by Altruist, Rant and Rave

I predict that in the next ten years there will be a revolution in education and that at the end of this revolution the school system will be nearly unrecognizable. I predict that within ten years education will cost less, will produce smarter better adjusted happier students, and will extend to include life long learning.  I’ll begin with how technology can reduce the cost of education and make it more effective. Bill Gates recently said, “In Five Years The Best Education Will Come From The Web”. There are already several colleges that are entirely online. This is good news for people who are working, have families, or who just need more flexible hours. You can do your course work and study whenever it is convenient.

http://www.rantrave.com/Rant/Technology-in-Education.aspx

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By Stephanie Steinberg, USA TODAY

Back-to-school supplies for middle school students used to mean pens, notebooks, maybe a new backpack. But for a growing number of families, the list now includes a laptop computer. “We would never send our own kids to pediatricians that were practicing medicine from the ’70s or ’80s,” says Mark Hess, principal of Sarah Banks Middle School in Wixom, Mich. “Why would we send our kids to schools that are practicing instructional techniques that are decades old? If we did that, it’d be educational malpractice.”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-24-classroomlaptops24_ST_N.htm

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By the Canadian Broadcasting Company, CBC News

A new study from the University of Calgary says computer technology can help students learn, as long as it’s coupled with engaged teaching. Researchers at the University of Calgary have some encouraging words for parents concerned that their children are glued to computer screens. Michele Jacobsen and Sharon Friesen of the university’s faculty of education just completed a research study at Calgary Science School in which students were provided with laptops and then observed over a three-year period. Their results indicate computer technology can dramatically improve the way students learn — but only if coupled with engaged teaching.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/08/26/calgary-research-laptop-computer-students-classroom-learning.html

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by Google Wave Developer blog

Since the announcement that we will discontinue development of Google Wave as a standalone product, many people have asked us about the future of the open source code and Wave federation protocol. After spending some time on figuring out our next steps, we’d like to share the plan for our contributions over the coming months. We will expand upon the 200K lines of code we’ve already open sourced (detailed at waveprotocol.org) to flesh out the existing example Wave server and web client into a more complete application or “Wave in a Box.”

http://googlewavedev.blogspot.com/2010/09/wave-open-source-next-steps-wave-in-box.html

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by Novell News

At Novell, we hear from enterprise users that they need the combination of social connections, rich profiles, real-time co-authoring and their ever-present files in order to make it easier to work together and actually produce better results. Novell Pulse delivers this combination that business consumers want, plus the security controls enterprises demand. Novell is highly committed to the future of enterprise collaboration, and Novell Pulse is on track. Further, we remain committed to pursuing the benefits of real-time collaboration to enable new applications, users and organizations to work together. (there will be a free version)

http://www.novell.com/prblogs/?p=2836

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by Stan Schroeder, Mashable

Google Wave was once one of Google’s hottest projects, promising a new way of communication that might even replace e-mail. Alas, it was not to be, and Google shut it down soon after public launch due to lack of user adoption — but not completely. Wave still draws interest from users, although it turned out to be more of a niche product than a massively disruptive tool. Recently, Google() promised to keep Wave alive, at least until the end of the year, and to open source some parts of it.

http://mashable.com/2010/09/03/google-wave-rise-again/

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It’s hard to believe that we’re approaching the last quarter of 2010.  This year seems to have flown by. I’ve had fun with travel across the country and getting to meet so many blog readers at various conferences.

This past week I dedicated a little bit of time trying to catch up on some reading.  As I looked over my feed reader, I realized just how much good stuff I missed.  If you’re like me, you’ve probably been busy, as well.

Odds are that during the summer months elearning wasn’t on the top of your list.  So I decided to weed through some rapid elearning information and pull out a few posts that you may have missed.  They’re full of practical tips that you can use.  And of course, there are some free PowerPoint elearning templates, too.

Handpicked E-Learning Tutorials

• 50 practical how-to tutorials. At the recent ASTD conference we demonstrated a bunch of elearning tips and tricks.  For those who couldn’t make the conference, you can view the tutorials here.

Going into the Articulate Guru Awards, I thought it would be a good idea to put together some information that would help those who weren’t sure what to do.  I also wanted the tutorials to be somewhat generic so they’d have value outside of the guru awards.  Here are the links to those posts framed in a new way.

• Tips on building content for your elearning portfolio.  Want to expand your elearning skills or have content to show off in your portfolio?  Then follow the 6 tips in this post.
• Build better looking courses.  You want your courses to look good and you want the visual design to support the objectives.  This post shares 10 visual design tips with a great mindmapping exercise.
• Create interactive courses.  You’re not stuck building boring click-and-read courses.  You can do more.  The following post offers four tips on building interactive, rapid elearning courses. 
•  Get more out of the tools you use.  Step away from that same look and feel.  Try some creative things with the authoring tools you have.  If you’re an Articulate user, here are some cool ideas for your next project. 

