26 June 2012
build that website or design the CMS fast
everyone's an ITech web designer! and a couple people think Tom Kuhlman has a rapid protyping method. He tends to emphasize tools a little too much for my taste, and because his method is generalized, does not spend a lot of time on deep knowledge, the discipline-specific content that most of our university courses should focus on. That's understandable: he has a background in training, which is not exactly the same as in education. When he writes about learning being a "process" it seems "sequence" is a more appropriate term, rather than "understanding." Learning=knowing the steps and why the sequence works, rather than understanding underlying principles and questioning the sequence, the methods, and the material itself. He's got some nice clip art and the ideas (such as they are) are a little more than the usual. But I struggle to apply his methods and those of other business-oriented presenters to education. I often go on to something else, muttering, "when I get more time, I should try to devise a different method". Standardized (and sanctioned) rubrics such as Quality Matters are ok but hardly earth-shaking. So, look to Kuhlman to help you build it fast, but not with a lot of invention.
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I'm so glad you posted the link to Tom Kuhlman's eBook. I skimmed through it and will read it fully at a later time. I am more business oriented than education oriented. I just find the business perspective more relevant to real life. I love reading and learning, but don't follow the goal-oriented approach to learning. It doesn't make sense to me.
ReplyDeleteI find the business perspective helpful. Many students who do not do well in formal education, go on to do well with business training in the workplace out in the real world. To me there is a disconnect with formal education and the many workplaces that are not a school setting. When people say they got this degree or that degree and that it did not prepare them for their job in that particular field, that they had to learn how to do the job when they got there, it causes me to wonder...
Good web design is a struggle I am finding, but all my reading has taken me to simple, clear, follow typical conventions and include for accessibility. For me, right now, its keep it simple.
Another group that seems to focus on a more business oriented approach to using internet tools is HubSpot -- http://www.hubspot.com. What I don't see from a quick look at their website is how you get on their mailing list. But once you do, you should get "eBooks" -- similar in their brevity to Kuhlman's -- about using all sorts of social media. One such example seems to be the free offer on the top of their website. http://www.hubspot.com/essential-guide-to-internet-marketing/
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, there are the crowd of people such as Garr Reynolds, Nancy Duarte, Dan Roam, Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, et al. Many of these folks have to do with an area I'm especially interested in -- visual thinking and presentation. But they all have a business approach.
-Eric