Our favourite online learning blogs by elearning professionals
By Ben Hindmarch in Online Students / Mon March 4, 2013
For most people, online learning is a completely new and unknown way of learning. Those learning online now are pioneers of what is likely to be the future of education. We found a number of blogs we think provide useful and interesting reading for reviewing the realities of what online learning involves. The blogs below are written by online learning professionals with a mixture of posts aimed at online students and educators.
Moving At The Speed Of Creativity
Wesley Fryer writes this blog about the various innovations and technologies in online learning. It’s a great resource for anyone thinking about studying online to explore the applications and utilities that are available.
ElearnSpace
ElearnSpace is a blog by George Siemens, a professor at the Center for Distance Learning with the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute at Athabasca University in Canada. He has some interesting insights into the online learning industry. Aimed mainly at online teachers and those working in the industry, some of his comments are nonetheless valuable to anyone thinking about undertaking an online course.
Internet Time
Internet Time is a blog by Jay Cross Jay updates Internet Time frequently with really interesting content. Jay has strong views on the power of 'informal learning' is helping change the world of learning in organisations. His blog has some great posts about MOOCs and how businesses can make use of them, although our favourite post is an explanation of slow learning.
Stephen Downes
Stephen Downes is an online education researcher. His background in philosophy and keen interest in education provides his blog with some interesting thoughts on MOOCs and the future of education.
Edutopia Online Learning
Edutopia’s online learning section has a number of writers posting some thought-provoking articles about some interesting ideas we hadn’t seen on other blogs. We found Edutopia’s articles on the flipped classroom of particular interest.
Elearning 24/7
This blog by Craig Weiss is mostly concerned with learning management systems (the software used to deliver online courses). As an online student you will inevitably become very familiar with the user-end of your school’s learning management system, so reading up about what you’ll be working with could be a sensible part of researching your course.
Learning Matters!
Tony O’Driscoll is a director at Duke Corporate Education, his blog ‘Learning Matters’, is a collection of his thoughts about online learning. Tony works corporate training and has some interesting views on how businesses should make use of online learning. He doesn’t update his blog particularly often, but has some great posts. His TedX talk, ‘Preparing Our Children For A World We Can Barely Imagine’ is definitely worth ten minutes of your time.
Elearning 3.0
This blog by Lee Graham is written by an online teacher for people looking to study online. It contains a number of articles that provide some great advice for anyone with an interest taking an online course. His post, ‘Excuses for not Getting a College Degree are Running Out’ should provide some food for thought!
Technology Enhanced Learning Blog
David Hopkins’ blog covers a range of his interests, and isn’t limited to online learning. He works in the education field and is particularly interested in innovations in education and the future of learning. A great blog to spend time on if you’re interested in learning and appreciate your gadgets.
Online Learning Insights
Debbie Morrison is an educator and instructional designer. She frequently posts her thoughts on MOOCs and shares her views on the news surrounding the industry and particular services such as Coursera. We found it interesting to read the opinions and predictions of someone actively involved in developing MOOCs.