ZaidSwoosh

ZaidSwoosh Goes IMU E-Learning Facebook! WHAT?

2010-07-29T09:10:00.006+08:00

Too much going on to maintain ZaidSwoosh, but I am everyday splatting some juicy discoveries on Facebook (IMU E-Learning), so why not just go there, if you liked ZaidSwoosh in the past. As for ZaidLearn, it will of course continue with 1-2 juicy posts a month.

So, if you want some deep and ironic learning reflections, ZaidLearn is there. However, if you want to know my juiciest learning discoveries every (working) day, then...

CLICK HERE!

The Vanishing Art of Lecturing (Prof. K. Ramnarayan)

2010-06-09T19:17:00.002+08:00

PURPOSE OF A LECTURE?

Inspire
Influence
Inform

On the 24th May 2010, Prof. K. Ramnarayan (Vice Chancellor of Manipal University) conducted an inspiring lecture entitled 'The Vanishing Art of Lecturing' at the International Medical University (IMU), Bukit Jalil (Main Campus).

To cut the story short, let's enjoy and reflect this amazing and inspiring lecture below, chunked into three (3) parts:

PART I

PART II

PART III

To summarize in his own words, lectures should be:

Lively
Educative
Creative
Thought (provoking)
Understandable
Relevant
Enjoyable

Let's scrutinize and reflect his lecture a couple of times (or more), and then ask ourselves, "How can I be more inspiring uncovering what I am covering in a more exciting manner..."

Click here, to discover and enjoy IMU's inspiring e-Learning stream on Facebook :)

IMU Learning Series Launched!

2010-06-02T09:48:00.007+08:00

CLICK HERE
(to read the first article)

WHAT?

The idea with this 'IMU Learning Series' initiative is to invite lecturers at IMU to share their learning and teaching experiences, and how they are innovating and inspiring students to learn and think (short articles: 250 - 1000 words). Later, we will also be inviting students to come forward sharing their learning stories and best practices.

A few more lecturers have also taken up the challenge (in progress), and hopefully more will follow. There are a lot of innovations and inspiring learning stories happening at IMU, and it would be wonderful if more lecturers came forward to share them. Especially, younger less experienced lecturers at IMU could benefit tremendously from these reflective learning and teaching stories.

Also, these learning stories will also be reaching many educators and learners beyond IMU. To date, IMU e-Learning Blog has had visitors from more than 50 countries (within a couple of months).

Finally, imagine if many IMU lecturers participate in sharing their inspiring learning stories over the coming months. By year end, we could actually compile and organize 'IMU Learning Series' articles into a digital e-book (e.g. IMU Learning Series 2010), which would be a wonderful learning resource.

In short, let's celebrate and participate sharing our inspiring learning stories and best practices.

Think big, start small, innovate fast :)

Let's make a difference! :)

Finally, if you are interested in experiencing IMU E-Learning learning stream on Facebook (including pictures from learning sessions), just CLICK HERE :)

Einztein - Find FREE Online Courses!

2010-05-31T15:26:00.000+08:00

Einztein

"Openness plants seeds for future innovation. The work of many universities around open content has contributed to an ecosystem for innovation. Einztein is the latest company to try and add a value layer to freely available educational material. More and more of these companies will appear in the near future offering a combination of aggregation of open content, a central place to discover courses, tools to run aggregate courses, discussion forums for learners, and general course management tools (enrolling, sharing with other profs, grading, etc.). " - George Siemens

WHAT?
Einztein, a non-profit headquartered in Santa Monica, California, is the brainchild of three democratizers of education who believe in a world where learning should be a function of desire not privilege. Einztein serves as a one-stop campus from which online learners can easily explore the universe of free online courses delivered by any combination of text, audio, video and other media. Whether you already know the course you’re looking for, or you just have a general idea, the purpose of Einztein is to make online courses easy to find. All courses featured on Einztein are hand picked, by their PhD level editorial team, based on their completeness and quality (Source).

In short, Einztein is a great starting point to find free quality online courses. Though, I would like to note that I did find broken course links and courses with no substantial content, so the editorial team needs be 'more picky'. Perhaps, include a few non-PhD level e-learning professionals (such as myself...) to ensure more completeness and quality :)

TEDMED Lectures Innovations in Healthcare and Medicine

2010-04-06T11:03:00.003+08:00

Via Dr. Neelesh

TEDMED?

TEDMED is a yearly medical technology and healthcare conference celebrating quality conversation as it relates to personal and public health. It celebrates conversations that demonstrate the intersection and connections between all things medical and healthcare related: from personal health to public health, devices to design and Hollywood to the hospital. Together, this encompasses more than twenty percent of the GNP in America while touching everyone's life around the globe.

You can keep yourself updated with TEDMED on their Facebook Group site (+2000 member), including their upcoming 2010 conference.

Even more interesting, you can watch all the talks (lectures) from the 2009 conference via the TEDMED YouTube Channel. This video collection should provide some interesting insights to some of the latest innovations in Heath and Medicine.

To give you a taste, let's watch David Blaine's story about how he broke the world record for holding his breath. But, he is not a doctor. Now, that is an Inno...

Here is Dean Kamen's passionate talk about the most advanced prosthetic arm and the people it is helping:

That was two (2) mind boggling talks, but we still have another 11 amazing TEDMED 2009 talks to view and reflect. CLICK HERE to discover the remaining 11 lectures :)

A New E-Learning Blog in Town!

2010-04-05T22:28:00.003+08:00

Check out IMU's New E-Learning Blog: CLICK HERE

This blog's main mission is to explore and discuss how we can use e-learning or technology to enhance the learning process at IMU (International Medical University).

Everyone is welcome to participate in this learning exploration. If you have an e-learning story (or story using technology in the classroom or anywhere) to share with IMU (and beyond), you are more than welcome. One way to participate is by commenting on the blog posts. However, it would be even better, if you took up the challenge to write a blog post (200+ words) about your little e-learning story (related to medical education). Although, you are free to include what you want, it would be great if the write-up answered the following questions:

What? (Topic/Learning outcome/Project/Approach/e-Learning tools used/expectations/etc)
Why? (Reasons for choosing that approach/tool, if any)
How? (Implementation process)
Feedback? (Student feedback: Survey, Interview, Focus Groups, Observation, Comments, etc.)
Findings? (Lessons learned: Positive/Negative/Areas for Improvement)
Next Steps? (Continue/Change approach/Adapt/Enhance/etc.)

The write-up does not need to be so scientific or anything like a journal publication. If it is written using a conversational and opinionated format, it is totally fine as this is a blog (and not a journal). As long as you have an e-learning story to share that you feel could add value, or promote e-learning at IMU, this blog is ready to explore the possibilities.

Even if you have an e-learning story to tell, but no time to write about it, please share it with the E-Learning Department, because we could always blog the story for you.

Real life stories (challenge, success, failure) can act as powerful change agents (proof-of-concept, word-of-mouth, motivation, drive), and we do hope that this exploring blog will assist in facilitating positive change to enhance learning at IMU. However, we should not loose sight of the fact that technology can't solve all the teaching and learning challenges at IMU, and at times could even cause more harm than good, if used inappropriately.

The real challenge is to find the right formula (algorithm) for effective learning to take place, and hopefully this blog can play a small role there as it explores what is happening at IMU and beyond :)

An Incredibly Useful Guidebook to Internet Searching!

2010-01-14T15:10:00.006+08:00

Via Jane Hart

Guidebook to Internet Searching

MakeUseOf.com (check out their other excellent guidebooks, too!) has released a Guidebook to Internet Searching (PDF) for everyone who wants to be more productive and get to know some incredible new search engines.

The search engines reflected in this guidebook are mostly not incredibly new, but the tips provided could be incredibly useful to find whatever you want :)

The Ultimate Plagiarism Resource?

2010-01-08T09:20:00.009+08:00

The Ultimate Plagiarism Resource

This comprehensive resource will tell you everything you need to know about plagiarism, from the basic facts to free detection tools to preventing it in both the physical and online classroom.

Since I am kind of a tool man, I will splash or replicate (is it plagiarism? No, I gave warning first!) the free plagiarism detection tools here:

Strongly Recommended:

Viper
The Anti-Plagiarism Scanner. Although it's free, Viper is software, so it's a bit more of a commitment than Web-based tools. However, it has some neat features, such as side-by-side comparisons of the submitted text with the potentially plagiarized one. Viper touts itself as the free alternative to TurnItIn.
Plagium
Like The Plagiarism Checker, this site Googles text you submit. Unlike most other checkers, Plagium works in several languages.
Google & Google Scholar
If a sentence strikes you as odd, put it in quotation marks and run a Google search on it. If the student cut and pasted the phrase, it will show up on Google. And as more books are uploaded onto Google Books, Google Scholar and Google Books will become increasingly powerful weapons against plagiarism.

Other Alternatives:

The Plagiarism Checker
The Plagiarism Checker allows you to run a Google search on large blocks of text. This is easier than cutting and pasting sentence after sentence.
Articlechecker
Works the same as Plagiarism Checker, but gives you the option of checking against Yahoo as well as Google.
PlagiarismDetect
A plagiarism detector that allows you to upload whole documents rather than cutting and pasting blocks of text. It's free, but you have to register.
Duplichecker
Another checker that plugs submitted text into search engines. Duplichecker's interface makes it easy to submit entire documents as well as excerpts.
SeeSources
Searches the Web for sources similar to the text you entered. You can scan both excerpts and whole documents.
DOC Cop
Doc Cop offers a few features more than the minimal Web-based detection services. For instance, you can check for collusion—that is, you can check the similarity between two papers. However, you do have to register.
WCopyFind
WCopyFind is a downloadable scanner that checks for similarities between two papers, but it can't search the Web.
SafeAssign/MyDropBox
This is free if you're already using a Blackboard Learning System. As students submit papers to Blackboard, SafeAssign checks their papers against its database of source material.
PAIRwise
PAIRwise (Paper Authorship Integrity Research) can compare documents to one another while searching the internet for similar documents. However, PAIRwise is intended for use on an institutional level—for departmental or college-wide servers.

As for tips for addressing and discouraging plagiarism (including examples), check out the resource above (or just click here!). If plagiarism really bothers you, then this resource should surely come in handy.

So, is this resource above the ultimate plagiarism resource? No clue! Though, if it is not, please prove it wrong (in the comments section) :)

Benefits Of Anything Under The Sun!

2009-12-31T10:29:00.007+08:00

Benefits Of...

"In this is era of information over loading; an average person is heavily bombarded with too much information. As part of our effort to provide the most basic information in an uncluttered manner, we launched BenefitOf.net. The site contains articles that explain the benefits of various things and actions we are familiar with."

You might also want to follow them on Twitter, too (Even less information overload!). Their articles are short, concise and relevant! Not bad! Here are few tasty ones to get you started:

That is great, however wouldn't it even be better if each article also discussed the side-effects/negatives/cons/weaknesses/etc. besides the benefits to get a more balanced view of various things and actions we are familiar with. Exploring both sides of the story would be great, and it could still be short, relevant and crispy.

Yes, what are the potential side effects of University education? :)

Avoiding Death by PowerPoint! (Karl Kapp)

2009-12-30T08:58:00.006+08:00

Avoiding Death by PowerPoint

In this audio narrated Breeze presentation (Adobe now!) above, Karl Kapp gives you some really useful ideas on how you can transform your PowerPoint slides, and use them to facilitate engaging conversations and discussions with your students.

