WorldCat - World's Largest Network of Library Content & Services!

• WorldCat
• What is WorldCat?

Over 1 billion items in more than 10,000 libraries worldwide!

WHAT?
WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. WorldCat libraries are dedicated to providing access to their resources on the Web, where most people start their search for information. It lets you search the collections of libraries in your community and thousands more around the world.

JUICE?

• Search many libraries at once for an item and then locate it in a library nearby
• Find books, music, and videos to check out
• Find research articles and digital items (like audiobooks) that can be directly viewed or downloaded
• Link to "Ask a Librarian" and other services at your library
• Post your review of an item, or contribute factual information about it
  

Pleasant interface, quick search, but how do you download resources that are actually free (or free when you search Google)? A lot of metadata, but sometimes a simple 'Download' (or view) button would do wonders (if possible). Although, I have only been playing with WorldCat for a few minutes, it should have been intuitive enough to guide me how to download freely available resources (if possible. Do you need to register?).

Actually, what I like about this learning tool (after a few minutes of learning!) is the "Cite this Item" feature, which I suppose are in all other online library systems, too. Amazingly, I have failed to notice this super feature before elsewhere (probably been around for decades!). Though, now that I have noticed it, I believe this feature is extremely useful for people who don't know how to cite correctly (Like me!). For example, citation styles for "Giving knowledge for free : the emergence of open educational resources"

• APA
  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, & Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. (2007). Giving knowledge for free the emergence of open educational resources. [Paris, France?]: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
• Chicago (Author-Date)
  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. 2007. Giving knowledge for free the emergence of open educational resources. [Paris, France?]: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
• Harvard
  ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, & CENTRE FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND INNOVATION. (2007). Giving knowledge for free the emergence of open educational resources. [Paris, France?], Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
• MLA
  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. Giving Knowledge for Free The Emergence of Open Educational Resources. [Paris, France?]: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007.
• Turabian
  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. Giving Knowledge for Free The Emergence of Open Educational Resources. [Paris, France?]: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007.

Easy! Search for the resource in WorldCat (hopefully there!), find it, click 'Cite this Item', Copy/Paste, and I am done (Isn't this feature in Google Scholar, too? If not, it should be!). Now, I (or we) know how to cite the 'Harvard' way! Hmm, hopefully I can write the 'Harvard' way one day in the... :)

Blog Readability Test (My Blog = Genius?)

• Blog Readability Test
• Reference - Blog readability test (Harold Jarche)

WHAT?
What level of education is required to understand your blog?
Click here, Enter your blog's URL, and within a few seconds you will get the results. I am not sure what formula or criteria they are using (US High School level?), but it is always fun to explore simple online tests like this one. Not much thinking needed, so why not!

MY BLOG?
My blog's reading level: 'Genius'.

It felt great, until I thought about it a bit! Mambo-Jambo! From an instructional design (ID) point-of-view it is simply a disaster, unless most of my readers (target audience) are at that level. Hopefully, they are!

If this test is reliable and valid, I suppose I would need to use less jargons and simpler words in the future to reach the lower levels (or more people!). Why not!

Interestingly, Joseph Hart's blog reading level is also 'Genius'. Though, Stephen's OLDaily blog reading level is only 'High School'. This could be one reason (Unconscious one!) why I ranked Stephen's blog higher in my Top 10 ETL blogs ranking. It might not make sense, but it does bring a bit of joy and heartache to our blogging. In short, a little copy/paste job for a lot of reflective fun!

I am still learning... :)

SnagIt and Camtasia Studio for FREE?

• Reference - SnagIt and Camtasia (Jane Knight)

WHAT?
Older versions of SnagIt and Camtasia Studio are being made available from TechSmith for free.

Just wondering TechSmith, why do I get a pop-up message every time I open SnagIT to buy (US$ 39.95), unlock, or continue the trial? Alright, that one makes business sense, but can we continue this trial for as long as we want? Or does it come with a (hidden) limited free trial period (e.g. 30 days)? Is there any catch here (besides promoting these two tools virally)?

Anyway, if it does come with a limited free trial period, I suppose we can enjoy these two learning tools for that period at least (Though, I will be really disappointed! Who cares!).

SnagIT?
SnagIt is a comprehensive screen capture application that allows you to capture, edit, and share any type of data from your PC.

• Download SnagIt 7.2.5 (English)
• Download SnagIt 7.2.5 (German)
• Download SnagIt 7.2.5 (French)

Register SnagIt 7.2.5 demo as a fully licensed version.

"After installing SnagIt 7.2.5, you will be eligible to upgrade to the current version, SnagIt 8.2, for just 13,50£ (New version is 27£)."

Camtasia Studio?
Camtasia Studio enables you easily to record your screen to create training, demo, and presentation videos.

• Download Camtasia Studio 3.1.3

Register Camtasia Studio 3.1.3 as a fully licensed version.

"After installing Camtasia Studio 3.1.3, you will be eligible to upgrade to the current version, Camtasia Studio 5.0, for just 88 £ (New version is 176 £)."

