Online Research Tools April 30, 2006
Posted by architelago in E-learning, Research.add a comment
I found out about Question Pro through a fellow PeLs member. It can be used for both corporate and academic research surveys. There's a nice link for students and academics on questionnaire design, survey questions and answer types. You can try Survey Pro for comparison.
Check out the 30 day free trial if you need to do quick surveys. Or pay USD 99-249 for the whole survey suite. If you're doing research on a shoestring budget (like I am), create your questionnaire offline first, have a trusted friend or mentor critique it, then put in on line.
Interpretation : Informal Education Method in Museums and Parks April 22, 2006
Posted by architelago in E-learning, Informal learning, Pedagogy.add a comment
Interpretation is an informal educational method used to communicate the meaning and value of resources, and is used widely in museums, zoos, and parks. Shanta Rose shows us how the Mer Bleue Boadwalk Trail in Ottawa, Canada, created an interpretative walkway for its National Park. It relies on providing high-quality, reinforcing communications at moments when visitors are awed by their surroundings. The 'aha' moment, so to speak, is a teachable moment as well as a moment when learning just takes place.
No wonder that my kids love visiting the Asian Civilizations Museum at Empress Place,Singapore. It is full of these intepretative trails. Aside from loving the light-and-sound play at the 'grown-up' exhibits, there is a room for kids that has learning activities, video storyteller kiosks, and games. These combine intepretation, games and play to reinforce knowledge about Asian culture. The kiosks are found in all museum exhibit halls, and it combines with interactive exhibits to give a multi-modal, multisensory learning experience. I especially love beautiful displays of exquisite Islamic-Arabic calligraphy in the Koran. As you marvel at these you refer to the short descriptions, videos and cameos of how artisans painstakingly craft the script as their tribute to Allah.
Ellen Dornan of the University of New Mexico shows us how to use interpretation in a content-driven design model for designing games and simulation. This model offers a middle path—combining interpretive principles and game design principles with an instructional design process—in order to maximize motivation, engagement, and retention of the computer-based instruction.
INFORMAL LEARNING April 21, 2006
Posted by architelago in E-learning, Informal learning.add a comment
Jay Cross has written a nice entry on the impact of informal learning in the
workplace.
"From now on, it might be more productive to think of learning as
adaptation to change than as acquisition of knowledge. Learning enables you
to participate successfully in life, at work and in the groups that matter
to you. The faster the world changes, the more adaptation is required.
Formal training programs are not the only learning game in town. CLOs who
spend the bulk of their time improving the development and delivery of
training might be optimizing the insignificant."
