Smartphone Science Class
Topic: New Technologies
Podcast.

Taking a course on a smartphone? It's not as far-fetched as it may seem. In fact, K-12 schools have been utilizing mobile devices for several years now to take photos, collect information, and then instant-message classmates, or post to discussion boards. However, the practice can certainly be expanded to be incorporated in home school distance education courses, or college-level courses. Communication can take place through phone, e-mail, and instant messenger, as well as via the web. The smartphone's media player functionality can be used for movie clips and mp3s, while the photo capabilities can be used to collect, record, and share data. It even contains an FM radio, so students can listen to radio programs. Finally, photos and logs can be shared through blog or Flickr.

For a script of the entire article / podcast, please visit http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/2006/02/smartphone-science-class.html

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Affiliate Programs and E-Learning: How Can I Get Started?
Topic: Revenue Streams
Podcast.

Becoming a member of affiliate programs can lead to new revenue for e-learning programs, and getting started can be as simple or as complex as you choose. A well-planned approach will succeed, whether complicated or delightfully simple. New revenue occurs via increased traffic to your web site, deeper understanding of your programs, more effective student behaviors, enhanced student loyalty, better student performance, and the opportunity to establish productive alliances with currently enrolled students and alumni.

For full text of this podcast, click here.

Monetizing Websites As a Service; Opportunities in E-Learning
Podcast.

Despite the fervor about "monetized" domain names that consist of little else but links to ads, don't be deceived. That's not the best way to make money with your affiliate programs. The best way, at least at this point, still involves traffic -- traffic you've generated from the quality and intrinsic value of your site. Don't alienate your hard-earned traffic by surrounding them with distracting, chaotic banners, chicklets, and text links. Instead, use the tips below to carefully craft a plan that will optimize click-throughs and conversions to commission-bearing sales.

The full text of the podcast is available here: Monetizing as a service.

Hype? Fact? Helping Online Students Evaluate Websites
Topic: Instructional Activities
Podcast.

Developing the ability to distinguish website hype from reality is a critical skill, but one that tends to be overlooked in online courses. This article models how to develop writing assignments that give students an opportunity to examine websites' claims made about products, the use of logic, and the nature of the "evidence" used to support the claims. It also gives students a chance to look at two sides of the story, and to examine evidence through lenses colored by presuppositions, assumptions, beliefs, and values.

For the entire text of the podcast, please click here.

Business Trends and E-Learning: Affiliates, Monetizing, Direct navigation
Topic: Leadership in E-Learning
Podcast.

What does it take to achieve solid, fast-paced growth in an e-learning organization? It's not just about building courses, recruiting students, or containing costs. It's also about generating new revenue streams, which may include establishing affiliate relationships, monetizing websites through advertising and reciprocal relationships, and acquiring "valuable real estate" (domains) in order to monetize them, then sell as "type-in" direct navigation domains. Needless to say, it's important to be perceived as maintaining academic excellence as you build student and revenue bases. Nevertheless, there are exciting new ways that have been newly legitimized by investment banking firms for organizations (including e-learning organizations) to establish relationships and to market and promote products, services, and approaches.

For full text of the article.

Prestige and the Online Institution, Part II - The Digital Gold Standard
Topic: Leadership in E-Learning
link to podcast / first half of this article

Link to podcast for second half of this article

This is Part 2 of a two-part article which explores attributes and characteristics of prestigious universities, and evaluates how, when, and where the online institution is gaining cultural status and prestige ... and where the opportunities lie. (You might be surprised.)

First half of the article (text and podcast)

http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/2006/01/upward-mobility-in-distance.html


Here is where the paradox begins, in my opinion. After all, the idea of access presupposes a democratic ideal; the voices of all can be heard, their e-mails read. And yet, prestige often associates itself with exclusivity, to the point of secrecy. Could one have a Skull and Bones Club online? Instead of rituals and secret gatherings, the digital elite represent the "gold standard," the ideal to which others aspire. To continue from Part I, here are a few elements that characterize an elite college or university, and here is how they translate into the "digital gold standard."

For the entire text of this article, please Click Here

Upward Mobility in the Distance Institution: Factors Influencing Prestige and Status in Online Programs
Topic: Leadership in E-Learning
Podcast.

The college degree earned either partially or fully online has ascended in stature to solid respectability, as college administrators have come to believe that online courses can be more rigorous than face-to-face. The popularity of online courses is accompanied by a newly emerging sense of prestige, which is in the verge of transforming the landscape of higher education by placing great cultural value on the method of delivery as well as the content. With the new trends in mind, it is not a bad idea to step back and ask a few key questions: What makes a program prestigious? Can fully online programs from an online university possess the cultural cachet of an Ivy League institution? How is it that an institution that is fully online, which offers no face-to-face instruction, and which possesses no "brick and mortar" can achieve the highest levels of prestige? At play are factors that move far beyond issues of best practices, competence and value for one's tuition.

For full text version, please click here: Text Version

Pit Bull Brainstorming: A Writing and Research Activity
Topic: Instructional Activities
Podcast

Brainstorming is an invention strategy for composition that can take many forms. While some find it useful to use diagrams, outlines, decision trees, and clusters, those tactics tend to focus on the "what" instead of the "how" and the "why." In order to approach deeper issues, and to trigger chains of thoughts, a very powerful technique is to develop series of questions. The brainstorming revolves around questions that trigger questions. It is a chain of questions, or, one could say a "great concatenation of questions." This approach is extremely useful for causal essays, as well as basic argumentation. One topic that certainly helps illustrate the technique is that of the pit bull, which can encompass a number of breeds, including the American Pit Bull Terrier. It seems that attacks by pit bulls just keep increasing. Cities such as Denver are banning them. Neighboring towns are fearful that they will become "pit bull dumping grounds" (which leads to all kinds of rather bizarre mental images, back yards packed shoulder-to-shoulder with pit bulls). Why is the pit bull phenomenon happening? What are we doing about it? Are some dog breeds being labeled "bad breeds"?

You can listen to the full article via the podcast, and can read the full text at http://www.elearningqueen.org

Podcast

Text Representation and Cognitive Processes: How the Mind Makes Meaning in e-Learning
Topic: Instructional Activities
Podcast.
Since e-learning relies still relies heavily on text-based learning, it is very helpful to have a basic idea of how the mind makes meaning from discourse. Understanding how the various forms of textual representation operate will help one design more effective instructional materials, activities, and assessments. According to discourse theorists, written language has the following aspects or components in the text itself, which consist of Surface Code, Textbase, and Situated Text. It also helps to understand the factors that influence how an individual processes that language. Finally, the mechanisms used for comprehension matter a great deal when one is trying to achieve uniform learning outcomes. Achieving standard outcomes is simply not possible without first understanding when and how to activate relevant knowledge, and then how to guide the learner so that he/she acquires skill in selecting the correct meaning-making processes.

https://elearningqueen.tripod.com/podcasts

Full text at Text and Cognition - Full Text

My Odeo Channel

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Eating Disorders and the Extended Definition Essay for Online Writing Courses
Topic: Instructional Activities
Podcast. It is an ironic counterpoint to the obesity epidemic. Adult women weighing as little as 56 pounds and so malnourished that their bodies are shutting down continue to starve themselves, continuing to believe that they are fat, or are teetering on the edge of out-of-control weight gain. Any sense that the weight loss was to become more attractive wears away as one looks at the frighteningly skeletal bodies. When one compares "before / after" photos, one finds oneself wanting to blurt out that the anorexia or bulimia-driven woman looked more attractive before, even if she considered herself a bit plump.

Read the entire script. Click here.