Tutorial Online

• Top Eight E-learning Blogs (Jeff Cobb)
• 8 Top Elearning Blogs You Don’t Want to Miss
• The 19 Best Elearning Blogs

WHAT?
As we are approaching closer to 2008, we will increasingly see all sorts of Top 8, Top 10, Top 20, Top 100, etc. lists, ranking everything from underwear to blogs. Should we take these kind of rankings seriously? No idea! It really depends (on the criteria and whos involved!), but surely if the ranking is done by someone or a group (Wisdom of the crowds!) that is influential, recognized, an expert, popular, respected, and/or widely read, it will have some impact on what we are doing (increased online traffic, global awareness, ego boosting, increased effort, etc.). Whatever it is, we somehow often get an extra kick out of reading this TOP something stuff. Better yet, if we are ourselves mentioned (or top of the pops!), life suddenly shines a bit brighter for a while (Jeff Cobb, thanks for mentioning my blog!). It feels great, Hip-Hip-Hurray! Yippy Kay Yaw Yeah!

Though, whatever recognition, awards or top rankings we get, hopefully it does not change our attitude to learn. In other words, recognition, awards, and rankings, should only increase our efforts/hunger to learn :)

MY TOP 10 ETL BLOGS?
Although, I am not really known (yet!), or an influentional person in education, I am going to share with you my top 10 (favourite) ETL (Education + Technology = Learning) blogs that takes up my time, as I struggle to learn more about education, learning technologies, and importantly the art of Learning How to Learn more effectively. My ranking uses no particular formula, so please do not get offended if you are not on the list (or lower than expected!). This top 10 list is simply ETL blogs that occupy my interest and time. So, I suppose the time and interest factors play important roles in my ranking. Not sure really! Probably, my humble common sense and gut-feeling plays a prominent role, too. Stop! Here is my top 10 favourite ETL blogs:

1. Stephen’s Web - OLDaily
   If you are looking for ETL-related news, trends, reflections, etc., Stephen Downess OLDaily is a homerun (Actually a season full of homeruns!). I have yet to find a better ETL blog out there in the blogsphere! Stephens short reflections to all the juice he daily (5 times a week!) extracts from his intelligent surveillance of hundreds of ETL blogs (400+, if I am not mistaken!) are enjoyable, useful, relevant, and contains a lot of wisdom (to my humble knowledge!). Though, since he posts so often, you might sometimes miss the really juicy stuff (unless you have a lot of time!). Also, he posts links (URLs) to all his talks, presentations, and reflections (even from his office or bedroom. Not sure where! Better ask him!) on his blog, which often includes audio and/or video recordings, too. These learning resources enable us to get a deeper understanding of his thinking and ideas about learning and education. In short, we can in a way experience his learning journey (process) on Learning How to Learn more effectively, as he learns. Click here to learn more about Stephen.
   
2. EduResources Weblog
   Joseph Harts regular posts on mostly Higher education online resource discoveries accompanied by short but valuable reflections, is something you simply dont want to miss, especially if you are an educator. His blog might not be as flashy as some of the other ETL Blogs, but his valuable words and wise reflections are engaging, relevant, and useful to our learning mind. Also, check out his other great blog The Open Learner, which explores the usage of open knowledge resources across a diversity of subjects, levels, and interests for a wide range of learners and learning communities.
   
3. elearnspace
   George Siemenss elearnspace (Check out the Homepage, too!) is a great ETL blog to keep yourself updated about the latest juice in elearning, knowledge management, networks, technology, community development, and corporate learning. Also, check out his Knowing Knowledge book (Free!), which reflects the future of knowledge and learning. What I really like about this guy, is that he is always up to something innovative and is not scared to fail (e.g. Corporate Learning: Trends and Innovations Free Online Conference).
   
4. Janes E-Learning Pick of the Day
   If you are looking for the latest e-learning (or learning) tools, Jane Knights blog is simply Toolicious! Also, check out Jane Knights amazing directory of 1800+ learning tools. In addition, I love the fact that she provides us with a weekly round-up of the new learning tools added to the tools directory. Her blog posts are concise, attractive, and juicy. Hmm, got a lot to learn here!!!!
   
5. Learning Trends
   Elliott Masies Learning Trends blog is my favourite corporate learning blog. He himself is a dynamic, creative and innovative guy always looking for new ways to connect, contextualize, and innovate the learning process, so I would not want to miss his reflections. If you arent already subscribing to his Learning Trends, perhaps it is time!
   
