E-Learning Means Freedom for Learning Management System Content Developers
E-learning tools like learning management systems are as separate as can be from the traditional, paper-based style of content distribution.
Regarding the cost in terms of natural resources, the traditional paper-based method of creating and distributing learning material is not practical, easy, sustainable, or cheap.
But the passion for creating one’s own instructional material is stronger than ever.
A particularly wide gap exists between the profession of writing e-learning content and that of writing textbook material.
Apart from what might strike one as obvious in the differences between the two forms of work, there are often financial differences as well.
There are also differences in how much power an e-learning content creator retains over his or her learning material.
When authors of e-learning content put their product in reliable hands–an LMS or e-learning platform with a good reputation–they can trust that they will maintain full ownership and control over their material.
Authors should have the option of modifying or deleting parts or all of their learning material at any point.
As an author, you also have the choice of whether or not to allow a learning management system to help you syndicate your content.
For many developers, syndication is the best option for expanding one’s audience and generating greater revenue.
Learning management systems like Coggno allows authors to publish–for free–their e-learning course on hundreds of relevant web publishers.
Coggno provides a range of tools including simulation and animation tools, video, demos, screen recordings, audio recordings, podcast creators, and the integration of Web 2.0 tools for student collaboration.
E-learning courseware platforms allows subject matter experts to develop and deliver learning content in a cost-effective and effective way.
LMS Online Courses Tap into Web 2.0
LMS online coursework aids students in their development of strong independent study skills, and teaches them how to motivate themselves. But something many people don’t realize is that e-learning has shifted from an independent study to an interactive experience.
It’s a known fact that the teaching style of an educator or trainer can make or break a class. Students’ degree of interest in whatever the subject may be can be lowered by an uninspired teaching style. On the other hand, an inspiring instructive style can change even the driest learning content into something fascinating and engaging.
The latter situation is often created with the help of an instructor’s allowance of classroom discussion and peer collaboration. This pedagogical practice is being valued and utilized to a greater extent in the e-learning world. “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience,” John Milton once said. Often what makes college and university classrooms so engaging is that students are freer to dissent and debate.
Even though in some traditional higher education classrooms, instructors still choose a format in which students are not encouraged to speak, virtual classrooms are becoming much more interactive.
Of course, not every school subject necessitates debate. For example, there may not be a great need for student interaction in calculus class. But a space for student collaboration or discussion is in fact helpful and appropriate for a great deal of online course topics. Student-led dialogue can help students formulate ideas and familiarize themselves with the learning content in a way that no singular instructor can achieve.
With the increasing use of Web 2.0 tools in online learning, e-learning has matured from its early days as a solitary enterprise. With LMS programs and Web 2.0 tools, learners can “utter” and “argue freely according to conscience” just as Milton suggested was a basic human need. Discussion forms, wikis, and other tools offer a convenient, simple, and comfortable space for students to have a voice.
They also prompt more sophisticated and democratic discussions. Online tools, combined with a robust LMS online course, allow students a comfortable space to interact with the learning content and discuss material in a well-developed and thoughtful way.
New Developments In Academic Textbooks Imminent
The original Amazon Kindle reader – launched in November of 2007 – didn’t make much of an impact on the academic community. The revised Kindle 2 – launched in February of 2009 – didn’t really improve matters very much – not from the point of view of an educationalist at least.
The relatively high purchase price of the reader may be a bit steep for many students, but that’s probably an issue which could be worked around. The problem is the 6” screen on both the original Kindle and the Kindle 2 – whilst more than adequate for reading normal books – it is too small for academic textbooks, many of which contain illustrations and diagrams.
However, with the launch of the Kindle DX on June 10 2009, things may change – and rapidly. The new DX sports a much larger screen, 9.7” measured across the diagonal. It also incorporates an accelerometer which lets users change from portrait to landscape views automatically by rotating the device. Amazon is marketing the DX as the ideal solution for readers of newspapers, magazines and academic textbooks.
Amazon has already announced partnerships with a number of colleges and universities, including Princeton, Case Western, Arizona State and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. These institutions may offer discounted Kindle readers to some of their students and it does seem like an excellent method for Amazon to enter the embryonic market for higher education digital books.
According to the National Association of College Stores, college book sales for the year 2007-08 amounted to $5.4 billion. It’s an enormous market which would be attractive for Amazon, who would hope to secure a good share of these sales, and also for the educational establishments, who might expect to save significant amounts of money and to have a more efficient method of keeping academic textbooks current.
