and what promotes them to learn. Will they respond better by seeing the information in a job aid or by hearing the information via a video. Are they motivated or not? If I didn't know the characteristics I would not know how to structure the learning to be effective.

Question #6:
How would you explain Blended Learning to your work culture, and how it works?

Answer:
From the article "Blended Learning: Finding What Works", blended learning is selecting the right combination of media that will drive the highest business impact for the lowest possible cost. To make blended learning work more powerful, you can start looking at all the media as options: classroom training, Web-based training, webinars, CD-ROM courses, video, EPSS systems and simulations. Other media that are less exciting but just as important include books, job aids, conference calls, documents and Power Point slides.

Blended learning can reach a more global audience and deploy the information quicker and consistent. I can be more cost-effective than e-Learning due to the different types of media it offers.

Question #10:
Describe some of the ways blended learning is most cost-effective for an organization?

Answer:
Quoted from the article "Learning Strategies: Blended Instruction", I was able to see how an organization could be more cost-effective when using blended learning.

Blended learning allows companies to minimize cost associated with travel, private instructors and time away from the office. The learning objects created in one course can be reused in another, even when using a different delivery approach.
It can be easier and faster to deliver learning using a blended approach due to the web based technology. A larger number of individuals can learn in a shorter amount of time.
When learners are moving at their own pace their interest and motivation is maximized and it empowers them to learn quickly and comprehensively.

Time

2006-04-16T15:51:00.000-07:00

Week one assigment completed as much as possible and Tony wants to know what took the most time. EVERYTHING!!! This stuff is crazy. I have been doing this and that and going back and forward from one page to another trying to find stuff. It's like a circus. I thought I was being smart by printing all of the instructions and documents I thought I would need and neatly put it into a folder but that didn't work. I just found myself looking all over the place for "the answers".

As far as the passwords you have to keep up with I knew that would be a challenge for me so I tried to keep it all consistent and when that didn't work I wrote them all down and put it in that neatly organized folder...LOL With that being said, my boyfriend asked me what was a Blog and I had to answer with some uneasiness, "I'm really not exactly sure". How embarassing for me. Well I did some extensive searching and surfing the net and now I have a lot more information but I'm still unsure what a wiki really is and the difference between the two but time will give me the answer. I'm still trying to get that little orange square up with the RSS feed and I haven't made the connection as to where the OPML fits in.

So what took me so much time for week one project? The quest for answers, for certainty, for reassurance that I'm doing everything correctly, the constant surfing and trying to get it just right. I probably put more into it than was necessary but how do I know?

Learning New Things

2006-04-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

Learning new things can be exciting and yet challenging. For the next six weeks I'll along with many others will be participating in a collabrative learning discussion.

The discussion will be led by Tony Karrer will focus on blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, social networking, and social bookmarking to name a few.

Wish me luck on being a success in this class.