eFronters

Free eLearning Books

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 08:22:00 +0000

Several e-Learning developers and enthusiasts asked me to create a list of Free e-Learning Books.
As a result, I created the following list and I am sure that it will be a valuable resource for you.
Do you know any other FREE e-Learning books? Please leave a comment and I will include the free e-Learning book in the list.

If you would like to read the rest of the post click HERE

Top 10 free e-Learning Tools

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:42:00 +0000

Top 10 free e-Learning Tools that every e-Learning professional should use!
The list that follows is in no particular order.
Which free e-Learning tool is the best?
Should I include more free e-Learning tools?
In the right corner of the eFronters' blog exist a poll that I would like you to participate.
Vote for the BEST FREE e-Learning tool!

eFront is a user friendly open source learning management system, visually attractive and SCORM certified!
Ning is a private social networking tool. Ning lets you create and customize a private network such as eFronters Online Community
Slideshare is a presentation sharing tool! You can host your PowerPoint or Keynote presentations and share them online
Scribd is a document sharing tool! You can host documents of various formats and share them online.
Delicious is a social bookmarking tool! Store your bookmarks and share them with others!
YouTube is a video hosting and sharing tool! You can upload video tutorials and share them with others!
Flickr is an image and video hosting and sharing tool! You can host your professional picture and video collection, tag them and share them with your friends, colleagues and others!
Blogger is a free blog publishing tool from Google. Blogger makes creating a blog easy, and there are many plugins available to embed resources such as Slideshare, Scribd, YouTube, and Flickr.
Twitter is a free social networking and microblogging service that enable its users to send and read messages knows as tweets.
Google Docs and Spreadsheets provide an online suite to create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

Top 10 Free E-Learning Tools for 2010

View more presentations from eFronters.

Which E-Learning blog is the BEST?

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:52:00 +0000

The following 20 e-Learning blogs represents some of the most interesting to follow e-Learning blogs. Each of these is a great learning resource for an e-Learning developer and an instructional designer. The list that follows is in no particular order. However, in the right corner of the eFronters' blog exist a poll that I would like you to participate. Vote for the BEST E-Learning blog!

The Rapid E-Learning Blog! (update 7/24/2010)
The eLearning Coach! (update 7/21/2010)
Learning Ecosystems which covers e-learning as well as other topics from the K-12, higher education, and corporate training and development spaces (update 7/13/2010)
I Came, I Saw, I Learned. The content focuses on eLearning, mLearning, social media, and how-to articles for Captivate, Camtasia, FrameMaker, Acrobat, RoboHelp and PowerPoint (update 7/1/2010)
Jenna Swenney's Corporate Training & e-Learning Blog
Stephen's Web
Mobilemind
Learning Circuits Blog
Tony Karrer's eLearning Technology
Harold Jarche
Learning TRENDS by Elliot Massie
Internet Time Blog
Dave Mozealous
elearningpost
Online Learning Update
George Siemen's elearnspace
Connectivism Blog
Breakthrough eLearning
Corporate eLearning Development
E-Learning Queen

Do not forget to vote and share your opinion with us!
If you want us to include your e-Learning blog please leave a comment.
@efronters

Open Source Web Conferencing Tools

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:36:00 +0000

Since I am a great fun of open source software I thought to create a list of free desktop conferencing tools for online courses:
Enjoy!

Mikogo is an easy-to-use cross-platform desktop sharing tool, ideal for free web conferencing, online meetings or remote support.
Vyew is a new and powerful platform for real-time and always on interaction between people and content.
DimDim delivers synchronized live presentations, whiteboards and web pages while sharing your voice and video over the Internet - with no download.
Yugma offers free, pro and enterprise service for desktop sharing, web conferencing, online meetings, and web collaboration for Mac, Windows, and Linux users.
Adobe ConnectNow, one of the Acrobat.com services, is a great way to share ideas, discuss details, and complete work together — all online.
Yuuguu offers cross network instant messaging, instant screen sharing, real time collaboration, free web conferencing and remote support.
OpenMeetings, an Open Source Free Web Conferencing tool that is worth trying.
WebHuddle (free web conferencing tool) makes it easy to meet with the people you need to, when you need to — all it takes is a web-enabled PC and something to say.