Alright, let's enjoy the free versions, and hopefully there aren't any hidden free trial periods, and unwanted bugs giving us virtual headaches. As for upgrading to get the new features, I suppose if one really needs those new features, perhaps one should consider. But, if the free features are sufficient, why... :)

10 Top ETL Blogs You Simply Don’t Want to Miss!

• Top Eight E-learning Blogs (Jeff Cobb)
• 8 Top Elearning Blogs You Don’t Want to Miss
• The 19 Best Elearning Blogs

WHAT?
As we are approaching closer to 2008, we will increasingly see all sorts of Top 8, Top 10, Top 20, Top 100, etc. lists, ranking everything from underwear to blogs. Should we take these kind of rankings seriously? No idea! It really depends (on the criteria and who's involved!), but surely if the ranking is done by someone or a group (Wisdom of the crowds!) that is influential, recognized, an expert, popular, respected, and/or widely read, it will have some impact on what we are doing (increased online traffic, global awareness, ego boosting, increased effort, etc.). Whatever it is, we somehow often get an extra kick out of reading this TOP something stuff. Better yet, if we are ourselves mentioned (or top of the pops!), life suddenly shines a bit brighter for a while (Jeff Cobb, thanks for mentioning my blog!). It feels great, Hip-Hip-Hurray! Yippy Kay Yaw Yeah!

Though, whatever recognition, awards or top rankings we get, hopefully it does not change our attitude to learn. In other words, recognition, awards, and rankings, should only increase our efforts/hunger to learn :)

MY TOP 10 ETL BLOGS?
Although, I am not really known (yet!), or an influentional person in education, I am going to share with you my top 10 (favourite) ETL (Education + Technology = Learning) blogs that takes up my time, as I struggle to learn more about education, learning technologies, and importantly the art of 'Learning How to Learn' more effectively. My ranking uses no particular formula, so please do not get offended if you are not on the list (or lower than expected!). This top 10 list is simply ETL blogs that occupy my interest and time. So, I suppose the time and interest factors play important roles in my ranking. Not sure really! Probably, my humble common sense and gut-feeling plays a prominent role, too. Stop! Here is my top 10 favourite ETL blogs:

1. Stephen’s Web - OLDaily
   If you are looking for ETL-related news, trends, reflections, etc., Stephen Downes's OLDaily is a homerun (Actually a season full of homeruns!). I have yet to find a better ETL blog out there in the blogsphere! Stephen's short reflections to all the juice he daily (5 times a week!) extracts from his intelligent surveillance of hundreds of ETL blogs (400+, if I am not mistaken!) are enjoyable, useful, relevant, and contains a lot of wisdom (to my humble knowledge!). Though, since he posts so often, you might sometimes miss the really juicy stuff (unless you have a lot of time!). Also, he posts links (URLs) to all his talks, presentations, and reflections (even from his office or bedroom. Not sure where! Better ask him!) on his blog, which often includes audio and/or video recordings, too. These learning resources enable us to get a deeper understanding of his thinking and ideas about learning and education. In short, we can in a way experience his learning journey (process) on 'Learning How to Learn' more effectively, as he learns. Click here to learn more about Stephen.
   
2. EduResources Weblog
   Joseph Hart's regular posts on mostly Higher education online resource discoveries accompanied by short but valuable reflections, is something you simply don't want to miss, especially if you are an educator. His blog might not be as flashy as some of the other ETL Blogs, but his valuable words and wise reflections are engaging, relevant, and useful to our learning mind. Also, check out his other great blog The Open Learner, which explores the usage of open knowledge resources across a diversity of subjects, levels, and interests for a wide range of learners and learning communities.
   
3. elearnspace
   George Siemens's elearnspace (Check out the Homepage, too!) is a great ETL blog to keep yourself updated about the latest juice in elearning, knowledge management, networks, technology, community development, and corporate learning. Also, check out his Knowing Knowledge book (Free!), which reflects the future of knowledge and learning. What I really like about this guy, is that he is always up to something innovative and is not scared to fail (e.g. 'Corporate Learning: Trends and Innovations' Free Online Conference).
   
4. Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day
   If you are looking for the latest e-learning (or 'learning') tools, Jane Knight's blog is simply 'Toolicious'! Also, check out Jane Knight's amazing directory of 1800+ learning tools. In addition, I love the fact that she provides us with a weekly round-up of the new learning tools added to the tools directory. Her blog posts are concise, attractive, and juicy. Hmm, got a lot to learn here!!!!
   
5. Learning Trends
   Elliott Masie's Learning Trends blog is my favourite corporate learning blog. He himself is a dynamic, creative and innovative guy always looking for new ways to connect, contextualize, and innovate the learning process, so I would not want to miss his reflections. If you aren't already subscribing to his Learning Trends, perhaps it is time!
   
6. The Rapid eLearning Blog
   When you think about improving your rapid e-Learning, instructional design, PowerPoint or graphic creation skills, Tom Kuhlmann's Rapid eLearning blog provides you with a lot of great advice, tips, examples and short-cuts (One word = Amazing!). Also, don't forget to get his free elearning ebook while you’re there. In short, this blog is my favourite 'Rapid e-Learning' learning blog!
   
