ETEC 522 – May 2012

E-Learning Coach

I chose to review the E-learning Coach 2012 Tops trends with Connie Malamed. The initial paragraph of the report makes it clear that the target audience is people involved directly with education. This makes it easy for a reader to decide if it will be pertinent to their needs. The website on which it is found has a focus on e-learning which likely draws a crowd of interested educators.

The report is found on no-frills website site where Malamed voices her view of the upcoming trends in a matter-of-fact way. She covers Backchannel, Content Curation, The Cloud, Instructional Designer’s Role, Flipped Learning, Gamification, HTML 5 for Mobil and the New Blended Learning. The use of two shades of grey, dark for the title and light for the body seems like an attempt to say that she is not trying to sell anything and is merely passing on information. She lists the learning trends in alphabetical order, using clear headings; making it easy to scroll through if looking for a specific topic. Under each heading lies a succinct description of the trend and followed by a list of links to specific sites each with their own short description. This system is very reader-friendly and allows for easy previewing of the report. People have easy access to many reports so they need to be able to quickly scan in order to decide if it is worth the time to read.

The individual reports do not assume that the reader is tech-savy, which is important for the education field where people are at different levels of technology integration. Each overview provides an introduction to the topic in a non-technical, non-threatening way and always leaves the reader with a place to go for more information. What I like about this is that I did not get bogged down but felt like I was introduced and then given the tools for more information.

I noted that Malamed used the term “Flipped Learning” instead of “Flipped Classroom” which is the more common term that I have heard. I am curious as to why this would be done-perhaps to grab attention?

I was surprised to see “Expanded Instructional Designer’s Role” and “New Blended Learning” in a category of emerging trends since these have been changing and will continue to change. Both of these seemed to be written with little focus and I felt as though they did not belong.

Malamed’s review on Gamification was interesting and the recommended book deals with not only computer games but emphasizes the power of gaming in education. She warns that gaming should not be artificial and should promote learning through real-engagement. This sounds like a very exciting and new avenue for educators.

I do not think that this site has enough technical information for venturers since it really appears to be directed to educators at large. It’s reader friendly approach might appeal more to those getting their feet wet in the technology area.

I would not search out this report to read each year since it does not stand out significantly from others. It is an interesting read but does not have the same reputation as others. I did not find anything earth shattering but maybe that is not the point. As an educator I usually read documents from the user perspective, not as a venture. It is interesting to try and flip the perspective.

Reference:

Malamed, C. (n.d.). Learning Technology Trends to Watch in 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2012, from The ELearning Coach: http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning2-0/learning-technology-trends-for-2012/