Social Networking and Education or Training

Social networking, using social media sites and apps, has become the most powerful means of commuication in the contemporary world we live in.  It is a must for marketing a business, and equally a must for any serious educator or training professional. Social media can provide us with an online class room with the same interactivity as a face to face class room, but available to participants anywhere, any time.  Here is a link to a graphical representation of different types of social media. 

A teacher's guide to social media

This infographic incorporates 25 ways teachers can use social media.

And here is a great slideshow setting out all the why's and how to's of using social media in adult learning:

Social media and the adult learner from Mervi Jansson

In our last meeting of the Peer Support for Mobile Technology group, we had Chris Maher come along ans share how he uses social media to promote his businesses and also how he used it in his recent political campaign.  It was a stunning revelation of the power of social media for marketing, but many of his principles and techniques could be adapted to drive learner engagement in your classrooms and courses.  For further information about what Chris talked about go to the Peer Support blog via the link on the right of this post.

I will be starting a special page in this blog which will contain further information and resources on social media and social networking in education.  Feel free to share what you know, or ask questions, either here, or in the soon-to-be-created page.

What is an LMS?

In e-Learning discussions you will often see the acronym LMS - this stands for Learning Management System.  To quote the TAE Toolbox,

"A Learning Management System (LMS) is the infrastructure on and in which e-Learning can be developed and delivered.  It is an applications software package that contains instructional materials and content; and manages, tracks and deploys all learning across the RTO." (Flexible Learning Toolbox for Cert IV in TAE, "e-Space.") 

It is really just an online filing system for all of your course materials, with some meeting and communication tools for conducting activities, and tools for creating online assessments.  In effect, it is your online class environment.

In Western Australia, the Department of Training and Workforce Development provides us with access to the Blackboard LMS via WestOne, so it is free for us to use, but in fact would be very expensive for individual institutions to pay for themselves.

Blackboard is one of many LMS applications available.  Another one that many use is Moodle.  WestOne have provided us with a trial of Moodle but there is no guarantee it will remain available after the trial.

There are also many freeware LMS and other courseware or course authoring tools available.  Here is a link to a list of 25 different e-learning authoring tools available on the web. 

Top 25 Free E-Learning Authoring Tools

This list contains a range of tools that can be used to create click through learning tools and other ways of presenting content.

To Moodle or not to Moodle?

KTI has access to a trial Moodle site and I have dipped into it a little.  So far it seems quite similar to Blackboard and I haven't found any features in it that function any better or are additional to that offered by Blackboard.  If anyone is interested in having a trial space on Moodle, put your comments below, or email me and I will give you access.

Blogs and Wikis

You will see I have a separate page covering this topic.  On the page you will find a comprehensive outline of the differences between a blog and a wiki, plus links to all the different blog and wiki creation pages, and information about their uses. 

And now, just to make it even more interesting, we have a beautiful example of a blog created by one of our very own lecturers, Monique Ellis from Aqua.  She has developed a blog called Fishbytes, for her VETIS students, to keep them engaged between her weekly sessions with them.  The link to her blog is right at the bottom of this page, under "Blog List"  - go and check it out!  Monique might be kind enough to tell us a little about her experiences, in the comments below or within the Blogs and Wiki pages.

In my last post I referred to the RSS feed on the left side of this screen, which is a link to a blog called Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.  It is full of interesting and practical information about technology in education.  One of the posts is a very useful list of "must have" digital tools for teachers which you may like to look through to find out if any of it would help you.  Here is the link:

The 22 Digital Skills every 21st Century Teacher Must Have

Check these out and feel free to comment.

Welcome

Greetings, welcome to the Kimberley Training Institute's Lecturers' E-Learning Blog.  This blog is set up by Jill Lyall, E-Learning Coordintor at KTI, to post news and information that is relevant to flexible and e-learning.  I will endeavour to update this blog with my latest discoveries and research.  Feel free to comment and share any resources or information with your colleagues here.

I have added an RSS Feed on the left hand side, which is a link to another blog called Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, a blog that I find very useful and practical.  I will add other blogs on a list on the right, under "My Blog List," as I find any that are useful, so that you can check them out at your leisure.

I will be adding pages for different topics as we go.  The pages are primarily to consolidate information and resources on specific topics, but we can also engage in discussion within the pages, to share our experiences and ideas.  At the moment I have a page called Blogs and Wikis, with information about the difference between the two, and links to resources about them.  More pages will follow.  Let me know what topics you would like to see covered in the pages!

There is also a link on the right, under "My Blog List,"  to another blog that I am running, to record our experiences with mobile technology for delivery and administration.  This blog, "KTI Peer Support for Mobile Technology" is about our monthly Peer Support meetings where lecturers meet across campuses, via video conference, and share information about how they are using their mobile technology in their teaching.  We had our first meeting before Easter, and 10 lecturers attended in Broome and Kununurra.  I am writing up this meeting and editing video footage from it right now. Watch the blog for future developments!