As I was clicking through the news feeds on our community, I spotted this article.  In the posting, Jane Knight is attributed with this idea:

"...she lamented that people still don’t see beyond the idea of e-learning as a formal course. 'E-learning is so much more than that, it’s about collaboration, communication between learners and the sharing of knowledge and experiences…people think of e-learning as formal courses and all this other stuff as something else'. She noted that it may be a definition problem: 'E-learning is just not the right word anymore…it’s got more to do with e-working and performance support'."

I'm intrigued by the new tool called wiki.  They sound like a great way to employ the knowledge and energy of many people to contribute to the group's understanding.  A simple way to let everyone play a part in defining the key terms we use in our work world.  A community glossary, so to speak.

I haven't explored too far into the use of Wiki technology for corporate e-Learning (yet).  But Will Thalheimer's article about the problems that arise from inaccuracies - or blatent fraud - shows a dark side of wiki's.  Maybe they aren't a reliable way to capture corporate knowledge.

I'm literally addicted to Outlook.  I don't think I could make it through a work week and keep myself organized without it.  I'm driven by my calendar and inbox and task list.

Is e-Learning any different?  Not Outlook, but whatever tools you use shape your work.  You get addicted to your favorite e-Learning tools.

G Siemens makes this comment in his e-Learning blog, "In a sense, an element of our cognitive process is wrapped up in the affordances of a new tool. Changing tools can result in a different learning process."

Konrad Glogowski writes about an interesting case of technology letting him down.  He has an online community for his students - mainly blogging.  Here is the actual posting that describes his experience.  http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2005/12/07/tools-interiorized/

What I found more interesting was how his students were so dependent on the community. He states, "It quickly became clear from what they were saying to me that blogging was synonymous with English class, that their class consisted primarily of a community and that its absence had an impact on learning.

Wikis are becoming popular.  They are a form of informal community learning that puts content creation in the hands of the masses.  So, I'm wondering if Wikis will catch on in corporate learning.  And should they be considered e-Learning?

According to the most used Wiki in the world, the definition of a wiki is:

A wiki is a type of website that allows users to add and edit content and is especially suited for collaborative authoring.

The term wiki also sometimes refers to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a website.

Available to IEEE Computer Society members are hundreds of courses in technical subjects. A membership is relatively inexpensive, but I have not yet had a chance to evaluate the course content. I am also curious about the platform that is used to deliver these. More information is available here.

Technical resources are plentiful on the Web and much of it goes out-of-date quickly with many of these subjects, so whether these are current and relevant is questionable. But, my experience with their printed materials is that they are we

One of our clients recently asked if we could install a FCS for them. The goal is to delivered streamed video training through our system into the customer's sales force using handheld devices. We will begin some research on the server and share our results here.