7. Clive on Learning
   If you are looking for reflections from an experienced expert on instructional design and insights on educational trends, I believe Clive Shepherd's excellent blog will nourish you well. He is also the man behind the 30-minute and 60-minute Masters in Instructional Design (or rapid e-learning design). Also, check out Clive's 33 Columns! Although, he does not post as often as some of the other super ETL bloggers, his reflections and insights into education, instructional desigin, online learning, etc. is worth the wait.
   
8. Open Culture
   Open Culture led by Dan Colman, is a super blog exploring cultural and educational media (podcasts, videos, online courses, etc.) that’s freely available on the web, and that makes learning dynamic, productive, and fun. In addition, you should explore Open Culture's excellent podcast library, too.
   
9. Helge Scherlund's eLearning News Blog
   If you are looking for an excellent ETL news blog, Helge Scherlund's blog is a really active one discovering a lot of wonderful learning juice. Coming to think of it, this blog is nearly as active as Stephen Downes's OLDaily in updating readers about ETL stuff going on around the world (especially in Europe and Denmark!). The only reason, I have not ranked this blog higher, is because it does not seem to do much more than sharing great discoveries in an attractive and engaging way. I suppose, when I can learn more from Helge Scherlund's own learning reflections and thoughts, I will spend even more time engaging in this excellent and useful ETL news blog.
   
10. Online Learning Update
    Ray Schroeder's Online learning blog is a great learning place to discover e-learning articles and news around the world (Europe, Middle-East, Asia, Australia, US, Canada, Africa, etc.). Also, check out his Educational Technology blog, too. Actually, I would have ranked Ray Schroeder's blogs higher if he had included more of his own reflections embedded with all these wonderful ETL discoveries. But, if you are simply looking for up-to-date news about e-learning and learning technologies, this is an amazing treasure with hundreds of posts.

In addition to these 10 great ETL blogs, the rest of the ETL bloggers that I have identified (or links) on my 'Gurus' list (right-side of my blog) do occupy my learning time, including Jay Cross, Patricia Donaghy, Jeff Cobb, Gabe Anderson, Wesley Fryer, Tony Karrer, and Robin Good. However, it would also be nice to add at least one Malaysian or Singaporean ETL blogger (that writes in English!) to my learning time, but at the moment I am still searching for one that really excites my learning mind. Got any suggestions? I apologize for my learning ignorance.

Wherever we go now or in the future, one thing will probably remain the same - Sharing Knowledge and Ideas is Power (Collective Wisdom!). If we don't practice this within our own community, group, or even to ourself, we will certainly have problems adapting to today's fast evolving global economy driven increasingly by Creativity and Innovation through collective wisdom :)

OER Articles, Reports, Sites and Tools (Getting Dizzy!)

• Reference - OER Introduction Booklet
• Related Post - Giving Knowledge For Free & OER Stories

OER?
"“Free sharing of software, scientific results and educational resources reinforces societal development and diminishes social inequality. From a more individual standpoint, open sharing is claimed to increase publicity, reputation and the pleasure of sharing with peers.” - Jan Hylen, OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (Also check out Wikipedia - OER!)

Difference Between Educational Content Accessible for FREE and OER?
"A resource accessible for FREE over the Internet does not always signify that it is not protected by a copyright nor forbidden for reuse and reproduction. In fact, most of the time, the content is protected by copyrights not allowing reproduction. Where else an OER is distributed, licensed and shared with the background willingness to enable the user to adapt and use the content freely. There fore, the model of distribution and the license is always clearly mentioned (Source: OER Introduction Booklet)."

JUICE?
After exploring the OER Introduction Booklet further during the weekend, and a bit of reflection, I realize (don't ask me why!) I want to highlight a few valuable articles, reports, sites, and tools that we can explore further to get a better understanding about what OER is, why it is important, how we can use it, and how we can participate and contribute to make a difference. Most of the OER resources in this list are extracted from Thomas Bekkers' excellent OER Introduction Booklet (Thanks!):

