Outline

I handed this in a few weeks ago and forgot to post it on my blog, so here's to outlining and all that it includes!



I. INTRODUCTION - (How has e-learning changed the way organizations delivery education? -

E-Learning is transforming the delivery of education in organizaations globally.)


II. BODY - E-Learning History, Opportunties, Challenges, What is the future of e-learning


A. the history of E-Learning


1. How has it evolved in the last 10 years

a. How were companies delivering education previous to e-learning

b. Early adopters of online education


2. What are the realized opportunities of using E-Learning within organizations?

a. Description of the benefits realized by IBM using online learning methods

b. Employee benefit of using online education

c. Attainment of online degrees


B. What have been some of the challenges in online learning methods?

1. Content

a. Ability to find relevant content for highly skilled workers

i. US Army Case Study

2. Requirement for hands on experience



C. Future of e-learning in organizations

1. New technologies being used in online learning

2. Online Degrees

a. Perception of online degrees

b. Employee training needs a driving force


III. CONCLUSION

A. Analytical summary

1. History of E-Learning

2. Opportunities of using E-Learning in organizations

3. What is the future of E-Learning

B. Thesis reworded

C. Concluding statement

What is wrong with me?

I am stretched. Truly I am. I am taking 3 courses this semester, trying to keep things organized at work, spending time with the kids as much as possible and rounding out my life the best I know how. I wrote my finance exam last week and to be honest with you it took me 4 days of straight studying to feel comfortable enough to write the test. On a positive note, I believe I did well on it and am hugely relieved I made it through the first Finance toll gate.

My personal report is coming along well, so so. I have not been totally feeling engaged about the whole thing and am still searching for some passion about it. I am not sure quite why this is the case. Perhaps Finance has somehow overshadowed temporarily the luster of e-learning research and paper writing. I am finding it difficult to find good articles on the internet about it. I am going to search my internal intranet for some more information because at IBM we have a huge global campus. It is amazing really how much education you can do online at IBM.

Anyways, off to the races to get caught up and see if I can actually get stuff rolling here!!

Annotated Bibliography

I am hoping that this is a good draft of the annotated bibliography that is due today.

WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved month day, year, from http://Web address.

Article #1
Research/Sittings UNB (April 19, 2005), Perspectives on Online Education, Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://www.unb.ca/perspectives/view.php?id=424

This article discusses how online learning may be not only a great way to facilitate learning online, but also a way to enable transfer of the learning into the workplace. Dr. Conrad, associate professor at UNB, believes that adult learners transfer much of what they learn into the workplace and online learning can facilitate more of this type of transfer. Dr. Conrad’s research will build on the current understandings of adult and distance education, social learning theory, and workplace learning. Her findings will contribute to current understanding of online learning environments and will add to the literature of adult, continuing and distance education. Her findings will also be of interest to organizations outside academia engaged in building knowledge-based communities as a cornerstone of resource development.


Article #2
Finley, Dorothy (April 26, 2000), Online Education as a means of Workplace Learning: A Case Study, Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/17/17/c1.pdf


This is a case study that was conducted with the US army on a team of 12. The case study investigated how online courses could be used within their organization. The author reviewed how online courses could be used for self development for the organization and outside of the organization. The author indicated that due to the level of experience in the organization it was difficult to find online courses that would be suitable. The author did find some courses that would be applicable, but noted that not all training would be easily found in an online format. The article is useful in that it is very representative of what many companies may find in online learning.




Article #3
ARA (2006), Online Education Gives Moms an Edge in the Workplace, Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://www.doityourself.com/stry/ara_onlineeducationg

This article discusses how online learning can advance the careers of not only women, but those who have limited time away from the home due to personal family commitments. The ability for individuals to earn advanced degrees in the comfort of their own homes opens up the door to many individuals to who not normally have access to advanced education. The article shows actual examples of individuals who after earning degrees online were able to secure jobs where salary increases were substantial.


Article #4
Virtual High School Ontario (2006), Cooperative Education and Other Workplace Experiences, Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://www.virtualhighschool.com/vhs_calendar/00012.asp


This is an article that discusses how the combination of online and practical experiences facilitates a well rounded learning experience. This is a small articule that may be useful in backing up a claim on how both hands on and online learning together can prove most effective.