Do you struggle to create engaging PowerPoint slides and presentations? Are your students bored with your lectures and tutorials? Is it PowerPoint's fault (Is PowerPoint Evil?)?

PowerPoint is just one learning tool (with its strengths and weaknesses) among many. The key to facilitating effective learning experiences is mostly in the design. If you are crap at facilitating learning, no matter what tool you use, you are still going to be crap. Though, the tool might enable you to mash-up more attractive visuals, but it won't take long before your students get bored and just doze off.

But if you combine attractive visuals (Apple style!) with excellent game play or instructional design (sparking learning discoveries and conversations!), more students will be motivated and willing to learn, which is a prerequisite for any real learning to take place.

Here are a couple of more interesting Breeze presentations from Karl the Man (Not a woman!):

You can find some more learning juice from Karl Kapp's homepage. Finally, you just have to check out his blog 'Kapp Notes', especially if you want to learn more about Virtual Worlds and 'Learning in 3D'. He is a great starting point and an expert with tons of experience :)

SlideShare - The Very Best From ZaidLearn

2009-12-28T08:14:00.006+08:00

Very Best From ZaidLearn

View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff.

Click here to view the blog post version, which provides more details (beyond visuals). I had a ball visually summarizing the best from ZaidLearn, and hopefully more educators will discover juicy learning tools, resources and ideas to transform their learning and teaching environments.

Actually, it would be great if more educators found time (5-15 minutes) to reflect their own learning and teaching using blogging as a reflective and sharing tool. Wishful thinking? :)

Want to Build Dynamic Websites? 13 FREE Video Lectures!

2009-12-23T11:58:00.008+08:00

Lecturer:
Professor David J. Malan, Harvard

Course Description:

Today's websites are increasingly dynamic. Pages are no longer static HTML files but instead generated by scripts and database calls. User interfaces are more seamless, with technologies like Ajax replacing traditional page reloads. This course teaches students how to build dynamic websites with Ajax and with Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP), one of today's most popular frameworks. Students learn how to set up domain names with DNS, how to structure pages with XHTML and CSS, how to program in JavaScript and PHP, how to configure Apache and MySQL, how to design and query databases with SQL, how to use Ajax with both XML and JSON, and how to build mashups. The course explores issues of security, scalability, and cross-browser support and also discusses enterprise-level deployments of websites, including third-party hosting, virtualization, colocation in data centers, firewalling, and load-balancing.

Video Lectures:

Lecture 1 - HTTP
Discusses the use of HTTP in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 2 - PHP
Discusses the use of PHP in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 3 - PHP (continued)
Discusses the use of PHP in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 4 - XML
Discusses the use of XML in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 5 - XML (continued)
Discusses the use of XML in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 6 - SQL
Discusses the use of SQL in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 7 - SQL (continued)
Discusses the use of SQL in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 8 - JavaScript
Discusses the use of JavaScript in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 9 - JavaScript (continued)
Discusses the use of JavaScript in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 10 - Ajax
Discusses the use of Ajax in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 11 - Ajax (continued)
Discusses the use of Ajax in building dynamic websites.
Lecture 12 - Security
Discusses security as it pertains to building dynamic websites.
Lecture 13 - Scalability
Discusses scalability as it pertains to building dynamic websites.

I have to admit I am really crap with coding, scripting, database, servers, etc. But, hopefully Professor David J. Malan can enlighten me more about how I can use Ajax beyond cleaning the toilet.

Why pay for a crappy lecture (workshop or course), when you can be taught by a Harvard Professor any time you want for FREE? Interesting question! Tough choice :)

Finals Club - Lecture Notes From Students Instead!

2009-12-19T08:50:00.006+08:00

Finals Club

'Store your notes online, collaborate with classmates, and share knowledge with the world.'

"The site bills itself as “the premier Web portal for interactive education,” allowing Harvard students to join online study groups and read annotated versions of the Great Books. But its most notable characteristic is that it pays Harvard students to post their lecture notes online ...more"

Drake Bennett's article will tell you more about what really the Finals Club (Final Club?) is trying to achieve. So, does anyone own what universities teach?

First, if I was a lecturer I would be thrilled that students are taking down lecture notes from my lectures, and sharing it online to the world, especially if my original lecture notes are crappy. Also, I would probably have several student versions to choose from, and can refer to these versions to update my original lecture notes (if any at all!).

I suppose what really annoys some lecturers, is that students at the Finals Club are getting paid for 'replicating' their work, which they have spent years to document and articulate. But then again, isn't it great that you are generating income for students. Also, now people around the world can learn from your hard work 24/7/365 days a year (previously only your classes!). But, I suppose lecturers should get some royalty to, for allowing all this to happen? That would be fair, unless you are a Harvard lecturer making a reasonably good living already.

However, if students listen and learn, and write down their own interpretations (of what is important) of what was taught or lectured, why not? Let's face it, most lecturers have basically done the same learning from other resources (probably spent more time, used more references, and mashed-up masterly to often conceal the contributions of others). Am I wrong?

Why are we wasting our time worrying about copyright or copyleft? Let it go!

Anyway, to succeed increasingly now and in the future, having access to information is not the decisive key, but the ability to make sense of this information, and use it to innovate, invent, and make things happen is. The real question we should be asking at this critical era of mankind is, "how can I make sense of this and use it to change myself and the world for the better?"

Now we are talking! Life is too short to worry and protect every word and idea (e.g. lecture notes) that we have basically mashed-up with our own flavor from other people's work. Let's move on!

Besides lecture notes, students still want to learn from the lecturer (probably more than ever!), because surely lecture notes (including video lectures) can't answer all the questions they might have. Until lecture notes can answer every question a student mind of inquiry has, lecturers will still be the kings of the University :)

Build Brain Games On-The-Fly with ProProfs!

2009-12-18T08:37:00.010+08:00

ProProfs Brain Games

"With thousands of games to choose from, ProProfs Brain Games has something fun for everyone, including bloggers, teachers and students, parents searching for a way to spend time with their kids, or even just casual gamers looking to flex their mental muscles." - Sameer Bhatia, Founder & President

ProProfs Brain Games allows users for free to create their own custom games and share them across the Web quickly by uploading them to blogs and social media. Custom Brain Games makes it possible for bloggers to encourage visitors to spend more time on their site by presenting their text or photo content in the form of a game or puzzle. Teachers can engage their students by integrating a lesson plan into a custom game.

Why didn't I have such things when I was a student? But then again, we are always learning something, and doing it in the form of a brain stimulating game certainly does not harm (does it?). Excuse me, I am off to play and build some brain games on-the-fly :)

10 Trends To Watch In 2010! E-Learning Vending Machines?

2009-12-16T08:52:00.007+08:00

10 Trends To Watch In 2010

View more documents from David Stutts.

What about an E-Learning vending machine (that pre-downloads through the internet, and stores all e-learning content and activities). I bring and insert my thumb-drive or Mobile device (or it burns on a CD). If it is a thumb-drive it of course cleans it up (reformat if necessary to ensure that the machine is virus free), and then I can select (Jukebox style!) and download whatever e-learning content that is relevant to my learning in seconds (instead of via the WWW or World Wide Wait). Imagine having such vending machines in small villages and jungles around the world.

No, just imagine having it at your learning campus. I think I like that idea :)

5 Higher Ed Tech Trends To Watch in 2010!

2009-12-15T09:23:00.003+08:00

Via Tony Bates

5 Higher Ed Tech Trends to Watch in 2010!

After reading the article, perhaps you should also read Tony Bates reflections regarding the 'amazing' trend predictions. What do you expect coming out of a higher education technology magazine called Campus Technology. It is in the name, Tony! The worst part, it isn't even predictions :)

Search By Sight With Google Goggles

2009-12-09T12:20:00.003+08:00

Via MG Siegler

Google Googles

"Use pictures to search the web"

No need to type your search anymore. Just take a picture. Actually, you just need to point your phone (camera) at something, and let the information (learning) flow start!

Next time you are curious about what that is (whatever or wherever it is!), if it is tagged, GPS and Google Googles will take care of business (Field trips to next level!). This makes QR code look like an outdated dinosaur. Wait, why not use both to good effect :)

WikiWorldBook - The Global Address Book?

2009-12-08T10:00:00.005+08:00

Via Jane Hart

WikiWorldBook

Free online address book:

Be found by old friends via a Google Search of your name
Become easily and freely contactable
Never reveal your email address
Emails can go to your regular email account

Do we really need it? Will people register? I have registered, but so what! :)

Funny Videos About Tiger Woods!

2009-12-08T00:19:00.007+08:00

Though, I am not sure if Tiger Woods, his family, or his huge image entourage thinks so. Here we go:

Is this the true version?

Try not to laugh (Don't mess with angry blonds!)!

What do kids think about Tiger?

What about ordinary people at the barbershop?

What was Tiger thinking? Would you have done the same? Will Tiger Woods ever return to golf? What about Gillette (3 Main Ambassadors: Tiger Birdies, Henry cheats, and Fedrer can't win!)? What about getting a life! :)

Use QR Code to Share Your Site to the World!

2009-12-04T15:41:00.007+08:00

QR Code Generator

Use it to make URLs, email addresses or phone numbers available to mobile visitors. For example, IPhone and most Nokia mobile phones come with a reader for QR Code Barcode or Semacode/Data Matrix Barcodes.

Instead of students writing down URLs for sites from your presentation, they simply take a picture of the QR code, and Voila they can access the site. We can tag the whole world with such tools. Japanese geeks have been using QR code for years, and they are often used for marketing campaigns.

One snap, and I can visit ZaidLearn. I mean ZaidSwoosh! Awesome :)

DID YOU KNOW 'Did You Know 4.0'

2009-12-03T10:52:00.004+08:00

A Podcasting Mini-Guide (Jeff Cobb)

2009-11-30T18:16:00.003+08:00

Via Jeff Cobb

A Podcasting Mini-Guide (824 KB, PDF)

Topics covered include:

Setting up the Web site for the podcast
Creating the RSS Feed
Recording the podcast
Mixing and editing
Hosting the audio files
Budgeting for a podcast

This guide is meant to provide details about how Jeff Cobb and Jim Thompson produce and distribute the Radio Free Association podcasts, a bi-weekly series they do for professionals in the association world. This brief and easy-to-digest guide provides you basically a set of tools and brief explanations (case study) on how you can get your podcasting world going! There are many ways to go about podcasting, but surely we can learn from Jeff Cobb's podcasting approach and adventures.

While your at it, you might want to also swoosh Jeff Cobb's 10 Killer Content Sources for Your iPod Learning Mix.

2010 will hopefully be the year that podcasting becomes part of my learning sharing portfolio, so thanks Jeff for sharing your swoosh-delicious podcasting juice :)

New Tools for Personal Learning (Stephen Downes)

2009-11-29T08:45:00.005+08:00

Delivered to MEFANET 2009 Conference, Brno, Czech Republic, via MVU Videoconference.

New Tools for Personal Learning

View more presentations from Stephen Downes.

In this presentation Stephen describes how new technologies are being designed in order to adapt to a rapidly changing and complex world. In this picture, learning is not a matter of knowledge acquisition and memorization, but rather, personal development in such a way that we become able to navigate and work with this knowledge and content in the same manner, with the same capacities, as the expert. This is a type of learning that is based on the creation of tools that support a mesh network; this network, in turn, supports the conversation and interactions that foster the development of an expert character.

The presentation even includes one of ZaidLearn's most popular (and useful) posts:

CLICK HERE...!

