by Michael Adams, edudemic

As a teacher, getting your students excited for test time can be a drag. The students don’t always know what to study or how much of the material will be covered, despite what you try to outline for them. Plus, it’s a lot of organization just to get things up and running. Quizzes are one of the best ways to test student’s mastery of specific material without letting them feel overwhelmed about a full test or exam, and they can help the students prepare for larger, more comprehensive tests that may be required by the curriculum. In addition to better mastery, online quizzes further support adoption of technology in the classroom.

http://edudemic.com/2013/03/online-quizzes-in-the-classroom/

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by Catherine Armitage, Sydney Morning Herald

Casual learning areas with wall nooks to sleep in at all hours and study spaces that look like coffee shops are part of a billion-dollar plan to keep university students on campus. The University of Technology, Sydney’s campus redevelopment is the biggest in this country, says the man overseeing it, UTS deputy vice-chancellor (resources) Patrick Woods. It may seem a risky investment now that students can listen to lectures via podcasts or take courses from the world’s best universities online for free. But armed with a 50 per cent increase in floor space, the planners are focusing on how to lure students onsite. UTS calls it ”the sticky campus”.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/tertiary-education/future-of-learning-sit-swot-sleep-20130323-2gmjz.html

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by Liz Gannes, All Things D

CreativeLive attracted nearly 150,000 people from 178 countries for a recent week-long Photoshop course. All together, students have consumed more than 10 million hours of free content on the CreativeLive platform. CreativeLive is now airing 15 classes per month, compared to four per month last year. Salmi explained that what distinguishes CreativeLive from competitors like Lynda.com is that its content is shot in front of an audience and streamed live. Users can pay $100 to watch a class again after the initial airing, but the live experience is interactive, dynamic and recalibrated based on students’ responses. “It becomes an event,” Salmi said. Watch Salmi explain the advantage of live in our not-at-all live video interview (at the url below), and how he envisions CreativeLive building an always-on network of live classes.

http://allthingsd.com/20130322/former-mtv-exec-mika-salmi-thinks-live-online-education-is-the-next-big-thing-video/?refcat=news

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from ADL Mobile Learning Handbook

Mobile learning has been called bitesize, handy learning, ubiquitous, portable, pocketable, learning on the go, my learning, untethered, opportunistic, learning in the moment, snack-learning, courselets, “bus stop” learning, a learning nugget or even a learning pill. To many, it also includes overlapping but somewhat independent paradigms such as informal, social, personal, private, situational, and unstructured learning. Some historical definitions can be found here. Mobile should be an integral part of your learning and information infrastructure / architecture. It should not be viewed as a replacement for other learning options, but a supplement or reinforcement for learning and performance support. Think about the user experience and their learning opportunities before making design decisions.

http://classroom-aid.com/2013/03/22/10-bullets-for-mobile-learning-content-design/

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By MindShift

When St. Louis fifth-grade teacher Jenny Kavanaugh teaches history, she uses her laptop to look at a map, or to give kids a virtual tour of the historical landmarks they’re studying. “Students can interact with history in very cool ways online,” she said. But when it’s time for math, she puts the computer away. Even though Kavanaugh thinks technology is a great tool to enhance and deepen certain lessons, for drill and practice of key concepts in class, she finds one-on-one practice to be much more effective than its technological equivalent – digital practice games. According to a recent teacher survey conducted by PBS, 43 percent of classroom computing goes to playing educational digital games, while a Joan Ganz Cooney study showed that nearly 50 percent of teachers use digital games in class. But with nearly half of all classroom computer time dedicated to games — many of which are played to reinforce basic skills like phonics, spelling or multiplication tables — some teachers are wondering if games really are innovative techniques used to enhance student learning.

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/teachers-students-digital-games-whats-the-right-mix/

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By BRIAN JUSTICE, Tullahoma News

High School student interest in foreign languages has waned to the point that Spanish is the only regularly offered curriculum option, but a sophomore will soon be delving into new territory through a satellite program to study Japanese. The Board of Education approved Monday to allow Katie Wilson to take Internet language courses in a dual enrollment program through the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa to count toward high school language credit requirements. Katie’s not the first THS student to take dual enrollment language classes, but she is the first in the school system anyone can recall who opted to study Japanese.

http://www.tullahomanews.com/?p=13392

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by Ivory Hecker, Midlands Connect

