Online courses in health, fitness, weight loss, and personal improvement are now more feasible than ever with new approaches to enhanced e-learning, which involves a flexible array "you choose" delivery modes and technologies. Multiple screens are the norm as people work with smartphones, mobile devices of all kinds, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. You may find yourself taking a

Mobile learning continues to evolve quickly as mobile devices, access, and connectivity speeds continue to improve. The potential to leverage social networking in order to create a robust social learning environment, with reliable outcomes-based assessment represents a dramatic step forward, as does the "multi-screen" approach. Welcome to an interview with John Alonso, CTO of Outstart.

This is one of those "ah ha" moments for me! I constantly find myself swimming in a sea of fabulous video content in YouTube that I want to share with my students, grappling with the voice in my head shouting "these videos need to be brief so your students will watch them and captioned so they are accessible to all learners."  (Online instructional videos re-used more than one term in a course at an institution that receives federal funds must include closed captions, per section 508.) But I never knew how to filter content in YouTube to find only captioned, brief videos.And YouTube's captioning tool is a great option for adding captions to online videos but only for videos you create.   So, when designing an online class, it's an excellent strategy to seek out videos that already captioned and concise.  The question remained -- how does one do this? I dug into Google, did some searches and viewed several videos on YouTube that showed outdated search interfaces and then recorded my own short tutorial. Here it is. If you are like me and want to know how to find captioned, brief videos on YouTube -- this will be a game changer!

The turbulence in Libya makes one mindful of the petroleum resources and what is at stake. Presented here are articles and presentations on the geology of Libya that you might find of interest.The Petroleum Geology of Libya (Hassan Salem Hassan): http://sepmstrata.org/Libya-Hassan/Libya-Introduction.htmlLIBYA: PETROLEUM POTENTIAL OF THE UNDEREXPLORED BASIN CENTERS—A TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY

Finding affordable ways for associations to provide elearning for their members can be a challenge. Professional development, lifelong learning, certification, and skills-building are important to the members. Welcome to an interview with Paul Cypher, NP Training Works, a provider of elearning services for not-for-profits.1. What is your name and your relation to elearning?I am Paul Cypher. I am

Active Learning with Google Drive: Tips & StrategiesThursday, May 15th4:00-5:00 PacificClick here to go to the Google Event.I'll be moderating a fantastic Hangout on Air tomorrow, Thursday, May 15th at 4pm PT -- Active Learning with Google Drive: Tips & Strategies. +Kelly Falcone from Palomar College and +Gregory Beyrer from Cosumnes River College will be joining in to different perspectives about teaching with Google Drive. Kelly will be sharing her pedagogical tips and strategies for making your online, blended, or F2F class more active with some pretty impressive activities she has up her sleeve. The Hangout on Air will stream live online and all who view the live event will have an opportunity to contribute to an interactive activity Kelly will walk you through.  Stunningly simple.While Kelly teaches at an institution without an Apps Domain (a sitewide license to Google Apps), Greg teaches at an institution that has an Apps Domain. He'll step in to share his perspectives about the benefits and challenges this brings to the instructional experience.Like all Center Hangouts on Air, the Q&A feature will be enabled. All you need to do is open the Google Event at the time of the Hangout on Air and the video will start to stream right there on the page. If you have a question, click the Submit a Question button and we'll see it! Just remember, we cannot respond in writing -- only verbally (a subtle but important point).What is The Center? A next-gen online learning community designed to connect California's 112 community colleges. All Center events are free and open to the public. The Center is brought to you by @ONE.  All Center Hangouts on Air are archived. Click here to subscribe to the playlist! Join The Center's Google+ Community! Follow The Center on Twitter.

Are you one of the 2 million or so viewers who watched Charlie Sheen's UStream show (Sheen's Korner) within the first week of its broadcast? Are you one of his 2 million Twitter followers? If so, you may have witnessed a new form of reality television -- one that could have applicability to e-learning. There are courses that study cultural and sociological phenomena, and there are entire