Thanks for a stunning presentation, and thanks for the mention :)

SciPlore Combines Mind Maps with Reference and PDF Management

2009-11-24T14:27:00.005+08:00

SciPlore MindMapping

"SciPlore MindMapping is based on FreeMind (0.9 RC4 Max), which is a widely used free mind mapping software. Accordingly, SciPlore Mind Mapping offers all the features of FreeMind plus some additional features for researchers:

Adding Reference Keys Manually
This feature allows assigning a reference key to a mind map’s node. This way, researchers can organize their ideas and reference to the origins.

Adding Reference Keys (BibTeX) Automatically
Most reference managers (e.g. JabRef, BibDesk, Referencer, ...) allow assigning a file (usually PDF) to entries in the bibliographic database. If a file that is linked in the reference database is linked by a node in the mind map, SciPlore MindMapping automatically extracts the corresponding reference key from reference database and adds it to the mind map node. Currently, this feature only works with reference databases in BibTeX format.

PDF Bookmark Import
When researchers read an article in PDF format, some create bookmarks for the most important statements in the article. The same information is likely to be needed in a mind map when structuring ideas or a new paper. SciPlore MindMapping offers the option to import bookmarks from a PDF. Each bookmark is imported as a node and each node is linked to the PDF. If the PDF is included in the user’s bibliographic database, the corresponding BibTeX key is also added.

It runs under Windows (95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, etc.) and maybe under Linux and Mac OS (Java 1.5 or later is required which is available for free). SciPlore MindMapping is 100% free and published under the GNU/GPL licence."

Jöran Beel, Bela Gipp, and Christoph Müller (Masterminds behind the project, PDF) this looks super interesting! I am going to explore it further right now :)

Imagine a World of Holographic Learning!

2009-11-20T17:09:00.011+08:00

Via This Article

Musion TelePresence Launch - Berlin from Musion Systems on Vimeo.

"It isn't a hologram, it's a virtual image...But it looks like people's expectations of a hologram."
- Ian O'Connell

Whatever it is, it reminds me that the Spock or R2-D2 holographic who-ha, might become a daily reality much sooner than most of us realize. Imagine having a keynote speaker presenting holographically to 100 locations at the same time.

No, imagine a MIT or Harvard Professor facilitating a learning session to a group of people living in a tiny village in 'Kuku' land (and to another 1000+ locations at the same time!), and actually doing it in his bedroom from his holographic launch-pad. A nice enhancement to today's web or video conferencing.

Just imagine a new holographic learning world, where we can teleport to anywhere within a blink-of-the-eye.

It costs a bomb today, but within a few years, I am pretty sure we will be having it on our mobile device ... Let's just imagine (no harm in that!) :)

John Larkin's Learning World!

2009-11-19T09:21:00.007+08:00

John Larkin's Learning World!

"I will be conducting a series of “Web 2.0″ workshops for academics from 23 universities from across the region on behalf of the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (MoHE). I will be in KL for 8 days. I am working with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, on this project. " - John Larkin

I will be attending a web 2.0 workshop conducted by John Larkin (and Dr. Daniel Tan) next week, so obviously I had to check out his stuff, and I like the fact that he has already shared his workshop notes (guides and tips) on his informative website. Here are some of the workshops he conducts:

Web 2.0 (You can find the notes there, just scroll down!)
Digital Videography
Comic Life
Podcasting
Blended Learning
Web Presence
Trivantis Lectora
Managing your computer

Yep, he is a 'Learning Gladiator' and I can't wait to battle it out! It will be fun learning from another learning gladiator. Actually, I would have preferred going for the Comic Life workshop instead (if ever conducted here), because that would be more useful, as I am pretty familiar with the web 2.0 workshop curriculum. But, since I am invited, I am not going step down against another learning gladiator. It will be a true battle of learning, which only causes harm to the ignorant and ego-boasting male :)

P.S. Lance Larkin, just some fun! Hopefully, you take it that way, too :)

Educational Technology and Related Education Conferences - 2010

2009-11-18T08:59:00.007+08:00

Via Stephen Downes

Educational Technology and Related Education Conferences
for January – June 2010

"Clayton R. Wright has again compiled one of his fantastic list of education and edu tech conferences, this one spanning the period from December, 2009 through to June, 2010." - Stephen Downes

Couldn't agree more! If you can't find an Edu Tech conference that meets your desire in this list, where can you? Clayton, thank you for our thrilling live e-mail learning sessions, and thank you again for this fantastic list :)

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009! Jane Hart is No. 1 :)

2009-11-17T10:03:00.006+08:00

Via Jane Hart

Here is the final list of the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009, compiled (by Jane Hart!) from the contributions of 278 learning professionals - from education and workplace learning - worldwide.

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009.

View more documents from Jane Hart.

More interesting, you might want to check out Jane Hart's Top 100 Tools by category, and even more interesting would be the Winners & Losers in 2009.

No. 1 is Twitter! What about the rest? Explore it yourself!

Yes, Jane Hart is no doubt the Queen and King of learning tools (simply No. 1!). If you want to find the right learning tool(s) among literary thousands, the resources (links) above will do wonders.

Though, it would have been nice getting to the No. 1 learning tool climax last, rather than slide 3 (out of 102) in the presentation. But then again, not everyone has the patience to swoosh through 100 slides to get to the climax. Whatever it is, kudos to Jane Hart for her great work, and kudos again to making our learning tools selection a lot easier.

Oops, I forgot to submit my top 10 list this year (1. Notepad, 2. Paint, 3. PowerPoint...)! Next year, I will be back :)

Stephen Downes Reflects Open Education Projects and Potential

2009-11-13T15:07:00.008+08:00

Via Stephen Downes
Stephen Downes talk at the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario, Richmond Hill, Ontario:

Open Education: Projects and Potential

View more documents from Stephen Downes.

"The internet offers society the opportunity to provide access to a free or affordable education for all. This concept is known as 'open education' and is the subject of various projects, such as 'Open Education Resources' (OER) or the Open Courseware Project (OCW). This talk looks at the principle of open education, major projects, and reflects the role played by educational technology, and outlines some of the challenges."

The best thing now, is to stop writing, explore the slides, click play (audio), listen, learn, reflect, unlearn, reflect again....Enjoy :)

Free Worldwide K12 Online Conference! Awesome!

2009-11-11T18:50:00.009+08:00

Via Wesley Fryer

K12 Online Conference - Nov 18

"Free worldwide online conference for educators centered on 21st century learning!"

The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference is run by volunteers and open to everyone.

When you have time, please explore their K-12 Online Conference blog, K12Online Twitter feed, Facebook page, and K-12 Online Conference Ning. Or why not swoosh-learn more about the 2009 conference presenters. They even have viral “teaser trailers”, where you can get short (30 – 60 second) glimpses about their upcoming sessions! Here we go:

“Around the World with Skype – Alrededor del Mundo con Skype”
Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano (presented in both an English and a Spanish version)
“You Might Be a 21st Century Leader if…”
David Wells
“Ways of Working”
Chris Betcher
“The Virtual Heroic Journey”
Kevin Hodgson
“If You Host It, They Will Come”
Jen Wagner

Do you really want to bridge the divide?

Enrich and empower everyone with web-enabled mobile learning devices, and embrace web 2.0 tools to create, share, communicate, collaborate, and inspire learning to every corner of the world.

It is seriously that ______! :)

3 Interesting Malaysian Learning Initiatives in a Swoosh!

2009-11-10T15:52:00.006+08:00

CerdikNet

CerdikNet is the result of an effort made by teachers in Kuala Lumpur to assist primary and secondary students to explore their subjects through interactive and engaging online learning activities (e.g. English activities). Also, you can try out the online learning activities without needing to login. Thumbs up for that!

EDUWEBTV

Alright, if you can't speak or understand Malay, this site might be... but wait! Here, you will find more than 1400 short videos that give you a glimpse into the wonders of Malaysia and education, and of course free tuition to many subjects. Although, you might not understand the Malay language well, I am certain you will learn a lot by simply watching some of the videos here. If you are a Malaysian reading this (post), then just forget or ignore what I just wrote. In short, a great site to get some insight (at least visual!) into the Malaysian education system. Yes, we have a lot of bright and happy kids here, like anywhere else in the world.

iBoxX IPTV

Yes, now you can even get tutors at your command in your home TV. Alright, this one is not free. And I usually do not promote anything that cost anything in any of my blogs. So, the reason I am bringing it up here, is that Malaysia (and Singapore of course!) are kind of fanatic about after-school tuition, and believe it or not, it is a RM 5 Billion Ringgit (approx. 1.5 Billion US Dollars!) market here (in Malaysia).

So, no wonder some innovative dudes are trying to capitalize it using digital media, too. However, it would be wonderful if every single primary and secondary student in Malaysia got equal, fair and open access to quality online tuition for free, breaking down the barriers that favors too much the rich, or people that can afford it.

I HAVE A DREAM

Better yet, I have a dream! Let's improve our schools, our curriculum, our assessment approaches, and totally do away with any form of tuition beyond the taxing school hours. Yes, let's move away from memorizing everything from ants to pants, and empower our students with more time to think, discuss, and reflect together about whatever they are learning. Finally, let them play (games) more, so that they can nurture their competitive and creative abilities, without the exam-oriented roller-coaster stress ride.

Do you know what (no!), I never paid for any tuition, or went for any extra tuition (as much as I can remember) throughout my whole life, and to be honest I didn't turn out that bad after all (until now!). I had my primary and secondary school in Norway, so that probably explains a bit.

Yep, I got lousy memory, too! But, I do think and reflect a lot :)

IRRODL- Openness and the Future of Higher Education

2009-11-09T09:19:00.006+08:00

IRRODL - Openness and the Future of Higher Education

Here are the articles from this special issue:

Editorial

Openness and the Future of Higher Education
David Wiley, John Hilton III

Research Articles

Openness, Dynamic Specialization, and the Disaggregated Future of Higher Education
David Wiley, John Hilton III
From Open Content to Open Course Models: Increasing Access and Enabling Global Participation in Higher Education
Tannis Morgan, Stephen Carey
The Impact of Openness on Bridging Educational Digital Divides
Andy Lane
Open Textbook Proof-of-Concept via Connexions
Judy Baker, Joel Thierstein, Kathi Fletcher, Manpreet Kaur, Jonathan Emmons
Peer-To-Peer Recognition of Learning in Open Education
Jan Philipp Schmidt, Christine Geith, Stian Håklev, Joel Thierstein
Open Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability
Norm Friesen
The Technological Dimension of a Massive Open Online Course: The Case of the CCK08 Course Tools
Antonio Fini
Incentives and Disincentives for the Use of OpenCourseWare
Anne M. Arendt, Brett E. Shelton

If you don't believe in Open Educational Resources (OER), OpenCourseWare (OCW), and openness, perhaps these articles above will change your views about that.

The future of higher education and openness?

No clue, except that we can learn:

Whatever We want
Whenever We want
Wherever We want
On any device We want

Yes, most of it will not cost anything except our time. Our time is precious, so if it ain't of quality, forget it. That applies to any programme or course, too. Yes, increasingly the public will be enlightened, so we better wake up to a new world order of learning beyond any classroom wall :)

The ‘Blogger of the Week’ is ZaidSwoosh!

2009-11-06T09:14:00.011+08:00

The ‘Blogger of the Week’!