SC Science Academy executive director Nathan Yon says his new school opening this fall focuses on a combination of traditional and online learning. As education leaders and state legislators are considering approaches to fixing South Carolina’s education system, several people are already hard at work shaping the future of education. One of those people, Nathan Yon, says his new school opening this fall focuses on a combination of traditional and online learning. “You’re taking the best practices of…a virtual school and the best practices of a traditional school and combining them together,” said Yon, executive director of the South Carolina Science Academy, a charter school, adding the school was developed by a group of educators who wanted to create a 21st century model for education that keeps up with constant changes in technology.

http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=875156#.UUyMchyG32s

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By Daarel Burnette II, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

To close an $86.4 million budget deficit, Cobb County school administrators propose shifting a large portion of high school classes into online courses, cutting five days from the school year, eliminating transportation to several thousand students and giving district staff five furlough days. This is the sixth year the district has made drastic spending reductions, largely because of deep state austerity cuts and lowered property tax revenue. State law doesn’t allow a school district to run a deficit. “You can get a lot of nickels and dimes out of the cushion, but that’s not going to get you to $86 million,” Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said. “To get to that big of a number, you have to look at where your big numbers are. It’s with a lot of regret that we present this to you, but the facts are the facts.”

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/cobb-school-officials-propose-furlough-days-online/nWzn4/

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by Andrew Jackson, Traning Zone

Over the years, I’ve done more than my fair share of PowerPoint-bashing. And with good reason. Because there’s no getting away from it. Misuse of PowerPoint is responsible for some truly awful e-learning content. But today, I want to present a more balanced view of PowerPoint’s plus and minus points. Because the fact of the matter is, e-learning created using PowerPoint doesn’t have to be awful. When used well, PowerPoint can be a very versatile tool. PowerPoint sits somewhere in between a free-form rapid authoring tool and a form-based one. And this is its great strength.

http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/blogs-post/does-powerpoint-e-learning-have-result-disaster/184325

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by Michael Fitzgerald, Information Week

Professors who teach massive open online courses predict they will bring down the cost of higher education — but not all agree on whether MOOCs should offer credits. The Chronicle asked, “What is it like to teach 10,000 or more students at once, and does it really work?” The answer is that it can work, though the median class size reported was a mere 2,600. And while most of the professors surveyed are not economists, they expect that MOOCs will work well enough to reduce the cost of attending college. A full 64 percent of respondents said they thought MOOCs would at least marginally reduce the cost of getting a degree from the institutions where they teach. When asked the broader question of whether MOOCs will lower the costs of college overall, 86 percent said yes, apparently because they expect that even if their institutions may not offer credit for their courses, others will.

http://www.informationweek.com/education/online-learning/moocs-are-here-to-stay-profs-say/240151139

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BY CHRIS PARR, Times Higher Education

The University of the People now has 1,600 students across the world, and is on course to recruit the 5,000 it needs to achieve financial stability over the next two years. It offers undergraduate degrees in just two subjects – computer science and business administration. Students pay a registration fee, determined by the gross domestic product of their country of residence, and are then asked to pay a $100 administration fee for each exam they sit. To complete an undergraduate degree, 40 exams must be passed, bringing the total cost of a degree to around $4,000. Students that cannot afford to pay can apply for a range of scholarships.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/university-of-the-people-on-course-for-stability/2002632.article

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by the BBC

YouTube, the video sharing site owned by Google, has announced it has passed one billion regular users. Announcing the milestone on its blog, the site said a recent growth in smartphones had helped boost the numbers visiting the site every month. YouTube’s popularity provides Google with a lucrative channel through which to sell advertising, alongside its core search business. YouTube was launched in 2005 and bought by Google in 2006.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21874329

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By Corinne Bernstein, eWeek

On the train the other day, I overheard one rider asking another if it was OK to fib a little—or at least embellish the truth—on a resume. As the train rattled quickly and loudly to my stop, I missed the response, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the question. Lying on a resume isn’t illegal, but it’s certainly unethical and grounds for dismissal for those who get caught—not to mention embarrassing for the companies that hired them. The tech sector hasn’t been immune to resume scandals. The resume flap last year concerning the credentials of Scott Thompson, ex-CEO of Yahoo, certainly didn’t help the company’s image. How honest are most IT pros about their credentials? Stretching the truth is common, according to a recent survey conducted by TEKsystems. The technology staffing firm found that 63 percent of IT professionals and 77 percent of IT leaders said most IT resumes exaggerate job seekers’ work experience. What’s more, 35 percent of IT leaders and 39 percent of IT pros say most IT resumes contain “outright lies,” the study showed.
http://www.eweek.com/blogs/careers/it-resumes-keeping-them-truthful.html/

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There are tons of free textures and background images online. Some good and some not so good. It can be a bit overwhelming looking for textures so I went through some of the free textures and included the ones I think work well for elearning courses.