Also, I am a great fun of DimDim and I really like its features:

Meet instantly: no software installs necessary
Share your desktop: DimDim takes desktop and screen sharing installs necessary
Stay in sync: no other meeting app shows them where you are at in perfect synchronization
Use mics, webcams and chat
Spread the world with widgets: get the world our on your blog or website
Record and embed meetings
Whiteboard and annotate
Leverage the social web
Mash it up: use all your favorite sites and tools right in your DimDim meeting

Hardware Requirements:

DSL
Audio
Microphone
Webcam

Software:

No software required

eFront (open source learning management system) & DimDim

As the most of you know, I am an eFronter and eFront open source learning management system provides interconnection with DimDim. Its basic reasoning behind the eFront integration revolves around each professor being able to create, manage and initiate DimDim conferences (from now simply conferences) for each of his lessons.

Resources:
eFront
eFronters
DimDim eFront Wiki

eFront Contest - Win $400 and a copy of eFront Community++

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:23:00 +0000

Hello fellow eFronters!!!

I hope that one of you will win the contest!

The eFront team is very happy to announce the following summer contests as a gesture of goodwill towards our supportive community, Facebook fans and eFront users at large. We will simultaneously host four contests with the same opening, closing and judging dates. Each entry will be made publicly available and judged by the eFront community and a panel of eFront experts.

The entry to get the most votes in each contest wins $400 in cash and a Community++ version of eFront. In order to participate, just send an email to contest@efrontlearning.net, stating the contest you are participating in, a description and an attachment of your contribution or, depending on its nature, a URL so we can check it online. The voting procedure will be announced as we approach the voting period.

Furthermore, apart from prizes awarding the winning entries, each entry and its creator will benefit from extended exposure to the eFront community and user base. All entries will be judged based on their depth, originality, quality, usefulness and objectivity.

Contest Dates
Opening date for receiving entries – 1st June 2010
Closing date for receiving entries – 31st August 2010
Dates for judging winning entries – 1st-16th September 2010
Announcement of winning entries – 17th September 2010

For more information or any queries regarding these contests, contact us on contest@efrontlearning.net.

THE CONTESTS

Theme creation contest
eFront offers an advanced theme functionality which allows users to alter the “look and feel” aspect of eFront. This ensures that the specific needs and tastes of users and organisations are accommodated.
This is where this contest begins. Create a theme for eFront embodying but no limited to: a consistent colour coded background, alternate layouts and a variety of font settings of your choice. Make sure that each theme can be applied to major browsers. The theme to get the most votes wins.

For more information regarding eFront themes please click here.

Module creation contest
Modules are additional programming components that are designed to enhance eFront under various dimensions. Modules can integrate eFront with various third party software systems or extend its functionality. Please check the developers section on how to create a module. This is where this contest begins. Create a module that enhances eFront functionality with a feature that you believe is missing or integrate eFront with a third party system of your choice. The module to get the most votes wins.

More information and a current list of officially supported external modules can be found by clicking here.

Video review contest
This contest will let you utilize your video creating and editing skills while reviewing eFront. Create a video or animation highlighting and describing the eFront software and post it on Youtube, Metacafe or Vimeo. You can create as many videos as you want! The video with the most votes wins.

Blog article contest
This contest will boost you creative skills while writing a blog review about eFront. Create and publish articles that describe and review eFront, compare its functionality with other learning systems, describe usage scenarios or your favorite features. Use your imagination and create something useful and objective. You can create as many blog entries as you want! The blog entry with the most votes wins.

For more info please visit: http://forum.efrontlearning.net/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2179

Top 10 Free Stock Photos Sites

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:48:00 +0000

Since I am a great fun of open source software such as eFront LMS I thought to create a list of the top 10 free stock photos sites. I hope that this list will be valuable to you. If you are familiar with another free stock photos site please leave a comment on this blog post and after I review the site I will add it to a list of free stock photos sites.

Enjoy!