"During the previous week, Zaid posted seven interesting blogs posts. Some of his useful blog posts include:

Thanks for discovering ZaidSwoosh! In September (2009), I won Best Blog Post of the Week with the ‘The Secret Recipe to Delivering World Class Lectures‘ (That was with ZaidLearn, and not the Swoosh!). It felt great back then, and to be honest, I feel even better now! Hopefully, I can celebrate this award with some Tandoori chicken (my favorite dish!) this weekend (my ego is bursting in glory right now!).

Having said that, I believe the E-Learning Planet is doing a splendid job in filtering out really good blog posts related to education and e-learning (a filtered repository of learning juice). So, please keep on doing it! It is a creative and fresh way to share juicy blog posts, and being included once a while just makes it even better. But,...

WORLD SERIES AND WORLD CHAMPIONS!
What is it with the Americans and their world series of Baseball, Basketball, American Football, Ice hockey, etc. In America (USA and Canada) when they win the World Series (including only two countries out of say 194) they call themselves World Champions! It is hilarious, but totally ignorant of the rest of the world. It can get annoying listening to fans and players screaming we are the world champions (of what!).

Alright, they are pretty good at American Football, but in Basketball USA has been getting its ___ kicked until the Olympics 2008. In Ice hockey, USA and Canada always struggle with the Russians, Swedes, and Finnish giants. As for Baseball, Cuba, South-Korea and Japan would probably beat USA (for sure Canada!) in a real match. Yeah, this year's World Series 'MVP was a Japanese dude (Hideki Matsui), and he is probably not even the best player from Japan.

But, then the counter-argument is that the World Series is about the best teams (not countries) in the world. Good point, but at least include a few of the other best teams around the world, before calling it a World Series (Case closed!). But, will the American sports world ever learn, because if they can't figure this out after so many years, will they ever?

As for American Football, well the rest of the world plays real football (so no contest!), which is called soccer in America (yes, soccer players actually kick the ball!). How ironic? In American Football they use their hands more than 90% of the time, and kick the ball less than 10% , and they still call it Football. Just call it American Rugby (at least it makes more sense)!

I enjoy American sports entertainment, but hopefully the Americans discover the world beyond the World Series of this and that. Real football is really fun :)

UK's Higher Education Blueprint to Become a World Class University

2009-11-05T15:26:00.012+08:00

Via Stephen Downes

The Future of Universities in a Knowledge Economy

The higher education blueprint (click above) by Higher Ambitions, sets out a course for how universities can remain world class, providing the nation (United Kingdom) with the high level skills needed to remain competitive, while continuing to attract the brightest students and researchers.

Click here to read a nice reflective summary by Derek Morrison. Unless you want to read the full report, start with the Executive Summary (1.7MB). Interestingly, the executive summary weighs literally more than the Full Report (1.1MB)! Now, that is unusual (and innovative). Though, according to page count, the Full Report (120 pages) knocks out the Executive Summary (20 pages) big time. Difficult dilemma! Your call! Be serious...!

Just read, learn, reflect, and swoosh out the gems from the report! Although, it is tailored to beefing up the higher education world in UK, I am 99.995% certain we can all learn something very valuable from it... Reading now :)

ShowDocument Strikes Google Wave Back!

2009-11-05T10:16:00.008+08:00

ShowDocument

ShowDocument is a Net Meeting platform for instantaneous and spontaneous online meetings where people can work together on the same document at the same time. All the Net Meeting collaborative services can be used to work together at the same time.

Let's see! It's absolutely free of charge. It has tons of collaborative features in live mode (a dynamic web-conferencing software actually). Can it replace my urge for Google Wave? Here is a demo:

Alright, he mumbles with an accent from God knows where (he sounds drunk, too!), but until I get my Google Wave account, this tool is an interesting alternative solution :)

The Complete Guide to Google Wave

2009-11-04T18:31:00.007+08:00

Via Ewan McIntosh (from his delicious world)

The Complete Guide to Google Wave

Google Wave is a new web-based collaboration tool that's notoriously difficult to understand. This guide will help. Here you'll learn how to use Google Wave to get things done with your group. Because Wave is such a new product that's evolving quickly, this guidebook is a work in progress that will update in concert with Wave as it grows and changes.

This is so cool! Actually, it is really _____ ! A 'Complete Guide' has been developed, and I have yet to receive my Google Wave account. Anyway, if Google Wave is so notoriously difficult to understand and probably learn, what is the point? Until I get one, Google Wave will always be notoriously difficult to understand and learn. No question about that! :)

Twitter Lists Vs Google Reader! Why Scobleizer?

2009-11-03T09:05:00.010+08:00

Why Scobleizer doesn't use Google Reader anymore

Have you tried Twitter Lists yet?

Twitter Lists is a great way to organize the people you follow (e.g. Learning Kings) and discover new and interesting accounts. For sure! Also, hopefully it will slow down the 'Followers' mania to beef up ones image, which is especially apparent in marketing gurus, social media giants, gurus (of whatever!) and all the Twitter make me rich and famous scams (Look who's talking)! But then again, I am pretty sure, Twitter Lists will experience it, too.

How many Twitter lists are you on?

Can't wait to see all the innovative Twitter scam dudes guaranteeing you to be listed many times to beef up your image. Who cares! Apparently some do!

Anyway, let them rock-and-roll! Twitter lists is a great learning/discovering tool to organize your favorite people into relevant categories (or tags), enabling you to scan through for tailored learning juice.

But, should I give up my Google Reader for Twitter Lists?

First, Twitter seems to be a bit slower now than before (probably going to get worse!). Google Reader is only really slow if you want to RSS too much! Unless you are Robert Scoble, just RSS what is really necessary and everything is going to be alright.

But, Google Reader might not pick up trends as fast as Twitter Lists. True, but usually your feeds (unless you are RSS-ing Twitter dudes!) are more filtered and reflected in Google Reader, meaning that you might actually discover it or that (whatever it might be!). Unless you have tons of time, for sure you are going to miss out on a whole lot of delicious chicken on Twitter Lists, but in the meantime you might also discover why King Kong eats bananas only for breakfast.

If you are a trend hunter, then Twitter Lists will probably pick up the news faster than Google Reader. But as I said, there is a lot of crap streaming through Twitter (Lists), which might blur you away from great stuff, but that is probably more unlikely in Google Reader.

I suppose I can go on Scoble, but why not... Clean up your mess in Google Reader (filtered and juicy), so that it runs fast again (or Google, make it light and easy)! List or follow all the trends (junk) in Twitter, and get the best of both worlds. Let's face it, I would rather open an article or blog post in Google Reader, than click on a link in Twitter, and then go to the actual site. Annoying and time consuming! I suppose it is because my Google Reader still runs fast, and I certainly don't have problems with the interface (or user-friendliness).

I suppose again we all have our own preferences! As long as you get to what you want (efficiently!), then great! In short, why not use both to great effect :)

iRadio - OUM's Official Internet Radio Station

2009-11-02T14:56:00.008+08:00

iRadio - OUM

Open University Malaysia's (OUM) official internet radio station, iRadio OUM broadcasts segments based on OUM's courses, blending entertainment and education at your fingertips! Interestingly, it is Malaysia's first Internet radio station to base its programmes on modules offered by a university.

Although, I have known about OUM's iRadio initiative for some time, it was first today I really explored it. Earlier today, we (IMU group) had actually visited OUM for some other matters, and during the process we got to learn more about iRadio behind the scenes. I was quite impressed with the energy and passion sparked into this initiative.

You can actually download some of their course module books in MP3 format (audio books!) for free (they are using text-to-speech tools to convert them). If you miss the daily live learning sessions, you can listen or download later from their iCast archive, conveniently organized according to faculty, schools and special segments.

Also, the iRadio team is using web 2.0 tools such as iTunes, Twitter and Facebook to simplify the access, spread the news, and communicate more effectively with their audience. Since launch (2007), they have had online visitors from more than a 100 countries.

Finally, I did manage to listen to some of their iCasts, and it was quite interesting. However, I would strongly recommend that they cut out the background music while people talk, especially when special guests are being interviewed. I was getting quite dizzy and distracted listening to cool music, while trying to grasp what the old Professor was trying to say.

I suppose I am getting too old to multitask my ears while learning. But, overall OUM's iRadio initiative is a wonderful knowledge and learning sharing model that we should encourage more Universities in Malaysia to explore :)

Thousands of Free Online Courses!

2009-11-01T08:17:00.004+08:00

Free Online Courses

It includes thousands of links to courses in subjects ranging from architecture to chemistry to women’s studies and these courses are prepared by top institutions such as MIT, Yale University and University of California.

It is a comprehensive and wonderful index (and list) of free courses, but I would also love to see a customized search feature that enables me to search all the University courses found here. One could easily use Google Custom Search (or any other free search creating engine you can find!) to do the trick.

Finally, one might want to also check out ZaidLearn's ultimate OER - OCW lists of lists. It is an old and clumsy list, but still quite popular :)

5th International Conference on e-Learning at USM (Malaysia)

2009-10-29T08:52:00.005+08:00

5th International Conference on e-Learning
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
12-13 July 2010

The International Conference on e-Learning (ICEL-2010) invites researchers, practitioners and academics to present their research findings, work in progress, case studies and conceptual advances in areas of work where education and technology intersect. The conference brings together varied groups of people with different perspectives, experiences and knowledge in one location. It aims to help practitioners find ways of putting research into practice and researchers to gain an understanding of real-world problems, needs and aspirations.

If you decide to take up the challenge, you will find Penang a fascinating place that embraces modernity while retaining its traditions and old world charm. Yes, besides stimulating our brain, we must not forget that Penang is regarded as the food capital of Malaysia, which means that we can also stimulate our eating desires and experience a complete hands-on learning experience.

Finally, you simply cannot find a more dynamic, engaging and entertaining double act than Rozhan M. Idrus (Conference Chair) and Issham Ismail (Programme Chair). These two giants will surely ensure that your learning experience is both enriching and entertaining.

I am not sure if I can present, but I will certainly try to make it there. The problem is that I have to sit down again and practice writing academic papers full of opinions disguised in objective mode using dry and boring academic language standards (You are wrong!).

Yes, that is a tough one (If I was Einstein, I suppose I could get away with it)! But, I am sure you can :)

Medpedia - A New Medical Knowledge Sharing Model

2009-10-28T09:53:00.008+08:00

"The mission of Medpedia is to openly share and advance medical knowledge..."

Medpedia

The Medpedia Project is a long term, worldwide project to evolve a new model for sharing and advancing knowledge about health, medicine and the body among medical professionals and the general public. The Project provides a free online technology platform to any individual or organization that can benefit from its use.

Users of the platform include medical and scientific journals, medical schools, research institutes, medical associations, physicians, hospitals, for-profit and non-profit organizations, companies, expert patients, policy makers, students, non-professionals taking care of loved ones, individual medical professionals, scientists, etc ...more

WOW! This is it :)

P.S. You might also want to check out this King Kong list for medical online resources

To Get an MBA or Not? Guy Kawasaki's Law!

2009-10-27T17:04:00.008+08:00

Watch it on Academic Earth

Guy Kawasaki shares his thoughts on whether or not to get an MBA. The problem with an MBA he says is that you believe you are being taught how to manage, and he generally thinks it is impossible to learn how to manage in school. The only way to learn how to manage, according to him, is to do it in the real-world.

Guy Kawasaki discusses briefly 'Kawasaki’s Law' (of PreMoney Valuation) here: Entrepreneurs: Then and Now

Click here for more 'in-your-face sense making' lectures from Guy the man! I love his in-your-face honesty and passion.

