Moodle Journal

DECEMBER 29, 2005

Well I have completed the update of course training notes for the new 1.5 version of Moodle and finally go round, cannot imagine why it took so long though, to creating a custom scale that we can use for our Edexcel course grading schemes. I have a suspicion that in the long term it may be a more effective time/benefit approach than continuing the development of my PHP/MySQL application, what with ePortfolio space and tracking soon to appear over the horizon, or so I am reliably informed!!

Track 100

Track MySQL Moodle Version 100

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 31, 2005

When educational simulations are first created, they are heavy on simulation elements, and casual players complain they are too hard. Over iterations, as a result of the complaints, educational simulations are made easier and more fun, and serious players then complain they are not deep enough. (By the way, for those who are tracking Star Wars Galaxies , this is playing out exactly as such).

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Simulations Education Player Track 40

Clive on Learning

DECEMBER 16, 2005

A plea to IT user trainers in five thrilling instalments Hello again. You will remember that, back in part 1, I explained that IT user training is evolving through a number of phases. The priority in the first phase of IT user training was to help users to overcome their technophobia and to become comfortable with operating a personal computer. The role of the IT trainer in this phase was to provide face-to-face support and to do plenty of hand-holding.

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Instant Messaging Training Train Movie 40

Big Dog, Little Dog

DECEMBER 29, 2005

Was Drucker Wrong? - Tom Davenport. I also had a chat a few days ago with a Wall Street Journal reporter who is researching an article on knowledge worker productivity. He asked me if the subject is important. I said yes, and mouthed the old Peter Drucker chestnut that "making knowledge work productive is the greatest economic challenge of this century.

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Wiki Knowledge News Journal 32

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Breakthrough eLearning

DECEMBER 4, 2005

Breakthrough eLearning Reflections on how to break through some of the barriers that prevent the achievement of excellence in eLearning.The 5-E Framework: Establish Value / Effect Change / Engage Stakeholders & Learners / Experiment / Evaluate Results Sunday, December 04, 2005 It’s the People, Stupid In just about every presentation I do about eLearning, I include the following statement: “Human beings - and the knowledge, skills and experience that they bring to an eLearning project - are the u

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eLearning LCMS eLearning Tools Evalution 32

Moodle Journal

DECEMBER 17, 2005

It’s the end of winter term and phase 1 of the Moodle rollout here at Bromley College. I have been banging on about these phases but basically phase 1 gets materials, links and simple feedback onto Moodle, which hopefully translates into timesavings for staff; the big one for now. But has it improved anything for students? Well from convenience, yes, however early indications for me anyway, level 2 through 4 from first assignment outcomes would suggest little that could not be explained by varia

VLE 100

VLE Moodle Tutorial Exercise 100

Moodle Journal

DECEMBER 10, 2005

I recently came across the RSC e-Toolbox. The toolbox is a collection of hardware and software tools that are grouped under the headings of: Assessment, Content Creation, Communications, Learning Management Tools, Mobile Learning, Multi Media, Networking, Repurposing,Repository, Videoconferencing, VLE Application, Web, Whiteboards and looks like becoming a one-stop-shop for e-Learning and VlE developers, you can take a look from here or the icon in the sidebar.

VLE 100

VLE Network Mobile Learning Web 100

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 27, 2005

ha·bit·u·a·tion n. The process of habituating or the state of being habituated. Physiological tolerance to a drug resulting from repeated use. Psychological dependence on a drug. Psychology. The decline of a conditioned response following repeated exposure to the conditioned stimulus. or ha·bit·u·ate 1. transitive verb make somebody used to something: to accustom a person or animal to something through prolonged and regular exposure ( formal ) People living in cities become habituated to

Teach 40

Teach Personal Personalization Learning 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 28, 2005

Maps, be they physical or conceptual, have dark spots - places that we don't know and probably should. Thousands of great new drugs and other technologies are possible, but not "found" yet. New business processes are being developed. Marketers have a phrase "you've never tasted your favorite cereal." The concept of probing (alien encounters aside) involves diverting resources from a life-as-usual process-optimization strategy and taking a risk on finding something better.

Press 40

Press Market Ideas Strategy 40

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The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 28, 2005

During December and January, many blogs and websites publish their reviews of the year that has passed. Some publish the "best of" and "worst of." Others catalog the biggest surprises or greatest disappointments. I thought that it would be most in the spirit of LCB to ask our readers to share what you feel 2005 was about in our world. What was significant about 2005 in the learning and elearning world.

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Emergent Lesson Website LMS 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 28, 2005

Things that seem simple, narrow, and isolated when "taught" through traditional linear means are deep, complex, and extendable when taught through simulations. Let's call this the "Tilt principle." When playing pinball, you can nudge the machine a little bit to keep the ball from going out of play. But if you nudge the machine too hard, you will "Tilt" the machine, ending that play.

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Simulations Player Education Theory 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 26, 2005

When capturing what domain experts know/do for a simulation, one has to interview/watch for high level patterns. What are the patterns that they see play out time and time again, and what are the variations of that pattern? There are basic patterns, like bell curves. There are higher-level patterns, like people hiring other people that are similar to them, or the fact that new technology is always over-hyped.

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Pattern Emergent Simulations Portfolio 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 25, 2005

We are using computer games as a beacon to rethink domain expertise and how to better share it. But one area of critical pedagogy that computer games poorly role-modeled is after-action reviews. AARs are sessions to step outside of the real-time engagements, typically after heightened activity, to better understand what happened, and what should have happened.

