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e-Learning in the 21st Century

June 19, 2009 by Roy Johnson

theory and practice of designing online learning

e-Learning is education’s Big Thing at the moment. After all, it makes sense. If courses are put on line, students can study where and when they wish, tutors are freed from lecturing and classroom drudgery, and the institution can offer its courses to customers worldwide. That’s the theory anyway, and many institutions have thrown their text-based materials onto web sites, hoping to keep up with the rush. But of course, there’s a lot more to it than that.

e-Learning in the 21st CenturyGarrison and Anderson take a gung-ho line on e-Learning, arguing that it will transform education in the coming century – but they point out from the start that a lot of careful planning is required. As far as educational theory is concerned, their approach is ‘collaborate constructivist’. That is, it’s based on the idea that individuals create meaning for themselves which is then related to society. A great deal of their emphasis is placed on ‘community’:

A critical community of learners … is composed of teachers and students transacting with the specific purposes of facilitating, constructing, and validating understanding, and of developing capabilities that will lead to further learning.

Almost all their observations in the first half of the book are posited in terms of educational theory. But when in the second they come to give practical advice, most of it confirms my own experience of online tuition and course design. For instance, they emphasise the need to establish as rapidly as possible what they call ‘social presence’ – some sense of rapport between members of the learning community.

There are also some useful tips on course design – such as not overloading students with too much content, and placing more emphasis on cognitive skills and critical thinking. They are also good on how to promote and guide online conferences. Open University tutors please take note.

They cover evaluation and assessment, problem-based learning, and the organizational problems created for institutions, plus repositories of free learning objects which might help designers overcome them.

The authors are unashamed enthusiasts, and they cover in detail how the skills and facilities of successful online learning can be harnessed to overcome the apparent weaknesses of asynchronous communication in a networked community.

It’s a pity there are no practical examples of online courses or reviews of software, but anyone involved in the development of online courses who needs theoretical justification for their enterprise will find plenty of it here.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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D. R. Garrison and Terry Anderson, E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Framework for Research and Practice, London: Routledge, 2003, pp.167, ISBN 0415263468


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Filed Under: Online Learning Tagged With: Education, eLearning, Online learning, Technology

eBook Readers – compared

May 15, 2010 by Roy Johnson

a comparison chart of ebook reader features and prices

eBook readersKindle eBook Reader
Main features: 6″ diagonal E Ink® electronic paper display – weight 10 ounces (290 grams) – 1.5 GB storage – USB 2.0 port – supports multiple ebook formats – download via free built-in WiFi – 2 weeks battery life (reading) – holds up to 1,500 books 

UK=£176
US=$259

 

eBook readersSony Reader eBook Space
Main features: 6″ diagonal E Ink® electronic paper display – weight 260 grams – 192 MB storage expandable via MemoryStick or SD Card – supports multiple ebook formats – download with USB connection to PC via broadband – rechargeable battery – holds up to 160 ebooks 

UK=£275
US=$148

 

eBook readersBookeen Cybook Gen 3 eBook Reader
Main features: 5″ diagonal E Ink® electronic paper display – weight 260 grams – 512 MB storage (1,000 books) with optional SD card – supports multiple ebook formats – download with USB connection to PC via broadband – rechargeable battery – very light – mixed reviews 

UK=£180
US=$219

 


iRiver eBook reader
iRiver eBook Reader
Main features: 6″ diagonal E Ink® electronic paper display – eBook reader, Office Viewer, MP3 Player, Voice recorder, Personal organizer – weight 500 grams – 2.0 GB storage with optional SD card – supports multiple ebook formats – download with USB connection to PC via broadband – rechargeable battery – full QUERTY keyboard 

UK=£195

 


BeBook eBook reader
BeBook eBook Reader
Main features: 6″ diagonal E Ink® electronic paper display – weight 220 grams – 512MB storage (1,000 books) expandable to 4GB via SD slot – supports multiple ebook formats – download with USB connection to PC via broadband – rechargeable battery – preloaded with 150 free eBooks 

UK=£239

Red button eBooks on Writing and Study Skills


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Filed Under: Computers Tagged With: BeBook, Computers, Cybook, eBook readers, iRiver, Kindle, Media, Technology

ECDL: The Complete Coursebook

June 27, 2009 by Roy Johnson

coursebook for ECDL, or for improving computing skills

The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) is an internationally recognised certificate of computing skills. In a climate where employers are increasingly keen to employ staff with proven IT skills, the ECDL is highly regarded and provides proof of competence in the most common software applications. The licence is awarded to candidates who pass tests in seven modules, which together make up the ECDL syllabus.

