New Features in Moodle 2.0

A shiny new Moodle 2.0 was launched a few days ago. Here a few links that describe all the new features:

• A YouTube playlist of Moodle 2.0 features 
• A brief tour of Moodle 2.0
• A very interesting compilation about the impact from the new features
• The official release notes

Virtual Classrooms with Facebook enabled Skype 5

I was reading a mashable.com post about Skype 5 that integrates your Facebook timeline.

This means that now you have all the elements that you normally get from a commercial solution for an online classroom session:

• A chat stream for the participants to converse while a session is in progress
• Video based (conference)/interaction (Skype 5 allows 10 people video conferencing)
• Ability to white-board 
• Ability to "dial-in" using VoIP and normal telephones
• Ability to SMS and interact
• Social media interaction (Facebook integration in this case) 

It will be a good thing to use this and setup teaching interfaces. Since Skype can now deal with dropped calls
(auto reconnection is a new feature), low bandwidth users how the option of joining with the Facebook timeline,  SMS, chat, or audio.

Here's how the new interface looks in Skype 5.0 looks

Here are some links that describe the new Skype features:

• The mashable.com article
• Skype's own blog

ItzaBitza—Microsoft's new learning game for kids

Microsoft (and Sabi games) has made an interesting game that teaches kids reading comprehension as they play the game. This game utilizes multi-touch interfaces like tablet PCs.

The story in the game evolves as the kids use their fingers or a stylus to draw things like houses and other things to crack puzzles and win challenges. The interesting part is the "Living Ink" technology used in the game that recognizes the shapes and that objects that the kids draw and makes them into a part of the game.

This way the young players are constantly playing and creating a unique game experience for themselves.

Here are some links where you can see a little more of how this game works:

• "ItzaBitza" Game Demo
• The ItzaBitza Game Trailer
• Download a demo version here
• Sabi's website where you can learn about the variants of this game
• Download videos for your media player here
• A mom blogging about testing the game with here kids
  
  

Interesting Ways to Learn and Teach Languages

I stumbled across http://www.howtolearnlanguagesfast.com/

The URL sounded quite gimmicky, so I was a tad bit apprehensive.

However, there are quite a few interesting ideas like using images and associated mnemonics to remember clusters of words, using mind maps and even singing to learn languages.

Very interesting...

Open eLMS

Discovered Open eLMS.

http://www.openelms.org/

Seems quite cool since it looks simpler and better than Moodle. I’m intrigued by the Employee Management System which claims to integrate systems to measure the competencies with the LMS.

Will explore…

Simple and effective elearning examples

Here is a link that lists more than 35 interesting examples of how elearning can be engaging, effective, and yet simple.


http://blog.cathy-moore.com/elearning-samples/

This is yet another great post on Cathy Moore's blog. :)

Excellent example of a branching logic case study

Very often instructional designers start thinking about how case studies are complicated to present to the learner.
Here is an example of how a simplified interaction interface can make a case study work very well:

http://www.worldwarfighter.com/hajikamal/activity/

It is good to notice how the complexity is hidden from the learner.

Cathy Moore's blog has an interesting analysis of how this was made (info from behind the scene), that makes an interesting read.

http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2010/05/elearning-example-branching-scenario/#more-979