Adam Tsui’s E-Learning Blog

throughout this semester, we’ve looked at both the emerging technology of e-learning and then we’ve had a look at the design aspects of e-learning.

it’s been a good blend of topics, constantly referring back to a workplace context. i’ve taken a lot out of this subject this semester, particularly from the last assignment which forced us to analyse a learning style then apply it to an e-learning context justifying particular uses of technology. this will now set me off in good stead when i’ll start my career.

today on the innotecture web blog, i came across an interesting article from the AFR, where KM/E-learning consultant, Matthew Moore gives his insight into the current practice of poor management in terms of executivies sacking employees without any real substance.

the article wrtitten by fiona smith states that executives aren’t putting much thought into the process of maintaining talented employees, she then used the analogy of executives who ‘don a blindfold’ when choosing who to sack.

matt moore, speaks on poor planning on behalf of executives which i agree on, purely because i see the process of maintaing talented employees a critical issue that organisations face today, one that needs to become an on-going process that should’ve taken place prior to the GFC.

emotional intelligence is also taking effect. “i know him, so we’ll keep him” is the sort of mentality that is going through the minds of upper management at the moment, with many resistant to sacking ‘popular’ employees, their best mates, or even their own family members. however at the end of the day shouldn’t it really be about keeping the employee that does their job the best?

to address the issues of skills gaps in organisations, there is no real monitoring of skills in the workplace on behalf of the organisation today. most companies are too caught up chasing big figures that are probably out of reach anyway, so why not spend some of that time investing in training, L&D and the upskilling of their workforce? this will be a better indicator on where that organisation is in terms of their competition, thus allowing for upper management to have some better criteria to work if it comes down to retrenching employees.

however one issue has not been addressed thouroughly, and that is organisational culture. like i mentioned earlier the role of emotional intelligence seems to play a huge role in the balancing act of deciding who to maintain and who to sack. managers need to increase their awareness in terms of who is doing their job to the best possible standard. yes, it helps to have employees who are sociable and who are able to communicate with others, but it doesn’t help if that’s all their good for, why not keep them as the ‘face’ of the organisation, while the quiet IT guy continues doing what he does best without the threat of getting fired purely on the basis that he is too quiet. it just makes more sense doesn’t it?

in time of difficulty, organisations need the best employees at work doing their job, and without the proper criteria when deciding who to maintain, organisations will continue to work in the dark, unaware of the consequences.

http://www.afr.com.au/home/viewer.aspx?EDP://20090505000031110499

something that i’ve recently tagged on delicious-

i recently came across an insightful blog on helping students with multimedia learning, as well as multimedia jorunalism. video story’s are high on the priority list, helping with sequencing  and audio. elements of multimedia design principles aimed at presenting information effectively in order to engage learners

http://masteringmultimedia.wordpress.com/

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,25424788-10229,00.html?from=communities

Twitter was used as a means to launch an attack on former big brother host Gretel Killeen. a much anticipated event, one must wonder how so many attendees then found the time to bad mouth the host, surely it would’ve been noticible with a large number of people texting on their mobiles. social networking continues to shape our society and its values. on the other hand, many celebrities took twitter as a means of criticising the event itself, claiming to be bored/ poiting out technical glitches throughout the night.

now i know i blog a lot about facebook, however, i do so because it’s relevant to my own personal context and a lot of issues regarding learning and privacy occurs on it.

in Britain a woman’s mastectomy scars were uploaded onto her personal album after treatment for breast cancer, only to have facebook remove it due to its policy on ‘offensive’ material. this has led to a huge uproar and lobbying from members of the community from all over the world. facebook now has apologised for the glitch. what this comes down to is the filtering service of facebook. where do we draw the line? however, it is true that one person might find this lady’s scar quite confronting and traumatic, however it is a picture aimed to raise awareness of breast cancer. it is interesting to note that facebook has also had a long running battle with facebook as many users has had their breast feeding pictures taking down too!

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/web/facebook-flipflops-on-breast-photos/2009/06/01/1243708393637.html

we forget at times just how secretive the country of North Korea is. However just recently amateur spies conducted extensive mapping of the country allowing the most authoritative map of North Korea now available on google earth.

Through this breakthrough of technology and wits on the amateur spies’ behalf, the world can now gain a better understanding in North Korea’s agriculture projects, aviation facilities, communications etc. this is also seen as a vital tool for the US government in an attempt to prevent or track future nuclear testing.

http://www.nkeconwatch.com/north-korea-uncovered-google-earth/

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5593783/facebook-blunder-betrays-nz-millionaires/1/oldest/

this past week saw the development of a bizzare story where a couple from NZ were mistakenly given $8Million AUD when they applied for a small loan, since then they have been on the run, and the latest development is that the female has posted up a new status on her facebook page.

have we really gotten to the point where we cannot escape the temptations of social networking even when we’re on the run from the law? she musn’t be very smart either way. however she does have the police stunned. if i was in her shoes apart from doing the decent thing and returning the money……….i would definitely NOT update my FB status if i was on the run though! i hope her next status is something along the lines of “Cara is…………enjoying her last tsingtao before a few years in a cell, dont forget to keep tagging me in photos!”

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/web/twitter-con-gives-police-tweet-idea/2009/05/26/1243103526499.html

This article again highlights how social networking has consumed much of our lives, the marketing firm which created a fake nsw polic force account has in the eyes of tye real police force crossed the line, but in my eyes they have clearly pointed out a change in society norms and values, how is it that people these days are ready to believe anything? absurd comments like “nsw police are enjoying their new search powers” are plain ludacris and surely should not be taken seriously, yet its got the police in a frenzy about misrepresentation of the force, the power of the social networking which has developed from the power of the media and as a result is constantly impacting our day to day activities and news.

last week in Program Design, I met Shane Dowd who holds the title of the NSW ‘National Toolbox Champion’.

flexible learning toolboxes aim to act as a support package for learning. the toolbox is online and is a resource that supports prior learning.

this was most interesting as it explores areas in e-design and was most insightful. one critique of the toolboxes was its ability to remain current and up to date. most toolboxes are updated every couple of months and the toolboxes avaliable online will have the same ‘shelf life’ quality of a regular textbook

the week leading up to the 6th may, our class explored a few different approaches to learning, what we all gathered from these styles is that they do tend to overlap with one another and in an organisational context no one approach to learning is the most effective, however a  mixture of all of the approaches would be most effective as they tend to the different needs of a diverse range of learners!

quick summary of the constructivist approach:

1. engages learners to form their own paradigms

2. its flexible for the learner as it builds upon prior knowledge

3. the ability to transfer skills learned to another context

1. develops problem solving, again adding value to learning and self discovery.