Read All About It: Online Learning Facing 80% Attrition Rates

We've all heard stories of dramatically high drop-out rates in e-learning. Can they be true? Well yes, but an explanation is in order, argues the author. More...

Killing the Biggest Myth of Web Design
It's called "dumbing down" and the point of this article is to argue that web readers want no part of it. "Users don't read. Users don't scroll. Users need small words, small sentences, bullet lists, anchor links, pats on the head, and milk and cookies before bedtime. Each of these panels I attend leaves another small, burning hole in my stomach." Well, yeah. More...

Distributed Program to Translate Many Languages

OK, there are all sorts of quality-control issues, and the logistics are daunting. But the concept is novel and exciting. More...

Ontology Usage and Applications White Paper
Every once in a while in an article I say things like "...and the learning object will access an online service that summarizes the content and adds metatags..." in an offhand manner as though to suggest that it could actually be done. It can actually be done, for example, as described in this white paper. More...

The Role of Small Enterprise in School Students' Workplace Learning
What is notable about this detailed report is the lack of any reference to the potential role of the web and online learning in workplace training. That said, the report describes structured workplace training (SWT) and surveys perceptions from an employer's point of view, surveying their understanding of SWT and indetifying gaps in their understanding of the benefits and processes involved in SWT. More...

French for Beginners
This link is for me (though you can look at it if you want). Though titled for beginners, it has links to intermediate and advanced lessons. Because I am now a Canadian government employee, I need to learn French. A course in French won't help, because it will take too long and won't match my current level in the language. My solution? Free online French lessons and a lot of practice. More...

John Dewey and The Philosopher's Task
Most educators think of John Dewey as an educational theorist, but philosophers read Dewey as a late pragmatist, a writer trying to balance the needs of the mind with the dictates of experience and especially science, to reconcile rationalism with empiricism. This explains the tension in Dewey's work - and in my own work - as an empiricist eschews the study of experimental result for a less certain enterprise. More...

New Online Education Channel for KRD's Real Cities Local Web Sites
For online news media, this is almost the right move: use the city newspaper website, which attracts readers, to draw attention to other services, such as courses for readers of all ages and educational levels. Available through Knight Ridder's Real Cities websites, the online courses are accessed through the sites' new "education" channel. More...