As an example of the types of savings that could be made, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, recently confirmed that his state would start providing digital text books in the Fall of 2009. For a school district with around 10,000 high school students, a yearly saving of $2 million is forecast. It’s possible that savings may vary for tertiary education, – but they are definitely there for the taking. Money saved in this manner would hopefully be made available for use in other areas.
With potential profits for ebook reader suppliers, and savings for educational bodies, it seems likely that there will be some hot competition in this important market sector in the very near future. Just at the moment Amazon do seem to be ahead of the competition, but News Corp, Plastic Logic. and Hearst are all thought to be lining up large format ebook readers for release in 2010. Apple has also announced that they will launch a tablet type notebook, ideal for reading ebooks, sometime in 2010.
In addition to profits for Amazon and its competitors and savings for the educational establishment, it is to be hoped that individual students will benefit as a result of investment of monies that would not otherwise be available. The availability of cheaper, more frequently updated textbooks should also be a plus and, in future, it seems possible that different, more interactive, learning possibilities may be developed .
Resolve Teaching Malpractice through a Learning Management System
How a student grows up to become is the result of how his teachers moulded him to become. However, if these educators fail to do the responsibility and obligation vested upon them, then the future of the society will be in put at stake.
The holistic development of the students lies in the hands of the teachers. In the event that the students are misguided during their formative years, then the teachers have a huge responsibility for the future of the students.
The future of a student relies on the kind of education his teachers granted him. That is why, if these educators fail in their portrayal, the future of the society will predictably collapse.
There is a significant number of public education issues in the United States to-date. For years now, the reputation of public school educators or teachers are stained because of erupting infamous incidents about their attitude and management in the classroom.
More stains are smudged on the image of the teachers in the public schools these days. Such is the main reason of a decaying public education system in the United States.
There is a considerable number of things to be done to “clean up” the quality of public education in the country. Competency and adherence to standards comprise the attack against teachers’ performance in many public schools.
Years ago, investigative research results exposed the deceitful side of public school educators. The teachers were discovered to deviate from the standards of the academic institution. With regards to administering tests, it was found out that the teachers tolerate or even encourage unchallenging methods for the students to easily pass, not to mention their dissuasion to poor students from taking the tests, and the teachers were not reprimanded for such misconduct.
Many investigations have been conducted on the actual performance of educators inside the classroom. Since decades ago, there have been issues attacking the credibility and behaviour of teachers towards the students and in classroom management. The public education has gone multi-directional, meaning; teachers tend to deviate from the standard policies and procedures in implementing academic requirements. Research found out that there are educators who would allow students to bring home tests; would tolerate students to take the tests beyond the allotted duration; poor performing students were kept back from taking tests; grades given would be higher than actual performance—and such teachers would not be given sanctions for their dishonest unprofessional conduct.
Teachers are attacked because of the infamous incidents revealed by several researches done years back. Deviations from the acceptable standards included cheating the grades of students, discouraging poor performing students from taking exams, and the like, while the teachers were not reprimanded for such deliberate actions.
It is imperative that the issue on professional misconduct be resolved right away to impede the deterioration of the education quality of public schools across the country. A learning management system is the solution to the problem. The school can be aided with the LMS as it is software for tracking, managing administrative and academic requirements. Since an LMS is web-based, the curriculum is standardized, hence, ensuring that all information, manuals, modules, and test questionnaires are official and approved by the governing administrators. The centralization of information sharing through the internet will promote virtual learning to students and virtual management for educators. As such, compliance with the school’s standards is guaranteed among teachers, parents, students and the administrators. The teachers will also be monitored in terms of performance because of the performance management feature of an LMS. The students are assured of a standardized curriculum that will settle the parents while their children are with the teachers. Lastly, the LMS is capable of quantifying the performance of the students based on inputs, thus assuring the parents of the actual grades of students, without biases or anything else.
It does not matter if there the prevalence of professional misconduct in public education is high or not, as long as it does exist in the system, it should be busted. To pin the culprit in the head, public schools should adopt a learning management system. An LMS will help schools manage and track the academic and administrative prerequisites such as record-keeping, information sharing, etc. The educators and students can be monitored and assessed through the LMS software. Since it is available online, all required academic activities are standardized and made official by the governing administrators. The parents and students are assured of the teachers’ compliance to school standards. Since the academic curriculum is readily available, parents and students can have an overview of the course. The performance of teachers and students can also be monitored through the performance management feature of the LMS. Parents will be able to see the actual academic performance of their children through the accurate grades since the LMS can quantify task completion.