• By the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP): OER Glossary
  This Wiki space maintained by the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)
  shares an open glossary of terms that have been used in the IIEP community discussions on Open Educational Resources (OER).
• Giving Knowledge for Free: The Emergence of OER
  The report offers a comprehensive overview of the rapidly changing phenomenon of Open Educational Resources and the challenges it poses for higher education. It examines reasons for individuals and institutions to share resources for free, and looks at copyright issues, sustainability and business models as well as policy implications. It will be of particular interest to those involved in e-learning or strategic decision making within higher education, to researchers and to students of new technologies ...more
• Open Educational Resources (OER) Stories
  "Case studies/stories of how institutions and individuals have developed or used OER would be a useful resource for awareness raising activities. Telling stories is a very powerful means of transmitting information. As one Community member (Zaid Ali Alsagoff) expressed it, "Stories inspire people and bring movements to life."
• A Review of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Movement (PDF)
  This report examines The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s past investments in Open Educational Resources, the emerging impact and explores future opportunities.
• OER and Dissemination of Knowledge Indeveloping Countries
  By David Steve Matthe. Why should anyone give away anything for free? Free sharing means broader and faster dissemination, and more people get involved in problem-solving, which means rapid improvement and faster technical and scientific development, and that free-sharing of software, scientific results and educational resources movements re-enforces societal development and diminishes social inequality, etc.
• Why are Individuals and Institutions Using and Producing OER?
  This excellent paper by Jan Hylen, introduces findings from a recent OECD study. Introductory remarks: "The first and most fundamental question anyone arguing for free and open sharing of software or content has to answer is – why? Why should anyone give away anything for free? What are the possible gains in doing that? Please read :)
• Getting Started with Reusability? An introduction to Reusability for Digital Learning Resources
  This article, published by the Reusable Learning project, provides an interesting overview
  about the concept of "reusability" and knowledge transmission from the early age to today's modern societies to finally introduce reusability for digital learning resources and the systems that support them.
• PRODUCE & REMIX OER: Author and Modify
  This 60-minute tutorial provides information on and practical tasks in creating and modifying open content in an open process formats that can be published as open educational resources and tools, that support this process how to use standards and metadata.
• OER and practices: a Slide Show with Audio introducing OERs
  This slide show was published on Flickr.com and produced by Leigh Blackall. It includes audio, pictures and an article exploring OERs and practices in a tertiary educational institution.
• By IIEP: OER Useful Resources
  This list of links to OER initiatives, resources and tools was compiled following the first IIEPdiscussion forum on Open Educational Resources (24 October - 2 December 2005). It owes a considerable debt to Zaid Ali Alsagoff (That is my name! Cool!), who put together a first list of OER initiatives as an outcome of the forum. Practitioners will find some useful lists of Web sites related to OERs including portals, tools, OER development and publishing initiatives, communities, journals and more.
• 80 OER Tools for Publishing and Development Initiatives
  Arranged in alphabetical order, this list includes 80 online resources that you can use to learn how to build or participate in a collaborative educational effort that focuses on publication and development of those materials.

Also, if you are looking for a massive list of potential learning tools, you might want to check out UNESCO Free & Open Source Software Portal (Currently 604 tools!). Here are links directly to the major categories:

• Communication
• Courseware Tools
• Development Tools
• Operating System
• Productivity Tools
• Science and Education
• Digital Library
• Health
• Virtual Laboratory

Finally, if you are looking for a list of learning tools that combine commercial, open source, and free stuff, I believe Jane Knight's directory of 1700+ learning tools (probably more now!) would be of great help (if you got time!).

Oh Man! I am getting dizzy! This post is heavy! As Stephen Downes says, "See, here's the thing, though. I don't want 99 (mind mapping) resources, tools, and tips. I want one. That works. Really well. (Source)." So, if you ask me to recommend only one learning tool to jump start an OER initiative, I would probably pick Moodle. Hey, don't jump the gun! Why think one! What about your mission, needs, requirements, analysis, bla, bla, bla... Before you know it, nothing really happens! Perhaps, we can learn a few lessons from New Zealand's ongoing OER project. Goals, Strategy, Expertise, Pedagogy, Instructional Design, Content, Tools (Moodle, Fedora, etc.), Relevance... :)

OER Introduction Booklet (Development Gateway Foundation)

• OER Introduction Booklet and Free Webinars (Homepage)
• OER Introduction Booklet - Version BETA (PDF)
• Development Gateway Portal

WHAT?
The Development Gateway Open Educational Resources (OER) dgCommunity drives a Community Awareness & Sensitization project focusing on the use of Open Education Resources in Developing Countries. In this context they have just released a FREE OER Introduction Booklet (CreativeCommons Attribution 3.0) and are planning to offer free Webinars introducing the concept of Open Educational Resources and its potential to serve Education and Development programmes and practitioners ...more

MASTERMIND?
Thomas Bekkers (Author of the OER Introduction Booklet)

JUICE?
Can you imagine paying for an OER Introduction Booklet (Now that would be really funny!). "The Booklet and the Webinar both provide a/an:

• Definition of Open Educational Resources
• Introduction to Open licenses and Standards
• Introduction to the Production and Distribution of OER
• List of OER content repositories, search engines and projects.

This project directly serves the OER dgCommunity main objective, which is to sensitize Development practitioners and citizens to Open Educational Resources, for the benefit of all. The Booklet and the Webinar are also to be considered as gateways for beginners to major OER projects, content repositories and search engines. An important part of its content introduces third part initiatives and portals in the domain of Open Education. Please feel free to use and remix widely the BETA version of the Booklet and subscribe for Webinars by visiting resources associated to this highlight (Source)."

First, thanks Joseph Hart for alerting me (or us) about this important OER introduction booklet. Secondly, in addition to reading this booklet, you can find an amazing amount of juicy OER stuff (e.g. training materials) on the portal itself. Though, if you are simply looking for new OER repositories, this booklet includes many excellent links (URLs) in an organized manner with short descriptions for each OER. Looking at my blog, I believe I will soon need to reorganize all my OER links to make them more useful and easier-to-access, too (Thanks for reminding me indirectly!).

Finally, I just can't understand why the dgCommunities site (or the whole Development Gateway Portal) makes it so difficult for us to extract content from it (OER?). They should make it easier for us (we want to spread the news without wasting time!) to easily copy/paste and remix content from the site (No need to retype something that is already there and makes sense!). I am not sure if its the site policy, or perhaps the IT geeks (site administrators) are just having some fun. Actually, we can easily use a few tricks to bypass this hassle (secret!), so why bother (Just make it easy, alright!). Thomas Bekkers, if you should ever read this post, could you please tell them to make it easier for us to copy/paste from the site. Finally, Thomas Bekkers congratulations and thanks for all your great work, contributions and efforts to construct the booklet and share OER related resources on the site. Great work! :)

Knowledge@Wharton (Instant Favourite!)

