This article has been written by Jan Zanetis, Education Advocate for Cisco in Australia.  The original article was published in the December/January edition of Educational Leadership (EL). Visit EL to read the full version.

The Virtues of Video

Video-on-demand tutorials. International student collaborations. Virtual field trips to Australia. Schools can use interactive video to enrich students’ learning.

What if your struggling students could view demonstrations of difficult math concepts as often as necessary? Picture your students asking questions of an expert diver as she explores Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Or imagine a motivated student in a remote location attending an advanced placement physics class without leaving home.

Providing such enriching learning activities, even with limited funds, is no fantasy; it’s possible through live, interactive video.

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Tags: Cisco, classroom, collaboration, communication, education, higher education, jan zanetis, K-12, learning, student, teachers, technology, video, visual

Laura Spencer writes an interesting blog today, 10 of the Most Surprising Things about Freelancing. I think at some point, everyone has the fantasy of breaking free of the corporate hamster wheel and going out on their own. Especially if you have a skill set that can be easily transferred to different situations.

Freelancing is 100% risk. You are responsible for selling your skills and building a client base. You almost never turn down work because you never know when the next assignment will come along. It’s risky and it’s true what Laura says, you really don’t get “personal days” unless you do some careful planning.

But what if you aren’t ready to jump into freelancing 100% of the time?

There are ways you can put your foot in the water and see if you have Read More »

Tags: business advice, Cisco WebEx, Freelance, learning, telecommute, tips, WebEX, webinar

Higher education IT leaders from around the world will be converging in Philadelphia on October 18 -- 21, for EDUCAUSE 2011. One look at the conference program is all that it takes to conclude that “EDUCAUSE 2011 is the best thinking in higher education IT.”

With such a robust program this year, deciding which sessions to attend is harder than ever. Make sure to take in these sessions that showcase the use of video and collaboration technologies to transform teaching and learning and expand education opportunities:

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Tags: #EDU11, edtech, education, educause, higher education, ICT, IT, learning

In an economy that is struggling to recover, looking for a job can be challenging -- even if you already have one. Many of those jobs involve managing people which puts you in the hot seat not just for your performance, but also for how well your team performs. If this is your first time, you’ll need help.

Reserve your spot now. Register here.

Then Ken Blanchard Group delivers some of the best management advice in the world. They understand stepping into the role of a new manager—or taking on a new group of people is a challenge for even the most seasoned of professionals.

Making the move from an individual contributor to supervising the work of others brings a whole host of new challenges. As a new manager, it can be a confusing time Read More »

Tags: Blanchard, business advice, event, leadership, learning, videoconference, WebEX, webinar

The sight of Crayola crayons stacked high to fly at the local mass merchant brought these back-to-school thoughts to mind.

 Colleague Dr. Jeff Loucks and I surveyed US consumers this past spring regarding their confidence – or lack thereof – in using consumer electronics devices and content services.

 No surprise that we found a cluster of early adopters, a male-dominant group of device-loving consumers of all forms of bits and bytes.

 What was surprising – at least at first glance – was the discovery of a group that we might call “learners” that is more than twice the size of the early adoption group.

 The “learner” group was no stranger to technology: No Luddites among the Learners. What distinguished them was that they didn’t know how to do all the things they might like to do and wanted to learn more.

 This suggests they would respond with enthusiasm – and more importantly, with Visa and MasterCards – to the brand that was willing to invest in their education.

 Consider for a moment: Pew Research estimates that 21% of American adults search online for product information on a typical day. That’s about 49 million persons. Consider that comScore estimated that last year there were six million Internet searches for dining recipes – every day.

Combine this research with the Pew and comScore numbers, and a sharp-edged hypothesis begins to emerge:

  Read More »

Tags: education, learning, online shopping, retail, retailing