There is a need to resolve the problem on teaching malpractice in public education. The key to resolving the problem is a learning management system or LMS. The school can be guided and aided by LMS as software in terms of performance, training and education management. Since an LMS is based in the web, all academic and administrative requirements can be standardized through a central hub. Parents no longer need to worry about the credibility of the teaching approach and methodology of educators since information source is made standard and official. The parents are assured of an honest performance of teachers and their children through the performance management feature of the LMS. Credibility and accuracy of grades given to students are guaranteed because of the capability of an LMS to measure the actual performance of the students based on inputs.
A learning management system can cure the aggravating issue on teaching misconduct and malpractice, hence it should be adopted by public schools in the country.
The problem on profession malpractice in public education can be deleted through a learning management system.
The reputation of the educators should be restored by rebuilding credibility to their performance, through a learning management system.
Resolve Teaching Malpractice through a Learning Management System
Teachers are one of the most influential entities of students especially in their childhood. In the event that the teachers fall short of portraying their responsibility to the students, then the effect endures to the future of the students.
The teachers have a crucial role in building the perceived future of their students. However, if the teachers fail to portray their role appropriately, then the fate of the students are put at risk.
What becomes of a man can be traced from how well (or poor) his educators portrayed their role during his formative years. That is why, if these educators fail in their portrayal, the future of the society will predictably collapse.
It is reality that the quality of public education in the United States is put on challenge until these days. For years now, the reputation of public school educators or teachers are stained because of erupting infamous incidents about their attitude and management in the classroom.
More stains are smudged on the image of the teachers in the public schools these days. This has become one of the reasons why the quality of education in the country is deteriorating.
Serious issues haunt the quality of public education in the United States. Unprofessional conduct of educators in public school classrooms is one of the biggest issues in education today.
Years ago, investigative research results exposed the deceitful side of public school educators. The teachers were discovered to deviate from the standards of the academic institution. With regards to administering tests, it was found out that the teachers tolerate or even encourage unchallenging methods for the students to easily pass, not to mention their dissuasion to poor students from taking the tests, and the teachers were not reprimanded for such misconduct.
Public school teachers have been placed under the microscope to scrutinize their performance in the classroom. Teacher credibility and management competency have become sources of doubts and questions of parents about the education system. There is no specific direction as to where public education is heading to insofar as meeting academic expectations. Many investigative researches exposed the non-compliance of teachers in terms of administering and implementing the prescribed methods such that students’ competency is not challenged through tests and the like.
Teachers are attacked because of the infamous incidents revealed by several researches done years back. Deviations from the acceptable standards included cheating the grades of students, discouraging poor performing students from taking exams, and the like, while the teachers were not reprimanded for such deliberate actions.
The issue on unprofessional conduct of educators should be addressed right away regardless of how rampant it is because of the pressing effect it brings to the quality of public education. School administrators should adopt a learning management system, or LMS. The school can be aided with the LMS as it is software for tracking, managing administrative and academic requirements. The LMS will allow centralization and standardization of all academic-related materials released to the students such as test questionnaires, manuals, and others. The centralization of information sharing through the internet will promote virtual learning to students and virtual management for educators. As such, compliance with the school’s standards is guaranteed among teachers, parents, students and the administrators. The teachers will also be monitored in terms of performance because of the performance management feature of an LMS. This will guarantee the parents that the teachers are abiding by the school’s standard procedures. Since LMS has a measuring feature, it is guaranteed that the students’ grades are based on actual performance during online discussions and sessions.
Essentially, the problem of teaching malpractice must be resolved immediately before the education quality worsens. To pin the culprit in the head, public schools should adopt a learning management system. An LMS will help schools manage and track the academic and administrative prerequisites such as record-keeping, information sharing, etc. The LMS, as software, has the capability of monitoring and assessing the performance of students and teachers. The online nature of LMS allows the school administrators to standardize all information manuals and training materials. This assures the parents and students that the faculty members are performing according to the standards of the school. Students can already study and prepare for upcoming lessons since course outlines are made available online. The LMS also has a performance management feature that will assess the routine and accomplishments of teachers on a daily basis. Parents will be able to see the actual academic performance of their children through the accurate grades since the LMS can quantify task completion.
The existence of teaching malpractice in public education should not be condoned; hence a need for an urgent solution. The key to resolving the problem is a learning management system or LMS. An LMS, since it is software, can assist the school by managing tasks online—an efficient and innovative way of handling things. Since an LMS is based in the web, all academic and administrative requirements can be standardized through a central hub. Parents no longer need to worry about the credibility of the teaching approach and methodology of educators since information source is made standard and official. The parents are assured of an honest performance of teachers and their children through the performance management feature of the LMS. Credibility and accuracy of grades given to students are guaranteed because of the capability of an LMS to measure the actual performance of the students based on inputs.