  • Basic Concepts of IT
  • Using the Computer and Managing Files
  • Word Processing
  • Spreadsheets
  • Databases
  • Presentations
  • Information and Communication

This coursebook has been fully approved by the ECDL Foundation. If you can grasp these basic skills, you are well on your way to computer proficiency.

ECDL4: The Complete Coursebook It devotes a chapter to each of the modules and provides a comprehensive guide to some of the most common business applications. It’s written in clear, easy to follow language. It’s also jargon free and assumes little or no previous knowledge of the applications that it covers. Both the tests and the book are based on Microsoft software – and in particular Windows XP®, Internet Explorer 5® and Outlook Express 5®.

Although the ECDL modules are numbered, the tests can be taken in any order. However, the authors here assume readers will work through the sections in order. The earliest sections are aimed at the complete beginner and they explain basic computer terms and concepts. The later chapters provide less explanation of the basics.

Much of the material covered will be familiar to a regular computer user, but there are very clear explanations of, for example, the difference between ROM and RAM, and the meaning of bits and bytes. This is the only section of the coursebook that is entirely theoretical. Its aim is to prepare the reader for a multiple-choice test on the key concepts of Information Technology.

The rest of the book contains over 280 easy-to-follow exercises, which guide you through the various features of the relevant applications. Starting with the simplest of tasks, the exercises enable you to become familiar with the software before introducing its more advanced features. There are over 700 screen shots which show what the results should look like.

There are also plenty of hints and shortcuts, and it’s likely that even the most confident of computer users will pick up the odd little gem.

I used this book as preparation for my own ECDL tests. Since gaining the licence I’ve referred back to it many times to refresh my memory on various points and have found many of its hints and tips to be invaluable.

For anyone interested in taking the ECDL, this book contains everything you will need to pass. And it wouldn’t be wasted on those who simply want to improve their knowledge and skills in popular software applications.

More information about the ECDL is available from the official website at http://www.ecdl.com/

© Kathryn Abram 2003

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Paul Holden and Brendan Munnelly, ECDL4: The Complete Coursebook, Prentice Hall, new edition 2003, pp.640, ISBN 0130399175


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Filed Under: Computers Tagged With: Computers, ECDL, ECDL4: The Complete Coursebook, Education, Technology

eLearning: the key concepts

July 6, 2009 by Roy Johnson

up-to-date survey of online learning

Online learning is everywhere these days – for good reasons. Schools want to encourage the use of IT; colleges want their courses to be available 24/7; and universities want to sell their courses to people all around the world. eLearning: the key concepts is aimed at intermediate to advanced users which seeks to explain the main issues. An introductory essay clears the ground by looking at the many terms used in eLearning to describe what is sometimes almost the same thing (eLearning, distance learning, blended learning, flexible learning, and computer assisted learning).

eLearning: the key conceptsThey are nearly the same, but not quite, and the authors do a good job of making the necessary distinctions. This also acts as a survey of the problems and possibilities of teaching and learning in the online world. They take account of such issues as the fact that many tutors in higher education receive no career advancement or recompense for the courses they might design. And they recognise that students are often more advanced than their conservative tutors in the adoption of digital technology and its multimedia attractions.

The second and major part of the book is an extended glossary of terms, explaining in detail everything from (alphabetically) ‘accessibility’ to ‘wireless networks’. All the entries are extensively cross-referenced, and there are web links to further resources where appropriate.

Some of the terms are to do with educational theory, such as ‘assessment’ and ‘problem-based learning’; others are technological, such as ‘open source software’ and ‘voice over Internet protocol (VOIP); and others deal with educational issues, such as ‘plagiarism’, ‘feedback’, and ‘quality assurance’.

Wherever possible, they give examples of the topic. Defending the use of video animations and blogging as educational tools for instance, they give examples of sites where these techniques are being used to advantage.

They have some interesting things to say about ‘learning objects’ – small, subject-independent re-usable units of teaching. These can be taken off the shelf and combined with others to save course designers the trouble of re-inventing wheels. They’re an amazingly good idea – yet very few people use them. Why? Because teachers traditionally wish to create their own materials, and they want to place the items of instruction in the context of their own subject discipline. It’s often said ironically of learning objects that they are the solution to a problem which has not yet been identified.

