October - Italian Wines
Blended Learning - Old Wine In A New Bottle
Before starting to define the concept of blended learning, its important to know the most unobtrusive fact about the concept - that it has been around in disguise for eons and its immortality is undisputable. Simply put, unblended learning is something unimaginable. Learning has always involved blending of different methods and only the uninitiated can think of a learning environment where a computer can carry out all the aspects of training without the assistance from other media. Though this term found entry into the e learning jargon only lately, we have been using blended learning since time immemorial. Teachers using different forms of exercises right from story telling and toys to using charts and reading aloud for training toddlers are using blended learning techniques.
Blended learning in corporate training
Blended learning fast seems to be replacing e learning in corporate training, if not elsewhere. Corporate training programs aim at improving revenue, reducing costs and enhance teamwork in general, rather than focusing on the individual development of employees. Learners, too, learn with a view to becoming effective at their jobs rather than for the sake of increasing knowledge. Keeping these trends in mind, blended learning can best address the needs of a corporate training program, since different sets of learners require different delivery methods. The key to enhance results lies in offering the perfect amalgam of media and delivery as per the requirement of a particular program. Learning experiences are categorized into steps in a blended learning model and the learner?s progression from one step to another keeps on building upon the previous learning experiences. This forms a ladder through which learners keep on climbing rung after rung to blossom into a tree of collaboration from the sapling of education. Organizations have graduated from the basic information exchange level to the level of expertise ? all within scheduled time frames and fixed costs through blended learning techniques. A blended learning model allows the ease of combining either elements from a particular level, or complete levels to arrive at a single learning solution. The blend that a company selects depends upon various factors including requirements, costs, time on hand and available content.
Basic elements of blended learning
Broadly, blended learning models comprise of the following elements, mixed in varied proportions according to an organization?s requirements. Blended learning can be classified into
Learning through information
Learning through interaction
Learning through collaboration and
Learning through classroom experiences
E learning technology can be put to good use while learning through information, interaction and collaboration. This not only reduces cost attributed to enlarged periods of non productive activity on the part of the employees, commuting and employing instructors, but also creates reusable content, and reiterates core messages and concepts to ingrain them in the minds of the learners. At the same time, the classroom sessions develop interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate face to face.
Learning through information
Material based information is the first coherent step towards starting a learning program. Web based material can now be handed to the learners, thanks to e learning techniques, which can render the learning program easy to deliver and faster to implement. Making the information accessible all the time will give learners the liberty of scrolling through the content at their own convenience, which, in turn, will enhance understanding and enthusiasm.
Learning through interaction
The learner-instructor, learner-content, learner-learner, and learner-infrastructure interactions become all the more important in a blended learning environment. Web can assist all the above mentioned forms of interaction, which, together, help retain the knowledge that is acquired through information .Web simulations of real life situations allow learners to apply their knowledge practically, without the possibility of them affecting your business directly.
Learning through collaboration
Collaborative learning includes peer to peer discussions, conference calls, chat, team rooms and instant messaging. Technology has enhanced the concept of collaboration manifold, where learners, even though geographically remote, can communicate in real time. The collaborative environment also heightens the chances of collaboration between e learners and subject matter experts (SMEs).
Learning through classroom interactions
Conventional, tested and, by far, one of the most effective approaches to learning, classrooms are the best places to personally connect to peers and instructors. No technology can replace the advantages of this approach, which is exactly why no e learning or blended learning model will skip this element for any reason. But, as one would like to believe, blended learning has never attempted to replace classroom based learning. On the contrary, technology based learning takes care of the basic, mechanical and mundane aspects of learning to allow classroom based training centre around discussions on already learnt subject matter and behavioral and psychological modifications.
Bottomline
Blended learning involves the appropriate blend of varied components including courses, content portions, IM pings, blog feedback, and many other things. The ubiquitous problems of speed, scale and impact associated with most e learning models can be successfully solved by blended learning. Applying blended learning to all your learning needs will definitely leverage your organization vis a vis your competitors.
Viswanath Shankar has been managing and maintaining various e learning softwares for the past decade and a half. A storehouse of knowledge about LMS (Learning Management Systems), he is aware of the impact e learning can have on the academic as well as corporate learning. He has been working in close co-ordination with web development experts to develop user friendly distance learning programs. It takes a professional like him to declare the big time arrival of e learning as a worthy substitute to conventional learning techniques.