What is The Center? from Michelle Pacansky-BrockGo to The Center Guide  Why use Google+ and Twitter for Professional Development in Higher Ed?Last October, I began my journey as the Coordinator of The Center, a new social online learning community, part of @ONE's suite of  professional development services designed to support California's 112 community colleges. It has been an amazing ride! In June, I will be leaving my role as coordinator, but I will remain a contributing community member.The Center was very much an experiment.  Utilizing social technologies to cultivate a professional development environment for higher education institutions is not exactly commonplace today. Yet, the need for educators to understand how to foster relationships through social tools, create value through collective exchanges, and realize how much more we learn together, as opposed to being individual people, organizations, districts, states, regions, nations, etc. is quickly becoming essential to our shift into the social era. Fostering relationships through social technologies (which is distinct from using technology -- as anyone can learn to use a tool) will continue to define leaders in the future. And in the social era, a leader is not a position. In the social era, everyone is a leader.  And this is one reason why cultivating one's own professional online presence and developing a professional learning network (PLN) is essential for educators. If we aren't actively engaging, learning, and sharing to understand how social technologies transform the nature how knowledge is constructed and valued in the 21st century, how are we to model this essential skill to our students? OutcomesThe primary outcomes of The Centery are to improve sharing and increase innovation across California's 112 community colleges. The Center attempts to achieve this goal through inviting members to join a Google+ Community and/or follow The Center on Twitter.  Google+ Hangouts on Air are held every two weeks, featuring faculty, staff, and/or administrators from CCCs who volunteer to share innovative practices using technology to improve learning. All Hangouts on Air are archived and shared on @ONE's YouTube Channel.Click here for a brief Guide to The CenterJoining The Center's community or following The Center on Twitter is open to anyone, as is viewing the Hangouts.  Therefore, The Center has the potential to be a global collective, while showcasing innovations from within the CCC's 112 campuses -- aiming to dissove the physical boundaries of campus walls.A sampling of the Hangout on Air topics have included:Humanizing Online Grading with Voice & Video Faculty Websites: Why They're Important & How to Make One Now!Active Learning with Google Drive: Tips & Strategies"Presentain" for Mobile, Engaged, and Archived Class SessionsThe Center's Spring Survey ResultsThis spring, I shared a link to an online survey in The Center's Google+ community and Tweeted it from The Center's Twitter account (@Center_Ed).  At the time, we had about 220 members on Google+ and 250 Twitter followers.  50 people responded to the survey. That is about a 22% response rate.Here is a summary of the some of the findings from the survey:75% of respondents are employed at a California Community College 52% are a CCC faculty membersMore than 3/4 (80%) of respondents strongly agree or agree that The Center improves awarness of innovations occurring on campuses other than their own.More than 3/4 (78%) strongly agree or agree that The Center improves the sharing of ideas across campuses. The open ended prompt, "Share a specific improvement or benefit that has been an outcome of your experiences" with The Center," generated some exciting qualitative data. "I started a Google Hangout for a campus club meeting. Planning to use for online office hours, as well.""I have changed the way I respond to student work (using video) as a result of several hangouts and the resulting discussions.""Having a topic active for several days has led me to spend enough time thinking about it to feel comfortable trying something new in my classes. Also, having a channel to share how it went with others encourages me to do it and improve upon it." "With my new awareness of what colleagues at other colleges are doing, I am helping my college to revise our Distance Education policies and training programs. I could go on and on -- The Center has had a huge impact on my teaching life!""I'm so impressed with the use of social media that is displayed. It is a great way to build community among educators.""I've been inspired to do more videos and screencasts with my online classes for more instructor presence.""I have created a personal faculty web page. I have started using new programs like Haiku Deck and introduced new programs to colleagues.""Have found the thoughts of other faculty very helpful to my online teaching and my work with our Committee for Online Learning..."I don't know about you, but when I read these statements, I get pretty excited. I see evidence of more faculty willing to take risks in their teaching. Today, fostering a culture of experimentation in which pushes college professors into vulnerable places.  A social community built with free tools that offers ideas, support, and reflection opportunities for instructors, staff, and administrators -- both part-time and full-time, regardless of one's physical location -- seems like worthy initiative. I look forward to seeing what continues to develop with The Center and am grateful for this opportunity!Thank you +Micah Orloff for supporting this leap.  Learn with The Center This Summer The Center's Hangouts on Air are now on summer break but will reconvene in the fall. Learn more about The Center here, includes links to all Hangout video archives!  Archives are a great way to learn this summer! And the Google+ community and Twitter are always open!

http://www.beyondutopia.net/queenguide/training-center-conversion-nash-2011-10-01.pdfMaking the switch from face to face instruction to e-learning is a necessity for most training and professional development programs offered by colleges, universities, graduate programs, corporations, professional associations, and not-for-profits.How do you use existing resources in your face-to-face training

Even if you're using a third-party service for your learning management system (LMS), it is still important to be mindful of security, and to understand the ins and outs of where the vulnerabilities exist. For Moodle administrators, the issue of security is important on a number of levels. First, are privacy issues and regulations; second, are integrity issues, as you seek to keep your