More Quick Links

Read on for another series of summaries to save you time and give you leads to posts you might find of value:

Social Learning and Social Media

Discovered Renee Robbins’ Learning Putty blog just in time to see her great post, “22 Social Learning Strategy Questions to Answer Before Your Next Lesson.” If you’re looking for a place to start your social learning strategy, you can convert her series of questions into checklists and be on your way!

And here’s the Wild Apricot Blog’s recommendation for Jay Baer’s One-Page Social Media Strategy Worksheet and how to adapt it to your nonprofit.  

Oldie but goodie: The graphic included in The Upside Learning blog’s “Elements for Constructing Social Learning Environments” post is a great visual summary of the various online tools people use to pull resources to them on the subjects and conversations and areas of knowledge in which they want to stay current. 

But if you’re looking for a great intro to social media — maybe you need something to share with your education committee or board members that helps sort out all the social media options and what they do, take a look at Jane Hart’s “Pick of the Day” post and go to the clickable version of the graphic here.

eLearning vs FTF

Mark Berthelemy at Learning Conversations has thrown down the gauntlet: which would you pay for, case studies and videos of presentations, or a face-to-face event with emphasis on conversation and discussion? Take the poll (or check in for results).  

Learning Objectives Debate

The great debate on learning objectives rages on. Jeff Hurst stakes a stab at it in his MidCourse Corrections blog post, “Improving Your Conference Education: Begin with the End in Mind.” Phil Green gives his perspective in his Onlignment post, “After you have completed this e-learning module you will be able to…”

Telling Ain’t Training (Let me repeat that….)

Sahana Chattopadhyay at “ID and Other Reflections” has a great summary (based on her reading of “Telling Ain’t Training” by Harold J. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps) of the distinctions among key terms in her “Training, Instruction, and Education… we need ’em all” post.

Data Supports It: eLearning is Less Expensive than FTF

Looking for a close analysis of why elearning is less expensive than instructor-led, classroom-based, travel-required training? See this ASTD article, “Cost Comparison: Instructor-Led vs. E-Learning,” by Paul T. Walliker.

LMS Options for Instructor-Led Programs

If you’re like me, you’d rather find everything you can on your own before involving a company rep to give you the walk-through and sales pitch. Though few companies offer quality demonstrations you can access on your own, iCohere has an overview of NACS (National Association of College Stores) offerings you can take a peek at.

If you’re considering Blackboard and want to see what they offer associations, you can find descriptions here. 

Solar Energy International (SEI) offered conventional online courses using a traditional LMS until they found that the system they built in-house was no longer adequate — scale had surpassed their capacity, and security issues became increasingly challenging to meet. You can see their case study, including the final choice they made, here.