To save you some time, I looked around and only added textures that are free to use for commercial projects. Of course, it is a good habit to give props to the source of the free file. If you can’t give them a link back, at least go to their site and let them know you appreciate the free help.

Which Textures Work Best for E-Learning?

Fortunately no one’s written a book on the science of using textures in elearning courses. So for right now, you’re free to use any texture you like. But that may change at a future elearning conference.

In either case, here are the main categories that I look for:

• Paper: These work well for office-theme courses.
• Wood: As Seinfeld says, “Wood is good.” Enough said!
• Spotlights: Spotlight effects can help pull the eye towards the content area.
• Organic Natural: Organic material like rocks, torn paper and vegetation works because they don’t have straight lines. It gives you some wiggle room in your composition.
• Organic Man-made: Includes organic textures like brick walls and wood planking. They combine the organic look with sectioning or straight lines that work well in screen composition.
• Blurs: Blurred textures suggest depth or context without pulling your focus. They also help the content on the screen standout.

As a bonus, while it’s not a texture, I do like the why-be-flat approach for screen backgrounds where we combine design elements to create depth and perspective.

Here are two demos from recent posts on simple background images and creating course objectives. They’re essentially the same. In one I used a film strip texture. And the other uses a grungy concrete. They may give you some ideas on how to use textures.

Film Strip Texture

Click here to view the film strip demo.

Grungy Concrete Texture

Click here to view the concrete demo.

Free Textures

Here are some free textures that may work for your elearning courses. I tried to only include the ones that allow commercial use. As always with these free resources, be sure to do your own research on terms of use prior to using them in a project.

Free Paper Textures

• 6 Paper Textures
• 6 Old Paper Textures
• 6 Office Paper Textures

Free Wood Textures

• 8 Wood Textures
• 80 Miscellaneous Wood Textures
• Spotlight Wood Texture

Free Spotlight Textures

• 4 Spotlight Room Textures
• Center Spotlight
• Blue Spotlight

Free Organic Textures

• 4 Grungy Concrete Textures
• 40 Miscellaneous Fabric Textures
• 20 Cardboard Textures
• 10 Grungy Wood Textures
• 3 Brick Textures
• 5 Rock & Stone Textures
• 11 Old & Grungy Film Textures

Free Blurred Image Textures

• 12 Blurred Backgrounds
• 10 Natural Events Blurred Backgrounds
• 7 Pastel Textures. Import into PowerPoint and apply the blur filter.

If you do a search online, you’ll find all sorts of free textures. So have at it. The key though is that not all free textures are free for commercial use. Based on my research, the ones I’ve included above are available for commercial use. So you should be able to use them in your elearning projects.

What are your favorite textures and do you have a place to go for commercially free textures? If so, please share the links with the rest of us.

Free Articulate Jam session while we’re in Austin on April 18. Details below.

Upcoming workshops for 2013:

• April 2 &3: San Diego, CA. Two workshops. Sign up before it sells out.
  Day 1 – General elearning tips & tricks.
  Day 2  – A hands-on Storyline session.
• April 16 & 17: Austin, TX. Two workshops.
  Day 1 – Rapid E-Learning Workshop.
  Day 2 – Articulate Storyline Workshop 
• April 18: Austin, TX. Free jam session with the Central Texas Articulate User Group. It’s a great time to get answers and meet your peers. Here are the details. Seating is limited so RSVP to reserve your spot.
• May 14 & 15: London, UK. How to Become a Rapid E-Learning Pro: Two-day master class filled with lots of hands-on activities.
• June: Philadelphia, PA. Details coming.
• June 26-27: Portland, OR. BlueVolt eLearning Conference. Join the Articulate community team for a series of how-to sessions using the Articulate elearning applications.
• June 12 & 13: Miami, FL. Two workshops. Details coming.
  Day 1 – Rapid E-Learning Workshop.
  Day 2 – Articulate Storyline Workshop.
• September: Greensboro, NC. Details coming.
• September: New York, NY. Two workshops. Register here.
  Day 1 – Rapid E-Learning Workshop.
  Day 2 – Articulate Storyline Workshop. I’ll also be presenting at the evening chapter meeting.
• October: Baton Rouge, LA. Details coming.
• October: Los Angeles, CA. Details coming.
• November: St. Louis, MO. Details coming.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

