December 2nd, 2008 by Learning Systems

As educators and businesses steer their students and employees toward 3D web collaboration, many users may wonder why phone calls, LMS chat boards, and VoIP conferencing aren’t enough. When handled well, what makes 3D tools better than an LMS for teamwork? 

When paired with audio capabilities, the 3D world provides a spatial environment that enhances the sense of working as a team. For example, the placement of avatars in a virtual world and the ability to organize multiple, simultaneous conversations lends itself to group collaboration and a feeling of “togetherness.” In addition, the arrangement of objects within the world creates a natural context for group activity and conversation. 

The fallbacks? 3D web is still in its infancy. While big companies and some universities begin to dabble in its collaborative and economic capabilities, for the rest of the world the LMS still has a gigantic one-up.

November 24th, 2008 by Learning Systems

Whether you’re an online courseware student or a company trainee, your social and professional life is largely dependent on your cell phone. Living without a cell phone has become anomalous in the western world. If you’ve simply chosen not to own one, the people around you are probably baffled or think you’re strange. They assume that you have no social life to speak of. 

Some day very soon, I suspect, it will seem bafflingly odd to be without mobile internet access. The inability to read online courseware or check your email while sitting on the subway will be the new technological faux pas. But the lack of web access will probably hold bigger consequences. Our heavy dependence on the internet for everything from online courseware to VoIP communication to world news, will generate new needs when that dependence becomes a mobile one. Of course, conveniences quickly become necessities in a hi-tech world.  

November 5th, 2008 by Learning Systems

The Nepali teacher, Mahabir Pun, received emails from people all over the world who wanted to help. Some offered solutions concerning technology, while others were more interested in helping to build classrooms and improve the learning systems in the villages.

The idea of wireless networking was successfully tested between two villages. Volunteers helped find equipment and grants from universities and higher learning systems to build the network. Seven years later, Mr. Pun has achieved his dream of connecting Nepali villages to the internet. He has wired up 42 Nepali villages, or 60,000 people in total. 

Mr. Pun says that while technology hasn’t changed villagers’ occupations–they still are an agriculture-based society–communication between villages, doctors, relatives, and general access to internet learning systems have improved the quality of their lives. Additionally, a VoIP project has begun where people in remote villages trade goods from livestock to handicrafts. 

October 22nd, 2008 by Learning Systems

Subscription or hardware-based VoIP service might be suitable for some members of your LMS who work from home and prefer to communicate using their regular telephones. Upon signing up for the service, the provider will send the LMS user a phone adapter that he or she plugs into an ADSL line on one side, and on the other, to a regular phone set. Then all the user’s calls will pass through the phone adapter. 

Two bonuses of this system are that the caller doesn’t need a computer and can make unlimited calls to certain locations. The cons include a monthly bill as well as the fact that this hardware isn’t available worldwide. If some of your LMS users don’t have access to the internet at home, this system might be a viable option.