4FreePhotos: Images are offered by the photographer as public domain.
Dreamstime: This site has a free area of downloadable stock photos.
Every Stock Photo: Search engine for free photos. See the license for specific photos.
Imageafter: A fairly unusual collection of photos in a broad range of categories.
Microsoft Office Online: Free photos and clip art from Microsoft... Yes Microsoft!
Morquefile: An easy to use free photo site.
Turbo Photo: Public domain stock images arranged by category.
Wikimedia Commons: Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed education media content as long as the source and authors are credited.
USAID: Free for non-commercial and educational purposes only.
FreeFoto: Free with a required link back and attribution

Join the online conversation

Have you ever attended an instructional design course, certificate or program?

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:25:00 +0000

Currently the job market for instructional design is strong and appears to be growing. Universities, Colleges, and organizations offer instructional design courses, certificates or programs.

Currently I did a research and I created the following list. Has anyone of you attended any of these? Could you please share your opinion? Did it worth it?

ASTD (E-Learning Instructional Design Certificate Program)
http://www.astd.org/content/education/certificatePrograms/ELearning/

ASTD (Advanced E-Learning Instructional Design Certificate Program)
http://www.astd.org/content/education/certificatePrograms/advancedeLearningInstructionalDesign

Washington State University (Graduate Instructional Design Certificate)
http://www.onlinedegreereviews.org/college/washington-state-university-reviews/graduate-instructional-design-certificate-1263/

Athabasca University (Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design)
http://www.athabascau.ca/calendar/grad/distance_04_02.html

Athabasca University (Graduate Diploma in Instructional Design )
http://www.athabascau.ca/calendar/grad/distance_05_02.html

New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies (Instructional Design and Corporate Training)http://www.scps.nyu.edu/courses/continuing-education/all/i/219/instructional-design-and-corporate-training

Full Sail University (Master of Science, Education Media Design & Technology)
http://online.fullsail.edu/degrees/education-media-design-technology-masters

Capella University (Master of Science, Instructional Design for Online Learning)
http://www.capella.edu/schools_programs/education/masters/instructional_design_online_learning.aspx

Capella University (Ph.D.), Instructional Design for Online Learning)
http://www.capella.edu/schools_programs/education/phd/instructional_design_online_learning.aspx

George Mason University (e-Learning Graduate Certificate)
http://it.gse.gmu.edu/degrees/elc/

San Diego State University (Masters, Education Technology)
http://edtec.sdsu.edu/distance/info.htm

University of Massachusetts (Masters, Instructional Design)
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/Online-Degree-Master-Education-Instructional-Design.cfm

University of Missouri (Masters, Learning Systems Design & Development)http://education.missouri.edu/SISLT/EdTech/EdTech_LSDD.php

University of North Carolina (Masters, Instructional Technology)
http://online.northcarolina.edu/program.php?id=216

University of North Dakota (Masters, Instructional Design & Technology)
http://online.northcarolina.edu/program.php?id=216

Virginia Tech (Masters, Instructional Design and Technology)
http://www.soe.vt.edu/idt/index.html

West Texas A&M (Masters, Instructional Design and Technology)
http://www.wtamu.edu/academics/instructional-design-technology-graduate-program.aspx

What is the best Instructional Design textbook you know?

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:26:00 +0000

There are several textbooks that are best for Instructional Design. I created the following list and I am extremely interested to read your comments concerning the list.

Real World Instructional Design by Cennamo & Kalk.
http://www.amazon.com/World-Instructional-Design-Katherine-Cennamo/dp/0534642675
Ten Steps to Complex Learning by Jeroen van Merriënboer and Paul Kirschner. http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Complex-Learning-Four-Component-Instructional/dp/0805857931/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272313217&sr=1-1
e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning by Clark & Mayer.
http://www.amazon.com/e-Learning-Science-Instruction-Guidelines-Multimedia/dp/0787986836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272313295&sr=1-1
Developing Technical Training by Clark.
http://www.amazon.com/Developing-Technical-Training-Computer-based-Instructional/dp/0787988464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272313383&sr=1-1
Systematic Design of Instruction by Dick, Carey and Dick.
http://www.amazon.com/Systematic-Design-Instruction-Walter-Dick/dp/0205585566/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272312733&sr=1-1
ISD from the ground up by Chuck Hodell.
http://www.amazon.com/ISD-Ground-2nd-No-Nonsense-Instructional/dp/1562864556/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272312801&sr=1-1
Writing Training Materials That Work: How to Train Anyone to Do Anything by Foshay, Silber, Stelnicki.
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Training-Materials-That-Work/dp/0787964115/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272312893&sr=1-1
Designing Effective Instruction by Morrison, Ross and Kemp.
http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Effective-Instruction-Gary-Morrison/dp/0470522828/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272312941&sr=1-2
Instructional Technology and Media for Learning by Smaldino, Lowther, & Russell.
http://www.amazon.com/Instructional-Technology-Media-Learning-9th/dp/0132391740/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1272313065&sr=1-2-fkmr0
Instructional Design by Smith, and Ragan.
http://www.amazon.com/Instructional-Design-Wiley-Jossey-Bass-Education/dp/0471393533/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272313157&sr=1-1

