TechEduTrain

Synchronicity

Yes, I know I have another blog with that title. I have yet a second blog that relates to syncronicity, too. But this is another kind.

Yesterday I wrote:

...there's so much new knowledge, people can't absorb it all and, therefore, need to specialize.

Today, I'm reading an article referenced from the TypePad blog about adding Google Adsense ads to a blog to make a little money when I ran across this:

Focused blogging isn't that popular but I'm convinced it's the only way to have a chance to carve out a niche on the web. If you want to proclaim yourself as an expert on a topic to both an audience and search engines so that people will know you're the one site to go to for information, you'll have to focus. Focus and be as specific as you can.(Blogging for Dollars)

Ah ha! So, here's someone else talking about the trend toward specialization in today's economic environment, albeit in a slightly different way. Still, the point is there, if for different reasons.

Sometimes, I think the most valid indicators of a trend are similar observations from different perspectives.

Marketing "New" Technology

Not only is technology changing at the speed of light, but the environment in which it's implemented is, as well. This leads to new strategies for buying and selling.

I've become more interested in this area since my friend Steve (Visible Light) has asked me to help him redesign his website and beef up his marketing efforts.

I first began marketing website design services in late 1996 and early 1997. I resumed Internet marketing this summer and couldn't believe how much things had changed. "If you build it they will come" used to be true. No more!

A new, "Internet marketing" field has developed over these last six years. And that's not mentioning offline marketing, which is bound to have changed as much, since the world has. (Not having much experience in offline marketing, I'm forced to speculate.)

Take a look at the changes that have occured since 9/11. We have a new cabinet-level department in addition to a host of economic, political, and social changes. The implication is that there's so much new knowledge, people can't absorb it all and, therefore, need to specialize. They also need to communicate more effectively with those in other specialties and be able to work within teams.

For example, Steve is a specialist in digital media technology and I'm a specialist in media design. We're both honing our knowledge and skills in the area of Internet-based marketing. Lucky for us, we communicate regularly and well.

I wonder, though, what happens in those educational media organizations where people do not--where ego and turf wars trump sharing and communication. Does that kind of pettiness, of which humans are so susceptible, lead to the inevitable demise of an organization? How do today's businesses--especially in the ed tech areana--account for the rapidity of change in technology and business, and stay afloat?

The Marriage of Linear and Non-Linear Media

A year ago last spring, after a numer of years of mulling over the idea, I embarked on a project to recocile the linear nature of stories with the interactivity of digital media and began writing a book, New Media in the New Hollywood: The Marriage of Movies and Multimedia. I also created a demo DVD to illustrate the concept described in the book.

For the demo (and a full product I hoped to sell at a later time), I choose a 1947 feature film, Life with Father. Since the story is set in 1880s New York City, the film lends intself nicely to non-fiction links about general Victoriana and Victorian New York.

Stories appeal to the affect and provide interest and motivation. In an educational setting, that motivation can be used to create interest in related factual information, typically considered "boring." Look at how many people developed an interest--including teens--in Titanic and that era, based on the movie. The story of Titanic's demise would not likely have garnered much interest among teens, without the movie.

I thought this approach could create a new way for film production companies to gain revenue from films collecting dust in their vaults, by adding new value. This value would derive from a digital version with supplemental links to the movie's content as opposed to its making--the primary addition to current DVDs. I believed this approach would be especially appealing to parents as a way to supplement their children's learning.

Since I was heading to LA last summer for a social get-together, I combined the trip with meetings with some of Hollywood's top multimedia developers, during which I showed them my demo.

While they found it intriguing, they believed Hollywood wasn't much interested in multimedia since the few excusions they had made had not proved profitable. Putting out DVDs was about as far as these executives were interested in going. The developers did feel, however, that there was a niche for this approach in the education market.

Since other things competed for my attention, I didn't complete the book or full DVD product. I do have the demo and am waiting for a time when other educational technologists see the inherent value in embedding links to supplemental material within a digital movie. I suppose it's simply an idea whose time has not yet come.

Blogs, Learning, and LMSs

This morning I started thinking about the use of blogs in education and training. Other than as a vehicle for students to express themselves (and, simultaneously, develop computer skills), how might blogs be used, otherwise, in an instructional setting? Quite effectively, I concluded.

A teacher-owned blog gives him/her control of the primary blog content. At the same time, students can use comments to respond to topics posted by the teacher.

While most of the blogs I've seen do not have a threaded discussion capability, a few do. This feature would enable students (and the teacher) to respond directly to each other, related to the topic.

A blog can also be set up as a community so that students, as well as the teacher, can post an entry for response of others in the group. Unlike a discussion board or forum, the author's original entry would have prominence over comments.

The desire to not be viewed as lacking to peers or the teacher also serves as a motivation for improvement in written communication skills. Many bloggers testify that they notice their writing skills improve the more they blog. I'm sure the exposure provided by a blog provides the motivation to check ones p's and q's before publishing--an added benefit of educational blogging.

I recently read a fascinating article regarding blogging, storytelling, and knowledge mangement (KM), related to learning.

In this article, we share our experiences with a strategy and technology so simple in design, that it could present the next wave of grassroots KM implementations. We are talking of the "storytelling" as the killer strategy, and "blogs" as the killer technology. Both of them share one common ground: grassroots interaction — a concept voiced by the likes of John Seely Brown, Larry Prusak, Steve Dennings, Dave Snowden, David Weinberger, among other prominent KM personalities....

The article got me wondering whether any learning management systems (LMS) or learning content management systems (LCMS) provide the ability to include a blog as part of the content. In other words, if one creates a blog using MovableType, for example, can that blog be imported into or referenced by the LMS/LCMS?

I did some "Googling," but didn't find anything relevant. Technically, it seems quite possible, but I don't know if any LMS/LCMS providers have bothered.

If anyone knows, please let me.