I moved from instructor-led training to elearning a few months ago, and the learning curve has been steep and exciting, primarily because so much had to be unlearnt. While I have enrolled for the Post-graduate Diploma in instructional design from Symbiosis and will also do a course on instructional design for senior professionals from Vibrant Wavelength, the most useful learning has been from the various blogs I have been reading on a regular basis. This post is about the blogs I have found to be most useful. I read these daily and constantly bombard my team with links to interesting posts from them. (Okay, some of them are not blogs per se but they do have regular postings).
What I like most about these blogs is that they always have something you can take away with you and apply to make your learning more effective.
The most useful and insightful blog I have come across is Cathy Moore’s blog. Her ideas are simple, effective, and rely on a lot of common sense, prompting the reader to ask “Now, why didn’t I think of that?” And if you have already thought of that, here is corroboration from a senior professional.
Another superb resource is Jane Knight’s blog. Jane’s Elearning Pick of the Day lists resources to create elearning and enhance personal productivity, and lists new sites in the Web 2.0 space. Still further, Jane has what is arguable the best site on elearning resources at the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies, which has a comprehensive and categorised list on elearning tools which is constantly updated.
The next blog is Tom Kuhlmann’s Rapid eLearning Blog. Though focused on Articulate, this blog is a gem to anybody who wants to create effective and engaging elearning. Speaking of technology, do visit Tony Karrer’s eLearning Technology blog, which is also a must-read.
The next blog on my list is Clive Shepherd’s blog. One of the latest posts reviews several of the latest books on learning and development, and design. This post can be seen here. Moving on, the next is Karl Kapp’s blog, and when there do look at Karl’s book Gadgets, Games, and Gizmos for Learning. Another great blog is Christy Tucker’s Experiencing E-Learning. The posts are about varied topics, but are always interesting.
The last blog on my list is yet another must-read and is Stephen Downes’ Half an Hour. Polemical and provocative, this blog inspires you to think, and that is always a good thing. Stephen’s website can be accessed here.
Creating Passionate Users, Kathy Sierra’s blog, is now – sadly – discontinued. However, it has 405 posts and I recommend you read them all.
My next four sites are about usability and I have included them here because, all too often, I have opened an elearning demo or sample, and don’t know how to navigate or how to start the module. Three of them belong to the founders of the Nielsen Norman Group. The first is Bruce Tognazzni’s page, asktog.com. A series of occasional articles appear on this page and focus on usability issues in the real world, ranging from HCI, to cars, to the iPhone. Always interesting and above all, written with a lot of humour.
Don Norman’s articles on usuabilty appear on jnd.com. Click on Essays to read his insightful articles on usability, design, and interaction.
Jakob Nielsen publishes his articles on usubility on useit.com and the archive of his Alertbox can be accessed here.
My last site on usability focuses on information design, visual explanations, and the presentation of graphics. This is The Work of Edward Tufte and Graphics Press and you can access the articles here.
That’s my list of must-read blogs / sites. If you feel there are any I have left out, do write in and let me know.
