eLearning eVolution

I read an article in the Boston Globe today that said that many students no longer have much recollection of the events of 9/11, as they experienced them at such a young age. Lessons for today are turning more into historical facts vs. a discussion of remembrances. My memories are still so alive. After all, 8 years ago in an adult’s life seems like just yesterday. And it was 8 years ago on 9/11 that I experienced “continuity of learning” without even realizing it.

Early morning 9/11, I was at work planning for a Customer Advisory Council meeting. I worked for a company that developed virtual learning products, and I needed to learn about what educators needed in future versions. My meeting was to be held online, using web conferencing technology, the next day.

At 9:10 on 9/11, I abandoned my preparation efforts to watch the replays of the twin towers being hit by 2 planes, crowded into a cubical with co-workers all standing in silence. As the day went on, I worried about my family living in the NY area, my co-workers and neighbors who headed to Logan Airport that morning for a flight, and colleagues at a conference in NYC. Like everyone, I experienced distraction, confusion, anxiety, and grief. This was not a business-as-usual day. Would tomorrow be?

The next day, 9/12, was my big Council meeting. I attended my online event from home. As invitees began to enter the virtual room from all over the U.S., I greeted them and said “I’m really not sure what to expect today.” I was referring to meeting attendance, but my comment triggered discussion about concerns of the nation that day. It turned out that in the end my online session was quite successful despite the crisis situation.

In retrospect, the worries I had about my meeting were incredibly minor compared those who were faced with life and family changes as a result of 9/11. They were:

- Would everyone attend? — Why not. Flights were all grounded but internet service was fine. My online meeting was on and reachable at the click of a link.

- Would this session even happen today? — Why not. People displaced by shutdowns or who chose to work from home for safety merely attended from a different PC-equipped location. They had participated in online sessions so many times before. Only their chairs were different now.

- Would we be in the mindset? Sure. Live interaction and discussion allowed for a brief but needed decompress. After that, we were ready to focus on something engaging and positive.

As they say in times of death, life goes on. In times of crisis, learning and productivity can go on, too.

- Donna Christopher, Elluminate Director of Marketing

I recently attended an online webinar along with approximately 349 other people distributed throughout the world. There may have been even more attendees than this, as some attend as a single online participant but have a room full of people behind it. Even though seated here all by myself in my home office, I left at the end believing that I had a more intimate experience than if this had been a seminar in a physical conference room.

Why? Many reasons, but I will describe one – I was able to interact and actually influence the presentation by nature of the feedback I contributed. I did this through chat. I did this by adding my thoughts in text to the whiteboard. And we were all encouraged to do this by the brave presenter willing to take on the challenge of making this a true educational experience, not just a one-way push of information.

The bottom line is that I doubt I would have had the opportunity to do this if seated in row 50 of a dark conference room with a PowerPoint presentation on the big screen at the front. So an intimate, engaging experience no longer means small class sizes in the online world. I’m not entirely sure that means big is better, but it can be pretty darn good.

To see for yourself, view the interactive recording of “5 Games in 50 Minutes” with Lou Russell.

- Donna Christopher, Elluminate Marketing Director

It’s the title of an article by Charlene O’Hanlon that was published in THE Journal in March, which is about the need for educators to adopt technology products for education. It’s not only good for the students, it makes an educator’s job even more interesting.

For me it means that it’s critical for educators to get on the bandwagon for using Web 2.0 and online collaborative technology–like Elluminate Live! and our soon-to-be launched LearnCentral social learning network–or get left in the dust.

If you’re going to NECC, stop by our booth #3542 to learn more about LearnCentral, as well as new enhancements to the Elluminate Learning Suite, like best-in-class breakout rooms.

Elluminate aside, there is so much wonderful educational technology out there, it boggles the mind! Now, I have to admit, all this blogging and twittering stuff put me off at first, but I’ve grown to understand the power and benefit of it. The same is true of tools that are designed to transform teaching and learning. So my advice, is to just jump right in. A good place to start is LearnCentral, where you get a free vRoom when you join. Tours will be starting next week.

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

Came across a great blog entry from Anne Mirstchin who teaches IT to students in grades 3-12 in Australia. She’s used Elluminate Live! for the past year for staff meetings, conferences, and professional development as well as with her students. I’m with Anne when she says that Elluminate is the way to go for 21st century education.

Along with sharing a cool project that involves connecting members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with several remote rural schools to teach about their instruments, Anne also provides a number of tips that have increased the successful use of Elluminate with her students, like having a code of conduct for chat and having a timeout room (breakout room) for offenders. Check it out and prepare to be inspired!

Keep on Elluminating!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard from some that online learning may be good for classes like reading or language but not for science or math. At Elluminate, we know better because customers tell us everyday how they are transforming teaching and learning by using our enabling technology for a wide variety of courses and programs.

