"MEdO will make Malaysia a leading brand in Asia for online higher education services and a one stop centre for learning, education and the administration of international students."- Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin (Minister for Higher Education)Last Saturday (16th April, 2011), I attended the "Majlis Pelancaran Dasar e-Pembelajaran Negara (DePAN), Buku-Buku e-Pembelajaran dan Malaysia Education Online (MEdO)" event launched by Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin (Minister for Higher Education).It turned out to be a very exciting and enriching learning experience for me, and here are my discoveries and reflections...MALAYSIA EDUCATION ONLINE (MEdO)Malaysia Education Online (MEdO) is part of the Malaysia Government Transformation Plan (GTP) to expand international distance learning. MEdO is an online learning platform delivering education programmes from Malaysian universities, colleges, polytechnics and training institutes. It is the gateway for them to extend their global outreach whilst each participating institution is able to maintain its identity and uniqueness (more).MEdO is initiated and led by Asia e University (AeU), which is the selected gateway university (by PEMANDU) for international education for distance and online learning. Six other Malaysian universities and institutes have already signed up to offer programmes on MEdO.The MEdO platform itself is based on a fusion of Joomla and Moodle with some customization to suit its needs and requirements. As many universities are already using Moodle, it could speed up the learning curve (familiar environment) and adoption by educators that will be required to use it.It will be interesting to see how this project unfolds. Let's be positive about it :)E-BOOKS Besides MEdO, the National E-Learning Policy (Dasar e-Pembelajaran Negara) for Higher Education Institutions, and two books (and one translation) about e-Learning in Malaysian Higher Education were launched.Here we go:National E-Learning Policy for Higher Education Institutions (will add the link when made available) e-Pembelajaran di IPTA Malaysia (Issuu version)This e-book provides great insights into how especially public Universities in Malaysia are using e-learning to facilitate learning and teaching. It includes 20 University papers sharing their e-learning stories.Amalan, Keberkesanan & Cabaran Pelaksanaan e-Pembelajaran di IPT Malaysia (Issuu version)The English version is below...e-Learning in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions: Status, Trends & Challenges (Issuu version)Will be discussed next...Unfortunately the National E-Learning Policy (No link yet) and e-Pembelajaran di IPTA Malaysia are not yet translated (or published) into English. Anyway, you could always use Google Translator Toolkit, and then decipher the parts that are poorly translated into English.E-LEARNING IN MALAYSIAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONSI have to admit I was thrilled to discover the e-Learning in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions: Status, Trends & Challenges publication during the event. Actually, I couldn't wait and was reading it furiously during Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin's speech (please don't tell!), and what struck me most was all the juicy statistics (Yes, I just love that!) about what was going on in Higher Education in Malaysia, and the simple language used to describe the survey results and findings.Also, the three (3) questionnaires (E-Learning Admin, Lecturer and student) used for this research were comprehensive and easy to understand (Check Appendices/page 123). The findings in the book is based on 7,962 survey respondents (26 e-Learning administrators, 1,635 lecturers and 6,301 students) from a sample of 30 Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), comprising of 20 public HEIs, 7 private HEIs, and 3 polytechnics. As four (out of 7) e-Learning Admins from the private Universities did not participate, I suppose we could generalize that the findings mostly represent what is going on in the public HEIs in Malaysia.Before I dwell more, I would like to introduce you to Prof Dr Mohamed Amin Embi, who was the chief editor for all the three books mentioned above. He was also the first recipient of the prestigious National Academic Award 2006, and the recipient of the distinguished ISESCO Science Laureate 2010. In other words, he is a pretty interesting guy to know. So, next time you want to know more about e-Learning in Malaysian HEIs, who are you going to call? Simple answer: Prof Dr Mohamed Amin EmbiWe have met a couple of times, but I suppose I need to bug him more from now on. Actually, I bugged him through e-mail a few days back to publish these 3 books on Issuu or Scribd, and within a couple of days they were published on both. Great guy!Yes, he has also summarized nicely the key findings of each chapter in the book, and then published them on SlideShare. So, instead of summarizing the book, I can focus next on providing some of my own insights and reflections to what has been published.Let's rumble...Chapter 2: e-Learning Policy e-Learning policy View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi Here are few questions we should perhaps ask before even thinking about formulating or requiring HEIs to have e-learning policies:Do we need to have e-learning policies to make e-learning work for us?Who should be involved in formulating e-learning policies (all stakeholders, including students)?How detailed should e-learning policies be (any template)?Can e-learning policies have a negative impact on implementing e-learning?Should the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) have a mechanism to enforce all HEIs to have e-learning policies?Dealing with e-learning policies is a very tricky issue, and cannot be taken lightly. Actually, sometimes e-learning policies can be self-destructive and curb innovations in teaching and learning. Imagine if we have an e-learning policy stating that, "All e-learning content must be SCORM-Compliant". A few years back, this might sound totally reasonable, but any enlightened learning professional today would know that a lot of amazing learning resources (and top Universities) don't care much about SCORM, and are shared in the spirit of Open Courseware (OCW) or Open Educational Resources (OER).So, e-learning policies is something that all HEIs should explore, but we have to be careful, and strive to find the right balance so that they empower people to learn and innovate, instead of becoming an obstacle to moving forward.Chapter 3: e-Learning Governance e-learning governance View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi According to the survey results, the two main challenges related to the e-Learning governance are shortage of staff (84.5%) and lack of incentives provided by the HEIs to those responsible for implementing e-Learning (69.2%).So, no doubt HEIs need to invest more in quality staff, and be creative about providing incentives (e.g. less administration and more time to think!) that inspire educators to take the effort to transform their own learning and teaching. It is strange that institutions can spend millions and millions on hardware, networks and software, but when it comes to investing in quality people and paying competitive salaries with the industry; It is so difficult!In short, HEIs need to rethink their hiring and salary policies to capture the great talent that is out there, but are very reluctant to work in HEIs. Also, HEIs need to learn from creative companies like Google, Apple and Zappos on how to build working environments that empowers and inspires people to express their potential. Challenging, but certainly possible :)Chapter 4: Learning Managements Systems Learning Management Systems View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi Interestingly, All (100%) HEIs that participated had their own Learning Management System (LMS), and more than half (57.7%) of the HEIs used Open Source Platforms, while 34.6% used purchased commercial LMS, and the remaining 15.4% were developed on their own. In this survey, Moodle beat Blackboard (12 - 2) impressively, but if we were to include more private HEIs the results would be a bit darker :)Though, from a learning point-of-view, we need to increasingly look beyond the LMS (they just cannot keep up with disruptive innovations taking place), as increasingly learning will take place outside in the web 2.0 (3.0/x.0) and social media worlds in the form of personal learning environments tailored to what learners and educators really want. Here