Pedagogy 40

Pedagogy Player Score Performance Support 40

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The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 24, 2005

Triggers are almost the opposite of primary variables. While primary variables tick up or tick down, always ready to be corrected and for which compensated, triggers are "all or nothing" events. When studying what an expert knows/does, the question is, "what are events that if happen are (at least temporarily) irreversable and that change the dynamics?

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Study Expert Games Solution 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 23, 2005

A map is part of any simworld, that influences the visual experience of the player, level design, type of knowledge captured, and also the play/know/do. There are maze structures: the goal is to travel to the right spot (or spots), or get something (like a ball) to the right spot, sometimes even learning what the right spot is. There are territory structures: the goal is to control as much as possible, or to control the right spots.

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Simulations Player Security Innovation 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 21, 2005

I used to say that the most important ingredient in a formal learning program is motivation of the students. Having poured through thousands of results of recent big skills programs, I think the most important ingredient is the honesty of the students. Honesty is the genuine awareness of strengths and weaknesses, and then the impact of their strengths and weaknesses.

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Culture Learning Program Skills 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 19, 2005

After reflecting upon the recent topic of Snakeoil for a while I have decided that it simply does not jive with the facts. Laurie Bassi's research shows that organizations that make large investments in training do much better than others. This is because training has both a direct and indirect effect upon the organization: The direct effect is that employees have the skills and competencies they need to do their jobs.

Jive 40

Jive Brain Training Train 40

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The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 19, 2005

Computer games are filled with actuators. Actuators turn one resource into another. They might turn money into customer satisfaction. They might turn research into finished products. They can be bought, built, placed, and upgraded. They might require a constant stream of resources (fixed costs) and/or variable. They can be destroyed, or shut down. They might have some advantage if geographically positioned close to map-based resources or close to other actuators.

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Upgrade Streaming Predictions Resources 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 19, 2005

According to the Second Paradox, educational simulations can never be completely comprehensive and accurate, because once a perfect simulation model can be created, the process can be automated, and therefore formal learning is not necessary.

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Simulations Education Create Learning 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 19, 2005

The point of these SimWord entries is to suggest that we are developing new tools for capturing domain knowledge and new language for describing how we engage the world. Does this matter to the formal learning industries? I believe there is nothing more important. If we can't capture more of what an expert knows/does, our industry is stuck telling people how to use the newest ERP tool or memorize a list of facts.

Player 40

Player Games Expert Research 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 19, 2005

Multiple measurable criteria for success. For example, given a walk in the woods, primary variables might be fun, safety, low cost, and exercise. A collection of primary variables should be optimized, should be reinforcing in the long terms, but sometimes they conflict with each other in the short term. Primary variables are often influenced indirectly, such as by tweaking secondary or tertiary variables.

Simulations 40

Simulations Low Cost Exercise Score 40

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The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 19, 2005

The first paradox is that people learn more from the underlying systems and interface in an educational simulation than from the story or wrapper. This is also called the "Killing Kings" paradox, as people who play chess don't learn how to kill kings, but they do learn some high level strategy. Playing a violent computer game does not teach transferable "killing" skills, but more likely the underlying systems and relationships.

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Simulations Education Games Classroom 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 18, 2005

For those of you who play Real Time Strategy games, to rush is to, early on in a scenario, build a large, mobile army and attack an opponent, hopefully catching them unaware while they are still building up their infrastructure. This term is increasingly used in real business situations, both for people internally planning to get support for their idea "let's do an email rush before the report is released," and externally, "it is not enough to be an early mover.

Games 40

Games Strategy Report Mobile 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 14, 2005

According to most studies, about 70% of what we learn is done informally. Yet according to other studies, peoples' notions about what they learn tend to correlate only 0.2 to 0.3 with performance. If we cannot accurately assess ourselves, then how do we know we have mastered what we set out to do when we are learning informally?

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Assessment Study Performance Informal 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 15, 2005

It was good to see the recent article by Jay Cross concerning PowerPoint in the latest issue of Chief Learning Officer. PowerPoint is probably the most misunderstood, misused and maligned software program used for instruction today. I started using PowerPoint over 10 years ago in the Education arena. Because budgets are so tight in public education and you can find PowerPoint installed on all the computers in our district, I've really been pushing teacher use/instruction of PowerPoint for incorp

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PowerPoint Newsletter Classes Teach 40

HIA Technologies announces the launch of Qvio™️ interactive video platform for learner-driven, AI-enabled, education. Viewers get instant answers to their questions directly from videos, interrupting when needed, and getting an author-validated answer!

Interactive

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 14, 2005

As I get sucked into conversations about simulations with developers and researchers, both here in the states and in other countries, I am increasingly aware of the influence of the languages of several different communities. Critical words and phrases are coming from computer game design, project management, computer programming, nutrition, engineering, TQM, environmentalism, systems theory, even golf coaching.

Simulations 40

Simulations Expert Knowledge Theory 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 5, 2005

Obviously, if you have seen Virtual Leader, you know I am a strong believer in real-time interfaces for educational simulations. Like computer games, they tap emotions, give users a sense of timing, and provide the opportunity for very rich interactions. Unlike computer games, however, they must facilitate the transfer of skills and perspectives from the artificial environment to a real environment.

Simulations 40

Simulations Design Press Expert 40

The Learning Circuits

DECEMBER 4, 2005

A client asked me to find a good example of a wiki that taught people how to use a specific application ( Wikipedia is overwhelming to most, and due to the vastness, not a great example for smaller implementations). The best I found was this , for learning how to use Python. While most here may not be interested in Python, I think it is worth a look to see how content is structured.

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