Today, I was happy to find some proof! Here are some statistics from Florida Virtual Academy, a K12 Inc. school and Elluminate customer that show that students at their school got significantly higher FCAT test scores than the state average in reading AND math and science! Check it out.

So there, you naysayers!

Keep on Elluminating!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

Facilitated by Project Tomorrow, the Speak Up National Research Project has collected and shared the ideas and views of
more than 1.5 million K–12 students, teachers, parents and administrators on education and
technology since 2003. The latest report talks about today’s students as a “digital advance team” leading the way about how to leverage emerging technologies effectively for teaching and learning.

Here is their wish list. Let’s see how many Elluminate can address.

1. Un-tether learning and leverage mobile devices to extend learning beyond the school day and
meet all learners in their own world. CHECK

2. Create new interactive, participatory learning spaces using such tools as online classes,
gaming and simulations, online tutors and virtual reality environments. CHECK

3. Incorporate Web 2.0 tools into daily instruction, especially those that develop collaborative or
social-based learning and provide unique opportunities for students to be content developers. CHECK

4. Expand digital resources in the classroom to add context and relevancy to learning
experiences through new media tools. CHECK

5. Get beyond the classroom walls and make learning truly experiential, such as using high-tech
science instrumentation and creating podcasts with content experts. AND CHECK

Looks like we are on the right track for the digital advance team. Your wish is our command!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

I always get a little giddy on Fridays, looking forward to the weekend after a week of hard work at Elluminate from my home office in Arizona. However, this Friday was extra special.

One of our sales reps sent a few execs the link to an NBC affiliate story about an autistic boy in Philadelphia who is using a webcam with Elluminate Live! to train for the Special Olympics. The sessions include virtual exercises and lessons on sportsmanship. View “The Teacher Says: Special Olympics Training.”

Within seconds, our president had sent the link to the entire company, and the response emails started pouring in. Even though a significant number of our employees work virtually, the feelings expressed in the emails were mutual. We are all so proud to be working for a company that makes a difference!

We also had another great news clip this week from NBC World News with Charles Gibson. This video showcases Elluminate customer Georgia Virtual Academy, the state’s largest public school. View “School 2.0: Kids Go Online to Learn.”

Enjoy the videos. We sure did!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

Many of you know that Elluminate integrates with many of the popular learning and content management systems, like ANGEL, Blackboard, Moodle, eCollege, and Sakai. But did you know that the virtual classroom is also integrated with a number of social networking and collaborative online communities as well?

Elluminate Community Partners, including Classroom 2.0, Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC), and the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA), have integrated Elluminate vRoom™ into their online communities, providing thousands of members with access to a virtual meeting room that enables them to expand educational boundaries and interact with more peers and experts. Learn more.

Get ready for EDU 2.0!

And keep on Elluminating!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

Georgia Virtual Academy is the state’s largest public school with 4,400 students, and they use Elluminate Live! to add real-time interaction to their online classes. Recently the school was featured on ABC World News with Charles Gibson, who asked, “It’s a way for school districts to cut costs but does online education work?” The answer is a resounding YES! Read article/view video.

Plus, you may also want to check out the academy’s “Myths About Online Schools” page.

Keep on Elluminating!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

Gary here. Giving Beth a break today.

For those of you that don’t know, Seth Godin, marketing guru, has a blog. And he also answers all his e-mail. In fact, in one of them, he turned down the opportunity to use Elluminate gratis for some of his web interaction with his clients.

I got the feeling from his reply to me and from reading his posts and his books (and this is my feeling, not a quote or paraphrase from Seth) that Seth doesn’t like the “webinar format” because of some of the plaque surrounding the typical “bad” webinar:

• bad powerpoint
• no interactivity
• bad powerpoint
• and bad powerpoint

So when I saw this post by him, I was intrigued.

Has Seth begun to come around? Does he not realize that chat, sychronized with audio, is the beginning of true collaboration on the web? That web collaboration NEEDN’T BE ABOUT POWERPOINT?

It is kind of hard to get across that my product is really useful since I am vendor scum and people assume I will lie, but I and my peers live ALL DAY on Elluminate Live! and an as yet unannounced new product from Elluminate (ahem…) and I really HATE the phone. If I am on the phone with somebody doing work or teaching or even just shooting the breeze – I want to draw! I want to take notes! I want to see their notes! I want to make snide comments from the peanut gallery (when appropriate)! I want to show my desktop or a web page or an application I am working on!

Not to mention, that with my cool Yamaha PJP-25UR echo cancelling mic and speaker, I get better audio quality across VoIP on my PC than I do on my standard phone. (I feel like Liz Lemon on 30 Rock pitching Snapple.)

So Seth, the door is still open. Redefine the word webinar to yourself. In fact, throw it out! Use Elluminate (or, G-d forbid, another tool) on your Mac or your PC and truly collaborate in real time beyond your phone and text chat. Think the phone and text chat are great for creative thinkers and teachers? Wait til you take the next step.

Cheers,

Gary Dietz