• Knowledge_Wharton
• Podcast Archive

WHAT?
Knowledge@Wharton is an online resource that offers the latest business insights, information, and research from a variety of sources. It is developed by the University of Pennsylvania business school along with corporate sponsors. Content is divided into 14 sections, covering areas ranging from Finance and Investment to Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Here you will find analysis of current business trends, interviews with industry leaders and Wharton faculty, articles based on the most recent business research, book reviews, conference and seminar reports and links to other websites.

JUICE?
Ironically, this amazing online resource has been an idle URL on my blog in the Podcasts section (right column somewhere!) ever since I began my learning adventure here (around 4 months ago!). I suppose sometimes we need to rediscover a resource from somewhere else, and embrace it before we truly value it. After reading Wynn Williamson's reflection about this online resource, I explored it again and within minutes of exploration it become my instant favourite online business learning resource (for now! No science! Only Gut-feeling after few sips!). In other words, there is no point having a URL on your blog, if you don't (or someone) use it (Ouch!). Coming to think of it, the same applies often to knowledge, too. Hmm, Let's focus on this resource and juice!

According to Wynn Williamson, "...the website (this online resource!) falls somewhere in between a top-class economics newspaper such as The Economist and a university lecture forum like Princeton WebMedia. For me, what sets Knowledge@ apart is the professionalism it bring to open university discourse. The articles deal with timely economic and financial issues while tying the discussion to university research and academic theories. Meanwhile, the materials excel in accessibility - in addition to HTML pages, all pieces are downloadable as PDFs or mp3s. And the posts are always trailed by many smart comments... Knowledge@Wharton has made itself a stellar example of an open academic resource by modelling itself as a topic business journal, but free and made by academics."

Also, looking at the online visitor traffic, this site is already widely used around the world. Nearly 700,000 registered users (already signed-up, too!), 13,775,000 unique visitors per month, and a average visitor session length of 5 minutes and 15 seconds. Interestingly, 13.5% of the registered users are from the Asia/Pacific region ...more stats!

What about the learning juice? Here are some of the juicy sections (14 all together!) that excite me:

• Leadership and Change
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Managing Technology
• Strategic Management

That is too general, give me some individual articles/podcasts to get me going? Alright!

• Google: In Search of Itself
• What Does It Take to Compete in a Flat World?
• Eyes on China: The Costs of Progress

Remember, only registered users can access articles older than 30 days! If you ask me, I would love my courseware to look a bit like this juicy online resource (at least for qualitative subjects!). You don't need to give me a 30-40 page chapter/module (or 5-15 screens of chunked spoon-fed topics!), and then link me to resources, and expect me to have time (or motivation!) to explore further.

Ideally, I would prefer simply a one-page topic (why not a one-page course? Course plan?) telling me what it expects me to learn (synopsis, learning objectives/outcomes and related online/offline resources!), provides me with a bunch of relevant world class resources (URLs!), and empowers me to discover and learn on my own (or with my classmates, or connects me to related experts and communities around the world!). Then we get together online/offline to discuss, reflect, construct new meanings, and nurture new ideas and knowledge out of these learning juices.

In short, I love Wharton's online journal, because it provides substance quality (to my humble understanding!), latest trends/news in different research/study areas, simply interface design, it is pleasing to the ear (podcasts! listen or download) and eyes (clipart and text/transcripts), links to related articles/resources, a discussion area (comment section) for each article, and finally it makes it easy for us to recommend or share their resources to others around the world (e.g. del.icio.us).

I suppose if they add a dynamic blog, forum, and a wiki for each section (14!), it could actually become even a more dynamic learning resource (or courseware) that is more than sufficient for me (I personally don't need 3D virtual worlds to get engaged! Though, perhaps for dynamic demonstrations/illustrations/exercises/experiments it would be useful!). Well, I suppose we all have our own learning tastes, preferences, styles and dreams. However, I believe we all want content with substance quality from experts in their respective fields, and I suppose you might just find some of that here :)

New Zealand Open Educational Resources (OER) Project

• NZ OER Repository
• OER Showcase Courses
• About NZ OER Project

WHAT?
Funded by the Tertiary Education Commission, the objective of this OER project is to develop courseware that will be freely available (Creative Commons SA 2.5 license) to all tertiary education institutions in New Zealand . All materials are being developed using a modular approach to best enable customisation, increase the potential for re-use, and lower the cost of maintenance ...more

JUICE?
First, if your country, or your company (or whoever!) is thinking about doing something similar, you can actually quite easily replicate their great initiative from a technology point-of-view. For the infrastructure to support the show-casing and disseminating (and developing) of course materials they are using the open source Moodle environment. When each course is completed, the source files are deposited into a repository system using the open source Fedora system (The Full Story! Read and Learn! I am!). Isn't that wonderful! You don't have to spend a fortune on the software at least.

