E-learning tools and technologies: a consumer’s guide for trainers, teachers, educators, and instructional designers

William Horton, Katherine Horton9780471444589, 0471444588

A comprehensive guide to help you cut through the hype in order to select the best E-Learning tools and vendors for your specific needsWith its ability to both reduce operating costs and train more people, E-Learning is an attractive option for companies that are trying to balance business and educational goals. But in order to implement an E-Learning program, you’ll have to wade through hundreds of learning management systems, learning content management systems, authoring schools, and collaboration environments to determine what solution will work best for your situation.In this in-depth book, recognized E-Learning experts William and Katherine Horton survey the entire field of E-Learning tools for you. They provide you with a systematic way to identify, evaluate, and choose products and services based on different E-Learning scenarios.In this no-holds barred look at E-Learning tools, the authors: * Arm you with a complete list of questions to ask vendors before you commit to a product * Describe product limitations throughout each chapter and include special Rant sections that you must read * Present tips and tricks as well as common mistakes to avoid * List potential vendors and contact information by tool categoryThe companion Web site contains design forms, checklists of features to look for in the various tool categories, spreadsheets, and lists of specific tools and vendors.

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Table of contents :
@Team LiB……Page 1
WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?……Page 7
WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT THIS BOOK?……Page 9
WHAT ABOUT A WEB SITE?……Page 10
Contents……Page 11
Tools and
technologies
for
e-learning……Page 17
PARTICIPANTS AND PROCESSES……Page 19
WHAT DO THEY NEED?……Page 21
TARGET LEARNERS’ TECHNOLOGY……Page 22
WHAT CAN YOU LET OTHERS DO?……Page 26
NOW WHAT?……Page 28
2 Types of
e-learning and the
technologies
required……Page 29
LEARNER-LED E-LEARNING……Page 30
FACILITATED E-LEARNING
discussion with other
learners as well as with a
facilitator. Assignments are
typically made by posting
them to a class discussion
forum, where learners can
also “hand in” their
completed homework.
Unlike an instructor, the
facilitator does not actually
teach. The facilitator does not
directly……Page 32
INSTRUCTOR-LED E-LEARNING……Page 34
EMBEDDED E-LEARNING……Page 36
TELEMENTORING AND E-COACHING……Page 38
WHAT NOW?……Page 39
LEVELS AND TASKS……Page 41
CATEGORIES OF SOFTWARE TOOLS……Page 45
WHAT NOW?……Page 48
Hardware
and
networks……Page 49
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN HARDWARE……Page 51
OTHER FACTORS IN PICKING HARDWARE……Page 77
SERVER HARDWARE……Page 80
WHAT NOW?……Page 81
IN THE BEGINNING WAS SNEAKERNET……Page 83
TYPES OF NETWORKS……Page 84
PRIVATE NETWORKS……Page 86
CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET……Page 93
THE WONDER OF TCP/IP……Page 99
CONNECTING EXTERNAL USERS TO YOUR INTRANET……Page 104
WIRELESS NETWORK CONNECTIONS……Page 106
COMPUTING NETWORK SPEED……Page 108
WHAT NOW?……Page 112
Tools for
accessing
e-learning……Page 113
6 Web
browsers……Page 115
HOW DOES A BROWSER WORK?……Page 116
ALL BROWSERS ARE THE SAME, RIGHT?……Page 119
POPULAR WEB BROWSERS……Page 124
CHOOSING A BROWSER……Page 131
ALTERNATIVES TO STANDARD BROWSER PROGRAMS……Page 140
WHAT NOW?……Page 144
WHAT IS A MEDIA PLAYER?……Page 145
HOW DOES A MEDIA PLAYER WORK?……Page 146
PLAYERS FOR AUDIO AND VIDEO……Page 147
VIEWERS FOR PROPRIETARY CONTENT……Page 149
CHOOSING MEDIA PLAYERS FOR E-LEARNING……Page 153
ALTERNATIVES TO MEDIA PLAYERS……Page 160
WHAT NOW?……Page 161
Tools for
offering
e-learning……Page 163
WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WEB SERVERS……Page 165
WHAT WEB SERVERS OFFER……Page 166
HOW WEB SERVERS WORK……Page 168
QUICK TOUR OF A WEB SERVER……Page 172
POPULAR WEB-SERVER SOFTWARE……Page 176
CHOOSING A WEB SERVER……Page 179
ALTERNATIVES TO WEB SERVER SOFTWARE……Page 182
WHAT NOW?……Page 183
WHAT AN LMS DOES……Page 185
LMS VS. LCMS VS. VIRTUAL-SCHOOL SYSTEM……Page 186
QUICK TOUR OF AN LMS……Page 188
HOW AN LMS WORKS……Page 191
LMS PRODUCTS……Page 192
