It's a Small,
Small, Small World
By Rick Nigol
 I have been having many of my own
personal "world is flat" moments lately. We have taught folks as far
afield as Syria and Turkey about eLearning. And through our courses,
blogs and webinars, we have initiated conversations and
consultations about eLearning with people from the U.K., Australia,
India, China, Sri Lanka, Africa and a host of other places. The
Internet really is making the world a smaller place and I am seeing
evidence every day that highly industrious and creative people are
using it to advance learning in all kinds of interesting ways.
Here are three examples:
Tutor
Vista
Based in Bangalore, India, Tutor Vista offers real-time
web-based one-on-one tutoring in a range of subjects (e.g. math,
English, various sciences, etc.), as well as for college entrance
examination preparation. With only a headset, microphone, and
whiteboard, high school or college students can receive unlimited
tutoring assistance from a highly educated and qualified Indian
tutor for $100 a month.
InterLangua
Similarly, InterLangua hooks up
qualified language instructors from Guatemala with individuals
interested in learning Spanish. It uses a combination of webcam,
voice and synchronous chat to connect Spanish language tutors with
students anywhere there is a web connection. Learners can purchase
ten sessions for $200.
ChinesePod
Based in Shanghai, ChinesePod provides a rich
immersive online environment for learning Mandarin Chinese. They use
a creative mix of daily podcast audio lessons, interactive exercises
and tools, and a diverse world-wide online community who support
each other in their mutual learnings. Learners can choose from a
variety of approaches ranging from audio lessons and transcripts
only ($60 a year) to intense eight-week sessions with daily practice
calls from tutors ($400). I will be trying out ChinesePod
myself....I'll let you know in a later post how it goes.
Distances and barriers between people, ideas and
learning are being obliterated. The web is connecting people with
shared interests and allowing those with special expertise to reach
a world-wide learning market efficiently and economically. I point
to the examples mentioned above when clients in corporations,
government, or non-profits tell me that their constituencies are not
ready for eLearning, or that they are still examining the
feasibility of web-based learning environments. My message: that
train has already left the station!
The Peer Network is a limited
membership group of organizations that seek to close the gap
between the knowing of best practices in eLearning, and
applying those best practices to their current projects.
They collaborate, interact, share, and learn together through
a series of live online and in-person events. If you're
serious about taking your eLearning to the next level, we
invite you to join us!
> Check out
the Featured Webinar (below) for more
information.
To have a casual chat to
determine if this is something that can help your
organization, contact Jon-Anthony at 416-238-3297, or jon@elearncampus.com.
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