The Boggs e-Learning Chronicle

Happy July 4th

I will not be posting on Monday July 3rd & 4th.  Have a great holiday!

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks

Learning List Serve

While it has not started yet, there is a Corporate Learning Forum List Serve that begins  in August.  Its costs $50 for the year. 

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks

PDF on Computer-Based e-Learning Assessment

From the Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, Computer-Based Assessment in E-Learning: A Framework for Constructing "Intermediate Constraint" Questions and Tasks for Technology Platforms

Abstract:

"Technology today offers many new opportunities for innovation in educational assessment through rich new assessment tasks and potentially powerful scoring, reporting and real-time feedback mechanisms. One potential limitation for realizing the benefits of computer-based assessment in both instructional assessment and large scale testing comes in designing questions and tasks with which computers can effectively interface (i.e., for scoring and score reporting purposes) while still gathering meaningful measurement evidence. This paper introduces a taxonomy or categorization of 28 innovative item types that may be useful in computer-based assessment. Organized along the degree of constraint on the respondent’s options for answering or interacting with the assessment item or task, the proposed taxonomy describes a set of iconic item types termed “intermediate constraint” items. These item types have responses that fall somewhere between fully constrained responses (i.e., the conventional multiple-choice question), which can be far too limiting to tap much of the potential of new information technologies, and fully constructed responses (i.e. the traditional essay), which can be a challenge for computers to meaningfully analyze even with today’s sophisticated tools. The 28 example types discussed in this paper are based on 7 categories of ordering involving successively decreasing response constraints from fully selected to fully constructed. Each category of constraint includes four iconic examples. The intended purpose of the proposed taxonomy is to provide a practical resource for assessment developers as well as a useful framework for the discussion of innovative assessment formats and uses in computer-based settings."

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks

The Abbreviated Life-Cycle of the e-Learning Tsetse Fly

Read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal, "Why Management Trends Quickly Fade Away"  by Phred Dvorak.  Some of the faded trends listed were "Total Quality Management", "Business Process Reengineering", and the  "Learning Organization".    This sounds a little like the rise and fall of blogs and other technologies......

Has The Blogging Trend Begun To Fade, Even Before It Ever Got Started In Corporate Training / e-Learning Environments?

And I wonder if soon, you could lump all the Web 2.0, e-Learning 2.0, and all its other 2.o children in this pile. 

Whatever the case, the article talks about a  study published in the April/May edition of Academy of Management Journal that squarely places the blame squarely on consultants that are termed as "fashion surfers" because they rush to offer services when an idea is hot
[blogs must be used in  e-Learning, wikis must be used  e-Learning, rss must be used in  e-Learning, mashups must be used e-Learning, etc. ], even though they do not have the long standing expertise in the field.  Hmmm......this just sounds way too familiar.

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks

SyberWorks Training Management Systems Case Study

We have a new training management systems case study up in our media center.  Below is the press release announcing the case study and a link to the case study.

Press Release:

SyberWorks Announces New Training Management Case Study

Case Study:

SyberWorks Training Management System Case Study - End-to-end SyberWorks Learning Management System Runs Information Mapping's Training Business

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks

Books On Mobile Learning...

Mobile Learning:

Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Educators and Trainers (The Open and Flexible Learning Series) (Paperback) by Agnes Kukulska-Hulme (Editor), John Traxler (Editor)

Book Description:

"This book is a timely introduction to the emerging field of mobile learning, explaining the technologies involved, their applications and the multiple effects on pedagogical and social practice. Mobile devices include handheld computers, smartphones and PDAs, and this book will emphasise the issues of usability, accessibility, evaluation and effectiveness, drawing from case studies written by researchers and practitioners.
This is a cutting-edge subject in open and flexible learning, yet in spite of being the subject of a number of e-learning conferences, very little has been published on it (see competition analysis). This book will be the first to hit the market and will be picked up primarily by HE and FE readerships, but also by trainers wanting to find out about the opportunities offered by these new technologies."

M-Learning: Mobile E-Learning (Paperback) by David Metcalf

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks

Emotional intelligence and online Learning goes together like peas and carrots

Susan Smith Nash, PHD has an interesting post .. Emotional Intelligence and Online Learning  It has a lot of good common sense things for online learners (of course, common sense is not common).

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks

e-Learning Centre merges with Learning Light

Straight from Jane Knight's Blog.....e-Learning Centre announces merger with Learning Light

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks

An online learner was thrown out of training for cheating on their certification test; they went on the Internet, and copied the procedure..A warped paraphrase of Woody Allen's Quote..

I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me.  Woody Allen

To that end, there have been some interesting articles lately on cheating....

Net Students Think Copying Is Okay

Plagiarism by Adult Learners Online: A case study in detection and remediation

Abstract:

Detecting and combating plagiarism from Web-based sources is a concern for   administrators and instructors involved in online distance education. In this   paper, we quantify copy-and-paste plagiarism among adult learners in an online   geography course offered through Penn   State’s World Campus Geographic   Information Systems (GIS) certificate program. We also evaluate the effectiveness   of an “expectation management” strategy intended to discourage adult   learners from unintentional violations. We found that while manual methods detected   plagiarism in only about 3 percent of assignments, Turnitin.com   revealed a 13 percent plagiarism rate among the same assignments. Our attempts   to increase awareness and manage expectations decreased infractions measurably,   but not significantly. In contrast, Turnitin.com substantially improved   our ability to detect infractions. We conclude that raising awareness and managing   expectations about plagiarism may be worthwhile, but is no substitute for systematic   detection and vigilant enforcement, even among adult learners.

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks

Bill Gates Steps Aside...

Microsoft chairman's exit strategy seen aimed at easing investor anxiety

Microsoft eyes new tech leaders for post-Gates era

Dave Boggs
SyberWorks