Learning Tools: Twitter and Hashtags

I use Twitter @eLearningMC as an informal learning and bookmarking tool. I read articles, find tutorials, and discover avenues of expert advice in my field through Twitter. I have recently started implementing into my Tweets are hashtags, a feature which allows your tweets to be categorized under searchable keywords and topics.

I've been observing which hashtags are frequently and consistently used in the field of eLearning, and want to share them with you:
#eLearning
#mLearning
#edtech
#instructionaldesign
#onlinelearning
#UX User Experience
#GBL Game Based Learning

Twitter chats are another way hashtags are used to categorize tweets. A few relevant eLearning chats include: #lrnchat and #edchat. There is also a monthly #LCBQ, Learning Circuits Big Question. A comprehansive list of Twitter chats with topics ranging from hobbies to careers can be found in this Google Doc titled Twitter Chat Schedule. Happy tweeting, hashtagging, discovering, and chatting!

Learning Development: Accessibility

An important aspect of developing learning materials for distance education and training is building accessibility and assitive technology (AT) compatibility into content/ tools. For example, creating web forms that are accessible to people with disabilities requires understanding of the labeling features of HTML markup and how browsers interpret labeling markup for assistive technologies like screen readers. I would like to share with you some of the programming/ tools/ technologies available to fulfill accessibility requirements and needs.

AMP-Accessible Media Producer companies or agencies that create fully-accessible specialized, student-ready formats, such as braille, large print, audio, or digital book
ATAG -Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
UAAG - User Agent Accessibility Guidelines
W3C- World Wide Web Consortium - an international community where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards.
WCAG - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
WAI-ARIA - Web Accessibility Initiative-Accessible Rich Internet Application

UIC offers a Web Accessibility Checklist to check your website for IITAA - Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act - compliance. George Williams and The Chronicle of Higher education have this post on Creating Accessible Documents using many popular software programs. Another excellent resource is the WAI - Web Accesssibility Initiative develops strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.

Image Credit: http://www.mentalite.net/mnt/accessibility.jpg

Learning Research: Integrity and Trust

While academic institutions have guidleines and policies such as Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and human subject protections for conducting research, the corporate world has few research regulations or standards. It is important that anyone conducting Human Resources Development (HRD) research and/or evaluations within their organization maintain research integrity.

Hatcher (2005) outlines the following ethical principles to ensure research integrity in organizations.
1) Respect for persons, beneficence, and justice
2) Guidelines on conflicts of interest and conscience
3) Activities of peer review

Respect, beneficence, and justice are carried out via research practitioners taking on the role of "guardians and guarantors of the protection of the participants in (...) research, beginning with their knowledge-able, voluntary, and informed consent." (Hatcher, 2005) Informed consent is achieved only after participants have been given adequate information outlining the research including participant selection criteria, and full accounting of any risks involved in participation. Two potential risks of participation in HRD studies include loss of privacy and/or ownership of intellectual proerty. Persons are then given the option to participate or not participate in the study.

Guidelines for conflicts of interest are necessary contracts to be sure researchers do not compromise their professional judgment for financial or personal gain. Many "researchers base their behaviors on tacit or implied knowledge or assumptions that may not be ethically correct in every case," (Hatcher, 2005) so it is especially important to use peer reviewers to ensure research integrity. "Peer review works because it can screen for weaknesses and inadequacies in design, method, or interpretation of results." (Hatcher, 2005)

Check out this additional resource: #lrnchat March 31st, both early and late chats. Peruse the answers to: Q1) What learning data does your org collect? Q2) Are there ethical issues in collecting learning data?

Reference:
Hatcher, T. (2005), Research integrity: Ensuring trust in the academy. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 16: 1–6. doi: 10.1002/hrdq.1120