6. The Rapid eLearning Blog
   When you think about improving your rapid e-Learning, instructional design, PowerPoint or graphic creation skills, Tom Kuhlmanns Rapid eLearning blog provides you with a lot of great advice, tips, examples and short-cuts (One word = Amazing!). Also, dont forget to get his free elearning ebook while you’re there. In short, this blog is my favourite Rapid e-Learning learning blog!
   
7. Clive on Learning
   If you are looking for reflections from an experienced expert on instructional design and insights on educational trends, I believe Clive Shepherds excellent blog will nourish you well. He is also the man behind the 30-minute and 60-minute Masters in Instructional Design (or rapid e-learning design). Also, check out Clives 33 Columns! Although, he does not post as often as some of the other super ETL bloggers, his reflections and insights into education, instructional desigin, online learning, etc. is worth the wait.
   
8. Open Culture
   Open Culture led by Dan Colman, is a super blog exploring cultural and educational media (podcasts, videos, online courses, etc.) that’s freely available on the web, and that makes learning dynamic, productive, and fun. In addition, you should explore Open Cultures excellent podcast library, too.
   
9. Helge Scherlunds eLearning News Blog
   If you are looking for an excellent ETL news blog, Helge Scherlunds blog is a really active one discovering a lot of wonderful learning juice. Coming to think of it, this blog is nearly as active as Stephen Downess OLDaily in updating readers about ETL stuff going on around the world (especially in Europe and Denmark!). The only reason, I have not ranked this blog higher, is because it does not seem to do much more than sharing great discoveries in an attractive and engaging way. I suppose, when I can learn more from Helge Scherlunds own learning reflections and thoughts, I will spend even more time engaging in this excellent and useful ETL news blog.
   
10. Online Learning Update
    Ray Schroeders Online learning blog is a great learning place to discover e-learning articles and news around the world (Europe, Middle-East, Asia, Australia, US, Canada, Africa, etc.). Also, check out his Educational Technology blog, too. Actually, I would have ranked Ray Schroeders blogs higher if he had included more of his own reflections embedded with all these wonderful ETL discoveries. But, if you are simply looking for up-to-date news about e-learning and learning technologies, this is an amazing treasure with hundreds of posts.

In addition to these 10 great ETL blogs, the rest of the ETL bloggers that I have identified (or links) on my Gurus list (right-side of my blog) do occupy my learning time, including Jay Cross, Patricia Donaghy, Jeff Cobb, Gabe Anderson, Wesley Fryer, Tony Karrer, and Robin Good. However, it would also be nice to add at least one Malaysian or Singaporean ETL blogger (that writes in English!) to my learning time, but at the moment I am still searching for one that really excites my learning mind. Got any suggestions? I apologize for my learning ignorance.

Wherever we go now or in the future, one thing will probably remain the same - Sharing Knowledge and Ideas is Power (Collective Wisdom!). If we dont practice this within our own community, group, or even to ourself, we will certainly have problems adapting to todays fast evolving global economy driven increasingly by Creativity and Innovation through collective wisdom :)

• Google Translator Toolkit
• Demo Video
  
• Via Joseph Hart

• Link to More than 100 Free Places to Learn Online
• Jeff Cobbs Juicy Resources

"... There is so much available out there for free—even things that offer credit—and given how easy it is for non-technical subject matter experts to contribute content, it will only keep growing. Quality is all over the place right now, but I suspect competition among aggregators and the growing influence of the open education movement will drive higher quality over time. All of this suggests at least a couple of things, in my opinion:

• If part of your business strategy is to generate revenue from learning experiences provided to members, customers, or students and you haven’t yet considered how “free” impacts you, it’s high time.
• “Free” learning could potentially be one of the better forms of customer engagement in the world of the new Web—though this does not come without issues, as Stephen Downes and Lisa Neal have pointed out in a recent issue of eLearn Magazine... "

FREE LEARNING PLACES?
Major categories:

• Online Tutorials and How-to Sites
• Big Idea and Debate Sites
• Higher Education and Open Education Initiatives
• Free CE, CME, and CEU
• Topical Areas

I love the resources, index style and simple organization (I dont know why, but I simply love straight-to-the-point index style lists)! Of course you might be overwhelmed with such a huge list, but Jeff has done a splendid job in making it easier to actually find relevant and useful learning sites with categories and site tagging (e.g. T – Text-based offerings).