Free PowerPoint Templates

Let’s face it: everyone loves free stuff!  So here are links to some free PowerPoint templates.

Tabbed PowerPoint Template

• View an example of the template in action.  Download the files here.

• Original post: Here’s a Free PowerPoint E-Learning Template

Clipart-based PowerPoint Template

• View an example of the template in action.  Download the files here.

• Original post: Create E-Learning Templates with a Consistent Clip Art Style

Flip Card PowerPoint Template

• View an example of the template in action.  Download the files here.
• Original post: Here’s Another Free PowerPoint Template

10 Free Audio Applications

Following are the ten audio sites that I profiled.  You can get more detail from the original post. 

• Audio production: Audacity, Myna, and Levelator
• Free sound effects and music: CCmixter, The Freesound Project, OpSound, Free Music Archive, and Jamendo
• Create your own music: Musicshake and TuneAround

Remember if you want good audio, starts with a good mic like the Samson Go Mic (a deal at less than $50) and then learn to do some basic audio production.

From the Community

If you’re an Articulate user and want some free templates and resources, check out these following discussion threads from the community forums.

Vegas-inspired Flash Cards

Click here to view the demo.

• Use this for a quiz template or quick knowledge check.  The community discussion includes the download files.  As you go through the discussion, it’s cool to see the evolution of the template.

Free Navigation using Icons

Click here to view the demo.

• Create a simple navigation panel that lets your learners jump to the information they need.  The community discussion includes a series of how-to tutorials and the download files.

Animated Image Assessment

Click here to view the demo.

This is one of my favorite Quizmaker demos.  I like the way David used the slide view to create an image-based assessment.  The technique can be used in a number of ways.  Like the two previous examples, the community discussion has all of the tutorials and files you need to replicate this.

It’s been a busy summer.  I’m looking forward to helping you and seeing many of you as the conference season starts in September.  What’s one thing you’ve learned from the Rapid E-learning Blog these past few months? Share by clicking on the comments link.

Tidbits:

Here are some places I’ll be in the near future.  If you’re in the neighborhood, swing by and say hi.

• Vermont ASTD on September 17 from 9:00-12:00.
• Baton Rouge ASTD on October 12.  I’m setting up a free Articulate Jam session for October 13 (8:30-11:00).  Working out the details right now.  Space may be limited, so if you’re interested, contact me and I’ll add you to the list.
• Devlearn in San Francisco, November 3-5.

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite elearning tool and keep this blogger employed.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

By RICKY MARANON, Tulsa World Correspondent

A combination of more online classes and a weak economy has many area colleges and universities reporting record enrollments. Tulsa Community College has the largest student population of its 41-year history, President Tom McKeon said. “We’ve had to increase the number of sections offered with popular courses of study,” McKeon said. “We’re at full capacity, but thankfully, we haven’t had to turn anyone away who wants to learn.” TCC has hired new part-time faculty to deal with the influx of new and returning students, he said.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100829_11_A1_CUTLIN337729

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by the San Francisco Chronicle staff

Last year, there were 1 million downloads of an iTunes U class on developing apps for the iPhone, by far the most popular course in iTunes U at the time. Momentum is still going strong, with 300 million downloads in just over three years, according to Apple. ITunes U is a free catalog of 350,000 audio and video files from colleges and universities around the world. There are about 800 educational institutions involved in iTunes U, including UC Berkeley, Stanford and Santa Clara. More recent additions have come from schools in Singapore, Japan, China and Mexico.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/28/BU6O1F3U59.DTL

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By Denise Smith Amos, Cincinnati Inquirer

Now a growing number of teachers in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky and nationwide are joining, rather than fighting, the tide. It’s a new day for social networking in schools, experts say. Schools until recently were cracking down on most uses of online social networks during the school day. This fall, more schools in the Cincinnati region are channeling YouTube, Facebook and other social sites to market themselves to potential students, parents and taxpayers. And more teachers are Tweeting, Skyping, blogging and “wiki-ing” with students for educational purposes that can span the world.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100828/NEWS0102/8290332/Schools-get-on-Web-2-0-bandwagon

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By VICKI ROCK, Daily American

Classrooms with blackboards and chalk are going the way of the 8-track player. Schools today are converting to SMART boards — interactive whiteboards that are linked to laptop computers. Judy Maxwell, technology director for the Somerset Area School District, said students in kindergarten through sixth grade will now use SMART boards. The district received $350,000 in Enhanced Education Through Technology grant money and federal stimulus funds for the new technology. The district purchased 46 whiteboards, laptop computers for all the teachers and additional laptops for students to share. “The potential technology has in the classroom is unlimited,” said Erick Fish, principal of Eagle View Elementary. “Or we’re limited only by our imaginations.”

http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2010/08/25/news/local/news211.txt

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By Gus G. Sentementes, The Baltimore Sun