is a crash course: Social Media & Web 2.0 for Learning (2nd Edition) View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff Chapter 5: e-Learning Training e-learning training View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi Sadly, only one-third (34.6%) of the HEIs provide exposure to Web 2.0 applications. Though, I foresee a huge growth in the coming years of educators using Social media and web 2.0 (3.0 and x.0) beyond the LMS to facilitate more engaging and relevant learning with their students.It will also be interesting to see how institutions deal with copyright and privacy issues, when educators and students increasingly use tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube, Wikis, etc.Are you prepared for that? Don't wait! It is happening already!Chapter 6: e-Content Development e-content development View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi The main applications used for e-Content development are Flash (92.3%), followed by Articulate (46.3%), Adobe Captivate (38.3%), Camtasia Studio (30.8%), Lecture Maker (15.42%), and Interactive Raptivity Builder ( 15.4%).One word: Ouch! Hopefully, Apple will come to its senses and allow Flash to run smoothly on an iPad, iPod or iPhone. Unless Steve Jobs retires soon that might take some time. Though, let's hope that browsers will have auto-converters, or that Flash is updated to meet all Steve Jobs requirements, otherwise e-content developed in Flash would be useless on Apple-based mobile devices. Luckily, Flash-based content works on Androids :)The five major challenges faced by most HEIs are lack of motivation among the academic staff (65.4%), lack of specialists (53.80%), lack of a dedicated team to develop e-Content (53.8%), lack of commitment among academic staff (46.2%), and lack of funding/budget (46.2%).Why are not academic staff motivated or committed to develop e-content? If you are already overloaded with administration, research, publication and teaching obligations, you are not going to be inspired to develop e-content for your students without some seriously good reasons.Incentives could help (e.g. one e-content module = 1 publication in a high impact journal), but you still need to find the time. In Chapter 10 (page 119), it is proposed that common university courses could be developed jointly by a centre under the Ministry of Higher Education, as this is a more efficient use of resources, time, money, and manpower, while maintaining an acceptable level of quality.In a nutshell, we could establish Malaysia's first official ‘Open Courseware’ initiative, which would enable all HEIs to have access and reuse (hopefully remix) freely common University courses. By doing so, then HEIs can streamline their resources to build unique e-content for their unique courses.Based on the survey, the copyright issue is also a big problem faced by the majority (80.8%) of Malaysian HEIs in the development of e-Content. What to do? Forget Copyright, Practice Copyleft Instead!Actually, we need to rethink our obsession with e-content development, and be more obsessed with designing relevant and engaging learning environments/spaces, where authentic learning activities play a larger role than (spoon-feeding) e-content and courseware.Instead, HEIs students should be empowered and nurtured with the necessary learning skills to find their own content based on the learning outcomes set, or we could expose them to a variety learning resources (for each topic) and then require them to analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and then create their own contextualized meaning.We want to develop independent lifelong learners. The e-content or courseware (spoon-feeding) model is an easy shortcut to enable them to pass the exam, but perhaps not the best way to nurture the necessary skills required for them to thrive in the 21st century.Finally, educators need to learn the art of aggregating, filtering and remixing content from a variety of resources using a variety of learning tools out there. In a nutshell, think beyond e-content development, and focus more on nurturing educators to build sizzling learning activities and spaces for students.In short, only develop e-content when it does not exist, or it can be synthesized or presented in a more engaging and meaningful way :)Chapter 7: Integration of e-Learning in Teaching & Learning integration of e-learning in teaching & learning View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi According to the survey findings, lecturers' two major challenges to integrate e-Learning in their teaching and learning, is trying to balance between teaching and research (59.8%) and time constraints (54.9%). Interestingly, technophobia (13%) was the least responsible challenge among the challenges faced by lecturers in order to integrate e-Learning.For students, the two major challenges is lack of access (53.4%), and feedback from lecturers takes too long (42.8%). By focusing less on developing e-content, lecturers will have more time to interact with their students, and construct more interactive and engaging learning environments. If we can be replaced by a courseware, then we should be replaced.To no surprise, most lecturers (50.1%) prefer to upload materials on a weekly basis before the classes begin. Noteworthy, most students (84.7%) prefer to read the materials offline rather than online. The challenge comes when students have printed out the uploaded slides before their class (often weeks in advance), and then find out during the lecture that the slides have been updated. What do you do? Establish an e-learning policy forcing them to upload their slides at least one week before...Not a good idea! Call me to elaborate :)On a positive note, this is a problem of today, and probably won't even exist in 3-5 years' time. Why? By then most students will be reflecting their slides on their mobile devices in the form of iPads, Kindles, Galaxy, etc.Chapter 8: Quality Assurance Quality Assurance in e-Learning View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi How do we ensure that our e-learning implementations are of quality? How do we ensure that our conventional learning approaches are of quality? Do we look at the drop-out rates? Or perhaps the students satisfaction levels? What about using the students' assessment results as a measure of success?On page 119, the guidelines on e-Content standards that were developed collaboratively by CEMCA (Commonwealth of Educational Media Centre for Asia) and MOHE is recommended to be distributed and followed by all Malaysian HEIs in order to control the quality of e-Learning materials available at the tertiary level.I disagree in using these guidelines as the standards, but it could be used as a good reference guide, like so many other guidelines out there. Personally, I don't even like the expression 'Best Practices', but instead prefer 'Good Practices'. The reason is that there is simply too much innovation and exploration still needed to be done, before we can settle down with any form of standards in E-Learning. Let's celebrate 'Good Practices' out there, and learn from them to create our own contextualized 'Good Practices'.We want standards, but standards are often the biggest enemy to creativity and innovation. Let's not forget that!THE FUTURE?Not surprisingly implementing mobile learning is a priority (92.3%), according to the survey findings. Interestingly, lecturers (67%) and students (76.8%) believe that HEIs should give priority to Intelligent Tutoring Systems as compared to other applications.Strangely enough, lecturers (23.4%) and students (19.4%) place podcasting applications as the lowest in terms of priority. Maybe it is just me, but I would prefer listening and reflecting to a great lecture over a courseware anytime of the day, no matter how interactive it may be. I suppose I am a bit weird!If you don't have time to read the whole book, just read chapter 9 (summary) and 10 (recommendations), which will provide sufficient insights to see the big picture. Though, I would strongly recommend to enjoy all the diagrams, charts and stats spread over 120 pages.So, what can we expect next?Based on the suggestions given in the book (page 120), MOHE will probably soon establish 'The National Institute of e-Learning', a centre of excellence for e-Learning, that can conduct and coordinate research on e-Learning, particularly in terms of the impact of e-Learning on student achievement.Let's hope the National Institute of e-Learning becomes an inspiring light that empowers and sparks sizzling e-learning at all HEIs.Will I be involved?Only God knows at this moment :)