If you want me to include a book please leave a comment on this blog post.

Interactive Activities for Online Independent and Collaborating Learning

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:17:00 +0000

Online education can be categorized into two types:

Independent learning for individuals (self-paced courses), and
Collaborating learning for groups (instructor-paced courses).

Both types have advantages and disadvantages. At the same time, some online courses may have elements of both (combination of independent and collaborative learning).

Independent learning

Independent learning give the learner a great deal of autonomy. The learner have more responsibility for when and where to study and at his/her own pace of learning. In business and industry, independent learning provide just-in-time learning to individual employees.

However, there is a misunderstanding. Independent learning does mean that the learner could have communication with others. Email, chat, video conference can link the learner to instructor for assistance and feedback but not in a group setting.

Collaborative learning

In collaborative learning, group interaction is a major aspect. Learners come together as a group to participate in various group based activities such as group discussions, project, etc. Group interaction can occur in either synchronous or asynchronous mode. Synchronous refers to real-time communication where learner interact at the same time such as video conference, and chat. Asynchronous refers to anytime communication where learners interact at different times, such as emails, and discussion forums.

Interactive Activities for Online Learning

Interaction is the most critical aspect in Online Learning, independent and collaborative. Interaction includes communication and feedback mechanisms that are build in an open source learning management system such as eFront. Moreover, interaction should designed by the instructional designers into an online course through the use of eFront's activities that engage the learner in accomplishing learning objectives. The choice of eFront's activities that will be used depended on the overall learning context, the learner profile, and the professor/learning objectives. eFront's activities may involve a group of learners working together (collaborative learning), or it may involve an individual learner to work at his own pace (independent learning).

A guide developed by Glasgow Caledonian University (2004) suggests various interactive activities for online learning. In this guide we will categorized the activities in collaborative learning and independent learning.

Independent Interactive Learning Activities

Web Search: to find new information, browser; web-based search engines.
Create a Report: to clarify knowledge and understanding, to inform decision-making processes, relevant documents; web sites; newspaper articles; TV & radio reports; interviews with stakeholders; expert input to online discussion (collaborative learning).
Simulation: to help understand concepts by experimentation with different parameters and scenarios, interactive models created with a simulation or animation tools such as Flash of Cosmos on CD-Rom or online; multimedia.
Quizzes and Test: to test knowledge and understanding, to provide feedback on progress, to create basis for discussion; assessment tools such as eFront's Quizzes.

Collaborative Interactive Learning Activities

Case Study: to support problem-based learning, to provide basis for discussion and debate, relevant documents; web resources; video & audio clips; sub-conference for group discussion; graphics and diagrams
Create Group Presentations: to develop shared, reusable resources, to encourage collaboration and team-working, sub-conference for group discussion; shared whiteboard; real-time chat; video-conference; documents & web resources to inform the development work.
Role Play: to enhance understanding of the views of various stakeholders who may be affected by a particular event or situation, documentation in a variety of formats to provide background information; sub-conference discussion areas; real-time chat; video-conferencing.
Discussion and Debate: to stimulate interaction, to encourage critical thinking, sub-conference for discussion; online keynote from expert; relevant documents.