I have been designing and teaching online courses more or less since they first came into being, and this book seems to me as up to date as its possible to be in the plodding world of dead tree publishing. They missed the spectacular growth of Moodle which has replaced almost all other virtual learning environments (VLEs) in the last couple of years. But apart from that, everything you need to know about eLearning is well defined here.

© Roy Johnson 2006

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Robin Mason and Frank Rennie, eLearning: the key concepts, London: Routledge, 2006, pp.158, ISBN: 0415373077


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Filed Under: Online Learning Tagged With: Distance learning, Education, eLearning, Online learning

Eric Meyer on CSS

July 9, 2009 by Roy Johnson

web design using cascading style sheets

This is essentially a series of practical tutorials on using style sheets. Eric Meyer on CSS talks you through a series of web page makeovers in fine detail, illustrating the tips and tricks of a professional designer. It’s a book for people who already know HTML, but who want to move on into using style sheets. In fact that’s the point from which he starts – showing you how to convert an existing HTML page. The advantages of using CSS are threefold. Your web pages will be smaller and will download more quickly; you gain fine control over the layout of the page; and if you change the appearance of your site, it can be done with no more than one or two lines of code in the style sheet.

Eric Meyer on CSSHe goes through one makeover project in each chapter, showing how each additional line of coding affects the layout of the page. The changes are illustrated with screenshots each step of the way. For those who are really keen to learn, the book has its own web site where you can download all the pages and style sheets used in the tutorials. The idea is you can read his advice and work through the pages in a text editor at the same time.

His examples include styling a press release and an events calendar; bringing hyperlinks to life; controlling and styling navigation menus; and dealing with forms and background images using layers.

One of the most interesting chapters for me was creating style sheets for producing print versions of Web pages – something we have been asked to do a lot recently.

He also covers how to float and position page elements, how to create multi-column pages, and even how to combine sliced graphics with style sheet positioning to make non-rectangular pages.

It all becomes quite technically advanced, but he sticks to his one step at a time approach and explains every change of code and what effect it will have.

This will appeal to those people who want to get hands-on experience of style sheets, and I imagine it will also be useful as a reference for checking the effect of using any coding element – including the often unforeseen side effects.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Eric A. Mayer, Eric Mayer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design, Indianapolis: IN, New Riders, 2003, pp.322, ISBN 073571245X


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Facebook the missing manual

March 17, 2010 by Roy Johnson

complete guide to social networking

Facebook is flavour of the year in social networking terms right now. It didn’t start until 2004, and it already boasts a billion subscribers, with a user base which is claimed to be slightly more adult than that of My Space. But when you’ve posted all those snaps of yourself getting drunk at the parties – did you know that it’s quite difficult to take them down again just before that vital job interview? If you’re going to use Facebook and take it seriously, you need a guidance manual, and there hasn’t been one – until now. Facebook: the missing manual takes you through the whole process, step by step, from registering and creating your profile to joining networks and finding friends. And every one of those steps is spelled out in a commendably clear manner.

Facebook - The Missing ManualAuthor Emily Veer also reminds you at every stage that the attraction of being able to see the private details of other people’s lives means conversely that they can see yours. You should therefore think carefully about the information you make public.

Once you’ve made or located your friends, there’s a number of different ways of contacting them which are more subtle than a simple email message. You can ‘poke’ people (nudge them), ‘write on walls’ (make public statements inviting a response), and even send gifts. News feeds and blogs are built into the system, and you can participate in ‘groups’.

These groups can be based on a shared interest or hobby (physical astronomy or knitting) something you have in common (your old school), or even the locality where you live. Interestingly however, you are only allowed to join one group based on geographical location – so tough luck for second home owners.

Those are the main Facebook elements: next come the extensions to these basic functions. There’s a system of listing social (real world) events where you can arrange to meet friends. Then there’s a market place where you can place ads (which Facebook calls ‘listings’) so you can sell unwanted items (as on eBay) or buy from other people – all the while checking their credentials via what they post about themselves.

There’s also a system for job-finding and hiring people, or you can use Facebook’s bulletin boards and ‘notes’ feature to work on collaborative projects. And as on many other popular software systems, there are now free add-on applications (widgets and plug-ins) which can add functionality to the basic set-up.