Watching or playing with anything in Flash Format on an iPad (iPhone or iPod) was impossible (as far as I know) in the past. Well, now you can at least view Flash stuff on an iPad using the app called iSWIFTER (Source).HOW?Here we go:Click here to keep yourself updated with latest discussions about Articulate on iPads.STILL TROUBLESOME!Alright, it is still troublesome, but I suppose within the next few months Steve Jobs will figure out that supporting Flash is not so bad after all (Otherwise most e-learning content in Malaysia will be useless on an iPad). Or perhaps Adobe (behind Flash) figures out a way to please all Steve Jobs requirements to make Flash safe and smooth in an Apple world.As for now, you will have to use apps like iSWIFTER to explore your Articulate presentations on an iPad. Let's hope that Apple embraces Flash fully in the near future. If not, then we have to find creative solutions, because certainly it will be tough to learn without an iPad or iPhone in the future.But, how do we view Articulate presentations on an iPhone? Can anyone enlighten us with possibilities? :)

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."- Nelson MandelaProfessor Thomas Baker wrote an insightful blog post recently about why the Finnish education system rocks, and included 5 YouTube videos sharing more insights and secrets behind their success.I did share some secrets about the Finnish education system way back in 2009, and although I have discovered more interesting things about this awesome learning ecosystem, I am going to refrain from spilling it out here, and have decided to dedicate this post to harvest a juicy collection of videos providing more authentic insights.This collection will hopefully be useful for you (and me), as the craze around the world to discover the Finnish education system is increasingly becoming a (wrestle) mania.Finally, I will be adding new insightful videos about the Finnish education system as I discover them, and please share insightful videos that I might have missed out. In other words, don't hesitate to revisit this post :)THE FINNISH EDUCATION SYSTEM (VIDEO COLLECTION)Here we go: Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.More insightful videos?Ingredients of the World's Best Education System, Pasi Sahlberg (22 min)The Politics of Finnish Education (Jukka Sarjala, chairman Finnish National Board of Education)Finland's Ambassador Lintu - Why Finland Schools Succeed (35 sec)Teachers Key to Finland Education Success (32 sec)Who's No.1 in Education? (11 min)Schools in Finland (8 min)If you have any other videos about why the Finnish education system rocks, please don't hesitate to share them (in the comments section)...will add them above. Thanks!All (Finnish education insights)-in-one post :)

