eLearning Weekly

Spotlight On…You! March 10, 2009

Over the past few months, I’ve been excited to see traffic to my blog increase rapidly. However, it’s bittersweet because I’m seeing a large portion of this traffic going directly to two posts I wrote a while ago: eLearning Jobs and More eLearning Job Resources. This tells me that people are increasingly seeking employment (no real surprise, I suppose). So, in an effort to help job-seekers even more, I’m introducing a new feature on eLearning Weekly, called Spotlight On…, where I will feature a profile of a learning and technology professional seeking employment every few days. The featured individuals gets at least 3 days of face-time on the home page of eLearning Weekly, along with a detailed profile.

Advantages

There are a few big advantages for doing this:

• You’ll get exposure on a blog that is read by thousands of people each month.
• Your profile will be indexed by search engines, so your name may begin showing up when people search for certain keywords.
• The right person may happen to see your information and give you a call.
• It’s 100% free, no strings attached!

Submit Your Information

To be considered for this feature, please send the following information to me at , with the subject line Spotlight On…:

• Name
• Your picture (Optional)
• Email address and/or phone number (Note: This will be shown in your profile.)
• LinkedIn profile (Optional, but highly recommended)
• Preferred location (city / state / country)
• Professional interests
• Description of your skills
• Description of your work experience
• Something interesting/fun about yourself
• Anything else you feel is relevant

Disclaimer:
Participants will be randomly chosen, and not all submissions will be used.

Thoughts on Blended Learning July 12, 2008

Clive Shepherd has three great posts about blended learning over on his blog (see the links at the bottom of this post). Clive gives us a well-needed closer examination of how we define and prescribe blended learning. In the past, I remember using the term and concept to help get management away from the idea of only using instructor-led training. This at least opened their eyes to consider using online courses, virtual classroom training, etc. Now I feel like too many people blindly say, “You should create a blended learning solution…” but they can’t describe it or explain why they need it. Sigh.

Blended learning the process of using one or more media to facilitate one or more (instructional) methods. However, Clive breaks down the methods based on the social context(s) of the learning experience. He groups the methods based on their social context as follows:

• Self-study: for example, reading, reflecting, interacting with content, viewing video, simulation, undertaking a project, writing an essay;
• One-to-one: for example, on-job instruction, coaching, mentoring, support;
• Small group: for example, discussion, role play, group assignments, multi-player games;
• Large community, for example, lecture, presentation, Q&A.

Clive then explains the importance of the social context:

It seems to me that, if you want to enhance the effectiveness of a learning intervention, then you are more likely to blend the social context than you are the medium. If the learning requirement is multi-faceted – perhaps it has elements of underlying knowledge, skill building, attitudinal change and application to the job – then it is hard to see how a single social context will be ideal throughout. Blending social contexts enhances effectiveness.

He emphasizes that the media should be fairly easy to choose once the methods are selected. However, too often, people will choose their media first before they’ve given any thought to instructional design and the methods they should employ. This is where blended learning can backfire. (See Clive’s post It’s the method, not the medium for a good look at this.)

I’ll definitely keep this approach in mind; the idea of examining the social context really seems to tighten up the design phase. Clive’s posts also discuss when the blended approach should be used. Looking back, Clive does an excellent job of discussing the full circle of blended learning: He covers its definition, how it should be designed, and when it should be used.

Here are the links to Clive’s posts on blended learning:

• So what is blended learning?
• The argument for blended learning
• Is everything a blend?

Great stuff. Thanks, Clive!