So, do we need MBA graduates? It depends! Just remember Kawasaki's law before hiring one :)

MedWorm - The Ultimate Medical Resource Search Engine?

2009-10-27T14:11:00.006+08:00

Via Ajaan Rob

MedWorm

MedWorm is a medical RSS feed provider as well as a search engine built on data collected from RSS feeds. It collects updates from over 6000 authoritative data sources (growing each day) via RSS feeds. From the data collected, MedWorm provides new outgoing RSS feeds on various medical categories that you can subscribe to, via the free MedWorm online service, or another RSS reader of your choice, such as Bloglines, Newsgator, Google Reader or FeedDemon.

You can easily customize or tailor your search query to specific types of content (and categories), such as news, journals, blogs, podcasts, etc. Also, MedWorm has already indexed a wonderful collection of categories (e.g. Swine Flu), which can assist you to find what you want, as fast as you want (Not sure about that one, yet!). Cool!

If you think you can do better, why not create your own specialized search engine using Google Custom Search Engine. I heard recently that they have updated it with some cool new features, including more templates to personalize and tailor the look-and-feel (to what you want!). Why not :)

The Secrets of Einstein's Brain

2009-10-26T17:14:00.006+08:00

A look into the mind of one of history's most intelligent figures.

If you really want to understand his brilliance, I suppose you have to look beyond his hardware and software. Yes, perhaps we should explore the life of Albert Einstein (how he used his hardware and software to think beyond!). Here is roughly a 50-minute exploration about his life: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5. Who said YouTube is not educational? Click here for more Einstein stuff on YouTube.

A few Albert Einstein quotes to reflect:

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school. "

"Humiliation and mental oppression by ignorant and selfish teachers wreak havoc in the youthful mind that can never be undone and often exert a baleful influence in later life."

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."

I love the last Einstein quote! That is something we have in common. I am truly a genius :)

Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training

2009-10-26T08:59:00.009+08:00

"...if you don't have time to read the whole book, be sure to see John Traxler's Current State of Mobile Learning (PDF), which outlines major categories of mobile learning, discussion of a definition of mobile learning, the case for mobile learning, and attributes of an evaluation of mobile learning." - Stephen Downes

Please read this free e-book (including myself! Only 281 pages! No big deal!):

Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training

"This collection is for anyone interested in the use of mobile technology for various distance learning applications. Readers will discover how to design learning materials for delivery on mobile technology and become familiar with the best practices of other educators, trainers, and researchers in the field, as well as the most recent initiatives in mobile learning research. Businesses and governments can learn how to deliver timely information to staff using mobile devices. Professors can use this book as a textbook for courses on distance education, mobile learning, and educational technology."

Today, I actually spend more time learning and surfing the net using my mobile device (or hand-phone) than my notebook (Don't use PC anymore!), when I am not officially working. What are you trying to say?

Let's just download the e-book, and then read, reflect, and figure out how we are going to implement Mobile learning (wherever we are!) to facilitate a more enriching and effective online learning environment.

Whether we like it or not, most students will be using their mobile devices to surf and learn in the near future, and surely they will ask...

Why can't I access my _____ on my mobile device!
They're so backward and lost!

Time to change? I mean wake-up :)

Gary Hayes Social Media Seriously Counts!

2009-10-23T11:27:00.009+08:00

Via Gary Hayes

Gary Hayes Social Media Counts

I was not kidding! If you are wondering what your staff or X-Y-Z Gen students are doing most of the time... Well, now you know :)

P.S. You can get the script here. You know what I mean!

EDGE - Watch Great Minds Think-Out-Loud!

2009-10-23T09:04:00.009+08:00

Via Dan Colman

EDGE Videos

"The Edge Foundation community is a circle, mainly scientists but also other academics, entrepreneurs, and cultural figures. Edge's long-form interview videos are a deep-dive into the daily lives and passions of its subjects, and their passions are presented without primers or apologies. The decidedly noncommercial nature of Edge's offerings, and the egghead imprimatur of the Edge community, lend its videos a refreshing air, making one wonder if broadcast television will ever offer half the off-kilter sparkle of their salon chatter."

A lot of mind-boggling minds and ideas to watch and reflect, but I got to say that the site itself needs some beefing up. Especially, the web design and navigation is truly annoying. Also, a few more interactive features would be good.

Yeah, forget comparing yourself to broadcast television (who cares!), and focus instead on making the site more interactive and user-friendly. Know your real competitor (A few real ones here)!

Anyway, there are some sizzling brain stimulating videos on this site, and that is why it has been swooshed here :)

A New Medical Learning Blog in Town! Guess Who?

2009-10-22T15:52:00.009+08:00

CMU Medical Education and Techology Review

This new blog by Ajaan Rob is (initially) set up to be a resource for medical lecturers and researchers at Chiang Mai University (CMU). The blog is designed to keep you up-to-date with the current medical education approaches and technology in clinical and classroom teaching environments for all medical faculties at CMU and from around the world.

Although, it is meant for CMU, I don't see any reason why other medical professionals around the world can't enjoy this splendid medical learning resource. If you take a closer look, I am pretty sure you will discover many new medical online learning resources. Ajaan Rob has been collecting medical resource links for years, and now he has smashed the best of them into this swoosh delicious blog. If you want excellent medical learning resources, this blog is YUMMY :)

Top Tips on E-Learning From Kineo

2009-10-22T09:06:00.006+08:00

Via Cammy Bean

E-Learning Top Tips

Not only is Kineo a great e-learning company, it is also a company that shares a lot of swoosh delicious e-learning stuff on their website. Besides their E-Learning top tips series, they also share case studies, reports, articles, audio interviews, etc., which could surely swoosh some relevant and useful ideas on how we can spice up our e-learning worlds (for free, except our time!).

How to become a great e-learning company? Share your swoosh delicious juice, and people will discover you, and if you are really good... They have seen your work, they trust your excellence, and obviously they want to invest in your services and products! The rules have changed from the old '(Hoarding) Knowledge is Power!' to 'Sharing Knowledge is Power!'

Wake up to the new world sharing order :)

The PowerPoint MVPs!

2009-10-21T09:03:00.004+08:00

Via Tom Kuhlmann

"Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely." - Edward Tufte

Where can I learn PowerPoint from the MVPs (Most Valuable Players) or experts?

Here are few swooshing PowerPoint MVPs worth exploring:

Besides engrossing yourself with PowerPoint MVPs, you might want to visit the Microsoft PowerPoint sites, which share tons of tips and tricks, tutorials, blog posts, and templates. Here are some good starting points:

I can't believe I am promoting Microsoft, but I love PowerPoint 2007 (an exception!).

PowerPoint corrupts absolutely? Teachers corrupt learning, not PowerPoint :)

100 Best Professors Who Blog

2009-10-20T17:29:00.003+08:00

Via Jane Hart

Are you looking for great Professors who blog?

100 Best Professors Who Blog

Whether they’re about science or political science, you’ll find something interesting on each of the blogs found in this juicy collection. Excuse me, I need to find another Professor to spam, I mean bug, I mean... :)

ImageChef - Make Word Mosaic

2009-10-19T21:55:00.005+08:00

Via Jane Hart

ImageChef - Word Mosaic

Wordle is more fun! But the ImageChef is not bad! It basically allows you to write a short comment or poem in the shape of hearts or other symbols. Then you can send a greeting or post to your blog or social network.

Nothing Wow! Just worth sharing! Alright :)

32 Traits of Creative People

2009-10-18T08:52:00.004+08:00

Via Amran Noordin

32 Traits of Creative People

- Robert Alan Black

I have them ALL! I wish :)

The Global Text Project

2009-10-17T07:31:00.008+08:00

The Global Text Project

Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world
- Nelson Mandela

The Global Text Project will create open content electronic textbooks that will be freely available from a website. Distribution will also be possible via paper, CD, or DVD. Their goal initially is to focus on content development and Web distribution, and they will work with relevant authorities to facilitate dissemination by other means when bandwidth is unavailable or inadequate. The goal is to make textbooks available to the many who cannot afford them.

All books will be released under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. This license allows for the ready distribution of texts in a variety of formats.

Now, this is a project I like :)

What is Google Wave?

2009-10-16T14:14:00.008+08:00

Google Wave

Here are five more interesting Google Wave resources (Via Jane Hart):

Google Wave's Best Use Cases (Lifehacker)
Google Wave will revolutionise online classroom instruction (So You Want To Teach)
Google Wave: a complete guide (Mashable)
Learning Waves from Google (Donald Clark)
6 ways that Wave is going to change your business, career and life (thinkVitamin)

Yes, Jane Hart even has her little Google Wave reading list, which I strongly recommend!

Hang on a minute! I still haven't got my own Google Wave account (like so many others!). And when I do (one day!), I will probably have to look for a dude on Pluto to communicate with and explore its functionality and possibilities.

I love the way Google makes you feel that to you are totally irrelevant. Next, time I apply for a Google Wave (or whatever!) account, I will name myself Zucker-berg :)

UNESCO OER Toolkit

2009-10-16T08:31:00.004+08:00

UNESCO OER Toolkit

Most of the Toolkit is designed for academics who are interested in finding and using OER (Open Educational Resources) in the courses they teach, or who wish to publish OER that they have developed. Some sections are aimed at institutional decision-makers and academics that interested in setting up a more formal OER project. These projects may start with just a few interested academics but, as they grow, institutional policies, funding and legal constraints become more relevant. Individuals who are not aiming to set up a institutional project may nonetheless be interested to read the whole document. Likewise, institutional planners, IT staff or librarians who are interested in setting up an OER project would benefit from understanding the academic's perspective.

The OER toolkit explores the following topics:

Background to Open Educational Resources
The Emergence of Open Education
Copyright and Open Content Licensing
Finding and Using Open Educational Resources
Creating and Sharing OER
Establishing Institutional OER Projects
Setting Up Your OER Project

It would be great to see a few Malaysian Universities also getting involved with creating and sharing OER. Is it happening? Or am I just dreaming :)

Educational Uses of Second Life

2009-10-15T08:42:00.008+08:00

Via Karl Kapp

You are using Moodle as your LMS/CMS/PLE/VLE (or whatever!), and want to integrate your Second Life Adventure into it. How? One word: Sloodle

Cool! But, I want an awesome blog that explores Virtual Immersive Worlds (and Second Life) to inspire me to make it happen? Kapp Notes (Karl Kapp)

Cool! But, are there any papers, articles or sites that discusses all the failures trying to use Second Life for educational purposes (especially for tertiary education)? I have heard of Second Life failures, or students screaming that it is lame and boring (No action!), and it would be nice to learn or avoid past mistakes in trying to transform dull online learning environments, into immersive and engaging ones.

Please, help me out here! Already struggling with the first life, and now we have to think about the second life, too :)

A Free Facilitator's Guide to Live Online Learning

2009-10-14T08:44:00.004+08:00

Via Clive Shepherd

Live Online Learning - A Facilitator’s Guide

This free e-book issued by Onlignment, explores (55 pages):

Whys and wherefores
Planning your session
Communicating with voice and live video
Communicating using images and text
Sharing resources
Building in interactivity
Building up to the session
Facilitating the session
Following up

To download the e-book you need to sign-up and subscribe to Onlignment's occasional emails (or newsletter), but you can unsubscribe any time you like.

If you are lost about live online learning (or facilitating live online learning sessions), or using what, when and how, this e-book will serve you well. Though, I would have liked to see more relevant visual illustrations, examples and diagrams to spice up this e-book.