By Don Reisinger, eWeek

Android is the world’s most popular smartphone OS, but it’s also the platform that hackers love to attack most. Android security is constantly in a state of flux. Despite Google’s continued claims that its operating system is secure, it’s getting hit hard by malicious hackers around the world who have found countless openings to exploit with malware. Android has become such a magnet for malware that security firm Trend Micro believes that the amount of malware to hit Android this year could top 1 million threats. In other words, the post-PC malware threat is here, and it’s targeting Android.

http://www.eweek.com/mobile/android-security-10-ways-to-protect-your-device-from-malware-theft/

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By Pedro Hernandez, eWeek

Tepid sales of Microsoft’s tablet have industry watchers wondering if Surface is off to a slow start or if the Surface is a repeat of the ill-fated Zune media player. The last time Microsoft tried to play catch-up with hardware from Apple, it was forced to pull the plug on its Zune player. This time around, analysts fear that the Surface may suffer a similar fate. Bloomberg is reporting that according to sales insiders, Microsoft sold an underwhelming number of Surface Pro tablets since the buzzed-about Windows 8 Pro slate launched Feb. 9. “Microsoft has sold little more than a million of the Surface RT version and about 400,000 Surface Pros since their debuts, according to three people, who asked not to be named because sales haven’t yet been made public,” said the report. To date, Microsoft has sold 1.5 million Surface units (both RT and Pro), far less than the company anticipated. Microsoft reportedly ordered about 3 million Surface RT tablets expecting sales of 2 million during the holidays.

http://www.eweek.com/mobile/is-microsofts-surface-doomed-like-zune/

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by Daniel Luzer, Washington Monthly

Last week a California legislator, Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, introduced legislation to begin offering community college classes via massive open online courses (MOOCs), which are designed for large-scale participation and open access via the Internet. All University of California and California State University campuses would have to accept those courses for credit, as they currently do for courses earned at California community colleges. Many proclaimed this legislation a positive development, but some professors find this occurrence troublesome. The leaders of the University of California’s academic senate released a letter Friday expressing “grave concerns about the MOOC legislation.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/california_professors_express.php

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BY MIA SHAW, Daily Californian

The Academic Senate of the University of California signed an open letter last Friday condemning a California State Senate bill requiring the state’s public colleges and universities to accept faculty-approved online college courses for credit. SB 520, authored by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, would make the 50 most oversubscribed lower-division courses in California’s higher education system available online. The open letter criticizes the bill’s inclusion of private corporate interests as well as its exaggeration of issues with undergraduate student success. According to SB 520, courses eligible for credit may be provided by private, third-party providers like edX, Coursera and Udacity, which offer massive open online courses. The Academic Senate wrote in the letter that this may allow corporate interests to replace faculty control over online curricula. “There is no possibility that UC faculty will shirk its responsibility to our students by ceding authority over courses to any outside agency,” the letter stated.

http://www.dailycal.org/2013/03/18/academic-senate-condemns-online-education-bill/

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by Tom Weber, Minnesota Public Radio

If you’re a Minnesota college student and you take an online course from an out-of-state entity, should you get credit for it? It’s a question all the more important for policymakers to answer with the growing popularity of massive open online courses, or MOOCs. These are courses anyone can take, offered by schools like Stanford. They’re often free or very inexpensive. States are debating whether college students enrolled in other schools should get credit for the classes on their transcripts. Last fall, Larry Pogemiller, director of Minnesota’s Office of Higher Education, told The Daily Circuit he’d seek legislation this spring to clarify the issue.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/03/18/daily-circuit-online-classes-pogemiller

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By Stephanie Hockridge, DPP

Schools all over the Valley offer online courses. But, what about an online P.E class? It’s an option one state lawmaker wants taken off the table. Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Boyer says kids need to get away from the computer screens, TV screens and cell phone screens and, instead, venture outside and get some exercise. On a beautiful day in Gilbert, the SWAT girls softball team is busy doing drills and learning proper technique. But, it’s that type of instruction that wouldn’t happen during an online physical education course. According to the Gilbert Public School’s website, the district offers three online P.E. courses, including bowling.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/gilbert/Controversy-brews-over-online-PEcourses

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