Join the online conversation

Reference:
Glasgow Caledonian University (2004). Activities for e-learning. An elearning guide. http://www.learningservices.gcal.ac.uk/apu/activities.pdf

The Three Types of Interaction in an Open Source Learning Management System

An Open Source Learning Management System and the Report Functionality

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:37:00 +0000

The purpose of an open source Learning Management System is to improve operational efficiency and report on learning effectiveness. A critical component of eFront open source learning management system is the report functionality that will help your E-Learning 2.0 school, education organization, virtual classroom, or online learning community to manage the learning/training effectiveness.

eFront open source learning management system provides an ad hoc reporting tool that has the ability to create, save, and retrieve reports "on the fly". The reporting tools that are built on eFront offer real-time field additions and filter updates. At the same time, eFront's reports offer security for each user when viewing the reports. This means that users will see only the data that they should see.

The types of users in eFront are the Administrator, the Professor, and the Student. Administrators have access to all reports, whereas professors have access to reports related to their lessons, courses, and users. Moreover, eFront can define sub-user types with different privileges on reports. All reports can be exported in EXCEL or PDF format.

eFront reports include:

User reports: Administrator and professor can search for a specific user.
Lesson reports: Administrator and professor can either enter the lesson name or use "%" search feature to find the lesson they want to generate the report for.
Course reports: Using the same process as with the previous reports, the administrator or professor can choose the relevant course they want the report for.
System reports: This report generates information regarding the whole system. A time constrain can be set to show activities between a particulate time interval.
Test reports: There is a search field for these reports, where administrators or professor can locate the test they want the report for.
Time constraint reports: As the name suggest, these reports can be time constrained to generate information within a particulate time interval.
Certification reports: Administrators and professor can identify users who have obtained certificates within a time frame, certificates that will expire or users within specific a certificate key.
Group reports: Provides administrators with statistical information about a group of users on the system.
Participation reports: These reports provide information regarding user, group or user type participation withing a specific period of time, lesson or course.
Event reports: The event reports provide an overview of the actions made inside the system regarding one or more events. When selecting the event that is of interest, you must specified: time period, user, lesson or course.

Resource:
http://docs.efrontlearning.net/index.php/Reports

eFront and Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 10:11:00 +0000

Hi eFronters,

eFront's popularity is growing rapidly around the globe. A lot of people believe that eFront is the ultimate solution for E-learning 2.0 in schools and education organizations, for virtual classrooms, and online learning communities.

Here is a list of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content.eFronters e-Learning Group on Linkedin (495 members):
http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2820517

eFronters Online Community on Ning (135 members):
http://efronters.ning.com/

eFronters Group on Facebook (139 members):
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=291522677822

eFronters Group on SlideShare:
http://www.slideshare.net/group/efronters

eFronters on FriendFeed
http://friendfeed.com/efronters

eFronters Group on Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/group/84496-efronters

eFronters on Twitter (408 members):
http://twitter.com/efronters

eFronters Group on TwitterGroups:
http://twittgroups.com/group/efronters

eFronters Blog:
http://efronters.blogspot.com/

eFronters Videos on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/eFronters

eFronters on Delicious:
http://delicious.com/efronters

If you are using any of the above services Lets Connect, Interact and Share the Knowledge!

The Learning Styles and an Open Source Learning Management System

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:53:00 +0000

What are the Learning Styles?

Learning styles are defined as a preferred way of learning that influences the way a learner receives and interacts with instruction and responds to the open source learning management system (Billings, 1993).

There are many different learning styles such as:

Cognitive Styles (Pask, 1976)
Sociological and Psychological Styles (Thompson, 1998)
Perceptual Styles (Fleming 2001)

What are the Perceptual Styles?

Visual
Aural
Read/Write
Kinesthetic

Learning Styles VARK (http://www.vark-learn.com)

How to use eFront based on the Perceptual Styles.

Visual

Flashcards
Video (YouTube)
Video Conference
Progress tracking
Reports

Aural

Podcasting
Audio Conference

Read/Write

Wiki
Blog
RSS
Quiz
Lessons
Quick Email
Glossary
Forum
Search
Content Editor
File manager
Digital Library
Test builder

Kinesthetic

Projects
Simulations
Case Studies

Resources:
Learning Styles VARK (http://www.vark-learn.com)
eFront
eFronters

Enjoy the PPP presentation

Learning styles and an open source learning management system

View more presentations from eFronters.

eFront Learning Management System details - Administration Tools

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:22:00 +0000

Hi fellow efronters. Here is a brief presentation of eFront's Administration tools. eFront is a user friendly Open Source Content Management System, visually attractive and SCORM certified!