I suppose by using less visuals, the e-book has a longer life-cycle. Also, the explanations and tips will trigger us to visualize and use our imagination. But, if we are totally new to online facilitation, I am not sure our imaginative visualization will serve us well :)

Moodle Tutorials - Educating Educators

2009-10-13T17:21:00.004+08:00

Are you tired of waiting long hours uploading to YouTube just to have to wait some more for YouTube to process it? YES!
Are you frustrated with the quality of screencasts on YouTube? YES!
Are you in love with Moodle? YES!

If you answered yes to any of these questions, enjoy:

Moodle Tutorials

Features include:

Faster uploads (Also includes status bar with estimated time)
0 Wait conversions :-)
High resolution videos
Larger videos
Can easily download the videos (login required)
Dedicated to Moodle

How come I didn't discover this amazing Moodle tutorials site before! Never to late (at least while you are alive)! Let's learn a few Moodle tricks :)

24 Swoosh Delicious Articles From Clive Shepherd!

2009-10-13T09:02:00.009+08:00

Via Clive Shepherd

24 swoosh delicious articles from Clive Shepherd’s columns on e-learning and blended learning, originally published between 2007 and 2009 in IT Training and e-learning age magazines.

Clive's Columns Volume 2 (447KB, PDF)

If you are looking for Volume 1 (or a Dummies Guide to E-Learning), click here for writing out loud! We can always learn something from this experienced dude. I have already printed out Volume 2. Sorry about the wood (and trees used), but with some articles you just want to enjoy reflecting in printed form :)

oneforty - A Better Way to Discover Twitter Apps

2009-10-12T15:18:00.006+08:00

oneforty is your Twitter outfitter, with tons of resources for all things Twitter. Currently, it is tracking 1800+ apps that make Twitter even better.

oneforty

WOW! I have probably tried 5% percent of these 3rd party Twitter apps! When am I going to find the time to swoosh around for more juicy ones? At least the 'Essentials' and 'Most Popular' sections on the site should be good indicators where to start. It is just amazing, how much Twitter has evolved the last couple of years. Oops, I mean Twitter 3rd party applications! When will Twitter itself decide to move forward a bit? :)

Moodle 2.0 Tools or Web 2.0 Alternatives?

2009-10-11T08:07:00.011+08:00

Mark Drechsler has swooshed a concise, relevant, useful and engaging presentation about Web 2.0 tools within and outside of Moodle, and how to decide which one is right for you.

Web 2.0 tools and techniques

View more presentations from Mark Drechsler.

When considering whether to use Moodle's inbuilt web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, etc), or purpose-built web 2.0 alternatives (which often can be integrated!), you need to consider (at least):

Feature set
Usability
Risk

...Before making a decision. Please explore the excellent presentation above to find out more, and be swooshed with some juicy purpose-built web 2.0 alternatives worth considering. Please, don't say you are still using Blackboard? Your choice :)

Click here for more Moodle presentations by Mark Drechsler. Thanks! Moodle here I come :)

A Pocket University (or iTunesU at Oxford University)

2009-10-09T08:39:00.007+08:00

Via David Hopkins

"If you have any question about whether you and your Institution should think a little more seriously about getting involved in iTunesU, then take a look through this amazing presentation below from Peter Robinson and Oxford University. It was presented at the 2009 Future of Technology in Education (FOTE) conference." - David Hopkins

FOTE09 - Peter Robinson: A Pocket University: Open Content and Mobile Technology - Oxford on iTunesU

View more documents from University of London Computer Centre (ULCC).

Of course we want (At least I do!), but iTunes U seem to be only interested in supporting rich countries and famous universities. Sickening! Wake up! Let's spread this post (or image above) virally, and make a point they never forget! WOW! I must be dreaming :)

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning

2009-10-08T09:07:00.009+08:00

Via Clive Shepherd & Donald Clark

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning (819KB, PDF)

You might die from boredom reading this report from the US Department of Education. Please get Steve Jobs involved for the next report. I suppose it could have been simplified and presented in a more creative, visual, and mind (or eye) stimulating way.

Luckily, Donald Clark has swooshed out some of the juice, which is replicated right here...

"Online better than face-to-face
“The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving traditional face-to-face instruction.”
Jury out on blended
“Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction.
Online and on-task
“Studies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students in the face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for online learning.”
Online is all good
“Most of the variations in the way in which different studies implemented online learning did not affect student learning outcomes significantly.”
Blended no better than online
Blended and purely online learning conditions implemented within a single study generally result in similar student learning outcomes.”
Junk video & quizzes
“Elements such as video or online quizzes do not appear to influence the amount that students learn in online classes.”

Let learners learn
“Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection.”
Online good for everyone
“The effectiveness of online learning approaches appears quite broad across different content and learner types.”
Get them doing things
“Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection.”
Groups not way forward
“Providing guidance for learning for groups of students appears less successful than does using such mechanisms with individual learners.”

..."One should note that online learning is much more conducive to the expansion of learning time than is face-to-face”. In other words it’s better at getting learners to continue learning after the event. What more can you ask for?"

MY TAKE!
If you ask me, I would argue that all this whoa about delivery methods is not the real essence to effective learning, instead we should focus more on the actual actors in the learning events: Educators and Students.

If your educator or learning facilitator is crap, it does not matter what method you use, the outcome is probably going to be crap. But then again, if you are a die-hard learner, it does not really matter what method you use, because you are going to learn anyway. But let's face it, would you rather wait for a whole semester to learn something, or learn-it-yourself right now.

In short, today with all the free online resources, communities, communication/collaboration/learning tools available to us, we can practically learn whatever we want, whenever we want, and no crappy lecturer is going to distract us with outdated rubbish, or silly scheduled course is going to slow us down in the process.

Did I just say that? But, sadly in many instances it is a reality. I know, I have been there :(

99 Free EduGames to Spice Up Your Course!

2009-10-07T18:07:00.002+08:00

99 Free EduGames to Spice Up Your Course!

Thanks to 11 new discoveries replicated from Jeff Cobb's juicy EduGame post, ZaidLearn's updated EduGames list must be one of the juiciest EduGame lists of all time. If not, who cares!

Here are 99 reasons to forget about Santa Claus for a few years! If you can't beat ZaidLearn, just enjoy that old long-winded fart. But remember, ZaidSwoosh is the next big thing in 'Swoosh' blogging. Whatever!!! :)

Insidious Pedagogy: How Course Management Systems Affect Teaching

2009-10-07T08:36:00.005+08:00

Via Stephen Downes

"But lo! men have become the tools of their tools." — Henry David Thoreau

AUTHOR:
Lisa M. Lane

ABSTRACT:
"Course management systems (CMS), like any other technology, have an inherent purpose implied in their design, and therefore a built–in pedagogy. Although these pedagogies are based on instructivist principles, today’s large CMSs have many features suitable for applying more constructivist pedagogies. Yet few faculty use these features, or even adapt their CMS very much, despite the several customization options. This is because most college instructors do not work or play much on the Web, and thus utilize Web–based systems primarily at their basic level. The defaults of the CMS therefore tend to determine the way Web–novice faculty teach online, encouraging methods based on posting of material and engendering usage that focuses on administrative tasks. A solution to this underutilization of the CMS is to focus on pedagogy for Web–novice faculty and allow a choice of CMS."

Insidious Pedagogy: How Course Management Systems Affect Teaching

Flush Blackboard down the toilet, and use Moodle instead (until a better one comes around!) for online facilitation and learning!

But, I don't have a server or an IT team to support me? Use Moodlerooms then (or other hosting alternatives)!

But I am a stingy goat, and don't want to invest a single cent (Except my time!). Please, show me an excellent free CMS alternative that includes a web-conferencing tool? Try Sclipo!

Don't complexify simple problems :)

Academia 2.0 - Be Relevant-Engaging-Fun!

2009-10-06T08:24:00.006+08:00

Via Zoraini Wati Abas

You got 90 seconds to get your students' attention before these young beasts fall asleep! What are you going to do? Think about it!

Just be relevant (at least to them!), engaging and fun, and you will get your students' attention for as long as you need. Why am I learning this crap? If you can answer them this question convincingly, your chances of success is pretty... :)

99 Awesome Firefox Add-ons for Educators

2009-10-05T08:53:00.002+08:00

Via Jane Hart

"They say today’s educators are overworked and underpaid. Luckily, the web offers tools to make your professional life more manageable and less stressful. These add-ons might not change your salary, but we’re sure they’ll ease your workload."

99 Awesome Firefox Add-ons for Educators

Here are a few juicy Firefox Add-ons from the list that sounds tasty:

Morning Coffee
This application facilitates your morning routine by displaying the Web sites you visit daily.
Shooter
This browser extension allows you to take a screenshot of a given browser page, or a specific region of it.
Wikalong
Embeds a wiki in the Sidebar of your browser, which corresponds to the current page you are viewing.
Zotero
This will help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources.
Evernote
This extension provides a toolbar button and context menus to easily add a selection or an entire page to Evernote.
Zemanta
Content recommendations while you write. Zemanta helps you enhance your emails and blogs with relevant images, videos, links or tags.
Capture Fox
You can capture your screen and record your voice to make screencasts (tutorials, e-lessons, etc.).
YouTube Toolbar
YouTube Toolbar lets you easily search, browse, share, and download your favorite videos from YouTube! Finally, its the toolbar you’ve been waiting for and it simply works.
FoxLingo
Translate web pages and text, learn languages, auto translate, and much more. Supports 53 languages and 36 free online translators.
BEEweb
Beeweb.org is portal to a series of multiplayer educational games. Spellbee.org is about literacy, Moneybee is financial literacy and algebra, Patternbee regards spatial reasoning, etc.
CustomizeGoogle
CustomizeGoogle is a Firefox extension that enhance Google search results by adding extra information (like links to Yahoo, Ask.com, MSN etc) and removing unwanted information (like ads and spam).
Wolfram Alpha Google
Display Wolfram Alpha results in Google searches. No need to switch search engines when you can use both at once.

WOW, those add-ons sounds juicy! Since I mostly use Firefox, exploring the full list too, makes whole lot of sense. Do you use Firefox? Please, don't say you are using Internet Explorer! Good luck :)

Nobel Prize Winners Video Lecture Search Engine

2009-10-02T12:01:00.004+08:00

Via Rich Hoeg

The Nobel Prize is the top honor one may be awarded for scientific research or humanitarian work. Recent years have seen a significant number of Nobel Prize Winner Lectures become available via web based video. Given these lectures are found upon many diverse web sites, the Northstar Nerd decided such an important knowledge domain should have it's own search engine.

Nobel Prize Winners Video Lecture Search Engine

Or use the search box below to try his new Nobel Knowledge Search Engine.

Cool! Actually, you can also easily create your own search engine that searches only the sites that you choose. The one above, was created using Google Custom Search! Interestingly, I used the same tool to create a Open/Free Educational Resources Search Engine more than one year ago. I am not kidding, it is really easy-to-learn and use. You can do it :)

The Learning Footprint Calculator

2009-10-02T08:29:00.006+08:00

Via Steve Addison

Learning Footprint Calculator

The Learning Footprint Calculator (online) will help you to determine how much you could reduce your organization’s carbon footprint by reducing training-related travel and paper use.

Another genuine reason for implementing e-Learning! But then again, if the e-learning is crap, forget it! Though, if it is good, I would rather save my time learning, instead of traveling. What about learning while traveling (or driving)? Read this :)

Join The eLearning Network (eLN)!

