The Power of eLearning by Shirley Waterhouse

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The Power of eLearning by Shirley Waterhouse

• Chapter 4 eLearning Tools
• in Review

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Intro Chapter 4

• eLearning tools - Tools for the creation,
  organization, and access of elearning resources.
• The primary focus of the chapter is to illuminate
  the functionalities of various elearning tools
• The chapter describes
• Typical LMS capabilities
• Impediments to students use of resources on a
  course site
• Other tools for creating elearning resources

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Learning Management System (LMS)

• The creation, management, and organization of
  elearning resources are generally accomplished
  with the LMS and in conjunction with other
  software tools such as
• Word Processor
• Presentation
• Graphics
• Animation

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LMS Dissected

• LMS Learning management systems used today have
  a wide rage of features. Most, however, have
  similar general functions
• Commonly known LMS
• Blackboard
• eCollege
• WebCT
• Other OPEN Source systems (OLMS)
• Moodle http//moodle.org/
• aTutor http//www.atutor.ca/

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LMS Dissected Functionality of the LMS

• Categorized by three modes of functionality
• Tools for one-way communication
• Tools for two-way communication
• Tools for organizing content and structure

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LMS DissectedCommunications ToolsOneWay -
Primarily for student viewing with little or no
interaction they can include

• Announcements
• Documents
• Content files (media)
• Audio
• Video
• Text

• Calendars
• Homepages
• External Links
• Grade Books
• E-mail

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LMS DissectedCommunications ToolsTwo-Way
Allows students interact with each other or with
the instructor

• Discussion
• Chat
• Virtual Classroom/White boarding
• Similarities to web conferencing tools such as
• Webex training center, Elluminate live
• Some variations include voice capabilities over
  IP
• http//www.elluminate.com/academic_edition.jsp

• Online Tests
• Private Storage Spaces (IE Digital Drop box)

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LMS DissectedTools for Organization

• LMS allow the logical grouping of users and
  resources for a given course site.
• Grouping of users can be useful in study and
  discussion setting.
• Organization within the LMS is accomplished with
  folders, buttons, tabs, and menus
• Subfolders allow the further organization of
  course resources.
• Note -The artful use of folders, buttons, and
  menus can GREATLY improve the usability of your
  course site.

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LMS DissectedTools for Organization

• Example- a course site utilizing an
  organizational hierarchy through LMS
  organizational tools.

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LMS DissectedTools for Organization

• A poorly designed course site is a major turnoff
  to your elearning students who will only look so
  long for what they want on your course site
  before they abandon the search entirely

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LMS DissectedTools for Organization

• Sounds familiar
• doesnt it?

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Impediments to Students- eLearning Course
Resource Access Problems

• How can we really confuse students?

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Impediments to Student Access Courtneys 5 rules
of eLearning Chaos

• Dont let your students know what the computer
  skill requirements are - like using e-mail, word
  processors, LMS familiarity
• Never announce software or hardware necessary to
  utilize the resources posted certainly dont
  list computes, Internet access, or specific
  software.
• Never give instructions on e-mail accounts
  Always keep the help desk number a trade secret!
• Always use incompatible file formats legacy
  formats like Word Star will reduce plagiarism.
• Make files as large as humanly possible -
  Download Times of 5 hours or more are best
  experienced when an important assignment is due.
• Remember What doesnt kill them will only make
  them stronger!

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eLearning Course Resource Access Problems

• Two areas which hinder communication
• Incompatible file formats
• Long download times

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eLearning Course Resource Access Problems

• Incompatible File formats
• File formats are the way that data is organized
  and stored for a given application
• Each program may have a different and
  incompatible format
• Incompatible file formats make it difficult or
  impossible for different programs to exchange
  information when accessed through LMS

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eLearning Course Resource Access Problems

• Suggestions for reducing the chances of
  incompatible file formats
• Use common formats
• HTML
• PDF
• RTF
• Use industry standard formats (proprietary)
• Microsoft Office
• Flash

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eLearning Course Resource Access Problems

• Suggestions for reducing the chances of
  incompatible file formats
• Provide reading tools
• Word Viewer - http//www.microsoft.com/downloads
  keywords Word Viewer
• PowerPoint Viewer http//www.microsoft.com/downl
  oads Keywords PowerPoint Viewer
• Acrobat Reader http//www.adobe.com/products/acr
  obat/readstep2.html

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Other Tools for Creating or Accessing eLearning
Resources (Creating Resources)

• HTML Editors
• Adobe Go Live
• Macromedia home Site
• Microsoft Front Page
• (Tip) Word and PowerPoint have a HTML
  conversion feature built in
• PDF creation
• Adobe Acrobat
• (Tip) once installed you may convert anything
  that you can print into Adobe PDF format

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Other Tools for Creating or Accessing eLearning
Resources(Creating Recourses)

• Multimedia software
• Images
• Animations
• Audio
• Video
• Rich media combines video, audio, slides, web,
  and other sources

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Other Tools for Creating or Accessing eLearning
Resources

• Multimedia Software
• Photo editors
• Adobe Photoshop
• Microsoft Photo Editor
• Image creation and editing
• Macromedia Fireworks

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Other Tools for Creating or Accessing eLearning
Resources

• Multimedia Software
• Macromedia Director
• Macromedia Flash
• Macromedia Captivate
• Visual Communicator 2
• Accordents Presenter One Live

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Other Tools for Creating or Accessing eLearning
ResourcesMultimedia software

• Many standard formats to choose from
• Windows Media
• Real Media
• Quicktime
• Flash Movie
• Mpeg
• MP3

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Other Tools for Creating or Accessing eLearning
ResourcesMultimedia Software

• (Tip) When using multimedia consider download
  times when not utilizing streaming media servers
  multimedia resources are best viewed through high
  bandwidth Internet connections. Insure that
  ample notifications are posted with this content
  to insure that students are aware of the
  requirements or download times

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Other Tools for Creating or Accessing eLearning
Resources

• Miscellaneous Tools to Facilitate eLearning
• Desktop videoconferencing Net Meeting, Click to
  Meet,
• Online testing , survey, and assessment

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Other Tools for Creating or Accessing eLearning
ResourcesResource Access Tools

• Portals - Web sites dedicated to a particular
  subject, institution, or purpose. Can be
  personalized
• - Examples My Yahoo!, Windows Live (Beta)
  http//www.live.com, SharePoint Portal Server

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Other Tools for Creating or Accessing eLearning
ResourcesResource Access Tools

• Handheld devices
• PDA
• Cell phones - Media phones by Nokia, Verizon,
  sprint
• IPODS
• Tablet Pcs, Wireless Handheld Computers

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Multimedia Resource Creation Tools Demo