CHOOSING AN LMS……Page 195
ALTERNATIVES TO AN LMS……Page 203
WHAT NOW?……Page 204
WHAT AN LCMS DOES……Page 205
QUICK TOUR OF AN LCMS……Page 206
HOW AN LCMS WORKS……Page 210
POPULAR LCMS PRODUCTS……Page 212
CHOOSING AN LCMS……Page 213
WHAT NOW?……Page 221
HOW COLLABORATION TOOLS WORK……Page 223
COLLABORATION TOOLS AND CAPABILITIES……Page 226
ONLINE MEETING TOOLS……Page 255
COLLABORATION CLIENTS……Page 262
CHOOSING COLLABORATION TOOLS……Page 263
WHAT NOW?……Page 267
WHAT VIRTUAL-SCHOOL SYSTEMS DO……Page 269
QUICK TOUR OF A VIRTUAL-SCHOOL SYSTEM……Page 270
HOW VIRTUAL-SCHOOL SYSTEMS WORK……Page 272
POPULAR VIRTUAL-SCHOOL SYSTEMS……Page 273
CHOOSING A VIRTUAL-SCHOOL SYSTEM……Page 274
WHAT NOW?……Page 279
WHAT MEDIA SERVERS DO……Page 281
QUICK TOUR OF A MEDIA SERVER……Page 282
HOW MEDIA SERVERS WORK……Page 284
WHAT MEDIA SERVERS REQUIRE……Page 286
POPULAR MEDIA SERVERS……Page 287
CHOOSING A MEDIA SERVER……Page 288
WHAT NOW?……Page 290
Tools for
creating
e-learning
content……Page 293
14 Course
authoring tools……Page 295
QUICK TOUR OF A COURSE AUTHORING TOOL……Page 296
HOW COURSE AUTHORING TOOLS WORK……Page 300
POPULAR COURSE AUTHORING TOOLS……Page 301
ALTERNATIVES TO STANDARD COURSE AUTHORING TOOLS……Page 308
CHOOSING AN AUTHORING TOOL……Page 312
WHAT NOW?……Page 320
15 Web site
authoring tools……Page 321
QUICK TOUR OF A WEB SITE AUTHORING TOOL……Page 322
POPULAR WEB SITE AUTHORING TOOLS……Page 326
ALTERNATIVES TO WEB SITE AUTHORING TOOLS……Page 329
CAPABILITIES NEEDED FOR E-LEARNING……Page 330
BLOGGING TOOLS……Page 334
RELATED TOOLS……Page 340
WHAT NOW?……Page 341
16 Testing and
assessment
tools……Page 343
QUICK TOUR OF A TESTING TOOL……Page 344
POPULAR TESTING TOOLS……Page 346
ALTERNATIVES TO TESTING TOOLS……Page 350
CHOOSING TESTING TOOLS……Page 351
WHAT NOW?……Page 354
17 Media
editors……Page 357
A LITTLE STRATEGY FIRST……Page 358
MULTIMEDIA TOOLS……Page 362
GRAPHICS TOOLS……Page 369
ANIMATION TOOLS……Page 378
ALTERNATIVES TO ANIMATION TOOLS……Page 380
AUDIO TOOLS……Page 383
VIDEO TOOLS……Page 388
VIRTUAL WORLD TOOLS……Page 393
MEDIA UTILITIES……Page 397
WHAT NOW?……Page 399
18 Content
converters……Page 401
QUICK TOUR OF A CONVERTER TOOL……Page 402
CONVERTERS FOR POWERPOINT……Page 405
CONVERTERS FOR MICROSOFT WORD……Page 410
ACROBAT: GENERAL-PURPOSE DOCUMENT CONVERTER……Page 415
ALTERNATIVES TO CONVERTERS……Page 416
WHAT NOW?……Page 417
Picking tools
and
technologies……Page 419
OVERVIEW OF A STRATEGY……Page 421
SET YOUR TECHNOLOGY GOALS……Page 423
FORM A TEAM……Page 427
IDENTIFY NEEDED CATEGORIES OF TOOLS……Page 428
SET POLICIES……Page 431
PICK TOOLS……Page 439
GET MONEY……Page 440
BUY……Page 442
IMPLEMENT……Page 446
WHAT NOW?……Page 448
STEPS IN SELECTING PRODUCTS……Page 449
RECRUIT OTHERS TO HELP YOU……Page 450
LIST AND RANK REQUIRED CAPABILITIES……Page 451
COMPILE A LIST OF CANDIDATES……Page 453
EVALUATE PRODUCTS……Page 456
PICK A PRODUCT……Page 458
WHAT IF NO PRODUCT MEETS YOUR REQUIREMENTS?……Page 459
COMMON BLUNDERS IN PICKING TOOLS……Page 461
HOW MUCH DILIGENCE IS DUE?……Page 462
WHAT NOW?……Page 463
VENDOR CRITERIA……Page 465
TOOLS CRITERIA……Page 469
WHAT NOW?……Page 483
Evolution,
trends, and
big ideas……Page 485
WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT STANDARDS?……Page 487
THE PROMISE OF E-LEARNING STANDARDS……Page 488
WHAT EXACTLY ARE STANDARDS?……Page 491
E-LEARNING STANDARDS……Page 493
PACKAGING STANDARDS……Page 495
COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS……Page 499
METADATA STANDARDS……Page 504
QUALITY STANDARDS……Page 509
OTHER STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS……Page 512
MAKE STANDARDS WORK FOR YOU……Page 514
WHAT NOW?……Page 515
WHAT IS XML?……Page 517
COMMON APPLICATIONS OF XML……Page 523
EXTENSIBLE STYLESHEET LANGUAGE TRANSFORMATION……Page 531
BROWSERS UNDERSTAND XML (SORT OF)……Page 534
TOOLS FOR XML……Page 538
WHAT NOW?……Page 539
24 Trends in
technology and
learning……Page 541
FUNDAMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES……Page 542
TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS……Page 544
LEARNING TRENDS……Page 549
NOT THE END……Page 556
BITS AND BYTES……Page 557
KS, MBS, GBS, AND OTHER ABBREVIATIONS……Page 558
SPEED READING WITH KBPS, MBPS, AND GBPS……Page 559
HERTZ AND GOING AROUND IN CYCLES……Page 560
Appendix
B File formats for
e-learning……Page 561
Index……Page 569
ABOUT THE AUTHORS……Page 591