1. Authentication

The system can authenticate against an external LDAP server.
Administrators can set up fail-through authentication against a secondary source (e.g. the system's own database) in the event that the primary source (e.g. LDAP server ) fails.
The system can support multiple organizational units and virtual hosts within a server configuration.

2. Course Authorization

The system supports restricting access based on roles and roles can also be customized by the service provider.
Administrators can create an unlimited number of custom organizational units and roles with specific access privileges to course content and tools.
Instructors or students may be assigned different roles in different courses.

3. Registration Integration

Instructors can add students to their courses manually or allow students to self-register.
Administrators can batch add students to the system using a delimited text file.
The software supports data interchange with student information systems through an event-driven API.

4. Hosted Services

The product provider offers a hosted solution.
Hosting and support services from Commercial Affiliates.

Resources:
EduTools Course Management System Comparison
eFront
eFronters

eFront Learning Management System details - Content Development Tools

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:04:00 +0000

Hi fellow efronters. Here is a brief presentation of eFront's Content Development tools. eFront is a user friendly Open Source Content Management System, visually attractive and SCORM certified!

1. Content Sharing/Reuse

Instructors can share content with other instructors and students through a central learning objects repository.
File manager that allows user to upload and share files with others

2. Course Templates

The system allows administrators to use an existing course or a pre-defined template as a basis for a new course.
Content can be copied between courses. A course can be used as a template for future courses.

3. Customized Look and Feel

Instructors can change the order and name of menu items for a course.
Institutions can create their own look and feel templates across the entire system, including their own institutional logos, headers, and footers.
The interface is template driven. Each user can re-arrange the boxes on his own interface. Professors can activate/deactivate certain features.

4. Instructional Design Tools

Instructors can organize learning objects, course tools, and content into learning sequences that are reusable.
Instructors can create linear learning sequences organized hierarchically by course, lesson, and topic.
Instructors can reuse courses as templates for future lessons.

5. Instructional Standards Compliance

IMS Content Packaging 1.1.3
SCORM 1.2

Resources:
EduTools Course Management System Comparison
eFront
eFronters

eFront Learning Management System details - Course Delivery Tools

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:22:00 +0000

Hi fellow efronters. Here is a brief presentation of eFront's Course Delivery tools. eFront is a user friendly Open Source Content Management System, visually attractive and SCORM certified!

1. Test Types

Multiple choice
Multiple answer
Matching
Fill-in the blank
Short answer
Survey questions
Questions can contain other media elements (images, videos, audio)

2. Automated Testing Management

The system can randomize the questions and answers.
Instructors can create self-assessments.
Instructors can set a time limit on a test.
Instructors can permit multiple attempts.
The system supports a MathML editor for the inclusion of mathematical formulas in both questions and answers.
Instructors can specify whether correct results are shown as feedback

3. Automated Testing Support

Instructors can create personal test banks.
The system provides test analysis data.

4. Online Gradebook

Instructors can add details to the gradebook in custom columns.
Instructors can export the scores in the gradebook to an external spreadsheet.
Instructors can create a course grading scale that can employ either percents, letter grades, or pass/fail metrics.

5. Course Management

Instructors can selectively release assignments, assessments, and announcements based on specific start and stop dates.
Instructors can set up specific course content that is released on a specific date and must be completed by students before they continue with the course.
Instructors can personalize access to specific course materials based on previous course activity.
Instructors can personalize access to specific course materials based on student performance.

6. Student Tracking

Instructors can track the frequency and duration of student access to individual course components.
Instructors can get reports showing the time and date and frequency students as an aggregated group accessed course content.
Usage statistics can be aggregated across courses or across the institution.

Resources:
EduTools Course Management System Comparison
eFront
eFronters

eFront Learning Management System details - Student Involvement Tools

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:27:00 +0000

Hi fellow efronters. Here is a brief presentation of eFront's Student Involvement tools. eFront is a user friendly Open Source Content Management System, visually attractive and SCORM certified!

