In your journal collection (those of you who still possess such ancient tomes), do you have any first issues? On your shelf, is there a Number 1 from Volume 1 of a journal? I have just one, and you wouldn’t have to guess too hard to know that it’s from Distance Education, launched in Australia some 32 years ago. It was a great start to a great journal, one that has been a stalwart in the field for both new and established researchers and practitioners. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: September 2012
Online learning sites you haven’t heard of … maybe
Now here’s a catchy title: ’15 Free Learning Sites You Haven’t Heard of Yet’. Not only enticing, but also challenging – someone thinks they know something we don’t know. And we’re meant to be familiar online learning, so surely we’ve heard of most of them already?
That’s the way I felt anyway, as I satiated my curiosity by clicking the link provided by Sophia Coppolla from Onlinecollege.org in a recent email. How did I ‘score’? Two out of 15: Alison and University of the People, both good sites. Continue reading
Guest post*: Four Steps to Better Email Marketing
David’s Disclaimer: When I first saw the title of this guest post, I nearly rejected it without reading, as I (don’t we all?) have an aversion to unwanted email. But I did scan it, and changed my mind when I spied the third step: “mass mailing should be avoided”. Much relieved, I went ahead, and here’s the rest of the advice for all you would-be email marketers.
Promoting your business through email marketing is one of the most effective methods of advertising. The effectiveness of an email marketing campaign is the result of having a connection with your potential customers. Building your list of customers is easier with email marketing. When used with other effective means of marketing your business, you will be able to see great and fast results in no time. Continue reading
Of coffee and history
Confession: I’m a coffee addict. I don’t drink huge amounts, but must have a coffee every morning, usually at a local cafe.
Now here in Australia we tend to think of our coffee culture as a quite recent phenomenon, with Melbourne considering itself the coffee capital (just lost my Sydney readers). Our strong communities of Italian immigrants (and the even more numerous Greeks) have ensured that we’ve taken on our love of coffee with gusto. I’m a ‘flat white‘ myself, naturally without sugar. Continue reading
On reviewing: Or, why you’d better get your facts correct if you’re writing about Bob Dylan!
If you’re going to write a book about Bob Dylan, or even a book about creativity that uses Dylan as a prime example, then you’d better not say that he went upstate immediately after his first English tour when in fact he went away with his wife. There are diehard Dylan fans out there who know these things, and when they are also book reviewers who might provide a critique of your efforts, you are in considerable trouble. Continue reading
Guest post*: Social Media in Education: Revolution or Distraction?
It’s accepted that social media have changed the educational landscape. But is it a revolution or just a fleeting distraction? Or, more strongly, is it an angelic benefactor or the devil in disguise? Will social media serve as a panacea for the ills which plague modern education or will they destroy it? In short, are social media good or evil? Continue reading