If you ask me to suggest three (3) sites to explore to stimulate new ideas and learn from some of the most creative, innovative and successful (in that respect!) people on this planet, I would refer to Jeffs growing list and link you to:

• BigThink
• FORA.tv
• TED

I got to admit that Jeff Cobbs Mission to Learn blog is increasingly becoming one of my favorite destinations to discover and learn. Last week I discovered his new Learning 2.0 eBook, and now this excellent index of free learning resources. Whats next :)

URL: http://courselab.com/
Download: http://courselab.com/db/cle/root_id/download/doc.html
Showcase Samples: http://courselab.com/db/cle/root_id/examples/doc.html

"CourseLab is a powerful, yet easy-to-use, e-learning authoring tool that offers programming-free WYSIWYG environment for creating high-quality interactive e-learning content which can be published on the Internet, Learning Management Systems (LMS), CD-ROMS and other devices...It can be used in a variety of learning initiatives including technical training, soft skills training and compliance certifications.

• Familiar PowerPoint-like authoring environment;
• WYSIWYG environment for creating and managing high-quality interactive e-learning content - no HTML or other programming skills required;
• Unicode support - use any font and encoding supported by the Windows® operating system, including double-byte character sets;
• Object-oriented Model allows constructing e-learning content of almost any complexity just as easy as you put together the building blocks;
• Objects are highly customizable;
• Dynamic HTML based output can be played by most browsers - no Java® or other special player software required for playing created e-learning content;
• Built-in assessments and tests creation capabilities;
• Software Simulations - Embedded Screen Capturing mechanism (without using Adobe Flash® technology) (Costs $99);
• Import PowerPoint® presentations into the learning material (Costs $99).
• Additional module templates pack (Costs $9 Only)"

Having been away from researching learning technologies for more than one year, I am really thrilled with all the new free learning tools available to educators and learners. During this period of technology ignorance, I have been struggling learning the art of higher-order thinking skills and teaching (or coaching) it to students. Not sure if I have learnt that much, except for asking questions in a more systematic way using tools such as six thinking hats and CoRT.

CourseLab got me excited first (due to its easy-to-use authoring environment) and the super claim posted on its home page "100% FREE e-learning authoring tool! No time limits. No demo versions (What about no cost for Extras?)", provides the kind of happiness that can turn into frustration if you do not read between the lines.

However, when you realize that you need to fork out a whopping $198 (or 207) to get the really juicy features enabling you to do things that you really want to do (Check the bullets above in red). Although, CourseLab might argue it is not deception or against the law to state that the authoring tool is 100% , it could make it a bit more obvious that you need to pay if you really want to get the juicy stuff (Extras). They might argue that the authoring tool is free, but you need to pay for the Extras. Though, to me the extras is really the reason why I would be interested in using this tool in the first place. In short, the Extras is the real deal. Also, one could argue that this is a great marketing strategy, but overall it is better to get people excited (about 100% free) without indirectly tricking them into it (otherwise they might give CourseLab negative publicity like now). We all know that a company needs money to survive, and that is understandable, but dont use misleading statements such as "100% FREE e-learning authoring tool", which is perhaps legally right, but in my opinion it is an unethical misusage of the original meaning of this phrase.

However, for those of you who do not find the CourseLab Extras important or can survive without them, I do recommend using CourseLab. Though, if you are going to spend money, I would actually recommend that you add a bit more (a few hundred) and invest in either Adobe Captivate or Articulate :)

Note to CourseLab: I really like your authoring tool, and hopefully you could be more creative about your marketing catch phrase (get rid of the 100% nonsense), I would support and promote this product more. Yes, if you make the Extras free and create sufficient revenue using another creative approach then you would have the education world at your feet.

Link to 701 e-learning tips
"Thanks to The MASIE Center?s TRENDS readers and e-Learning Consortium Members, over 1000 e-Learning tips were received, analyzed, and categorized. These tips are from senior managers and training professionals from major corporations around the world. We have edited and compiled 141 pages and 14 chapters covering the ABC?s of getting started to global implementation strategies. We hope you enjoy this free digital book !"

Great! The complete book is a bit heavy (13.3 mb, PDF). However, the wait is worth every second, even on a dial-up. Masie Elliott is a knowledge sharing genius. He must surely give Brandon Hall and Bersin a real headache. With this, you have a enough e-learning tips to ponder upon for the next couple of months. Print out page 138, which has Elliott Masies 12 Personal e-learning tips, and read them 12 times .