The issue on teaching misconduct can be resolved through a learning management system to save the public education system in the country.
Through a learning management system, the image of public education can be saved, uplifting the credibility of the educators in the country.
Establishing the credibility of educators and the education system should be the priority of the public schools to regain the tainted reputation of the teaching profession in the United States.
Feature-Rich Learning Management Systems for an Interactive Age
An increasing number of organizations are adopting learning management systems and online programs for training solutions. As the demand for LMS systems and online education increases, e-learning software also matures.
In many ways, LMS technology is beginning to resemble gaming software, with an increase in interactive and exciting features. E-learning modules that feel game-like and interactive are growing in popularity in many professional circles.
A number of organizations and institutions plan to integrate such software into their LMS training programs. Judging by the popularity of virtual worlds, it may not be a bad idea.
EMarketer estimates that 24 percent of the 34.3 million million users under 19 years old participated in a virtual world at least monthly in 2007, a figure that is predicted to jump to 53 percent by 2011.
When young people use virtual worlds for entertainment and grow familiar with virtual world different tools, their experience will be more easily translated into an academic or professional learning system when they are adults. To many people, the idea of incorporating a virtual world in a training course seems impractical, or simply foolish.
However, many organizations and universities have found that virtual worlds harbor great potential for learning. Virtual worlds permit students to carry out tasks that might not be possible in the physical world due to circumstances including personal, financial, locational or other difficulties.
A virtual world, much like a learning management system, allows educators and trainers to share videos, simulations, and other media with students. Using an avatar, students can also interact with each other, or perform tasks to reveal knowledge.
“Serious Game” virtual worlds are a new genre of virtual world software that designed to teach topics ranging from frog dissection to how to fill a cavity. When integrated correctly, software like LMSs and “serious game” virtual worlds can provide students with the means to engage in the material to a point at which traditional e-learning courses never could. Using a potent LMS, students have access to audio and visual information in the form of simulations, screen recordings, podcasts, and more.
While virtual worlds offer vast potential as a learning system and collaborative space for professionals and students, they also have a long way to go before that ideal is an affordable mainstream reality. But as “serious games” slowly develop, learning management systems continue to expand their repertoire and heighten the fun and interactive levels in their tools.
Feature-Rich Learning Management Systems for an Interactive Age
An increasing number of organizations are adopting learning management systems and online programs for training solutions. As the demand for LMS systems and online education increases, e-learning software also matures.
In many ways, LMS technology is beginning to resemble gaming software, with an increase in interactive and exciting features. E-learning software that resembles games is making its way into institutions and organizations.
Many organizations have adopted or plan to implement such software into their LMS elearning solutions. And why shouldn’t they?
EMarketer estimates that 24 percent of the 34.3 million million users under 19 years old participated in a virtual world at least monthly in 2007, a figure that is predicted to jump to 53 percent by 2011.
As teenagers grow more accustomed to navigating virtual worlds, their understanding of different interfaces and interactions will help them use the same technology in an academic or professional context. The idea of using virtual worlds in higher education or company training may at first be dismissed along with the virtual world terminology of guilds, trolls and orcs.
However, many organizations and universities have found that virtual worlds harbor great potential for learning. Virtual worlds permit students to carry out tasks that might not be possible in the physical world due to circumstances including personal, financial, locational or other difficulties.
A student using a virtual world can access media such as simulations, videos, and instructional demos provided by an instructor or trainer. With the use of an avatar, students can perform tasks to reveal understanding of learning material as well as interact with their peers.
“Serious Game” virtual worlds are a new genre of virtual world software that designed to teach topics ranging from frog dissection to how to fill a cavity. “Serious games” and LMSs allow trainees to interact with each other and with the content in a way that traditional e-learning or face-to-face training never could provide. With a feature-rich LMS, audio and video material can be created including simulations, demos, screen recordings, podcasts, and more.
While virtual worlds offer vast potential as a learning system and collaborative space for professionals and students, they also have a long way to go before that ideal is an affordable mainstream reality. Despite the slow development of virtual worlds for professional use, e-learning software continues to expand in learning management systems and other online tools, as they become more interactive to compete in an increasingly exciting e-learning market.
Ballroom Dances
Whatever form it takes, dancing is one of the best ways to feel great. No matter where it is, whether at a party with others or all by your lonesome at home, great music has a way of getting feet tapping and bodies moving. Ballroom dances are looked at the world over as an art, fun to do as well as beautiful to watch.