WOW! Mum (Nadia Alsagoff), I have to admit I am totally struck by your 'Shimmering Realities' collection! As a result, I want to dedicate this post to my Mum who has inspired me to appreciate art through her passionate lifelong journey as an artist.Although, I am not the kind of person that would spend hours in an art gallery, I do appreciate and understand the kind of work and challenges so many artists have to go through in life. Being an artist sounds great and fun, but making a living as an artist is certainly not an easy task.SHIMMERING REALITIESMy Mum retired late last year from her day-to-day work, and has now more time to dedicate to her lifelong passion. Over the last decade or so, most of my Mum's work has been expressed in the form of abstract art, but recently she has rediscovered her passion to paint animals and nature.Actually, this has surprised me, because her eyesight is not exactly great (and has certainly not improved over the years). Also, I am not sure how effective her current glasses are either. I can still remember an incident a few years back, when she walked head on into a street light. Another time, when I was a kid, she walked straight past me on the street without recognizing me.Though, she could have been day dreaming on both occasions. I remember once, I cut my lip walking past a statue. It was night time, and I didn't notice that the statue or man was pointing his arm and finger towards my direction. I suppose we both are a bit clumsy (understatement)! Or perhaps it is an inherited ability to 'day dream' in potentially dangerous situations.So, what I am really trying to say is that I am amazed and in awe that she can still paint such amazing paintings of realism. Alright, I will stop writing now, and share with you five gems from this 'Shimmering Realities' collection:I especially love the Cheetah one. The Cheetah's eyes (of curiosity) and facial expression leaves us to our imagination to figure out its' real intention (Yummy!).Interestingly, Mum has used Facebook to share her latest art, though it is only viewable to her friends (if I am not mistaken). Click here to check (if you are interested to discover more of her work)!Hopefully, you enjoyed Mum's paintings, I certainly did. Thank you!Mum, you are AMAZING in so many ways :)

Click here to download the BrochureFacebook Event PageThe International Medical University (IMU) is organizing an e-learning seminar on July 5 (2011), entitled "Transformative e-Learning in Higher Education". It will be held in the Senate Room, 2nd Floor, IMU Campus, Bukit Jalil. OVERVIEWThis seminar brings together five experts in education and e-learning to share their ideas, experiences and best practices on how we can use e-learning to transform the way we learn and teach in higher education. They will explore a variety of areas essential to construct transformative learning experiences covering instructional design, online facilitation and assessment, personal learning environments, and e-learning quality and governance. Date: 5 July, 2011 (Tuesday)Time: 8.30 am - 5.15 pmVenue: IMU Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia SPEAKERS Prof Dato’ Dr Ansary AhmedPresident / CEO, Asia e UniversityAssoc Prof David M. KennedyDirector, Teaching and Learning Centre, Lingnan UniversityProf Rozhan M. IdrusProfessor of Open & Distance Learning & Technogogy, USMProf Dato’ Dr Jai MohanDirector, Learning Resources, International Medical UniversityZaid Ali AlsagoffE-Learning Manager, International Medical University KEY TOPICS Instructional DesignPersonal Learning EnvironmentsCurriculum Design & ManagementE-Learning Quality & Governance LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of this seminar, you will be able to: Apply effective instructional design principles to your learning environments.Adopt effective online facilitation and assessment strategies to engage and assess your learners.Build your personal learning environments using social media and web 2.0 tools.Identify and discuss essential e-learning quality and governance issues. TARGET AUDIENCE AcademicsE-Learning ProfessionalsIT ProfessionalsInstructional Designers Registration Fee: RM650Early Bird Registration: RM500(Before 8 June) If you are interested to attend, please download this form. It includes all the registration and contact details required to attend. Transformative e-Learning in Higher Education Looking forward to your participation!

Web 2.0 Tools in Education: A Quick Guide by Mohamed Amin Embi The best quick guide (230 pages) for 'Web 2.0 Tools in Education' that I have come across (Ever!). 230 pages sounds a lot, but when you are covering 20 learning tools with screenshots, it is pretty quick and lovingly light!Useful? I certainly think so!