2009-10-01T14:17:00.003+08:00

The eLearning Network

The e-Learning Network (eLN) is a non-profit, Community Interest Company run by the e-learning community for the e-learning community. The eLN is a great source for guidance on best practice and future trends in technology-based learning and development at work, with more than 1500 members in the UK and beyond.

Just did :)

The E-Learning Debate at The Oxford Union

2009-10-01T10:07:00.004+08:00

Via Jane Hart

The E-Learning Debate

"The Oxford Union is Britain's second oldest University Union (Founded in 1823) and has gained a worldwide reputation for the cut and thrust of its debate, proving a valuable training ground for many future politicians from Britain and other countries.

This afternoon Epic is hosting a debate there on the future of learning and in particular what part e-learning will play in the development of the important skills of tomorrow.

The motion is "This house believes that the e-learning of today is essential for the skills of tomorrow."

Two of the speakers are:

Professor Diana Laurillard, Chair of Learning with Digital Technologies, University of London. Previously, Head of the e-Learning Strategy Unit for the UK Government, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for learning technologies and teaching at The Open University.

Dr Marc Rosenberg, Management consultant and leading expert in the world of training, organizational learning, e-learning, knowledge management and performance improvement. Author of numerous books and papers.

I am sure that a number of the 300 invited people will be tweeting about it. But to keep up to date with what is happening, follow @elearningdebate. And for realtime results at Twitter go here"

Instead of babbling about whether or what part of e-learning will play in the future in terms of appropriate skills development, why not discuss instead how we can nurture collaborative e-learning environments that are more effective, enabling us to transform the way we learn, and educate and learn from the whole world in an inspiring way. Now we are talking :)

Change the Way You Think About Everything

2009-09-30T18:20:00.003+08:00

"We live on a finite planet and sometimes our impact on it is greater than we realize. The seemingly isolated actions we take every day—from our choice of morning beverage to our choice of business practices—are often links in a chain of unusual connections we would never have imagined.

The bottom line: The health of business is directly connected to the health of the natural world. And both can grow and flourish—together."

I am innocent, I don't drink Latte, Coffee, Tea, or any other hot drink! What about you? Are you innocent, too? It is amazing the things we take for granted, especially water, which is such a unique and must-have invention :)

Domo Animate - Create Cartoons About Your Learning!

2009-09-30T09:05:00.006+08:00

Via Kelly Tenkely

Domo Animate

Domo Animate enables you to create cartoons as easy as creating PowerPoint! It is very intuitive and user-friendly. Instead of asking your students to use Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to write about or present their projects, why not ask your students to create a cartoon that explores their project and what they have learned (Tell a story!).

Now, that might inspire and stimulate some creative cells in our students. What are you waiting for :)

Free Internet Libraries

2009-09-29T14:15:00.006+08:00

Free Internet Libraries

Walter Antoniotti has collected tons of free Internet learning materials for students, teachers, and professionals. The result has been about 50 Free Internet Libraries that receive close to 60,000 unique visitors per month from over 200 countries. They contain free books, notes, study aids, and career information for many business areas.

He is also the author of the free Quick Notes Learning System books series, creator of textbooksfree.org and President of 21st Century Learning Products.

A learning resource treasure! However, it would be cool if he could also add a search function (Use Google Custom Search), a comments section (forum, ratings, poll, or survey), RSS feeds, and spice the design a bit up. Perhaps a few stimulating visuals, at least a light, easy and juicy banner would be smokey. I suppose if he does, he can add another digit to his yummy 60,000 unique visitors per month :)

Web 2.0 - Cool Tools for Schools

2009-09-29T09:22:00.004+08:00

Via Alexandra Francisco

Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools

A Wiki that helps you determine in a visual stimulating and friendly way, which tools or resources you can use for your courses, projects, lessons, etc. Cool :)

Wiggio Just a Little Bit!

2009-09-28T14:32:00.003+08:00

Wiggio is an online toolkit that makes it easy to work in groups. You can basically make a Wiggio group for any type of group you're in (a team, study group, organization, business, project, social group, etc.) and Wiggio provides you with a cool set of tools to communicate and collaborate within the group.

Wiggio

Looks cool! But, I am not so sure that students would want their teachers sniffing around their so called study groups :)

50 Terrific Twitter Tutorials for Teachers

2009-09-28T09:08:00.000+08:00

Via Jane Hart

"... From getting started to ways to use Twitter more effectively to using Twitter tools to applications and suggestions for Twitter use in the classroom, these tutorials will provide you with tons of knowledge and ideas to get you going."

50 Terrific Twitter Tutorials for Teachers

I am 'Twitter' learning dizzy already :)

Twitter Handbook for Teachers

2009-09-25T17:53:00.000+08:00

Twitter Handbook for Teachers

Tomaz Lasic has created a useful and easy-to-digest "overview of Twitter and ways of using it in education. A Twitter primer with reasons, stories and resources."

As for the cool graphic above, now that is something I mashed-up for a Twitter workshop I facilitated a few weeks back. Not bad :)

The Google Acquisition & Investment Map

2009-09-25T11:05:00.000+08:00

Via Erick Schonfeld

The Google Acquisitions & Investments Map
(Image only version)

Interesting! Now, that is an idea I like :)

2009 ALT conference - 11 Mind Awakening Video Lectures Right Here!

2009-09-25T08:28:00.000+08:00

Via Stephen Downes

Videos of Keynote & Invited Speaker Sessions at the 2009 ALT Conference

Here are the 11 mind awakening video lectures from the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) conference, for those that need direct contact with the juice to be inspired to view (click on their names!):

Michael Wesch - Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, USA: Mediated Culture/Mediated Education (running time 65 minutes).
Martin Bean - Vice Chancellor designate of the Open University (running time 53 minutes).
Terry Anderson - Professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at Athabasca University, Canada - Canada's Open University (running time 66 minutes).
Heather Fry - Head of Learning and Teaching, HEFCE Enhancing learning and teaching through technology: a policy view (running time 24 minutes).
Diana Laurillard - Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies at the London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education: Evaluating learning designs through the formal representation of learning patterns (running time 35 minutes).
Matthew McFall - Learning Sciences Research Institute and School of Education, University of Nottingham: Boxes of Learning Delight and Cabinets of Curiosity: Working with Wonder for Wonderful Learning (running time 30 minutes).
David Kennedy - Director and Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning Centre, Lingnan University, Hong Kong: Creating learning environments that are both teacher and student centred, simultaneously: opportunities and issues (running time 31 minutes).
Richard Noss - Co-director of the London Knowledge Lab: Mapping the Grand Challenges for Research in Technology-Enhanced Learning (running time 29 minutes).
Vanessa Pittard - Director of Evidence and Evaluation, Becta: Becta Research: Young People, Schools and Technology-Supported Learning (running time 33 minutes).
Aaron Porter - Vice President (Higher Education) of the National Union of Students (NUS): A student perspective on institutions use of technology to enhance teaching & learning in the 21st century (running time 29 minutes).
David Price - Co-founder of Debategraph: Thinking deeply together (running time 28 minutes).

Speechless! WOW! Let's get busy viewing, reflecting and learning :)

Why Not? Now, That is a Sizzling Lecture!

2009-09-24T17:45:00.000+08:00

“Some men see things as they are and say, ‘why?’
I dream of things the way they never were and say, ‘why not?’
- Robert F. Kennedy, after George Bernard Shaw

Professor Barry Nalebuff shares the insights from his book “Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small.”

Academic Earth - Why Not?

A wonderful and engaging lecture tickling us to think again about stuff we often take for granted, and assume are the right way of doing things. If lectures are this engaging and thought provoking, I don't see any harm in them lasting an hour or two. Why not :)

How Web-Savvy Edupunks Are Transforming American Higher Education

2009-09-24T13:48:00.000+08:00

Via Jay Cross

"... MIT's courseware may be free, yet an MIT degree still costs upward of $189,000..."If universities can't find the will to innovate and adapt to changes in the world around them," professor David Wiley of Brigham Young University has written, "universities will be irrelevant by 2020....Today, "open content" is the biggest front of innovation in higher education. The movement that started at MIT has spread to more than 200 institutions in 32 countries that have posted courses online at the OpenCourseWare Consortium..."

How Web-Savvy Edupunks Are Transforming American Higher Education

Free learning content? Hm, where to start?

"And one item that comes to the top a lot is ZaidLearn's post University Learning - OCW - OER - Free - worth checking out."
- Tony Karrer

Oh man! ZaidLearn again! ZaidSwoosh's time will come :)

LearnTrends 2009 - Free Online Conference (November 17-19)

2009-09-24T08:53:00.000+08:00

George Siemens, Jay Cross and Tony Karrer are pleased to announce their third annual free online conference:

LearnTrends 2009

The Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations Conference

November 17-19, 2009 | Online | Free

The theme/focus this year is on Convergence in Workplace Learning. It will bring together people who look at different aspects of learning and knowledge work to understand better what's going on in those areas and how we should be thinking about this holistically.

Discussion Agenda:

Enterprise 2.0
Communities and Networks
Knowledge Management
Corporate Libraries
Talent Management

To register, you must first register on the LearnTrends community and then register on the Conference Event Page. The conference will also include the LearnTrends Innovation Awards 2009. Please see that post for details.

Live online interaction with top quality learning professionals for free. What are you waiting for! Oops, better register myself :)

3 Free e-Learning Courses Run by Otago Polytechnic (New Zealand)

2009-09-24T08:17:00.000+08:00

Via Tony Karrer

Adapted from Oskay's image

Here are 3 FREE JUICY COURSES run by Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin, New Zealand:

They are using WikiEducator (Free) to assemble and host the courses. WikiEducator is powered by MediaWiki, which is an open source wiki tool. Meaning you can actually install the wiki tool on your own server (if you want that!), and build your own Wikipedia (which is also powered by MediaWiki). WOW! But then again, is this the right tool for you? It depends (You figure that out!).

The only cost is your time and effort. What happened to the people that got money for doing nothing :)

100 Free Ivy-League Lectures You Shouldn’t Miss

2009-09-23T15:55:00.000+08:00

Many top schools across the country are beginning to share their classes online free of charge. Luckily, that allows curious students to have access to a slice of an Ivy League education without paying a dime. Many of these courses provide video or audio lectures just waiting to be seen and heard. Whether you are looking to supplement your current education or just addicted to knowledge, these are sure to please.

100 Free Ivy-League Lectures You Shouldn’t Miss

Besides this great collection, you might also want to check out this masterpiece (it feels good to praise your own work! But, I could say it stinks, too. You decide!):

Secret Recipe to Delivering World Class Lectures

Here you will find tons of great lectures, and lists of great lists (including the one above), and most importantly a recipe to transform you into an Ivy League lecturer that inspires. But to inspire, you must first be inspired yourself :)

Trendsmap - Your Glocal Twitter Trends Forecast

2009-09-23T12:41:00.000+08:00

Trendsmap

Trendsmap is a real-time mapping of Twitter trends across the world. See what the global, collective mass of humanity are discussing right now. They are currently processing around 5 million tweets per day. They have over 500 cities from around the world that have their own page on the site (e.g. Melbourne), and the number of topics changes depending on what people are tweeting about.

