The use of blogs to
build capability with a specific skill or knowledge area is very popular
today. Blogs for instance allow
individuals in the general public to communicate their thoughts and ideas on
various topic areas and connect with like minded individuals According to
Common Craft, since 2003, 70 million blogs have been created (2007). Every individual has the power to be both the
creator and publisher of their content (Common Craft, 2007). Bloggers build relationships with other
bloggers and their followers often generating two way discussions. I follow several blogs that I find
enlightening and often share content from these blogs with my colleagues at
work.
The first blog I will
review is the Rapid E-learning Blog
located at
http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning. I like this blog because it provides bite
size learning with specific instructions and examples in most cases to allow
immediate application of the knowledge.
In addition, the creator shares free templates that can be customized by
each instructional designer. In
addition, additional resources are provided to aid the user with locating more
information on the topic. This is a
targeted blog dedicated to rapid e-learning tools specifically Articulate
although the concepts are applicable with other e-learning tools.
The next blog I
follow is Educational Technology and Mobile Learning
located at http://www.educatorstechnology.com/.
This blog reviews the latest trends in Educational technology and mobile
learning from an educational perspective.
The topics are geared to help teachers in the classroom however I find
the information to be applicable in my work as a trainer as well. For instance, the topic of instant polls is
something that interest me as my organization seeks to expand its use of
virtual learning environments such as living meeting and VTC (Video Teleconferencing). Polling helps to keep participants or
learners engaged in the activity by contributing their ideas in an anonymous
fashion. Therefore they won't feel
embarrassed if their answer is incorrect.
Additional topics include, assessment options, instructional strategies
and of course different online applications and tools that facilitate learning.
Lastly I will review
the Linked In group I recently joined, Training and Instructional Design
Consultants.located at
https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=110953&trk=my_groups-b-discgroup. This group founded by Christopher Pappas,
highlights key instructional design and
training topics. One topic I found
interesting was related to SME (Subject Matter Experts) and how to engage them
in an e-learning project. For me,
managing SME's effectively is crucial to obtaining the best final outcome. Some of the content on the site is sourced
from other groups such as e-learning industry ( another group I follow).
I also follow several
thought leaders on Twitter such as Charles Jennings and Donal H. Taylor. Using blogs and social media such as Linked
In and Twitter allow me to gain the information I need and want on demand when
I have the time and need for the information.
This is what I like best about these resources. I feel they will
continue to help me as I gain more and more experience with instructional design
and specific authoring tools and I start to better understand how to utilize
the knowledge I have gained. What are
your go-to online resources?
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