Build custom courses ... on the fly

Attended “Using Cloudbooks and the Semantic Web to Power Learning” at ASTD TechKnowledge yesterday. The speaker showed how the semantic web technology is being implemented at the Library of Congress for professional development activities. Lots of food for thought … The Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program provides primary source-based staff development to teachers across the country.

Check it out: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/.  Click the link on the right side “Build and Deliver”. Pick a couple of the learning objects. In the box on the right side, you’ll see an estimate of how long the course would take to deliver with your selected learning objects. Click Continue. Pick your choice of deliver – either PDF or HTML. If you choose HTML, you’ll get a course with SCORM files included. Pretty cool. While on the LOC site, check out some of the other resources.

Also see my blog entry on the semantic web - http://cre8iveii.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-semantic-web.html

Power to the People - Bloomfire

I visited the Bloomfire booth at the ASTD Technology conference - and can't wait to try out their product. Bloomfire is a collaborative learning portal for internal company use. It's not launched yet - but you can get a sneak preview by sending the team a request.

Unlike an LMS where you post structured courses, Bloomfire allows SMEs to post a document, webcast, video etc. to share with others. You can contact the author, ask questions and/or start a discussion thread. There are good back-end metrics to track course activity and performance. Thinking this might be a good way to get a pulse of the popularity of course topics and learning needs.


Check it out: http://www.bloomfire.com/

A discussion of the benefits and pitfalls of screen recording as an instructional tool

Interesting free seminar coming up from Adobe:
A discussion of the benefits and pitfalls of screen recording as an instructional tool
12.30 - 13.30 EST, February 10, 2010
http://bit.ly/6iFrRZ - to register
We'll investigate the relative theories ranging from the classic Clark/Meyers psychology based recommendations, to the emerging trends toward experiential learning and ask important questions about whether audiences are actually changing?
What Do You Need to Participate?
Online live seminars are scheduled events simulcast over the web via Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro. You'll need a computer with a browser, Adobe Flash player and Internet connection. Voice-Over IP will broadcast over your computer if you have audio. Alternatively, audio is available via telephone. Access details will be provided once you register.

Make older programs run in Windows Vista or Windows 7

After struggling for a couple of days trying to get an old copy of Macromedia Dreamweaver Extension Manager to install an old version of CourseBuilder on a Windows 7 machine, I came across this article in the Microsoft help system.

“Most programs written for Windows Vista also work in this version of Windows, but some older programs might run poorly or not at all. If a program written for an earlier version of Windows doesn't run correctly, you can try changing the compatibility settings for the program, either manually or by using the Program Compatibility troubleshooter.”

Check it out: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Make-older-programs-run-in-this-version-of-Windows