iPad takes centre stage once again as it gains increasing foothold in education, with educators touting it as one of the must-have technologies and students preferring it over hardcover books. For all you Apple fan boys, this post is manna from heaven!
And for those of you who love to hate the pad, fret not, there’s something beyond the big Apple too. Learn how you can stay on top of current events, eLearning market stats, the future of education, the evolving role of an Instructional Designer and more. Find it all here in our Weekly Digest – a collection of our top 18 links from the week gone by, each accompanied by a quick brief.
Need to quench your thirst for the latest in learning, technology and media links further? You can dig into our previous lists here.
1. What do Students Think of Using iPads in Class?
It’s almost a year since the iPad was first released. With an intent to explore different ways in which the iPad could be used by students and with a hope of transitioning to e-Books instead of paper textbooks, a pilot survey is conducted in one of the high schools. Read the results here.
2. 10 Sites to Learn Something New in 10 Minutes a Day
This list of web-based resources will point you toward web sites that will help you learn how to do new things, stay on top of current events, and learn about topics where your current knowledge may be lacking.
3. A Day in the Life of the iPad Class
If the goal of learning is to figure out the “how” and not just the correct answer, then the gadget is doing its job. This article takes you through a day in the life of an iPad class.
4. Nuts and Bolts: SURPRISE!
Incorporating what we understand about the role of surprise can help us overcome several common challenges in e-Learning design. Read this article to know how.
5. 20 Tips to Get Started With Your First E-learning Project
A must-read for those venturing into custom e-learning business or people who are getting started with their first e-learning project. Here are some guidelines for startups and individuals alike.
6. First Impressions Using Android Honeycomb, Google’s iPad Rival
Google has finally launched Android Honeycomb, the new version of the mobile OS that is focused on tablets. See some of the features and apps in action.
7. 7 Hot Trends in Mobile App Design
The mobile application space is exploding. Users increasingly turn to smartphones and tablets to consume and create content, whether on the go or on the couch. Here are seven of the hottest trends in mobile app design as found on App Store and Android Market.
8. Classroom iPod touches & iPads: Dos and Don’ts
Bringing iPods and iPads into the classroom is a great way to give students access to learning tools. However, there are so many things to keep in mind to make the devices work smoothly in the classroom. While this list of dos and don’ts mainly addresses iPod touch, the same advice goes for iPod touch and iPhone.
9. Learning occurs in many contexts
Learning may or may not be the reason we go to work, but it is an inevitable consequence, whether or not the employer or employee makes a deliberate attempt to promote it. The learning architect has to appreciate the many contexts in which learning takes place within the working environment. Read this article to know these contexts.
10. The New Age Instructional Designer
The role of an instructional designer is essentially driven by a need to find appropriate solutions by applying instructional design strategies and models to transfer information to users who use a particular product or service to perform their jobs. However with the changing learning methods, the role of the instructional designer as we understood it several years back is undergoing a paradigm shift. Take a journey down this road.
11. Infographic: See the Future of Education
As education reform becomes a more and more prominent topic in the national discourse, there is a phenomenon that hasn’t received much coverage though it’s silently transforming learning. Luckily, this infographic simply sums it up.
12. Survey reveals educators’ must-have technologies
Interactive whiteboards are the classroom technology that teachers say they most value, and though tablet-style eReader devices such as Apple’s iPad haven’t been around for long, they’re already considered the second most useful mobile classroom technology behind laptops, according to a national survey of teachers’ digital media use. This article reveals the must-have technologies in classrooms.
13. Making It a Mobile Web App
Ask any interactive agency nowadays what their clients are asking for when they need a mobile experience — the answer will inevitably be “an iPhone and/or an iPad app.” Native Apple apps are a hot commodity, and in today’s mobile application ecosystem, mobile web apps are not sexy. Read about the challenges and possibilities in making a mobile web app.
14. Importance Of Having A Design Methodology
A guide and tips and tricks for designers to improve their productivity and cost effectively using time management techniques.
15. The Components of True Collaboration
Dan Pontefract has a wonderfully clear and thought out model on The Collaboration Cycle. In fact, to summarize it wouldn’t really do it justice. Highlights the 3 basic components of true collaboration.
16. eLearning Market Grows 16.8 Percent Over 5 Years
A new report released by market research firm Ambient Insight has found that the U.S. market for self-paced e-learning products and services in preK-12 education has increased 16.8 percent over the past five years.
17. Mobile OS Adoption: A Tale of Two Graphs
When it comes to statistics, it seems that you can find anyone to back whatever opinion you might have. The competition between smartphone operating systems is a heated one” with a three-way tie between Blackberry, Android and iOS. Check out this article which will help you get a better perspective on these warring OSs.
18. Video Search Engine Qwiki Is Now Available To The Public
Qwiki, for those of you who haven’t been following the hype, basically reads heavily Wikipedia-sourced articles out loud with photo and video accompaniments. Here’s the lowdown on this new engine.
