It shouldn’t come as a surprise that social media has changed more than just how we pass the time, it has now infused itself into formal learning channels. Although adoption is slow (for instance, only 15% of teachers find value in Facebook, Wiki, and other social networks), time will only show that it will rise. Interestingly though, about one third of teachers surveyed for this infographic say they use social networking or social media for their instruction. Seeing as social media is now mainstream, to what extent do we combine it with instructional design methodology? MORE >>

Are knowledge workers the new artisans of the network era? If so, can you call yourself a knowledge worker if you are not allowed to choose your own tools? How about managing your own learning? An artisan is a skilled worker in a particular craft, using specialized processes, tools, and machinery. Artisans were the dominant producers of goods before the industrial era. Today, knowledge artisans of the network era are using the latest information and social tools in an interconnected economy. They can be programmers, designers, writers, or any other field requiring complex skills and creativity. MORE >>

We are changing Learning Management Systems (LMS) at my school. Lately I have been very busy transferring content from one LMS to another and prettying up courses. You must envy me right? smile*). Anyway, I am working on distance courses where the instructor and the students never meet face to face. So the primary method of communication of the course materials is via the course website on the LMS. ve seen some crazy things in my course conversion tasks. think the answer is different for each professor because I have seen some things that are disheartening. What a waste of time. MORE >>

Brandon Hall used the proposition that changes in the US are subsequently reflected in the rest of the world to examine coming changes in Higher Ed. He proposed that big change is coming and that the way to cope is to move to more vocational alignment and a project-based pedagogy. strategy MORE >>

On to the second of the five weeks Coursera / University of Edinburgh MOOC: ‘eLearning and Digital Cultures’. This week is centred around looking to the future, the “future-focused visions of technology and education” whilst building on the previous utopian/dystopian ‘discourse’ Having to watch, and comment/analyse, films introduced as “evocative and sometimes disturbing visions of what the future of information technology might hold” is always going to get your attention. How is education being visualised in “A Day Made of Glass” ? EdTechDev.  MORE >>