Empowering Personal Learning Environments View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff This presentation was presented during IMU's seminar entitled 'Transformative E-Learning in Higher Education' last week. As my time was shortened to 45 minutes (from 1 hour 45 minutes) to do the presentation and some hands-on, you can imagine how that turned out... :) Anyway, I was not feeling too well (mildly!), and the other speakers simply couldn't stop sharing their wisdom and experiences in e-learning, so I have no reason to complain (will share their notes, if I get permission later). Though, I did manage to explore Poll Everywhere with the crowd, and 50% of them actually managed to vote. Those that didn't vote, probably didn't have Internet access (or mobile learning devices), or simply were not bothered to participate. I can imagine what will happen to 'Clickers' in the future? Do we really need them if we have a decent mobile learning device with Internet access in our hands?Replace your audience response systems with Poll EverywhereThat's it! Like this one, my future posts until 2012 will be short and sweet, as I struggle to rethink and rediscover myself :)

 Download Moodle Tool Guide Joyce Seitzinger published this really useful Moodle tool guide more than one year ago, but it is certainly still useful. If you missed it and use Moodle at your institution, I am confident that this one-page excellent quick reference tool guide could be really helpful. I was planning to develop something similar, but when I discovered it at David Hopkins's blog, his blog title reminded me why I should not waste my time on reinventing it (which probably would have turned out worse, too!). Yes, check out also the Blackboard tool guide version, if that is what you are using.So, for those of you who need guidance on which tool(s) to use in Moodle to facilitate a variety of learning activities, I believes this one-page tool guide is a wonderful starting point (please share others, if any!). Also, you will enjoy the traffic lights (green, yellow, red) for each tool guiding you in terms of ease-of-use, information transfer, assessment, communication and interaction, co-creating (collaborative learning), and Bloom's taxonomy. Mashing up what you want to use (technology - enabler) with what you want to achieve (pedagogy - learning outcome) on one page is certainly a great idea, and that is why I am sharing it. And of course learning from it! Thanks :)

Via: OnlineEducation.netAccording to one survey only 8% of students use social sites to contact their teachers. Most seem to use e-mail (91%) to seek extra help from teachers. Well, if that is the case (here, too!), then e-mail is certainly still an important e-learning tool.  Interestingly, 38% said they (students) couldn’t even go 10 minutes without switching on some sort of electronic device. That does not surprise me as I am typing this post! Also, I am surprised to learn based on this infographic that students spend more time texting messages and searching compared to Facebooking. I suppose Google will be happy with that (For now!). 3 out of 4 students say they wouldn't be able to study without technology. I would like to know how those other 1 out of 4 students are able to study effectively without technology. We could certainly learn some creative techniques from them. Check out the rest (infographic above)!Well, that is how students in the USA use technology! What about in your country (or institution)? Any input to share? Need to do a survey on this soon... :)

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Click Here NOW!JiT2U Just in Time Training To You (JiT2U) for Web 2.0 Tools is a mobile module meant to gently introduce the concepts and potentials of Web 2.0 tools for educators and learners.JiT2U is designed by Prof Dr Mohamed Amin Embi and Dr Afendi Hamat from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Please share with them suggestions and feedback on how to improve and deliver a better training experience for the benefits of teaching and learning.Yeah, I simply love the creative use of GoAnimate to stimulate interest and explain how the different web 2.0 tools work (example): This is probably the coolest bunch of web 2.0 tutorials (or my new mobile web 2.0 learning pet!) to come out of Malaysia by a mile! Actually, I haven't seen anything like it ever, especially using GoAnimate to stimulate the creative cartoonish flavor to exploring web 2.0. JiT2U covers overviews, applications, tutorials (video and image/text), references, and much more for tons of web 2.0 tools!It is still under construction, and I can't imagine how popular this tool will be when it is first completed, thinking about the amount of web 2.0 tools it covers. WOW! One word: Awesome! Click here to enjoy the complete Scribd version of the web 2.0 quick reference tutorial guide.. Another WOW!JiT2U is ready to rule the web 2.0 world of mobile learning! Yes, I will certainly not develop a web 2.0 tutorial again! Why should I :)

Check out this awesome infographic by Infographic World exploring Steve Jobs incredible accomplishments over his 56 years of existence (Amazing Genius!):Created by: Infographic WorldThe only issue I have with this infographic is the latest stats on Apple's value, product sales,  downloads, and usage info, which are already kind of outdated. For example, Apple's market cap today has already surpassed 400 Dollars, which makes Microsoft look even worse in comparison.Whatever it is, Steve Jobs did an amazing job to transform Apple since he returned after being kicked out (which he ironically co-founded with Steve Wozniak). It will be interesting to see how Apple will be doing in 5 years time.As I am writing this post on my MacBook Air (having also an iPod, iPhone and iPad),  I  am certainly one of those (millions) that have been influenced tremendously by his innovations. Steve Jobs might not be around anymore, but his ideas, achievements and innovations will live on for ...THANK YOU! GENIUS... AND JERK, TOO?Well, I suppose it is not good to find fault and criticize a dead man (no chance to rebut!), but I suppose we should know that Steve Jobs also had a darker side (ignored mostly here to show respect), which was originally purposely left out. But, I suppose having a more balanced view (as Maurice Ward commented) of a man like Steve Jobs is important. Surely, we would love to inspire innovations like him, but perhaps not in manner he did it (or Apple did it!). In other words, the output was great, but the process of getting there could certainly have been done in a more humane manner."Even in death, Steve Jobs can sell us anything, including the story of what a complete and complex jerk he could at times be. " - Judith Timson "One thing he wasn't, though, was perfect. Indeed there were things Jobs did while at Apple that were deeply disturbing. Rude, dismissive, hostile, spiteful: Apple employees—the ones not bound by confidentiality agreements—have had a different story to tell over the years about Jobs and the bullying, manipulation and fear that followed him around Apple. Jobs contributed to global problems, too. Apple's success has been built literally on the backs of Chinese workers, many of them children and all of them enduring long shifts and the specter of brutal penalties for mistakes. And, for all his talk of enabling individual expression, Jobs imposed paranoid rules that centralized control of who could say what on his devices and in his company." - Ryan Tate Yes, it would have been good to have an infographic illustrating a more balanced view of Steve Jobs. Have you seen one that I could add to this post? 