However, the real juice (to me) from a learning-point-of-view, is of course our freedom to engage (or reuse/adapt/customize/Etc.) with all these wonderful free courseware. And I got to say that there are some really yummy ones already in the showcase area (Which I believe will experience the 'Big Bang' soon! This project is still in its infancy!):

• Online Facilitation Course: eCapability Project
• Instructional Design for BlendEd learning: e-capability
• Introduction to Management
• Site feasibility
• Site Quality Assurance

"Not everyone uses Moodle, though. Each course has been built using a modular approach so they can be customised to suit different organisations, whether they are providing a distance learning course or blended learning for on or off-campus students. The aim is that all of the courseware can be easily re-edited, extended or re-designed by the organisation using it. All the course modules have been packaged as IMS Content Packages accessible from searching within this repository. All the source files are also available meaning that your own design teams can modify the materials including the Flash objects that use XML feeds (Source)."

Finally, we have to appreciate and congratulate Richard Wyles (Project Leader) and his team for facilitating and leading such a wonderful project.

Are the any major OER Projects going on in Singapore or Malaysia?

(If they already exist, I apologize for my ignorance!)

Think Fedora! Think Moodle! Or think other great potential open source systems! Think sharing knowledge and ideas! Think connecting people! Think possibilities! Bingo!

If you need any extra help, I will be willing to provide my humble advice and support :)

TV Lesson & SuTree (Educational Videos Galore!)

• TV Lesson
• SuTree

"I only know that I don’t know anything" (Source)

TV LESSON?
TV Lesson presents one of the world's largest, most all-encompassing libraries of how-to content online. Lesson content covers every conceivable topic and delivers the definitive online "encyclopedia of lessons" (Source). They also invite anyone to join and share their own wisdom and know-how by uploading videos. You can also win prizes of you are really popular!

SUTREE?
SuTree (Sutra + Tree) is a knowledge community and an aggregator of instructional & educational videos. "It is a social bookmarking site that aims to be the "Digg" of e-learning. The site lets users bookmark and organize free video tutorials, video lessons, video how to and DIY from all over the web (Source)."

(SuTree = Sutra (from Sanskrit): (literally) a rope or thread that holds things together, or(metaphorically) a collection of knowledge in the form of a manual + Tree: Symbolizing the growth of knowledge.)

JUICE?
I discovered these two interesting educational video repositories snooping around Jan Knight's 'Toolicious' blog. New video community or repository sites seem to be launched every day these days (hmm, perhaps not that extreme, but close!), so I suppose it is becoming a very competitive market to gain people's time (which leads to more advertising revenue!). I suppose, when you have so many of these free video or content sites already out there, you certainly need to find your own 'Blue Ocean' Strategy, or you can quickly become extinct (like the dinosaurs)! Whether these two video community repositories are "Juicylicious" (or a disaster), or not? I suppose you got find that out for yourself (More fun that way!).

Interestingly, TV Lesson's currently most viewed video (GMAT - Math) has only been viewed 5575 times (Added on March 22nd, 2007). So, it has a long way to reach YouTube kind of viewing numbers. For example, Evolution of Dance video (No. 1) has more than 65 million views now! I did come across an interesting short Michael Jordan video (49 seconds only) in TV Lesson, which taught me some secrets about becoming a great jumper, leaper or dunker. GOD given ability and a lot of practice! In a nut shell, Michael Jordan (When he speaks about jumping you listen! Air Jordan!) says you need to jump (a lot!) and keep on trying to dunk (also, riding a bicycle helps!). It reminds me of how we often complicate education, when it is really quite simple. It lies in the word of what you want to teach/facilitate/coach/etc. Just add the word "Practice' to it (e.g. Writing = Practice Writing), or simply change the tense (Writing = Write, Write, Write, etc.). Not sure if I agree with that one! I agree with that!

As for SuTree, I like the social-bookmarking and community dynamics of it. SuTree's growing community has managed to discover, organize and tag more than 10.800 educational videos, up until now. So, I am sure you will find some juice there, too (Wisdom of the Crowds!). According to the site's owners the goal is reaching around 20,000 lessons in the first year (Source).

Finally, SuTree or TV Lesson? Which one do I (or you) prefer? No idea! But based on slogan, SuTree wins hands down (My humble opinion!).

SuTree - Knowledge Community: Watch. Learn. Share.
TV Lesson - The World is Learning

Though, what is important (in terms of learning!), is that they both can add some form of value to our learning adventure. If not, we certainly have many more options (Hint - Look to the right!) :)

Open Culture’s Juicy Podcast Library!

• Link to Open Culture

WHAT?
Open Culture explores cultural and educational media (podcasts, videos, online courses, etc.) that’s freely available on the web, and that makes learning dynamic, productive, and fun (Source).

