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On-line Learning Tools?

Posted by Cliff on from the your-distance-learning-assistants dept.

As a follow-up question to last year's query about distance learning tools, denny_d asks: "I've been looking around for awhile for an OS e-learning tool. Been using Viewlets for awhile and recently tested Claroline which looks very promising. Are there any other OS apps I should know about for creating learning/training environments on the web?" Have there been any new technologies or projects that have made a big splash in the Distance Learning scene in the last year? What can teachers looking to implement such courses look forward to, and what issues might they have to watch out for?

2 of 18 comments (clear)

  1. Re:HTML? by joto · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Actually, interactive learning tools aren't all that bad when it comes to teaching a complex gui. But to actually make it better than a book involves a lot of effort. I have recently tried a really well-designed tool for learning Microsoft Excel. But it was only, say 10% better than having a good book, and the effort involved in creating it must have been a lot more.

    Flash, powerpoint, etc... comes to mind. It's the same story. They can be used for an advantage, but I would have to agree that most of the time they are only distracting.

    The advantage of interactive learning tools is that people who are not computer-literate often see everything on a computer as a game, and enjoys interacting with it, whereas they find a technical book boring. If you are offering a real course, for really interested students, it doesn't matter much, but if you're trying to get your customers/employees/etc to learn something against their will, it might be easier to force them through something many of them would consider at least somewhat fun.

    Personally, I would prefer a well-written book to anything on the web (reading from a computer screen is terrible, and switching back and forth between windows to try out examples is counterproductive).

    On the other hand, if you are offering a course, then you need to communicate with the students (and they with each other). A mailing list combined with a web-based archive (or a web-log/wiki/etc kind of thingy combined with automatical mailings about changes) might be a good idea. The problem is that they kind of limit your conversation to text and hyperlinks, but so does any distance-learning tool.

  2. Mimerdesk by mnordstr · · Score: 3, Informative

    Take a look at Mimerdesk. It looks like a very promising e-Learning tool.

    MimerDesk is an open-source group environment designed for a wide variety of uses such as web-based eLearning, carrying out projects and setting up communities. MimerDesk also has tools for personal management. A short description could be a groupware with eLearning and communication capabilities.