Educational Technology and Related Education Conferences for January to June 2012 "This 26th version of the conference list covers selected events from four continents. The list focuses primarily on the use of technology in educational settings and on teaching, learning, and educational administration. Only listings until June 30, 2012 are complete as dates, locations, or Internet addresses (URLs) were not available for a number of events held after this date..." - Clayton R. WrightClick here to view and download.Educational Technology and Related Education Conferences for January to June 2012 One word: WOW! (In a good sense!)

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2011    TOP 100 LEARNING TOOLSThe list is compiled (by Jane Hart) from the Top 10 Tools lists of 531 learning professionals worldwide (from education, training and workplace learning). Well, this year I missed the boat in participating, but that is not going to stop me from sharing it with my readers (for those that missed it, I mean!). Here we go:Top 100 Tools for Learning 2011 View more presentations from Jane HartIf you are interested in a more detailed view of the movement of the tools on the list, take a look at the Winners & Losers 2011. Jane has also created a Best of Breed 2011 list, which categorizes the tools under a number of headings. You better check out the site yourself to get a better view of what is really happening in the learning tools world. Thanks, Jane for making our lives easier to select learning tools to learn and share. What else can I say! Master Twitter, Google Apps (Docs, Google Sites & Plus+), Moodle, web-conferencing, Blogs and Wikis and you will be just fine for 2012. I shall write NO more... Enjoy discovering some new learning tools :)

WORKSHOP SLIDESThe presentation slides for the Twitter workshop conducted at the International Medical University (IMU) on the 30th November, 2011.IMU Twitter 101 Learning Workshop View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff Happy and grateful to be BACK :) 

Created by: MBA OnlineA BIG NO!No social media tool is going to get you a job, unless social media is your business. If YOU _____, YOU _____! And when you meet up for real, you still need to prove that you're the man/woman for the job. Worse yet, social media might even turn them off you, so use these tools WISELY (especially, if you are looking for a job)!  A BIG YES!Though, social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin can make yourself (resume) more visible and attractive to job hunters out there, and increasingly they are using such tools to discover the real (virtual) you.  Yes, tools like Linkedin are also great places to search and discover potential jobs, get an awesome referral from someone, and even interact with potential bosses. In short, these tools can open new doors, and sometimes even shut them, so use them WISELY (repeated for the 2nd time!).THINK TWICE! What do I mean by wisely? THINK TWICE before Facebooking, Tweeting and Linkedining anything that you would not want your parents to know.  JOBS?Tools don't get you the job, YOU GET THE JOB! Though, social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin will make you more visible out there, and empower you with new ways to engage with job hunters, and possibly get you a job interview. In short, they are just tools (door openers), but POWERFUL ONES in your search for the perfect job tailored to your needs and wishes. Good luck (unless you are staying putt!) :)

"Twitter Doctors is a new site that lists and ranks all the doctors who are active on Twitter based on number of followers, retweets, etc."- Bertalan Meskó In short, a directory of the most influential doctors on Twitter. I love it :)

 IMAGINATIVE SUCCESS! WOW! I never thought that my 'Introduction to Critical Thinking' presentation would be viewed more than a 100,000 times on SlideShare (or would be my first SlideShare presentation to reach that feat!).  It took four years, but so what! In Justin Beaber and Lady Gaga viewing terms that is probably achieved every second, so I am not going to use that as a measuring stick.However, I am happy and grateful that this presentation and other things shared using a variety of tools over the last few years have benefited many teachers and students out there in one way or the other. Interestingly, over the last four years, I have gotten e-mails from some top experts/lecturers/teachers in critical thinking, and have even been invited to contribute to a book on critical thinking...Seriously!Anyway, here is the infamous presentation again (if you missed it!):Introduction to Critical Thinking View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff Of course, I turned the book request down, because I only taught Critical Thinking for one semester at UNITAR (Surely not enough experience to make a significant contribution!), and then I was kicked out (gently)... THE TRUE STORY !I am thinking, what if I had continued with Critical Thinking, and made a career of it? Never happened! So, I am not going to waste anymore thinking cells on that :)

