Connie, the e-learning coach, looks to the future….
Hello,
I visited the learning coach website where Connie Malamed introduced new trendy technology ideas for 2012, in an article titled ‘Learning Technology Trends to Watch in 2012.
Connie covered backchannel, content curation, developing in the cloud, the instructional designers role, flipped learning, gamification, HTML 5, and blended learning. In each section Connie provided a brief overview of what each category meant and then provided some websites which support the explained concept. The websites she provided, especially in the ‘developing the cloud’ section, were all very helpful in building a context for each idea. For each website offered Connie gave a brief explanation of its name and what each particular website offered the user. Though some of the concepts described were quite vague, such as the section describing the ‘Instructional Designer’s role’. Some concepts could have also provided a direct link to an actual website employing some of the ideas discussed as in the case of the ‘gamification’ section. In explaining the gamification concept, Connie references a popular book on the subject matter but doesn’t provide more detail of where one could find additional examples of such resources.
In general, all of the concepts were explained really well but there were a few ideas in which I was left wondering the true purpose was or why the technology was initially required. The HTML 5 versus standard flash players was a little confusing. I am not really too tech-savvy in regards to internet browser limitations so I just read through it the best I could and moved on.
Overall, Connie provides a really good read on technology that will be emerging throughout this year and next. This article is recommended for those who desire to find websites that offer support for new programs that assist in educational endeavors within the online realm.
Thanks.
-Regen
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lisamallen 8:57 pm on May 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Regen,
I like that you pointed out the language of these documents. I wonder if the authors of these reports use more technical jargon on purpose – to attract more IT-like folks and confuse education-trained folks. Do you think this is intentional?
Cheers,
Lisa
unclereg 10:33 am on May 22, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey Lisa,
Great point. Not sure. It is assumed that an article like this wants to attract as many readers as possible. The author also wants to appear as knowledgeable as possible too. The author should have their audience in mind and not want to lose anyone, but at the same time, ‘yes’ keep those who are very informed ‘hooked’ into what is being discussed. I think there must always exist a balance between the level of vocabulary difficulty being used by any author. Great question Lisa. It’s got me thinking.
-Regen