This fall, the hit course on some college campuses may very well be iPad 101. At the University of Maryland, administrators plan to hand out Apple iPads to about 60 students, part of a new two-year program called Digital Culture and Creativity that immerses students in new technologies and focuses on the potential of the iPad to shake up the campus experience. The iPad has experienced early success in the consumer market, with more than 3 million sold since April, and it’s already going back to school.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/technology/bs-bz-ipad-college-campus-20100823,0,7095255.story

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By Kurt Bakke, Conceivably Tech

Sony says it has developed a new cable technology for use in mobile devices that can replace more than 20 individual cables with just one cable. The single wire interface is already on its way into production and is expected to enable a new class of flip phones. If you are looking for a new cell phone, buying a flip phone may not be your first thought. We are all about big touchscreens these days, but then we also have to admit that flip phones have not shown much innovation in the past few years and have dropped to the very low end or completely out of the market. But Sony says it has a new technology that may fuel a new generation of mobile devices which have a screen that is separate from the data input unit.

http://www.conceivablytech.com/2355/products/can-sony-reinvent-the-flip-phone/

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By Laura Dignan, the Daily Times

With her daughter entering Cape Henlopen High School as a freshman, Lori Voss is ecstatic that Apple iPads are making their way into the classrooms. “These teenagers are technology whizzes,” she said. “(The iPads) will keep the students interested, and I think we need to progress and stay right alongside where technology is today.” Brian Curtis, associate principal of technology at Cape, said his district, together with neighboring Indian River, applied for a federal grant to purchase the devices. Curtis said he hopes students will be able to take the iPads home, but it hasn’t yet been determined if that will be possible. Administrators are also unsure of how many devices the district will receive and how much it will ultimately cost.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100825/NEWS01/8250404/1002/Cape-Henlopen-freshmen-take-a-step-into-21st-century

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by Laura Sydell, NPR

Google has created a new priority inbox system for its Gmail service. The new system sorts through your messages and puts the important ones in a separate box called Important. If you feel like you can’t deal with all the e-mail in your inbox, you are not alone. Market researchers say nearly 300 billion e-mails are sent each day. On average you will send and receive 110 messages daily. Google is releasing a feature for its Gmail service that the company says will help set priorities for your inbox and ease up that sense of information overload.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129537105

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By Sophia Li, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Josh Weinstein, a 2009 graduate of Princeton University, remembers waiting eagerly for his official college e-mail address the summer before freshman year. An address ending in .edu would give him access to Facebook, an online social network that only college students could join. Oh, how times have changed. Everyone and their mothers, and fathers, are on Facebook. But Mr. Weinstein hasn’t given up hope: He’s created a Web site where students can post messages, pictures, and events away from the prying eyes of parents and professors. The site, CollegeOnly, went up on Wednesday, and right now students from Cornell, Princeton, and Yale Universities can sign up.

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/College-Only-Social-Network/26519/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

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by Ralph Barrera, the Statesman

The same digital revolution that upended the music industry and is transforming TV, movies and books is slowly working its way into classrooms. In many schools, students are just as likely to carry a cell phone as a backpack. Schools and libraries are wired, outfitted with desktop, laptop and netbook computers with high-speed Internet access. Many of them are beginning to experiment with touch-screen computer tablets like the Apple iPad or increasingly powerful smart phones. But when it comes to the holy grail of electronic education — the e-textbook — Texas schools haven’t quite arrived at the date when students can stop carrying printed textbooks around.

http://www.statesman.com/life/e-textbooks-are-on-the-way-but-not-871780.html

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By MIMI PACIFICO, Daytona Beach News-Journal

A school-age boy needed special software for his computer in order to complete his assignments. His mother went in search of help. A young woman was preparing to move into her own apartment. Her mother wanted to make sure that if someone were to come to the front door, her daughter, who has a disability, would be able to see who was on the other side before opening it. Where could she turn for assistance? A man in his 70s with a vision problem hadn’t read his mail in years. A hand-held magnifier that could be adjusted to different powers was needed. What could he do? These are a few examples of the types of needs Sandi Baker tries to fill through Visual Innovations and Solutions, a Daytona Beach-based nonprofit established in 2007.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2010/08/22/company-gets-adaptive-technology-to-those-in-need.html

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By Matt Warman, the Telegraph

With the school year about to kick off, thousands of students are clamouring for a new computer. Adults, too, are no doubt thinking that an updated gadget could be just the thing to improve their productivity or make surfing the web that much better. However, no such excuses are needed – there has never been a better time to buy a new computer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/7955817/How-to-choose-a-new-computer.html

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by John Cox, Computerworld

The top back-to-school IT projects at 10 colleges and universities show a tidal wave of change in higher education. Many of the changes could presage broader shifts in enterprise and consumer technology. Not surprisingly, wireless is fast becoming the default network connection for campus users, who typically own between two and four wireless-enabled mobile devices. At the same time, virtualization and growth in cloud-based services are centralizing and offloading IT functions. These changes, coupled with soaring video traffic, are triggering bandwidth upgrades at all levels.

http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=8F27CDFE-1A64-67EA-E41562913CEF1103

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