Another question related to serious games and immersive learning simulations: “What are the shortcomings in the scholarship/research around. Serious Games/Immersive Learning Simulations? &#. One of the biggest shortcomings is how comparative research is conducted. Everyone wants to do a study comparing serious games/immersive learning simulations with classroom or online instruction to see which is better. Please, we’ve done comparative research studies for decades and always found the same result, well designed instruction, no matter what the medium is effective. MORE >>

Another year comes towards to an end and its been another year of great reading for anyone with an interest in learning. Once again I have read from a wide range of areas, all with something to add to how I think of learning. Below you'll find my top recommendations for the year along with a short summary of what I got out of reading each book. haven't put these in a top ten order this year, there were so many contenders for the number one spot! Do you think there is a standout number one? Let me know. PresentationZen Design - Garr Reynolds. resonate - Nancy Duarte. Drive - Dan Pink. MORE >>

I just read George Siemens post Will online lectures destroy universities? He makes the point that despite articles like Why free online lectures will destroy universities – unless they get their act together fast : Statements like “universities are obsolete” or “universities are dying” are comical. And untrue. Universities are continuing to grow in enrolment and general influence in society. Calling universities obsolete while we are early on in the so-called knowledge economy is like declaring factories obsolete in the 18th century just as the industrial revolution was taking hold. MORE >>

We wrapped up our open course on Personal Learning Environments and Networks a few weeks ago. want to address a few aspects of the discussion about personal learning networks (PLN). Often, on Twitter, blogs, and Facebook, I’ll read some variant of “my PLN is the most wonderful thing evar!!!&# “It meets all my knowledge and emotional needs&# “It’s better than getting a university degree&# “It makes my toast in the morning&# “It cleans the oven and the toilet&#.and and so on. Let’s tackle this in a bit more detail. Connectedness is crazy stuff. MORE >>

Sometimes it seems that instructional designers are obsessed with questions. They cannot imagine an effective learning resource that is not liberally sprinkled with opportunities to interact: Plain text is frowned at, yet strangely not in blogs or on the WIkipedia. Page turners are frowned at, yet strangely not on your Kindle. Presentations are frowned at, yet strangely not when shown on TED. The reality is that it is not always essential for online materials to include interactivity. Not everything needs to be an online tutorial. In other words, interaction is part of the blend. MORE >>