1. Groupwork

Instructors can assign students to groups.

2. Community Networking

Students from different courses can interact in system-wide chat rooms or discussion forums.
The administrator can create global discussion forums that are available to all system users

3. Student Portfolios

Students can create a personal home page in each course.
Students can use their personal home page to selectively display their course work
Students can arrange the components on each lesson's first page through drag-and-drop

Resources:
EduTools Course Management System Comparison
eFront
eFronters

eFront Learning Management System details - Productivity Tools

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:45:00 +0000

Hi fellow efronters. Here is a brief presentation of eFront's productivity tools. eFront is a user friendly Open Source Content Management System, visually attractive and SCORM certified!

1. Bookmarks

Students can bookmark any content material in a course.

2. Calendar/Progress Review

Instructors and students can post events in the online course calendar.
Instructors can post announcements to a course announcement page.
Students have a personal home page that lists all courses in which the student is enrolled, new email and all course and system-wide events from their personal calendar.
Students can view their grades on completed assignments, total points possible, course grade, and compare their grades against the class performance.

3. Searching Within Course

Students can search all course content.
Students can search all discussion threads.

4. Work Offline/Synchronize

Students can compile and download the content for an entire course into a format that can be printed or stored locally.
Content can be exported or printed

5. Orientation/Help

The system includes online tutorials for students that help students learn how to use the system.

Resources:
EduTools Course Management System Comparison
eFront
eFronters

eFront Learning Management System details - Communication Tools

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:22:00 +0000

Hi fellow efronters. Here is a brief presentation of eFront's communication tools. eFront is a user friendly Open Source Content Management System, visually attractive and SCORM certified!

1. Discussion Forum

Students can enable or disable posts to be sent to their email.

2. File Exchange:

Students can submit assignments using drop boxes.

Students can share the contents of their personal folders with other students.

Administrators can define disk space limitations for each user.

3. Internal Email

Students can use the built-in email functionality to email individuals or groups.

Students can use a searchable address book.

Instructors can email the entire class at once at a single address or alias.

Students can select to forward their mail to an external address

4. Online Journal/Notes

Students can attach notes to any page.

Students can combine their notes with the course content to create a printable study guide.

5. Real-time Chat

The chat tool supports unlimited simultaneous group discussions

The system creates archive logs for all chat rooms.

6. Whiteboard

Through integration with DimDim

Resource:
EduTools Course Management System Comparison
eFront
eFronters

How can eFront be used?

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:07:00 +0000

A brief presentation of eFront, which is an open source content management system. Feel free to use the video to promote eFront in your presentations.

eFront is a user friendly Open Source Content Management System, visually attractive and SCORM certified!

eFront can be used as:

An education tool
A communication tool
An evaluation tool
A certification tool
A file management and sharing tool

eFronters are the users of eFront! eFront is an open source Learning Management System. eFronters is our community! Join our community and share the knowledge! http://efronters.ning.com

Adult Learning Theories

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Hi fellow eFronters,

Today I would like to share with you an excellent presentation concerning adult learning theories. The following 4 leaders challenge us to create creative leaders by modeling creative leadership.

Enjoy the presentation created by Carter Smith.

Adult Learning Theories

View more presentations from Carter Smith.

What can eFront LMS CMS support? eFront Presentation

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:22:00 +0000

E-learning 2.0 in schools and education organizations
Virtual classrooms
Online learning communities

eFronters are the users of eFront! eFront is an open source Learning Management System. eFronters is our community! Join our community and share the knowledge! http://efronters.ning.com

What is eFront? eFront Presentation

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:11:00 +0000

A brief presentation of eFront, which is an open source content management system. Feel free to use the video to promote eFront in your presentations.

eFront is a user friendly Open Source Content Management System, visually attractive and SCORM certified!

eFronters are the users of eFront! eFront is an open source Learning Management System. eFronters is our community! Join our community and share the knowledge! http://efronters.ning.com

How to create e-Learning with Screencasting Software

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:44:00 +0000

This is a wonderful presentation on how to create e-Learning with Screencasting Software by Nikki Massaro Kauffman

Creating eLearning with Screencasting Software

View more presentations from Nikki Massaro Kauffman.

eFront sites for Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:54:00 +0000

Hi fellow eFronters,

Recently you asked me to create an eFront list with sites for inspiration. If you are using eFront as a learning management system, content management system or virtual learning management system please sent me an email to add your site in this list.