Cool, you can discover the Global and Local (Glocal) Twitter trends! Though, these are just the mega-trends, but what about all the small trends, like e-learning. Also, it currently only uses tweets that are in English :(

Finally, please get a search feature in too, and if it allows super micro-trends, then I can see how ZaidSwoosh is doing :)

100 Best Blogs for Tech-Savvy Teachers

2009-09-23T08:54:00.000+08:00

Via Jane Hart

100 Best Blogs for Tech-Savvy Teachers

What I like most about this list, is that there are tons of interesting 'EduTech' blogs that I have never heard of before. Now, that is the kind of list that I cherish, because we can discover and learn something new from :)

Seven Skills Students Need for Their Future

2009-09-22T10:59:00.000+08:00

Dr. Tony Wagner of the Change Leadership Group at Harvard offers advice to schools on how to develop student skills they will need in a global society.

Here we go:

Thumbs up for a valuable and relevant lecture about infusing more relevant skills in our students for the future. But why SEVEN?

Can we move beyond that Seven Habits or Skills mambo-jumbo! Need some creative thinking here! At least Steven Covey has, as he is now at the 8th Habit :)

Zenhabits Comments Section is Brilliantly Annoying!

2009-09-22T10:17:00.000+08:00

A few weeks back Zen Habits (Leo Babauta) posted a reasonably good piece entitled 'Education Needs to Be Turned on Its Head' that got tons of attention around the world. This not so bad blog, is also the Number one Productivity blog in 2009 (whatever that means!), according to this top 50 list.

When I tried to comment this reasonably good piece, I was first rejected accusing me of using some form of firewall. Then when I posted a second time, I was accused of spamming, and that it had already received my comment (I tried later, and the same crap happened!). But in the end, I never got to see my comment there.

So, here is my not so brilliant comment:

"Dear Leo Babautas,

Interesting article. Nothing new, though! A lot of people are writing in your direction these days, except you write with more emotion and fun than most (in addition to stimulating our mind of logic), which of course attracts more readers.

Although, I believe in more freedom in learning (which is kind of kicked out of most schools today), I believe that young kids should get some directed self-learning, and then as I they get the basic learning literacy skills such as reading, creativity, mathematics, science and IT (learning) skills, they move into a more self-directed learning mode (where freedom to learn whatever they want gradually increases).

In short, It is a bit naive to expect that all 5 or 7 year old kids to know what is best for them in terms of learning (whatever the future outlook might be), so self directed learning (meaning that for example they might choose the materials to explore, but we give them specific learning activities to direct them), but then gradually move into a self-directed mode as they grow older. There are ways to nurture curiosity, exploration and learning fun, while directing them to achieve certain learning outcomes that will be relevant no matter what the future might be.

To inspire students to learn, a good lecture might do the trick, and here is an article I wrote, which might be of interest:

The Secret Recipe to Delivering World Class Lectures

Although, lectures have been one of the culprits of the old school, I believe it could be the link to the new school, if we use them appropriately :)

Have a great day rediscovering the power of the lecture :)

Cheers!"

I suppose my comment was not brilliant enough for Zen Habits. I am still learning :)

Did You Know This Did You Know!

2009-09-22T10:07:00.000+08:00

Did You Know Did You Know?

However, did you know this updated version of 'Did You Know':

NOW YOU KNOW!

Alright, they call it 'Social Media Revolution' this time around (innovative in title, too!). Spread this video virally (download it and show it during lectures or tutorials) to all educators in the world, so they have some clue what is going on. Trust me, many of them are totally lost about what the future will do to them :)

Welcome to ZaidSwoosh!

2009-09-21T17:58:00.004+08:00

WHY?

I want to have a blog that is dedicated to sharing juicy learning resources and ideas in daily 'swoosh' chunks (1-3 short posts every working day). Also, I am trying to create a juicy learning 'swoosh' blog that can actually attract more Asians to explore, especially South-East Asian educators. If you look at the diagram below, you will know what I mean.

Also, due to my enjoyable but time consuming work commitments I will not have the time to write those long mambo-jumbo deep reflective and annoying posts that I could afford to in the past. However, I will still write them during Saturday or Sunday mornings perhaps 1-2 times a month, so don't give up on ZaidLearn :)

WHY NOT USE ZAIDLEARN FOR THAT?

I like to keep ZaidLearn for more 'article' like posts (1000 - 5000 words, the boring stuff!), whereby I reflect (80%) and add some spice or fun (20%). However, with ZaidSwoosh, it will be 80% juice and fun, and then 20% reflection. So, those used to ZaidLearn and long juicy boring stuff, will continue to have it that way.

However, if you want a more 'Swoosh' kind of resource and idea learning spam experience, I would strongly recommend that you subscribe to ZaidSwoosh also.

WHAT ABOUT TWITTER & DELICIOUS?
My Twitter will of course be updated automatically with all my posts from ZaidSwoosh. However, after using Twitter for several months, I just found it too restrictive for sharing resources and ideas in terms of size (limited to 140 characteristics) and smashing the stuff in a creative way.

Although, I am sure we can use some 3rd party applications to do that, but in essence Twitter is just text upon text (at the moment), which allows for no creative way of presenting it. No wonder, many people, especially today's teens find Twitter lame, boring and no additional value to what they are already using (e.g. Facebook).

Delicious is cool, but it is limited to sharing links (URLs). However, sometimes I just want to share an idea (that has no link). My brain is bombarded with new ideas every day, and I know with many of them I will probably never have the time to act or create value from. However, if someone out there can, or work on them further, then that would be cool.

Let's face it, people like me don't become entrepreneurs, but that does not mean we can't make some big bucks (in other creative ways) :)

WHY SHOULD WE SUBSCRIBE?
ZaidSwoosh will hopefully be too juicy and annoying to ignore. Besides, all the learning juice, fun and ideas, it will set out to annoy some of the other top bloggers out there. Sometimes the big egos (if they are) out there need a small wimp (like ZaidSwoosh) to give them a wakeup call, and remind them that maybe they are not so great after all. Hopefully, they enjoy a bit of constructive and annoying criticism. If they can't be a sport, then too bad!

BUT WON'T THAT BACKFIRE?
If they challenge me back, then thanks for acknowledging this blog's existence, and generating more hits, and helping ZaidSwoosh to climb up the Google ranks. Also, hopefully it will generate a lot of discussions, reflections and deep learning. Learning and fun are inter-twinned, so let's make the most of it. Personally, I learn fastest with In-Your-Face criticism. It's so refreshing :)

WILL NOT THAT AFFECT YOUR ACADEMIC CAREER?
First of all, I am not an academic! I am a Learning Professional only. Apache!

WHY SWOOSH?
Why not! Alright, I am not a basketball player, but I do shoot some hoops once a while. If you really want to know, I used to be a Footballer (That would be soccer player to Americans!). And besides slam dunking (if you are able to. Try a 8-foot rim instead, and get the feeling!), shooting a ball through the basketball rim, and just generating a swoosh sound (no rim, just net), is an amazing feeling (at least for me). Every time I swoosh a ball through the net, it just feels great.

In other words, I want this blog to swoosh you with great learning resources and ideas, in small chunked sizes in a creative way.

Enough questions! Let's ZaidSwoosh!

ZaidSwoosh

ZaidSwoosh Goes IMU E-Learning Facebook! WHAT?

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Einztein - Find FREE Online Courses!

TEDMED Lectures Innovations in Healthcare and Medicine

A New E-Learning Blog in Town!

An Incredibly Useful Guidebook to Internet Searching!

The Ultimate Plagiarism Resource?

Benefits Of Anything Under The Sun!

Avoiding Death by PowerPoint! (Karl Kapp)

SlideShare - The Very Best From ZaidLearn

Want to Build Dynamic Websites? 13 FREE Video Lectures!

Lecture 1 - HTTPDiscusses the use of HTTP in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 2 - PHPDiscusses the use of PHP in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 3 - PHP (continued)Discusses the use of PHP in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 4 - XMLDiscusses the use of XML in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 5 - XML (continued)Discusses the use of XML in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 6 - SQLDiscusses the use of SQL in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 7 - SQL (continued)Discusses the use of SQL in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 8 - JavaScriptDiscusses the use of JavaScript in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 10 - AjaxDiscusses the use of Ajax in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 12 - SecurityDiscusses security as it pertains to building dynamic websites.

Lecture 13 - ScalabilityDiscusses scalability as it pertains to building dynamic websites.

Finals Club - Lecture Notes From Students Instead!

Build Brain Games On-The-Fly with ProProfs!

10 Trends To Watch In 2010! E-Learning Vending Machines?

5 Higher Ed Tech Trends To Watch in 2010!

Search By Sight With Google Goggles

Top 125 Workplace eLearning Posts of 2009!

WikiWorldBook - The Global Address Book?

Funny Videos About Tiger Woods!

Use QR Code to Share Your Site to the World!

DID YOU KNOW 'Did You Know 4.0'

A Podcasting Mini-Guide (Jeff Cobb)

New Tools for Personal Learning (Stephen Downes)

SciPlore Combines Mind Maps with Reference and PDF Management

Imagine a World of Holographic Learning!

John Larkin's Learning World!

Educational Technology and Related Education Conferences - 2010

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009! Jane Hart is No. 1 :)

Stephen Downes Reflects Open Education Projects and Potential

Free Worldwide K12 Online Conference! Awesome!

3 Interesting Malaysian Learning Initiatives in a Swoosh!

IRRODL- Openness and the Future of Higher Education

The ‘Blogger of the Week’ is ZaidSwoosh!

UK's Higher Education Blueprint to Become a World Class University

ShowDocument Strikes Google Wave Back!

The Complete Guide to Google Wave

Twitter Lists Vs Google Reader! Why Scobleizer?

iRadio - OUM's Official Internet Radio Station

Thousands of Free Online Courses!

5th International Conference on e-Learning at USM (Malaysia)

Medpedia - A New Medical Knowledge Sharing Model

To Get an MBA or Not? Guy Kawasaki's Law!

MedWorm - The Ultimate Medical Resource Search Engine?

The Secrets of Einstein's Brain

Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training

Gary Hayes Social Media Seriously Counts!

EDGE - Watch Great Minds Think-Out-Loud!

A New Medical Learning Blog in Town! Guess Who?

Top Tips on E-Learning From Kineo

The PowerPoint MVPs!

100 Best Professors Who Blog

ImageChef - Make Word Mosaic

32 Traits of Creative People

The Global Text Project

What is Google Wave?

UNESCO OER Toolkit

Educational Uses of Second Life

A Free Facilitator's Guide to Live Online Learning

Moodle Tutorials - Educating Educators

24 Swoosh Delicious Articles From Clive Shepherd!

oneforty - A Better Way to Discover Twitter Apps

Moodle 2.0 Tools or Web 2.0 Alternatives?

A Pocket University (or iTunesU at Oxford University)

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning

99 Free EduGames to Spice Up Your Course!

Insidious Pedagogy: How Course Management Systems Affect Teaching

Academia 2.0 - Be Relevant-Engaging-Fun!

Lecture 1 - HTTP
Discusses the use of HTTP in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 2 - PHP
Discusses the use of PHP in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 3 - PHP (continued)
Discusses the use of PHP in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 4 - XML
Discusses the use of XML in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 5 - XML (continued)
Discusses the use of XML in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 6 - SQL
Discusses the use of SQL in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 7 - SQL (continued)
Discusses the use of SQL in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 8 - JavaScript
Discusses the use of JavaScript in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 10 - Ajax
Discusses the use of Ajax in building dynamic websites.

Lecture 12 - Security
Discusses security as it pertains to building dynamic websites.

Lecture 13 - Scalability
Discusses scalability as it pertains to building dynamic websites.