The last section of the book returns, very responsibly, to the issue of privacy. Apart from showing you how to configure the advanced settings of your account, Veer recommends applying a simple rule: ‘Don’t put anything on view which you wouldn’t want your mother or your boss to know about you.” And remember that although at the time of writing Facebook is going through a re-design, it’s still very difficult to remove anything, once it’s up there.

Facebook   Buy the book at Amazon UK

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© Roy Johnson 2010


E.A. Vander Veer, Facebook: the missing manual, Sebastopol (CA): O’Reilly, 2nd edition 2010, pp.272, ISBN: 144938014X


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Filed Under: Computers, Publishing Tagged With: Computers, Facebook, Missing Manual, Publishing, Technology, Writing skills

Flickr Hacks

May 22, 2009 by Roy Johnson

tips and tools for sharing photos online

Photo blogging is one of the most expansive parts of the Internet and online media just at the moment. You take a picture with your digital camera or your mobile phone, and blog it straight onto a public site. Flickr is owned by Yahoo! They allow you to upload your photos into a web space, and you are given 20MB per month, which is quite generous. Instead of keeping your snaps just for yourself and family members on your hard disk, you can store them, share them with the world, tag them, and make them available for worldwide consumption. You can even make money out of them if you play your cards right.

Flickr HacksAlthough your photos are in the public domain, you can control who is allowed to see them. There are full instructions here for setting your privacy options. Tagging and meta-data are fully explained (that’s giving titles, categories, and links to your photos) and there are also tips on resizing photos to save on your allotted storage space.

When extra information in the form of meta-tags is added to the images, all sorts of new possibilities are created. Paul Bausch shows games involving comparisons with similarly tagged photos, and he demonstrates how geo-tagged images can be mapped.

With so many of these images being viewed and viewed across the web, it’s good that he also explains issues of copyright and licensing, including the relatively new Creative Commons licences.

He also show how you can subscribe to a news feed which will notify you when other people upload new images. Then the later part of the book offers some fairly simple scripts for constructing screensavers, tracking your friends’ favourites, and even plotting your personal contacts using Google Maps.

Assuming you eventually end up with a large collection of photos, the next more advanced level shows you how to back up the collection, then how to store and sort them.

Finally, for those who might wish to interact with Flickr and operate at an administrator level, there are some advanced scripts which allow you to act as a moderator, create custom mosaics and collages, and mash up your photos to produce all sorts of special effects.

© Roy Johnson 2006

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Paul Bausch, Flickr Hacks, Sebastopol: CA, O’Reilly, 2006, pp.335, ISBN: 0596102453


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Free style sheet tutorials

November 17, 2009 by Roy Johnson

style sheet tutorials

XML School

This is a comprehensive introduction to the basic issues of style sheets. The tutorials deal with a single issue on each page, and the site includes interactive examples, a quiz test, plus book reviews. It’s also a model of site design in terms of clarity and usability.
http://www.w3schools.com/css/

 

style sheet tutorials Webmonkey
This is everything you need to know about style sheet basics, written by Steve Mulder for Webmonkey.
http://www.webmonkey.com/tutorial/Mulders_Stylesheets_Tutorial

 

style sheet tutorials www.w3.org
The home of Web standards. This is a collection of resources and technical specifications from the World Wide Web Consortium. This body looks after the protocols and standards, so the site is always up to date. It also has online validators, so you can check your work.
http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/

 

style sheet tutorials Dave Raggett’s Introduction to CSS
A thorough explanation of style sheet basics – written by somebody who is a member of the W3 organisation which defines style sheet protocols. The tutorial includes useful tips on browser-safe colours.
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/Style

 

redbtn Jacob Nielsen’s ‘Effective Use of Style Sheets’
This article is now a little dated – but Nielsen is always worth reading. His emphasis here is on the advantages of style sheets, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9707a.html

 

redbtn Page Resource.com
Straightforward explanation of how style sheets work written by John Pollock. A bit dated in appearance now, but suitable for beginners.
http://www.pageresource.com/dhtml/indexcss.htm

 

redbtn Web Design Group
Another text-based primer on CSS basics, written by John Pozadzides and Liam Quinn. This too is bit dated in appearance now, but suitable for beginners.
http://htmlhelp.com/reference/css/

© Roy Johnson 2009


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Free web design tutorials

November 16, 2009 by Roy Johnson

learn the basics of HTML coding to make web pages

NB! All these links work at the time of publishing the page – but these sites have a habit of moving. That’s the bad news. The good news is that more established sites have the equally good habit of adding to their tutorials. So what starts out as a simple HTML tutorial might well now include guidance on cascading style sheets, XML, and much else. Be prepared to click around and search. You’ve nothing to lose – because it’s all free.