Viswanath Shankar has been managing and maintaining various e-learning softwares for the past decade and a half. A storehouse of knowledge about LMS (Learning Management Systems), he is aware of the impact e learning can have on the academic as well as corporate learning. He has been working in close co-ordination with web development experts to develop user friendly distance learning programs. It takes a professional like him to declare the big time arrival of e learning as a worthy substitute to conventional learning techniques. |
Short Review on Italian Wines
Blended Learning - Old Wine In A New Bottle
Before starting to define the concept of blended learning, its important to know the most unobtrusive fact about the concept - that it has been around...
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Featured Italian Wines Items
Bergadler Alt Cuvee Sekt
This is the classic "Cuvee", with all the natural fruitiness of fine German sparkling wine. Enjoy this delicious bubbly at any time. Its fruity finish balances nicely with the fine effervescence and clean flavor. Bergardler Alt Cuvee Sekt is an excellent gift for the Champagne lovers. ADC ADC
Price: 27.99 USD
Italian Wines in the news
Weekend Events (Oct 17-19, ‘08)
Thu, 16 Oct 08 16:00:23 -0700
• The 44th Annual Chicago International Film Festival begins this weekend, featuring over 100 films from 46 countries. (ends Oct 29) • More than five dozen vendors from Chicago will sell art, antiques, jewelry, and more at the Fall French Market. The fair also includes French cooking demonstrations and kids’ activities. (Oct 17-19) • Sixty local and national chefs are featured at the 20th annual Celebrity Chef Ball, including Top Chef: Chicago winner Stephanie Izard, contestant Valerie Bonan,
Italian Beer Tasting and Stump Jump Wine Tasting
Thu, 16 Oct 08 07:51:50 -0700
Italian Beer Tasting and Stump Jump Wine Tasting By Greg B. So I traveled down to the Perfect Pour to check out an Italian beer tasting, once again bringing my labmates with me. In this post, I’ll start with the beers, then move onto the wines. Why, you ask? Because I left any real good reliable note-taking material... Read more...] Maryland Events Baltimore Wine Events - November 2008 November 6: Wine Class for Beginners (part 1): the Ultimate Sensory Experience ($54) This wine class
Food and Drink
Thu, 16 Oct 08 05:30:24 -0700
Food and Drink I’m not sure why it is, but food and booze are – always have been, I think – essential ingredients in mystery novels. Mealtimes come along regularly in the daily rhythms of the fictional sleuth’s day, and you can’t ignore them. Eating, of course, has ritualistic significance in all cultures. We eat for courtship and seduction. We eat to make the delivery of bad news, um, palatable. We eat to smooth the way for deals and to discuss cases and to size up suspects. We eat to
Gates of Vienna News Feed 10/15/2008
Wed, 15 Oct 08 20:45:00 -0700
Tonight’s important stories are about the Mediterranean Union. I wanted to blog on these, but never got the time. Look at the “Mediterranean Union” section below the fold.The most ominous one says this:The Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) has asked the foreign ministers of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) for more powers as well as the legal basis to sanction its role as their political arm. At a special meeting of the EMPA in Amman, representatives of the parliaments from b
Wonderful wines of Spain (The MetroWest Daily News)
Wed, 15 Oct 08 16:57:53 -0700
Wine Wisdom My objective with this column is to help readers find great wines and save money in the process. For smart wine shoppers, wines from Spain are excellent and a great value.
Food, Wine, Culture TV: Episode 16: A 1998 Brunello di Montalcino
Wed, 15 Oct 08 14:14:31 -0700
Food, Wine, Culture TV: Episode 16: A 1998 Brunello di Montalcino Food, Wine, Culture TV: Greg Bissonette joins me (Michael Mohammadi) for a tasting of a 1998 (year I graduated high school!) Brunello di Montalcino! Read more...] Read More → Greg's Corner Italian Beer Tasting and Stump Jump Wine Tasting By Greg B. So I traveled down to the Perfect Pour to check out an Italian beer tasting, once again bringing my labmates with me. In this post, I’ll start with the beers, then move onto th
wine tasting sunday
Wed, 15 Oct 08 14:12:34 -0700
The Wine Maker and I both had Sunday off, meaning we had the opportunity to leave the house and go outside. Anywhere our little hearts desired! Shall we go to a Tech Museum, anArt Museum, a hike, a bike? Nope. We decided after him working all week long at th winery, and me working all Saturday in the Ridge tasting room that we wanted to go- wait for it - wine tasting. I don't know what to say, but there is it. That's what we did. Shocking huh? Truth be told, we woke up at AM, munched on
French Wines
Gift Ideas
Caribe Cooler
Labels: Wine Liquor | Wine List