Article #5
Work Cover Tasmania, (August 11, 2006), Free On-Line Education in Workplace Health and Safety, Retrieved on September 24, 2007, from http://www.workcover.tas.gov.au/workcoverPublish/resource/inspfreeon-l.htm

WorkSafe Western Australia has developed an educational series of 100 lectures, at tertiary level, on issues of workplace health and safety. The program is the follow-on of their successful series for primary ('ThinkSafe Club') and secondary ('WorkSafe Smart Move') students.
The success of the program, called the SafetyLine Institute, with their own staff prompted WorkSafe Western Australia to make the facility available to industry and the community generally by offering it online, at no cost. Each of the lectures is followed by an associated multiple-choice test, and an individual's academic record is tracked. There are plans to expand the lectures to a total of 250 covering most areas of workplace health and safety. This site is an excellent example of how an organization can incorporate online learning in a very specific way to drive results that were lacking.



Article #6
www.edukt.org, (April 2006), Education and learning: Online education and distance learning trends, Retrieved on September 24, 2007, from http://www.edukt.org/

This article covers online degrees, launching on new online learning universities and blogs about online learning. It is somewhat useful in that it is a good reference point for other articles that may also be incorporated into the report. There is also information about nursing online degrees, which is a new concept as often times you find business like degrees easier to attain in the online format.

Acceptance

So, can't it just be simple? Life that is. You know, often enough I find myself surprised at how things, or circumstances in life present themselves. I always wonder how in the heck it actually got to the current "state of affairs". I guess I am naive to think that life could be simple. There was a time when I thought things were supposed to be a certain way and any deviation was potentially the wrong way. I am not sure exactly when it changed, but somewhere along the line it did. When the line of what "was right" began to blur I started to realize that there was potentially more than one right way of doing things...not just in work but in everyday life. I guess innovation that matters to ensure it keeps getting better is not for just the halls of workopolis, but for how we live day in and day out. I also am beginning to think that you can be innovative by just changing your perspective and seeing the opportunity where you least expected it in every aspect of your life. My goal is to try and see the possiblity, not be concerned with the potential fall out and keep a myself open to new perspectives, even the ones that differ from what I used to believe in. Who knows, maybe the best is really yet to come and ...how will you know unless you open yourself up a bit.

To keep this somewhat focused on online education for the requirements of the course, please see the following sites that show how online education is changing the workplace:


UNB Perspectives on Online Educuation

Training
Online Workplace Training
Online Education Helps Moms!
Virtual Highschool

Free Online Workplace Health and Safety
Online Learning Trends

Project Management Mind Map

So, I finally finished the first mindmap of the semester. Oh how I would so much prefer to do an assignment that did not have a mindmap to complete. It is not that they are very hard to do, but there is something about them..something that makes me not excited to dive in and finish it up. However, I suppose I would rather do a mindmap than study for Finance ;)

What to do?

Well, here I am again on a Sunday evening...trying to get caught up on everything I should have done over the weekend. Of course, there are always the good intentions of what I will accomplish on the Saturday or Sunday each Friday at 5 as I leave the office, but that is short lived. I get home, start working away on all that needs to be done and get a little time in with the people I love to spend time with (family & friends ;)! Well, before I know it the weekend has passed by like a flash and I have a ton of work to do at 10pm the night before.

I have been trying to decide what I want to do for my Personal Report for my Industrial Impact of Ecomm course. I am leaning towards e-learning which is really across industry so I am not sure if I will pick an industry or ask Dr. Fleet if I can incorporate a few difference industries into my report to enhance the full effect of e-learning in business. Either way, this week I am going to nail this down!

On a more personal note, I have had a lot going on in my life over the last 3 months. I am finding that my life is now finally getting to a more normalized state again, which feels good. You know, sometimes the things that are the hardest are in fact the best things for us...but hey...I am sure you all knew that.

Well, as I leave you I will post my first link to an elearning white paper.. Why E-Learn?

Back To Blogging

So, here I am. Back to my old blogging ways. Why you may ask...well, one of the professors most dedicated to social networking at UNBSJ is teaching BA3125, which I am taking. (Thanks Dr. Fleet) So, I had to decide how to proceed with my blogging efforts. Should I just continue on with my old blog from 2663 or create a new one? Obviously, I have decided on the latter mainly due to a blogger hiccup this morning when trying to retrieve things like my old password and converting my blogger account to what I believe sounded like a google account. Either way, here I am.

Overall, I am happy to be back at school. A chance for things to start new again. These days I am always looking for that new beginning and this is one more kick at the bucket. So, here's to a new school year and the enjoyment of assignments that are to long, courses that seem to lag and an undying need for motivation..just to get through the year.

Till next time!