 E-LEARNING PEARLS A couple of years ago I was very fortunate to be part of the first National e-Learning Audit (team) of Universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and during this wonderful learning journey I got to visit some of the top Universities there offering e-learning in a variety of flavors. However, since that journey I have mostly kept my learning discoveries out of this blog.   However, today I thought: "Lets' share with you all one of those e-learning pearls." Actually, since this e-learning pearl loves to share its' own e-learning journey in a comprehensive documented manner, it is rather easy. Here we go: CLICK HERE to Download the E-Learning Report QASSIM COLLEGE OF MEDICINE To really understand what I mean by e-learning pearl, let's look at some of their e-learning statistics: (Source): All (100%) courses use e-learning. More than two million hits monthly (Only 749 registered users... WOW!).Each visit a user opens 19.7 Pages/Visit.Number of courses now online is 45 for this year, total 149 since launch.Number of registered staff members is 123.Number of online discussions is 19000 (Another...WOW!).Number of resources is 2300 lectures (Not bad!).Average 580 visits to the sites daily this month, total 20000 visits/month, 60-140 % of college students' daily online (note that double visits are common).151 e-learning satisfaction surveys since launch.51 completed electronic paperless exams in the exam center.Three complete sets of clinical exams available online either for download or streaming.A dedicated video streaming site for training videos.ITunes site with physical exams.8 workshops conducted on e-learning this year (2011).First to launch a (Moodle) mobile app for a College in KSA and in The Middle East (Not sure about that!).    45000 hits from mobile phones.Interestingly, they are also a member of the OpenCourseWare Consortium, and through their Learning Management System (Moodle) they have made available 12 complete online courses for free.All this is good, but what really caught my wondering mind's attention was that they had managed to create something really special that most of the other Universities we visited (at that time) had not and that was an...(Shall I continue? Exciting or what!)EMPOWERED (E-)LEARNING CULTUREThey had managed to facilitate a common culture among staff (and students) that empowered all members to create content, manage interaction, communicate with students, release grades, and many other activities. Among the remarkable men that I met at the College, I was really impressed with Mohammed Saqr; The Assistant Professor of Medicine, who self-converted himself to become the e-learning supervisor of the e-Learning Unit.  Impressively, all of their e-learning systems have been developed/customized in house. All of the software used is open source, and they have proven that community projects are viable and represent an alternative solution for the highly expensive commercial solutions. According to Mohammed Saqr they amazingly spent only around 100 US dollars a year to host all their e-learning services.  Yes, the college staff (Doctors) do the upgrade, maintenance, and day to day help. And they are honored to proclaim that NO single contribution by any company or any support of any kind outside the college, all support and planning is done by their staff members.They have changed the whole assessment process to use digital examination. Today, their exam labs are being copied in other colleges, and the question bank will be generalized in KSA. Online surveys and user feedback has become the base of decision making in the college.Their mobile learning portal enables every student to access his lectures and learning materials anytime. The college has also produced many simulation videos, DVDs, manuals, booklets, e-learning workshops and made them available FREE TO THE WORLD.They have also published two international papers (I need to find them, NOW!), and according to the site they are working on 10 ongoing research projects.Finally, the College has a strict policy regarding copyrights, every user has to agree before using their  facilities; the policy respects the rights of others and disseminates the culture of copyrights (whatever that means!). I wish, copyrights will just go away, and I could live happily in a copyleft world! Or better yet, a CREATIVE COMMONS world!Overall, I was really impressed 2 years ago, and I am still impressed with what they are achieving (of what I am seeing), especially in empowering everyone to get involved and inspire learning. Now, that is an e-learning pearl... I arrest my case :)

PROBLEM!Have you seen this great collection (Click the link!!!)?Alright, it is not great, but it is a useful list of links (URLs) to mostly free learning repositories and resources (that needs to be updated!). Now, how can I CONVERT this web-page full of web links into a visually mind stimulating magazine/newspaper (web-page) in an efficient manner? I could add one link at the time to Delicious or Scoop.it...STOP! Isn't happening!!!Now, imagine how many web-pages there are of link collections (from A-Z) curated by people around the world? As of now (this millisecond), there are exactly 22,679,232 such web-pages on the WWW. Don't ask me how I got that figure!   No, what if...WISH?Now, what if we could feed tools like Delicious and Scoop.it with a URL (e.g. http://zaidlearn.blogspot.com/2008/06/university-learning-ocw-oer-free.html), and then the curation tool would auto-convert the link collection into a more visually stimulating web-page with thumbnails and short descriptions customized to our preferences. From a coding point-of-view, I doubt that would be difficult for a good programmer (count me out!).Of course, after feeding it the URL it will recognize all the broken-links (so we can update or delete), and allow us to 'Select all' or those that we want to be visualized in our stunning magazine/newspaper/or whatever you want to call it! Better yet, it will have a nutty, but stunning algorithm wizardly auto-arranging the sites on our magazine/newspaper according to (Google) ranking, relevance, rating, etc. and allows us easily to change views according to our preference. Wow! Finally, we surely want to keep our old view collections (URLs) intact, so after converting, we can add our converted version URL to it in a creative manner; just like adding an icon for PDF version. Yes, now we have the Magazine/Newspaper version (icon), too.       Then someone is going to spoil my idea by telling me that we already have a browser plugin (or a widget we can add to a site) that enables us to see a screenshot of the site automatically by hovering over the link (URL). Well, that is cool, but that is not what I want! Social Curation Tools... PLEASE read my auto-conversion wish above and INNOVATE! If you already have such a feature or something similar...PLEASE voice out!So, is my idea doable? Without spamming the world... :)