MASTERMINDS?
Dan Colman (lead editor and the Director & Associate Dean of Stanford’s Continuing Studies Program) & Ed Finn ...more

JUICE?
Open Culture is a very lively blog, always exploring and discovering new cultural/educational media hidden in the ever growing media galaxy of the web (Perhaps a bit too US-centric!). My favourite part of this blog, is their wonderful growing podcast collection (I mean library!), which has been indexed very conveniently for anyone interested. Here is my favourite (Most of them!) podcast library categories found on this blog that you might want to explore further:

• University - General
• 75 University Courses
• Business School
• Audiobooks
• Foreign Languages
• Ideas & Culture
• Science
• Technology

If you feel a bit lost by all these macro categories (podcast overload!), here are few specific courses or gems to get your learning mind going (Source):

• Geography of World Cultures - iTunes - Martin Lewis, Stanford University
• Introduction to Psychology - iTunes - MP3s - Jeremy Wolfe, MIT
• The Future of the Internet - iTunes - Ramesh Johari, Stanford
• Open Source and Distribution of Digital Information - iTunes - Feed - Multiple Professors, UC Berkeley
• Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe - iTunes - Feed - Richard Pogge, Ohio State
• Entrepreneurship and Business Planning - iTunes - Feed - Mark Juliano, Carnegie Mellon

Sometimes, we need to skip Google, Yahoo, MSN, and iTunes to discover great learning juice efficiently :)

VideoDownloadX.com - Save & Download YouTube Videos

• Link to VideoDownloadX.com

YouTube receives 65,000 videos and serve 100 million videos a day!

WHAT?
Unfortuneatly YouTube doesn't allow you to download these videos. VideoDownloadx.com allows you to save videodownloadx videos and download videodownloadx videos easily using only your IE or Firefox browser.

HOW?

1. Browse for the videos at YouTube.com
2. Copy and Paste the URL of the YouTube video into the form (View Screenshot ->).
3. Click "Download Video" to save the YouTube file to your PC.
4. Rename the YouTube file with a .flv extension if necessary.

WATCH?
When you download YouTube videos through videodownloadx, they are saved in the new.FLV (flash video) format. You will need to download a FREE FLV player to watch these YouTube files on your PC. You can also convert YouTube videos to other formats like .MPEG with a FREE FLV converter.

Especially, if you want to show YouTube videos during your lectures or tutorials, perhaps downloading them first would be wise to avoid the World Wide Wait (or buffering galore!). Though, if you got a super connection, no worries mate!

FOR HOW LONG?
Google owns YouTube, right! Interestingly, Google Video allows you to download videos (most of the time!). Why hasn't Google embedded this feature into YouTube, yet? YouTube, perhaps it is time to evolve, simplify and make it easier for us to download/convert videos (Is it a Copyright issue? Or what?). Though, should YouTube change their mind (Predicting they will soon!), what will happen to VideoDownloadx.com.? Whatever!

Until YouTube wakes up, we have at least alternatives :)

Route 21 - 21st Century Skills Learning Station!

• Link to Route 21
• 21st Century Skills Framework White Paper (PDF)
• Reference - Helge Scherlund's e-Learning blog
• 21st Century Learning Outcomes Project

21st Century Framework

WHAT?
Route 21 was created by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has emerged as the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. The organization brings together the business community, education leaders, and policymakers to define a powerful vision for 21st century education to ensure every child's success as citizens and workers in the 21st century... The goal of Route 21 is to provide an online interactive tool that demonstrates how 21st century skills can be supported through standards, professional development, assessments and curriculum and instruction ...more

JUICE?

• 21st Century Skills - This area of the site answers the question: “What are 21st century skills?” For example, The Learning and innovation skills discussed are Creativity & Innovation, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, and Communication & Collaboration. Check out the rest of the 21st Century skills and please read the white paper (24 pages only!)!
• 21st Century Support Systems - This area of the site answers the question: “What are 21st century support systems?” 21st century standards, assessments, curriculum, instruction, professional development and learning environments must be aligned to support 21st century outcomes for today’s students.
• Resources for 21st Century Skills - Here you can browse the resources by support system, skill area or content area (466 resources and growing!). You can also choose to search the database using simple keyword search or a more advanced search.
• P21 Snapshots - Examples and videos of 21st century skills in action in today’s classrooms (e.g. Edutopia).
• P21 Editor's Picks - Noteworthy selections by the board and staff of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (e.g. Assessing Projects from Intel Education).

Okay, what are we doing to prepare our students for the 21st century? Or perhaps more important, what are we doing to prepare ourselves to ensure that we can facilitate/coach/guide/teach/empower/nurture students to develop the skills required to succeed (or survive) now and in the future? I am still puzzled how little I know! There more I learn, the less I realize I know! I suppose that is why I love education so much :)

INNOV8 - an Interactive 3-D Business Simulator (IBM)

• Link to INNOV8
• IBM Academic Initiative
• YouTube - Sneak Preview & Innov8 Demo
• Innov8 – FAQs

WHAT?
Innov8 is a FREE interactive 3D business simulator (Free of charge to universities at least. Registration required!), which takes participants through the entire lifecycle of discovery, collaboration, optimization, and innovation of a fictional company’s business processes. It is designed to teach the fundamentals of Business Process Management (BPM) and bridge the gap in understanding between business leaders and IT teams in an organization.

