Literary Mash-Ups, Fan Fiction, and E-Learning May 31, 2010
Posted by elearningtyro in : Useful Resources , add a commentThis guest post is contributed by Tim Handorf, who writes on the topics of top online colleges. He welcomes your comments at his email Id: tim.handorf.20@googlemail.com
While the fusing of two unrelated works of art is not particularly new, an emerging trend in the world of books is what’s been dubbed the “literary mash-up”. The whole idea seems somewhat absurd, but these books sell. And they sell well. Today’s most current trend in mash-up basically takes a work of literature from the established Western canon, and then injects it with a pop cultural artifact.
The first of these mash-ups was an appropriation of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice. The novel was re-envisioned as “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” which, as the title suggests, is imbued with elements of zombie fiction. The latest installment in the Austen mash-up series is a prequel entitled “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls,” which was just released two months ago. Others in this milieu include the upcoming Android Karenina and the already released “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters“.
The original author of the Pride and Prejudice book, Seth-Grahame Smith, was inspired by fan boy characters, and the other books, I suspect, take several leaves out of the fan fiction oeuvre. In fact, the Quirk Classics book series is essentially well-written fan fiction published in book form and widely disseminated. Again, fan fiction is nothing new, but the phenomenon has now spawned an almost exclusively Internet following.
What does this all mean for e-learning, then? While e-learning researcher Rebecca W. Black suggests that there are several English Language Learning (ELL) possibilities within fan fiction itself, I firmly believe that fan fiction can be seen as an important extension of e-learning in general.
What is interesting about e-learning, aside from the online platform that grants wider accessibility, is the fact that it actively seeks new ways to teach old ideas. What an e-learning educator can take away from literary mash-ups is this: Teaching a concept can sometimes best be accomplished by appropriating something the student can understand—in this case, zombies or sea monsters—and melding it with the new concept. This inspires confidence in the learner, perhaps even interest. Interest breeds passion, and passion is a feeling that is sorely needed in education, both online and traditional. Why? Because with passion, a student does not simply learn one lesson. Rather, she learns the ultimate lesson, a lesson that continually educates—the love of learning.
Best E-Learning Bloggers & Blog Posts (May 16, 2010 to May 22, 2010) May 27, 2010
Posted by elearningtyro in : Announcements , 1 comment so farWe are pleased to announce the best e-learning bloggers and blog posts of the previous week (May 16, 2010 to May 22, 2010).
Best Bloggers of the Week
The “Best E-Learning Bloggers of the Week” are:
Best Blog Posts of the Week
The “Best E-Learning Blog Posts of the Week” are:
- “Shortcuts to effective learning” by Mark Berthelemy.
- “A manager’s 5 commandments to e-learning visual designers” by Shrinivasan.
- “A few practical tips on storyboarding” by Jeffery Goldman.
- “How to create a “Zoom and Pan” effect in Powerpoint for e-learning” by Joe Deegan.
- “Instructional Designers are content neutral” by Connie Malamed.
- “LMS template – comparing vendors analysis – Apples to Apples” by Craig Weiss.
- “How to design e-learning that’s memorable and budget-friendly” by Cathy Moore.
- “Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy: examples from the online world” by Vikas Joshi.
- “Help L&D transition to T&D” by Archana Narayan.
- “Changing our ‘Trainer’ mindsets” by Sumeet Moghe.
Here are the aspects we look into a blogger or a blog post when selecting the above list.
- The number of informative, innovative, and self blog posts in a week.
- The number of positive comments from visitors.
- Ideas to develop an e-learning course with trenchant instructional design strategies.
- Useful information on the latest technology, news, and events in the e-learning industry.
Congratulations winners!
Best E-Learning Bloggers & Blog Posts (May 02, 2010 to May 08, 2010) May 15, 2010
Posted by elearningtyro in : Announcements , add a commentWe are pleased to announce the best e-learning bloggers and blog posts of the previous week (May 02, 2010 to May 08, 2010).
Best Bloggers of the Week
The “Best E-Learning Bloggers of the Week” are:
Best Blog Posts of the Week
The “Best E-Learning Blog Posts of the Week” are:
- “Future of learning – mind boggling” by Donald Clark.
- “Media overload in instructional web pages and its impact on elearning” by Priya Gopalakrishnan.
- “A manager’s 5 commandments to instructional designers” by Shrinivasan.
- “Using Twitter in a face-to-face workshop” by Jane Hart.
- “Top 5 tips on how to make courses SCORM compliant” by the Saffron Interactive team.
- “Elearning example: Branching scenario” by Cathy Moore.
Here are the aspects we look into a blogger or a blog post when selecting the above list.
- The number of informative, innovative, and self blog posts in a week.
- The number of positive comments from visitors.
- Ideas to develop an e-learning course with trenchant instructional design strategies.