 Date: Wednesday, 28th DecemberVenue: Online (WiZiQ)   Time: 2:30 - 3:30 P.M. (Malaysian time) (GMT + 8 Hours: 6:30 - 7:30 A.M)AGENDA Can Facebook be used for teaching and learning? How can it be used? In this online session we explored how it can be used for teaching and learning with a specific emphasis on using Facebook Groups and Pages.  FACILITATORS Zaid Ali Alsagoff Fareeza Marican RECORDINGYou are recommended to skip the first 10 minutes, so that you can get right into the action. If you have problems viewing, try updating your Flash Player.IMU Learning Series 01 - Facebook for Learning and Teaching?  CLICK HERE (To view the recorded online session)PRESENTATION SLIDESIMU Learning Series 01 - Facebook for Learning and Teaching? View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff.Stay tuned for the upcoming online session, which will be revealed soon :)

Alright, we should not talk big before things happen, but sometimes in life you get that feeling... "THIS IS GOING TO WORK!"ORIGINSomehow, I got that feeling when I joined 'iPTA-iPad (and Tablets) for Academicians' Facebook group (invited by the electrifying Prof. Karim). Since late 2008, I have been dreaming (passively) about collaborating with a core group of passionate educators in Malaysia to really transform education for the better (without much luck!). But, then I stumbled upon this Facebook group, and the rest is history in the making (Hopefully!).  When I joined the group, they were passionately planning to conduct a TEDx session, but then I opened my big mouth (Devil's Advocate)! Within a short period, the TEDx idea was history. TEDx is great, but it doesn't really fit into our mission.   While TEDx is often associated with 'Big Ideas' and 'Changing the World', we are thinking about creating multiple venues (Face-to-face, Webinars, Second Life, etc.) for sharing learning stories on how to use technology (e.g. using iPad apps) to transform the way we learn and teach. Small ideas matter as much as big ideas! And importantly, you don't have to be out of this world to present. Everyone is welcome, as long as you think you have a learning innovation to share (small or big!). Welcome to...   LEARNING INNOVATION TALKS  As a result, we used our collective intelligence to conceptualize Learning Innovation Talks. Learning Innovation Talks (LIT)Yes, I will be one of the presenters. Please come! If you don't, you will be able to view the recorded sessions later. So, either way we do hope our learning innovation sharing sessions reaches you.LEARNING INNOVATION CIRCLE Learning Innovation Talks is the first learning gem to spark out of this brand new Learning Innovation Circle. Confusing? Come and join the Learning Innovation Circle!I got this fuzzy little feeling that this group is going to conceptualize and implement some pretty awesome initiatives in the coming months (and years), so why not be part of history in the making... Everyone is welcome to join... :)

Date: Wednesday, 11th January 2012Venue: Online (WizIQ)Time: 2:15 - 3:30 P.M. (Malaysian time)Facilitators: Zaid Ali Alsagoff and Fareeza MaricanAGENDA Can we use Web Conferencing (WizIQ) for teaching, learning and meetings? This online session will explore the basics of using Web Conferencing and how it can be used for teaching and learning. By the end of this session, participants shall be able to use Web Conferencing for teaching, learning, meetings, etc. RECORDING You are recommended to skip the first 22 minutes of the recorded webinar, so that you can get right into the action. The actual learning session starts roughly 22 minutes after the recording started. If you have any problems viewing, try updating your Flash Player. CLICK HERE (To view the recorded online session)* Currently, WizIQ (the version we are using) does not have a post-editing feature for webinar recordings. Also, there is no 'pause' button to use while recording a webinar. Please skip the first 22 minutes of the webinar above to really enjoy the learning session.  PRESENTATION SLIDESThe presentation slides for this webinar is only available for IMU staff (from the e-learning portal). However, here are similar presentation slides from WizIQ, which basically covers what we covered during the webinar. Wiziq training materialUploaded by Sunil on WizIQ Tutorials

Title : How to Become a Rapid E-Learning ProDate : 8th February, 2012 Venue : Online (WizIQ)  Time : 10.00 AM (Kuala Lumpur Time) Description:Many developers work with limited budgets and resources. How can they build effective elearning courses with these constraints? Tom Kuhlmann shared in this webinar some practical tips on getting the most out of the resources you have to build engaging and interactive elearning content.Speaker:  Tom Kuhlmann is the author of the Rapid E-Learning Blog, which has over 85,000 subscribers each week. He shares practical tips and tricks to help people learn more about elearning. He also manages the Articulate user community. He holds a Master's in Education Technology from Pepperdine and is very passionate about learning and technology. Yes, the actual session turned out to be an enriching and engaging WOW session for learning how to convert your boring PowerPoint slides into sizzling e-learning content. RECORDINGPRESENTATION SLIDESRapid Elearning Pro View more presentations from IMUelearning Click here to access the full list of recorded and upcoming webinars for IMU Learning Series.