I've been doing a lot of reading about Rapid eLearning (my chosen topic for my Emerging Technology Class), Virtual Worlds, and Web 2.0 Tools. The world is changing faster than most of us in the field of education/training are able to keep up. It's natural to find things that we're comfortable with, the way we like to do things and just settle down. Its hard to keep up with all the change even when we are trying too. There are a lot of trends that are developing that will, I believe, radically change the world of education. A course that takes several months to develop and several more months to implement will probably be dreadfully out of date by the time it reaches the students. One of the concepts promoted by Rapid eLearning is to shorten the distance between the SME and the learner. Tools are on the market that will let anyone develop training materials. This allows the people with the knowledge to be more involved in developing the courses. The quality may suffer a little, but the speed with which content can be brought to the learners is amazing. We may look down on these methods, but most businesses are moving in that direction. The role of the professional instructional designer is changing. If we are to remain relevant, we need to stay on the cutting edge of what's going on.
Some of the things that I've read:
An excellent article on "Rapid eLearning" http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?did=1232702341&Fmt=4&clientId=8553&RQT=309&VName=PQD
A blog on how to effectively use wiki's and blogs in an online class: http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2007/09/web-20-lessons-learned.html
Another blog that talks about what's happing in the world of eLearning:
http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2006/09/elearning-10-vs-20-help-needed_07.html
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3 comments:
Steve,
I agree that the world of technology is changing at a constant and incredible rate today. A consistent learning environment is difficult to maintain and keep updated. Reading the chapters this weekend from our Managing Ed-Tech course has given some good advise. It is pointed out that no one person can actually keep up with the changes technology is making, but a "team" approach can be helpful. Networking with friends, professionals, co-workers, and other employees in your profession are all tools to help keep current with the changes. You are correct when you stated that a lesson plan taking months to develop can be outdated by the time it is ready to teach. I think lesson plans may be leaning to become group projects for a "team" of instructors in the future in order to stay current.
Hey Steve, ran across your blog. You mentioned that you subscribe to my blog. Thanks for the support. Feel free to share any ideas or things you'd like to see covered.
Also, you mentioned that you're focusing on rapid elearning for your course. I have done a number of presentations on rapid elearning, feel free to contact me via the Rapid E-Learning Blog. Tom
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