JUICE?
I have yet had the time to really test it, but according to my readings (and watching a couple of YouTube videos about it. URLs above!), the 3D business simulator allows you to virtually participate in a BPM project derived from IBM’s real world experiences. You can play the game on your laptop or personal computer, and no Internet connection is required (provided you have the installation media already). The game consists of three (3) major stages (or levels):

• Level 1: Process discovery and process modeling
• Level 2: Collaboration driven simulation and iterative process improvement
• Level 3: Real-time business management

Based on my understanding (might be wrong here!), you have to register and become a member of the IBM Academic Initiative (an innovative global program to collaborate with educators in teaching students) to gain FREE access to this 3D business simulator and related resources including courseware, training, teaching tools, books, and more. Membership is open to faculty members and researcher professionals at accredited institutions of learning, all over the globe.

Before making up your mind about educational gaming and simulations, here are some interesting facts worth thinking about (Source):

• Since November 6, over 2,000 universities around the world can download the game from IBM’s website and begin using it in their classrooms.
• According The Apply Group, a research firm, by 2012, between 100 and 135 of the Global Fortune 500 will have adopted gaming for learning, with the US, UK and Germany leading the way.
• 75 percent of CEOs surveyed by IBM cited education and the lack of qualified candidates as the issues that will have the greatest impact on their business over the next three years.
• 56 percent of IBM clients feel that not having the right blend of business and IT skills is their biggest problem.

Universities that are already participating in IBM's Innov8 pilot program, include:

• Harvard University - Harvard Business School
• Duke University - Fuqua School of Business
• Beijing Institute of Technology (China)
• Carnegie Mellon University- Heinz School of Public Policy and Management
• SDA Bocconi (Italy) – Bocconi School of Management
• University of Manchester (UK) - Manchester Business School
• University of Technology, Sydney (Australia)
• Waseda University (Japan) – IT Specialist Program

Are there any Universities from Malaysia or Singapore participating?

Interestingly, there are no weapons in INNOV8 other than sharp wits. So, no, you cannot take drastic actions like shooting your way out of trouble. Have fun being able to fail your innovate business project without any major consequences, except mental stress (and perhaps some physical stress). Finally, let's hope that IBM makes this interactive 3D Business Simulator easier to access with one simple click, 'Download' (No registration required!) :)

ToonDoo - Create Your Own Cartoons & Comics!

• Link to ToonDoo

WHAT?
ToonDoo is a reasonably easy-to-use FREE comic-creating tool (from Jambav), enabling basically anyone to create their own cool comics (or graphics).

JUICE?
I discovered this interesting comic-creating tool from Patricia Donaghy's JUICY blog. What I like about it is that you can create your own comic strips, share them or insert them in your blogs with just a few clicks and drag-n-drops! In short, you can within one online learning environment create, publish, share, discuss, participate in contests, and even feature in the ToonDoo Hall of Fame, if you are really good! Not bad! Here is one example (Use your mouse to see all! What?):

As Patricia's says, it is a “new way of expression for those who do not have the talent to draw.“ In addition, to creating simple ToonDoos consisting of 1 to 3 screens, you can also create ToonBooks by combining unlimited ToonDoos. I haven't tried the ToonBooks yet, but I found the ToonDoos experience quite positive. This Flash-based comic-creating tool is reasonably user-friendly, and it gives us access to a great library of cool graphics, and some dynamic features (e.g. drag-n-drop graphics).

Though, creating comics online really requires us to have a good Internet access to do things at the speed our creative mind often craves for. Also, I noticed limitations on resizing graphics (only four levels). However, this is also a strength, as it makes it easy for children to resize with four 'apparent' obvious levels of sizing (primary user target!). According to Rajendran (from jambav.com), for the professionals, who wouldn't mind some mouse-jugglery for an extra feature, they have provided a Ctrl-click feature that enables you to resize and rotate graphics smoothly any way you like. In addition, the Ctrl-click feature allows you to change emotions on people's faces, change body postures on character bodies, and much more. Also, ToonDoo provides features that other competitors lack (according to Rajendran), including these two gems:

• TraitR - Your own personal completely customizable character generator.
• ImagineR - Upload your own photographs, goofify them, embed them into cartoons, and even grab images from the web to make a cartoon of them.

Coming to think of it, if I had access to ToonDoo's graphics library in my PowerPoint authoring environment, it would simply be great! Yes, perhaps they should have a plug-in enabling us to create our comics offline in tools like PowerPoint, and then with one click ('Publish' button on the ToonDoos drop-down menu in PowerPoint) we can publish our comics online (or in PowerPoint!) without any hassle. Now that would be really cool! Although, ToonDoo has its minor limitations (at least the free version!), I certainly enjoyed playing around with it. To sum up, ToonDoo is a cool and useful tool that can enable anyone to add some customized cartoonish spice to their learning content :)

If ToonDoo is not what you are looking for, perhaps you should explore some other comic-creating tools. Patricia recommends three (3) other comic/cartoon-creating tools, which we can explore:

• Witty - A comic creation site which enables you to create a three-strip comic (example on podcasting). Based on Witty comics, the ComicCreator is a Widged inspired flash production enabling you to create your own 3-strip comic.
• Kerpoof - A fun tool for creating cartoons.
• Makebeliefscomix - Another comic strip creating site.

If you are planning to add some engaging cartoonish spice to your learning content, one of these four tools mentioned above might just be right for you. Or perhaps you still prefer PowerPoint :)