blogs for marketing and business

So Yaro Starak(http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/ in using his blog to develop a business) is not on his own.....

Website search engine optimisation from below is on the list of readings to follow through on.

http://www.designbit.co.uk/article.asp?aid=69)
Other articles on this site in relation to website design are good

blogs for marketing and business

So Yaro Starak(http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/ in using his blog to develop a business) is not on his own.....

Website search engine optimisation from below is on the list of readings to follow through on.

http://www.designbit.co.uk/article.asp?aid=69 )
Other articles on this site in relation to website design are good

Use of colour in website design

Thanks for this link Wara

http://www.blue-anvil.com/blogarticles.php?subaction=showfull&id=1149083171&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2&

Quality Branch Forum June 1 & 2 - post 1

The forum over 2 days gave the opportunity for many interesting ideas to take root and the ones in relation to this project will be dwelled on here.

Wendy Morrow presented the story of her RTO's journey into the elearning delivery sphere. I had heard Wendy speak last year and was keen to see what had developed since then.

I found her material on the strategic planning process invaluable and wish that I had heard this earlier. With different human resource/staff issues in my own RTO this plan nevertheless would have made some of the journey so far a little easier. But it will help make more of the future a little more organised.

Wendy - I too have one of those staff members who resist using the computer on their desk! Thankyou for the presentation.

Summaries of these presentations are supposed to go up on the net but do not seem to be there yet - will try to remember to add the link later. www.training.sa.gov.au and link to events.

shopping for an mp3 player should not be such hard work

On the advice of my project mentor, here is a slightly edited version of our conversation by email today.
Topic was the selection and purchase of my mp3/iPod.

email 1
For the last three days I have entered a new dimension called "mp3world". Trying to drive it on an IBM is sending a chill down my spine. The iPod with the eMac at home is so easy. I wanted an iPod but they no longer come with voice record function like the old models – I want to be able to record and send out my own podcast packages for students of discussion sessions they could not attend. But I did manage to listen to my first podcast last night – Dr Karl K !

email 2
I have spent the last 2 months on websites and talking to sales agents down here and in Adelaide. The iPod which took a peripheral voice mike as a plugin unit is no longer made and the new ones do not have the docks/plugs for the mikes that exist and do not have built in ones. If the apple centres in Adelaide (Myer centre – personal visit, Nextbyte Glen Osmond Road - phone, Apple Norwood Parade- personal) can not find one to sell me, what I am I supposed to do? I am not into buying second hand units when I do not know the owner. My son’s mini iPod unfortunately was not one which took the mike unit because I was considering that (and he wants to upgrade). Plus we had all the peripherals for charging and using in the car already. But they do not fit the new models.
!!
One of the sales people (department manager) down here in a well known large franchise business asked me what podcasting was (!!!) Didn’t buy from them! Explaining anything else and training him for free was beyond even my altruistic nature.

Email 3
Continuing…..
Yes I phoned Nextbyte Glen Osmond Road (have bought there in the past) and told them what I was after – specially asked for some-one selling iPods. And I could not find any on the Apple website itself, by myself.
The teenage geek/nerd in the Myer complex Apple store had never heard of a dictaphone/voice recorder and playback gear for audio transcription, so I actually gave up on him and there was no-one older around. As far as they were concerned iPods were only for earbashing with the current pop music. They had some vague idea on what podcasting was about.
See why I got so frustrated?

I have a unit now – a Creative Media Zen Microphoto 8 GB with inbuilt mike for voice recording plus a transmitter to feed it through the car radio for listening on the long trips around the region. I have the voice record function but not the audio transciption, pod (and music) player and other features still to be discovered. all within a specified budget. That’s enough to be getting on with in terms of technology and software to absorb this week. And to think that this was my birthday present this year! And because I was not fussy about colour, this one was on special - only white was not on special but pink and black were. Imagine colour of the unit being important after all this! (Er.... I got the black one.)

I have learned the following generalities:

• many sales assistants know little or nothing about the products they are selling (and that is not news!) My survey sample consists of 7 staff in six stores, metro and country
• anyone younger than 30 has probably no idea of what a dictaphone is, let alone headphones and footpedal combinations for audiotranscription - and yes they are available - a legal office in Mt Gambier has been using this digital technology for over a year now
• there is going to be a need for highlevel support for the average student if they are going to use podcast files in study, at least in the forseeable future (years!)
• country people are no further behind or more lacking in techno savvy than city folks but pseudo wannabe geeks are everywhere
• downloads are best done on broadband - which is available in only 5% of my region in an physical area sense

And finally, podcasting will need to be a long way down my rollout plan for elearning technology for my students' sakes.

How's that S?

Online Assessment 1

Thankyou SeanS for the following link:
http://designing.flexiblelearning.net.au/assessing/index.htm#

this has lead to this site as well, and no doubt more later:
designing online knowledge based tests

audio resources for training

came across this in the June flex e-news
need to follow this as a peripheral issue to my main objectives.
http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/go/home/news/flexlatest/cache/bypass?sector=flexlatest&id=1764

In the meantime I am preoccupied with buying the best product for me - iPod or mp3 unit with voice record function, so I can listen to podcasts and so that I can replace the old diictaphone unit and playback machine. Alas the iPod does not have the playback for audio transcription function available. It may need to be mp3. the difficulty is doing this from a regional area and dealing with sales staff who have no idea what podcasting is! they seem to think that these units have no use beyond music!!??

coming up for air

the last month has had so much to attend that the hours have disappeared too quickly to report on.
the DFEEST quality forum
my first online conference last week of which I managed much of the thursday
this however is my current first priority:

How do people cope with the amount of reading there is to... How do people cope with the amount of reading there is to do these days? I've suggested some tactics here:Blog literacy: Or, how I cope with the deluge :http://terry-freedman.org.uk/artman/publish/article_740.php I'd be interested in people's views o...
the link: http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes?login=1&uid=B96BBFBD327DC542D1DADD4861B7CFA5&cid=157024&go=1300468

thankyou also to sean for the suggestion to follow inthe posting on the learnscope website - I will get there!

my first online conference

this week will be my first attempt to join an online conference. I think that I have the elluminate software configured. I hope so. Thursday will tell.

team progress

The members of the team are slowly being added. The next step is to set up the "entry interview" questionnaire to help with the collection of information in the "describe the level 2 results of the project". I am still spreading the word of the availability of this activity for development to reach a goal of 10 people. Six so far are confirmed.

Training Sector forum Jun 1 & 2

a long 2 days of a huge range of possibilities for a training person.
I hope that the papers for the presentations will soon be present at http://www.training.sa.gov.au/OVETevents/.
in relation to this project, the presentation by Wendy Morrow on her RTO's journey into e-learning delivery provides a very useful plan for the process - ie in relation to the business strategic plan, methods of convincing management and colleagues, not just the physical implementation of the elearning site itself.

a set of porblems which in my case were negligible because I was in the position to make the management decisions. I do however need to convince staff to follow my lead. Wendy's case study of the staff member who was reluctant to use the compueter on her (his?) desk I can identify with. How to get this type of person to join in and not be left behind.

I have my notes from the session but a link to her presentation for you readers would be useful. Watch this space.