Also, join eFronters online community and Lets Share the Knowledge!

Kunstakademie Online (update 3/30/2010)
http://www.kunstakademie-online.de/

Cook-Academy
http://hcds.cook-academy.com/

Aprendiendo Forex - Centro de Capacitación de Analistas Técnicos de Mercado
http://curso.aprendiendoforex.com/index.php

Unismuh E-Learning System - Enable Your Course Anywhere

http://www.unismuh.ac.id/elearning/www/index.php

Cursos Online - Associação Brasileira dos Concessionários Tipler

http://www.cursos.abct.com.br/www/index.php

Oxley Training
http://www.oxley.ecampus.com.au/index.php

Académie Internationale du Savoir Être (AISE) - La pensée créatrice

http://www.aise-web-academie.com/www/index.php

Startersbijbel
http://leren.creatov.nl

Thai solution
www.thaisolution.net/elearning/

Tagen Ata (e-learning portal using eFront)
http://www.formacionenrede.com

Fine and Applied Arts Division of Faculty of Humanities ans Social Sciences, Chandrakasem Rajabhat University Thaialnd.
http://art.chandra.ac.th/efront

Highly affordable Voice (Singing), Piano, Music Theory, and Songwriting online classes from Berklee College of Music graduate.
http://MyMusicExpert.com

Turkish educational site.
http://www.sinavoncesi.com/egitim

Chinese learn English site.
http://online.eng4u.cn

Akademos (Spanish)
http://www.akademos.cl/frn/www/index.php

Learn (Chinese e-learning site)
http://www.exue100.com

ExamTracks.com
http://www.efront.examtracks.com/

AviaTraining.net
http://aviatraining.net/www/index.php

Fair Housing Solutions' E-Train
http://etrain.fairhousingsolutions.com/

TEPiDEA University Alliance
http://scholar.tepidea.com/www/index.php

Radio Amateur du Quebec inc
http://www.raqi.ca/~formation/www/index.php

BPM Exchange - Process Excellence Learning Center
http://bpm-exchange.com/efront/www/index.php

Institute of Information Security
http://elearning.iisecurity.in/index.php

Boxdgear Training
http://training.boxdgear.com/bin/index.php

The Three Types of Interaction in an Open Source Learning Management System

noreply@blogger.com (eFronters) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:16:00 +0000

The three types of interaction are built into eFront to accomplish certain learning objectives. eFront is a Content Management System (CMS), a user friendly, visually attractive, open source software package, which is SCORM certified.

Moore (1989) believes that interaction is a central component of online education and he describes three types of interaction:

Learner to content,
Learner to instructor, and
Learner to learner

The learner to content interaction refers to the interaction between the learner and the content or subject matter. Moore believes that if a learner interacts with the content/subject matter, then changes in the learner's understanding occur.

The learner to instructor interaction refers to the interaction between the learner and an instructor, tutor, mentor, or content expert. The second type of interaction occurs via print, electronic dialog, e-mail, computer conferencing, or electronic online classroom discussions.

The learner to learner interaction can occur outside of or in group settings with or without an instructor present. The third type of interaction occurs when learners engage in discussion moderated by the instructor. At the same time, learners' groups may be given responsibility to act autonomously for conducting group projects, or other forms of group-lead activities.

To conclude, collaborative learning typically involves all three interaction formats.

eFront offers fifteen interactive course features.

Interaction between Learner and Content

Interaction between Learner and Instructor

Lesson
Quiz (Test)
Project
Conference (video chat)
Quick email

Interaction between Learner(s) and Leaner

Chat
Forum
Blog
Wiki
Glossary

References
Moore, M.G. (1989). Three types of interaction. American Journal of Distance Education, 3, 2, 1-7.
Hannon, J., and Atkins, P. (2002). All about interactivity. Guide to enhancing interactivity in online learning. TAFE Frontiers.

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