E-Learning Queen's "Corgi Big Bark Awards" June 2008

This month marks the inauguration of E-Learning Queen's Corgi Big Bark Awards. Created to recognize innovations in e-learning, the awards are a way to encourage people who have a dream and a vision, and whose energy provides very welcome inspiration and affirmation for all involved in e-learning.



The Corgi Big Barks are awarded to products and services that achieve a high score in the following categories:

* meets a need in a new way
* is easy to use
* encourages the user think of new ways to teach and learn
* makes one think of new ways to communicate / share / collaborate
* demonstrates a sense of whimsy, humor, beauty
* is practical and affordable
* promotes social responsibility

Elluminate Publish!
http://www.elluminate.com/
Elluminate consistently innovates in a positive and useful way, and the company updates its webinar and other collaborative tools in response to evolving uses of elearning technologies.
The new product, Publish!, is an authoring tool that streamlines the process of using webinars for instructional material for asynchronous as well as synchronous courses.



Revoluminary
http://revoluminary.com/
Revoluminary is a student-based initiative to encourage grassroots tutoring and mentoring efforts. Revoluminary contains classifications of tutoring offerings, a rating system, whiteboards, and other tools that encourage interaction. The flexibility, ease of use, and profoundly inclusive approach to tutoring and mentoring are to be commended.



Narrator Files: Sparrow Interactive
http://www.sparrowia.com/
Profesional voiceovers and stock photos may not seem like a very big deal until you find yourself spending days upon days trying to generate good audio and multimedia content. Sparrow Interactive has created an approach that will work very well with programs of all scopes and sizes, from training to graduate education.

Instructional Spice
http://www.instructionalspice.com/activityspice/
Custom flash activities. Activity Spice is an online application that builds custom eLearning flash activities to be inserted in whatever eLearning platform is in use. This is a web-based application, meaning that Activity Spice be accessed from anywhere. As a result, it can be used work, at home, or at the client location. In a matter of minutes one can have a flash activity customized and downloaded, ready to insert in a course. What used to take days now takes minutes.

LearnHub
http://www.learnhub.com/
Learnhub is a social learning network that gives individuals the opportunity to use a friendly interface to upload video, audio, pdfs, images and other course content, and then to schedule courses, tutoring sessions, and more.

Learnhub incorporates Web 2.0 applications and philosophy in a very clear and straightforward way, resulting in the empowerment of instructors and students. Individuals can form communities and share content. In addition, learners can charge for courses and tutoring sessions, participate in others' sessions, and rate their experiences.