- Useful information on the latest technology, news, and events in the e-learning industry.
Congratulations winners!
Who Benefits from E-Learning? May 13, 2010
Posted by elearningtyro in : Useful Resources , add a commentThis guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of degrees online. She welcomes your comments at her e-mail id: anna.miller009@gmail.com
E-learning is a relatively new entrant to the field of education, but with the way technology is taking off and advancing today, it’s no surprise that e-learning is making rapid inroads into traditional academia. Today, the emphasis is on learning, not on the media or vehicle that allows, supports and promotes it. And with all the forms of technology that support e-learning – computers, laptops, mobile phones, and even MP3 players – it’s no wonder that e-learning is poised to create history in the world of academics.
Although e-learning is advantageous to anyone who wants to learn, there are some people who benefit more than others:
- Those who are pressed for time: Busy entrepreneurs who go back to school to earn their graduate degree benefit because they can learn on the go, whenever they have time rather than when they’re able to access their study resources. Moms who juggle homes and lessons can look over their lessons when they have a few minutes to spare rather than have to set aside hours to learn from boring and old-fashioned books.
- Those who are limited by location: It’s a typical case of the mountain coming to Mohammed if because Mohammed cannot go to the mountain – when you’re constrained by distance, the best way to learn is through technology. You don’t have to make extreme sacrifices and relocate to where education is being offered; rather, learning is delivered directly to your hands, thanks to mobile technology.
- Those who are tech-savvy: Although most people would consider the fact that e-learning requires you to understand and be able to use technology with some degree of comfort, I would say that for people who are tech savvy, it offers a convenient and sophisticated way to continue to learn. They’re not hampered by books and other traditional study material; rather, with content being pushed to their phones and other handheld devices, they’re more at home with learning using smart devices.
- Those who want to set their own pace: E-learning allows you to customize the way you learn. You don’t have to worry about the rest of your class or be afraid that you cannot keep up. Rather, you can dictate the pace of your lessons and learn according to your own timetable.
Today, applications and software platforms are being created for the dedicated purpose of fostering e-learning. And as time goes by, there will be more standardization and uniformity across the technology that runs e-learning, thus allowing more people to join this bandwagon and broaden their horizons.
Best E-Learning Bloggers & Blog Posts (Apr 25, 2010 to May 01, 2010) May 7, 2010
Posted by elearningtyro in : Announcements , 2commentsWe are pleased to announce the best e-learning bloggers and blog posts of the previous week (Apr 25, 2010 to May 01, 2010).
Best Bloggers of the Week
The “Best E-Learning Bloggers of the Week” are:
Best Blog Posts of the Week
The “Best E-Learning Blog Posts of the Week” are:
- “Integrate Your E-Learning with Google Docs” by the Integrated Learning Services team.
- “The Secrets of SaaS Training: Delivery” by the VMG’s Leveraging Learning team.
- “3 Ways to Introduce the Element of Surprise into Your Online Training” by the Mindflash team.
- “The Dark Side of Online Interaction” by Joitske Hulsebosch.
- “Gain Attention – What’s the Fuss?” by Archana Narayan.
- “How to Create a Visual Hierarchy” by Connie Malamed.
- “Developing a Layar Application” and “The Real Cost of a Free (Open Source) LMS” by the Upside Learning Solutions team.
Here are the aspects we look into a blogger or a blog post when selecting the above list.
- The number of informative, innovative, and self blog posts in a week.
- The number of positive comments from visitors.
- Ideas to develop an e-learning course with trenchant instructional design strategies.
- Useful information on the latest technology, news, and events in the e-learning industry.
Congratulations winners!
Indian E-Learning Bloggers May 6, 2010
Posted by elearningtyro in : Useful Resources , add a commentHello all,
We are trying to consolidate the blogs of Indian learning professionals and companies from various sources. You can view the consolidated list on the following page:
http://elearningplanet.com/library/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=216
Please post a comment if we missed the blog(s) of an Indian learning professional or company. We are readily available to update this list as and when new bloggers enter into the blogosphere.
Regards,
E-Learning Planet Team
Best E-Learning Bloggers & Blog Posts (Apr 18, 2010 to Apr 24, 2010) May 1, 2010
Posted by elearningtyro in : Announcements , 2commentsWe are pleased to announce the best e-learning bloggers and blog posts of the previous week (Apr 18, 2010 to Apr 24, 2010).
Best Bloggers of the Week
The “Best E-Learning Bloggers of the Week” are:
Best Blog Posts of the Week
The “Best E-Learning Blog Posts of the Week” are:
Here are the aspects we look into a blogger or a blog post when selecting the above list.
- The number of informative, innovative, and self blog posts in a week.
- The number of positive comments from visitors.
- Ideas to develop an e-learning course with trenchant instructional design strategies.
- Useful information on the latest technology, news, and events in the e-learning industry.
Congratulations winners!
