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Showing posts from October, 2014

Online Courses Look for a Business Model

As we think about how we can make our own Distance Learning courses sustainable and revenue generating in the future, I'd like to share this Wall Street Journal article titled " Online Courses Look for a Business Model ."  Just as we find challenges with a sustainable, revenue generating and profitable online course model, so does the business sector.  The article focuses on unlocking the potential profitability of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)  by finding a successful business model(s). MOOC providers such as Udacity, Coursera and edX are still figuring out how to keep basic course access free while generating revenue.  Some business models that are being tested include: matching students to employers licensing content to schools charging for proctored exams At this point, it is still unclear if any of these models will be successful in the long term to generate sustainable revenue and profits.  However, investors and increasingly higher education recogni

DISCover Your Communication Style

Your DISC Personality Profile - Understanding & Improving Your Communication Style October 7, 2014 Cheri Matsuwaka & Alt Kagesa Since all of us at Distance Learning have taken our DiSC profile through Wiley, I was curious to find out more about DISC profile with this workshop. I found that Wiley’s Everything DiSC Workplace to be very accurate on my S style at work. I wanted to further my investigation on my DiSC profile to make the most out of my preferred communication style for both my professional and personal life. A week before the workshop, I took another DISC profile assessment through DISCert which which was different from the assessment I took from Wiley a few months back. As it turns out, the assessment gave me a very thorough report that also features two different graphs. The first graph is known as my natural DISC graph which represents my communication style 24/7 in both home and work settings. The second graph is known as my adaptive DISC graph which repres
***BREAKING NEWS***BREAKING NEWS***                    Follow up from iNACOL Webinar introducing new Competency Framework HOT OFF THE PRESS! Read All About It! The beauty of the profession we are in is that we are seeing blended and online learning being built from the ground up. We are truly pioneers in this industry! As I have been researching what it takes to be a competent blended and online educator, I have come across varied theoretical frameworks, methodologies, pedagogy, and pathways. iNACOL , international Association for K-12 Online Learning, has compiled all the research mentioned above as well as in the field experience to give us tools that outline national standards for online: Courses Teaching Programs NOW ,….. drum roll please …….after observing classrooms and communicating directly with practitioners in the field, they have addressed the need of identifying the skills and requirements  for a quality blended learning platform…..and have released the:

A different perspective of the Facilitative Skills for Collaborative Leaders Workshop

At first glance upon observing the room for the Donna Ching’s workshop, I saw the following:   Hand written agenda with markers on about 3-4 pieces of flip chart paper from ceiling to floor   More flip chart paper posted along the front of the room with writing and pictures.   Markers on the table.   A notebook at my seat.   As I began to acclimate myself and settle into my environment I started to wonder:   Where is the projector with the PowerPoint for this training?   These tools I see around the room appear to be dated. Does she really carry all of this stuff    around with her?   I love that I have a tangible notebook to reference instead of just a link to an e-book. The workshop begins with introductions from every participant, expectations, and legitimizing! As each of us shared and discussed from the beginning of the workshop to the end, effort was made to legitimize to ensure each person felt valued. From the onset, the climate/temperature in the

My Personal Experience With Facilitative Skills for Collaborative Leaders Workshop

When you attend Donna Ching’s Facilitative Skills for Collaborative Leaders workshop, be prepared for an intense, practical and fun filled two days session. Since Simon has done an excellent job writing about the workshop and what was covered , I will reflect on my experience going through the workshop, my two takeaways and how I will plan to use the skills I learned at KSDL. When we arrived at the, Donna purposely covered the walls with flip charts with colorful text. There were six tables for all of us to sit in and naturally most of us in class tend sit with people we were familiar with or work with. At the table, Donna left each of us materials for us to go through during the workshop. The materials included a newly published book that Donna was very excited to share with us. The workshop promptly started at 8:30 and Donna emphasized starting on time. After her introduction, we went around and introduced ourselves with our name, affiliation and our expectations from the worksho