Today on TechCrunch there's a review of a cool new browser-based app called Screen Jelly that has just launched today.
It's from the same people that brought us ScreenToaster and it allows you to record and share short screencasts. You can capture 3 minutes of screen content (video & audio) which you can then tweet out a link to or you can use the link to put content in to your Litmos online courses.
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The results of a new Meta-Analysis & Review of Online Studies released June 26th 2009 by the U.S. Department of Education suggests that online learning at a higher education level, is more effective than face to face learning.
"The overall finding of the meta-analysis is that classes with online learning (whether taught completely online or blended) on average produce stronger student learning outcomes than do classes with solely face-to-face instruction." (pg.18)
Students in the study completed the same courses online and under face to face instruction and while online learning proved highly successful, the most effective of all was a "blended learning" solution combining elements of both online and face to face. Three factors emerged as variables in the contrasting types of learning: time, pedagogy and curriculum.
'Time' was one reason why online learning proves to be so successful, because it allows for students to go at their own pace instead of one pace for the whole group. The report states: "Studies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students in the face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for online learning" (xv).
Another pattern that emerged was that video and quizzes in online learning did not seem to increase learning effectiveness. However, more interactive media and objects where the student was in the driver seat did: "Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection." (xvi)
There are far too many interesting findings for me to list here, but for a nice summary of the meta-analysis take a look at Scott Jaschik's article The Evidence on Online Education, or click here for the full 93-page report.
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Now that the first half of the year is over, I thought I'd take a look at our stats and see which blog posts written in 2009, have been most popular so far.
So here are they are in order the Top 5 Blog Posts of 2009 (so far):
With today's economy not looking so hot, classroom-based (or face-to-face) training is not always the most cost-effective or feasible option for many companies. More recently it is compliance training that's moved online for a number of reasons, one of the most persuasive being the ability to maintain an accurate record of employee training completion and results.
Compliance training is put in place to educate employees about laws, regulations and general company standards. It will hopefully reduce the risk of legal issues resulting from wrong-doing by an employee. Evidence that your trainees have completed this training is often imperative to maintaining a defense against legal action and it can ensure that legal responsibility sits squarely on the shoulders of your employee, not the company.
A large percentage of Litmos customers use our online training platform to deliver compliance training messages to employees, as well as other more specialized courses. Compliance training can be anything from sexual harassment to Occupational Health and Safety, in the office, or on a construction site.
Required online training does not have to be synonymous with 'boring' either. Online training courses can always be made more exciting by incorporating varied media like videos, Flash, PowerPoint presentations, audio, surveys and assessments. There is a wealth of information on here to help you design interesting courses, create engaging training videos, and build PowerPoint presentations that won't put your trainees to sleep. Take a little time to check out some of our blog topics listed on the right side of this page.
@Schnicker
You'll notice on your personal course listing page that we've provided a "Share" button at the bottom of your course listings.
When you click on this button you can instantly share a link to your courses via Facebook, Twitter, Digg, MySpace and a number of other social destinations which means you can spread the word about your courses even further across the globe! This is the perfect tool for everyone selling courses online.
Here at Litmos this is just one more way that we're working to help our customers publicize, advertise and monetize their hard work and course creations!
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