web design tutorials Jo Barta’s tutorial
This is a very popular free downloadable guide for beginners. It’s strong point is that Jo Barta takes everything one step at a time – and shows what the results should look like. It also contains a useful guide to web-safe colours.
http://www.pagetutor.com/download.html

web design tutorials XML School
This is a very comprehensive site which covers every aspect of HTML and web page design – as well as style sheets, XML, and other refinements. It’s also a model of clarity in site design itself.
http://www.w3schools.com/

web design tutorials Yale Web Style Manual
This does not teach the details of coding – but it’s a wonderful guide to site structure, navigation, and page design. Use it in conjunction with Joe Barta’s tutorial, and you’ve got everything you need.
http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/

web design tutorials HTML 4.0 Reference
An authoritative guide to the HTML language by the Web Design Group, in easily searchable HTML format. You will find full explanations of elements, tags and attributes, and how they are used in an HTML 4.0 document.
http:/www.htmlhelp.com/distribution/

web design tutorials Web Design Group Web Authoring FAQ
Lots of how-to’s and information on overcoming common problems.
http://www.htmlhelp.com/faq/html/all.html

redbtn Scott Brady’s ‘Unofficial’ alt.html FAQ
More answers to problems that are often encountered.
http://www.sbrady.com/hotsource/toc.html

redbtn Introduction to HTML
A tutorial guide written in plain language with clear explanations of the HTML 4.0 specification from the University of Toronto.
http://www.utoronto.ca/webdocs/HTMLdocs/NewHTML/intro.html

redbtn Sizzling HTML Jalfrezi
This is an A to Z reference guide to HTML specification 4.0.
http://vzone.virgin.net/sizzling.jalfrezi/intro.htm

redbtn Web Techniques
This an online version of the magazine Web Techniques – with a browsable archive of tutorial articles.
http://www.webtechniques.com

redbtn World Wide Web Consortium
This is the official body which co-ordinates all the latest developments in HTML and other Web standards. Visit the site for exact descriptions of cascading style sheets (CCSS) XML, and XHTML – but don’t expect any user-friendly tips and tricks.
http://www.w3.org

redbtn MSDN Online Web Workshop
This is Microsoft’s huge collection of tutorial guides for Web developers. Fairly advanced stuff – but very thorough.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa155133.aspx

redbtn HTML Code Tutorial
http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/

redbtn HTML: An Interactive Tutorial for Beginners
http://www.davesite.com/webstation/html/

redbtn BigNoseBird.com
http://www.bignosebird.com/

© Roy Johnson 2009


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Free XML tutorials

November 17, 2009 by Roy Johnson

xml tutorials XML School
This is a concise introduction to the basic issues of XML design, including its syntax, elements, Cascading Style Sheets, and ‘behaviours’. It’s also a model of good site design in terms of clarity and usability.
http://www.w3schools.com/xml/

 

xml tutorials The XML Elements of Style
In honor of Strunk and White, who wrote the inimitable writing guide, Elements of Style, O’Reilly author Steve Muench presents his own succinct and lucid list of rules for creating a well-formed XML document.
http://oracle.oreilly.com/news/oraclexml_1000.html

 

redbtn Tizag.com
This is a slightly geeky, but reasonably useable introduction to XML.
www.tizag.com/xmlTutorial/

 

redbtn XML Files
This is a bare-bones introduction to XML set at intermediate to advanced level. It assumes you already know about HTML coding and protocols.
http://www.xmlfiles.com/xml/

 

redbtn XMLhack
This site offers a digest of the latest XML news, opinions, and tips. Very useful for keeping up to date.
http://www.xmlhack.com

 

redbtn Quackit.com
The designer of this site says – “My aim with Quackit is to ‘de-mystify’ web technologies as quickly as possible and to provide a general overview of each technology first, rather than jumping straight into the technical details.”
http://www.quackit.com/xml/tutorial/

 

redbtn W3CXML
This is the official site of XML standards, provided by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Their documents are extremely thorough, but notoriously dry. Don’t expect any ‘useful tips’ or hand-holding. The site also has online validators for checking your work.
http://www.w3c.org

 

redbtn The Apache XML Project
This is Open Source XML software, provided by Apache, the free, industrial-strength Web server.
http://xml.apache.org

© Roy Johnson 2009


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