Although now there’s a range of dances that fall into the category of ballroom dances, it started off with only a few. Ballroom dances are a set of dances that require partners, and are now seen both in the social arena and in competitions around the world. Ballroom dances are considered a form of social dancing, and were initially started as a dance form for the richer in society, while folk dancing was considered for those in the lower social status levels in society Since then however, the definition of ballroom dances has blurred, and now we see that ballroom dances have pervaded all social levels of society, whether rich or poor. The younger generation have become interested in these kind of ballroom dances, and more and more are visiting dance studios in an effort to learn this elegant dance form. Some consider it a form of exercise, and as it does involve a fair amount of physical activity, it’s a great way to lose and keep off weight, without the boredom of treadmill walks. In the United States there are two kinds of dance styles that are included when talking about ballroom dances. They are American Smooth and American Rhythm. Ballroom dances like the Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot and Viennese Waltz fall into the first category – American Smooth. These dances are hand-downs from the classics. The Cha Cha, Rumba, Mambo, Bolero and East Coast Swing fall into American Rhythm. These more modern ballroom dances, benefit from the contribution of Latin American influence. Ballroom dances have come a long way, not just in time, but right across the world, becoming more popular in Asia too.
Like all old things that have survived the test of time, ballroom dances bring with them a sense of timeless elegance, and it’s certainly something to say that you know how to dance the waltz or the tango. Ballroom dancing is an elegant and beautiful dance form that can make anyone, even the most clumsy person, look like a star, and something to try at least once in a lifetime.
Accessible LMS Design for Online Courseware
When deploying or designing an LMS online course, try to picture yourself as a student. The entire concept of efficient online courseware is based on the idea of accessibility for all students.
In the world of online education, convenience is paramount. No extra hardware or special programs are necessary for LMS coursework. Course activities and exams are available for completion 24 hours a day, and students can complete them at their leisure. And with the growing number of places that provide Wi-Fi, LMS online courseware is becoming optimally convenient for busy students.
Simulations, screen recordings, and videos are just a few exciting visual media offered to LMS online students. Thanks to Web 2.0 tools that allow students to interact, a sense of class community can be achieved.
Those are simply a handful of potentialities an LMS offers to you, the student. But how might one cater to people with disabilities such as the visually-impaired?
LMS audio tools such as Coggno’s Apple Podcast Producer are exciting options not only for visually impaired students, but for all students.
Podcasts are an increasingly mainstream medium, because of their convenience, sharing ease, and the creativity they allow. Podcasts can be utilized in an online course to record interviews, lectures, and discussions; act as announcements, reminders, and updates; and reinforce and provide new learning material.
Podcasts are exceedingly simple to record and share with others; and do not require an iPod to listen to them, since they are typically in mp3 file form.
If your learning material is ready for upoading to an LMS, you might consider creating podcasts and other audio information for you learners.
Many LMSs offer a wide range of tools that cater to all kinds of learners. The science of developing technology according to human needs continues to prompt new discoveries and ways of making technology easier not only for people with disabilities, but easier for everyone.
Beginner Bulk REO Investments
Editor’s note: Due to popular demand, this article is now syndicated on hundreds of websites throughout the internet. For more information, check out BulkREO.net
With more foreclosures now than ever before, America’s weak real estate market seems to set new dismal records each month. Yet as always, this challenge has given rise to a huge new opportunity for alert real estate investors.
‘Bulk REO Investing‘ is the name of the new strategy, and it’s captured the attention of many well-heeled investors.
Foreclosures are at the heart of the Bulk REO business, so let’s consider the foreclosure process.
You can’t understand Bulk REO Investments without understanding the process of foreclosure.
A home owner who misses one or more mortgage payments is faced with an ever-increasing volume of threatening correspondence from their lender. Following a period of time determined by the lender, formal foreclosure proceedings begin. ‘Pre foreclosure’ is the name given to the time between implementation of the foreclosure proceedings and the public auction.
Foreclosure is completed when the property is put up for auction. The lender regains ownership of the property if there are no buyers at auction. This property is then considered to be ‘Real Estate Owned’ by the lender, also known as an ‘REO’ property.
Lenders usually try to unload their REO properties at close to retail price by listing their REO’s with a real estate broker. However, REO properties are now frequently sold for far less than their ‘book value’. The trade-off is that the buyer must purchase multiple REO properties in each transaction.
There is huge profit potential in these REO packages for qualified real estate investors. REO packages are easiest to buy and sell with a well regarded source of financing in place. Some sources of funding for these transactions are: personal funds, hard money lenders, commercial lenders and non-conventional sources such as private investors and hedge funds. One excellent source of funding for Bulk REO Investment transactions can be found here: Bulk REO Investment Training.