A Special Treat: An Animated Season's Greeting from E-Learning Queen and PetroEd

High-quality animations and immersive experience captured from virtual worlds that can be accessed on all forms of mobile devices, ranging from smartphones, tablets, laptops, as well as desktop systems, are vital education, training, and professional development on emerging science, technology, and equipment. An example of a high-quality multimedia developer is PetroEd. E-Learning Queen is delighted to partner with interactive multimedia training provider PetroEd to share an animated Season's Greeting Card. Please click the appropriate link for high bandwidth or low bandwidth.

Please contact Susan at E-Learning Queen (susan@beyondutopia.com) if you are interested in learning more, and developing a plan for developing affordable, rapid-deployment high-quality multimedia training. Also indicate if you would like a multi-language presentation capability.

Interview with Josh Little, Bloomfire: E-Learning Innovators Series

New ways to share knowledge take advantage of innovative social networking. Welcome to an interview with Josh Little, CEO of Bloomfire.

1. What is your name and affiliation. What is your relation to e-learning?

My name is Josh Little and I'm the CEO of Bloomfire. Bloomfire is the third online learning company I've started. The first is Maestro eLearning, a creative agency focused on building engaging custom online learning experiences for major corporations and non-profits. The second is Wellness Works, an unparalleled interactive corporate wellness education system that teaches employees to live healthier, more productive lifestyles. Thousands of people all over the world engage in a learning experience from one of these three companies every day.

2. What is Bloomfire and what inspired you to develop it?

A platform that allows anyone to start a Bloomfire, which is a website geared specifically for easily sharing knowledge and the discussions that surround it. You can invite members to find and follow experts, ask questions, and share with others. Members can share and upload documents, videos, or presentations, record a video from their webcam, or create screencasts on the fly.


I developed Bloomfire out of the pain I felt along my career as a public school teacher, corporate trainer, and small business owner. In every one of these roles I felt like I was just scratching the surface of what my students, trainees, or employees needed to know to be successful. There needed to be a better way to rapidly share knowledge with people all over the world. Although traditional eLearning tools allow this, the time and cost to create content was still limiting. I knew that by using the power of the crowd, any organization could harness the the long talk of knowledge, how-to's and tricks if they had the right tool.

3. What makes Bloomfire different from wikis and other collaborative knowledge building tools?

Many people feel the same pain I did and attempt to fill the job with tools such as wikis, blogs, social networking tools, and the like. Unlike these tools, a Bloomfire is purpose built for learning with dirt-simple multimedia authoring tools, video streaming, mobile capability, and a strong set of analytics tools for managers. We can promise to forever deliver on one thing - simplicity. We work tirelessly to maintain a simple, clean, easy to use interface.

4. What are the benefits of informal and social learning?

The ability to harness the informal learning occurring in an organization, customer base, or fan club can bring several benefits. I feel the top three are engagement, reduced mistakes, and increased performance - I'll break these down.

Engagement - People love doing what they are good at and hate doing things that they are not. When I have the right information and support structure around me a stressful, risky task turns into an confidence building experience. Engagement comes when I can be successful at what I do and feel connected to the people around me.

Reduced mistakes - Information is moving at the speed of light. We are in a constant state of learning in order to stay on top of our game. In most instances, we have to figure things out on our own - even if there are other people doing the same thing we are. We are all reinventing the wheel because we have no other option. This practice is so common that it's been given names like "sink or swim" or "drinking from the fire hose." This is a rocky path riddled with pain and frustration. Collaborative learning allows others to groom the path for those that follow.

Increased performance - What if you could bottle the knowledge, skills, tips, and tricks of your top 10 performers? What if this could be shared with everyone else? What kind of difference would that make in your organization?



5. How can you be assured that social learning is accurate and not a way to disseminate misinformation or propagandistic / agenda-laden material?

This is the number #1 objection to social learning - what if someone says something bad or inaccurate? It's also the #1 myth about social learning. The fear is that by giving people tools to publish and share, they will go crazy and use the platform for public domination and destruction. This assumption is absolutely false. In fact, in the over 1000 Bloomfires that are burning today, some of our customers have reported the exact opposite. We have called this condition School Dance Syndrome (SDS) because people come in and sit along the walls watching the smaller number who contribute. And because of the very public nature of your identity in a Bloomfire, it makes for a bad place for subversion.

If someone posts something that is just plan inaccurate, it should be praised that there is a way to flesh out problems before they occur. These are teachable moments that can mitigate risk and prevent future mistakes. How else would an organization know if someone was spreading this misinformation. An online learning community should be viewed as an extension of the classroom. If it's OK to say inaccurate things or ask silly questions in the classroom, then it should also be acceptable that this is done in the online classroom.

6. Please recommend a book you recently read and enjoyed.

While it isn't related to social learning, it is related to building no-nonsense software that people love. The book Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson is packed full of smart practices and wisdom that could benefit just about every organization on the planet. I've read it twice now.

Interview with Josh Blank, OpenSesame: Innovators in E-Learning Series

Empowering elearning instructors and designers is a key element of making education widely available. While mentoring and tutoring sites are available through virtual worlds such as SecondLife, and many webinar platforms are available. However, packaging and marketing elearning courses is a different matter, and a place of great opportunity. Further, it may offer colleges and universities, both hybrid and online, an opportunity to share courses in an effective way. Hypothetically, the developer of a course, Anglo-American Folk Music, now offered through MIT's OpenCourseWare project could develop and offer a similar course. Or, an accounting instructor could develop a course that could be adopted by a college offering online accounting courses. Welcome to an interview with Josh Blank, OpenSesame, which offers a platform for creating and distributing elearning courses.

1. What is your name and connection to elearning?
I'm Josh Blank, and I am the cofounder and General Manager of OpenSesame, a new marketplace for buying and selling elearning courses. I started my career in web design and digital communications, and I started working in elearning ten years ago. In the elearning field, I lead companies that create and distribute elearning courses that meet the needs of diverse professionals. I am deeply committed to advancing the elearning field because I believe that elearning democratizes education. We are creating new possibilities and new opportunity for millions of people to advance themselves through personal effort.




2. What is OpenSesame? What is the content? How does it work? Where can people access it?
OpenSesame is an open, web-based marketplace connecting purchasers of elearning content, such as corporate learning officers, with an extensive library of courses provided by a wide range of content creators. OpenSesame simplifies the process of implementing elearning by connecting courses purchased in our OpenSesame marketplace to any Learning Management System (LMS).


The OpenSesame marketplace connects content developers with potential buyers of elearning courses. Course developers can sell previously built or newly created content to multiple buyers while maintaining security, control, and centralized management of their intellectual property. The OpenSesame marketplace enables content developers to connect with new customers, no matter where the buyers are located or what LMS they use. Furthermore, OpenSesame’s proprietary technology ensures that buyers cannot download or re-sell courses without the developer’s permission.

Buyers and sellers can access the OpenSesame marketplace by visiting http://www.opensesame.com/ and browsing our library of courses, classified in four categories: technical, business skills, compliance and safety. We are proud to offer an always-expanding library comprising courses as varied as "How to Respond to a Bomb Threat" and "XML Schema Definition".

3. Who are you trying to reach and what are your goals?
In our ten years in the elearning industry, we have consistently believed that the industry was at a tipping point -- on the cusp of fantastic growth -- but our growth remained slow and steady. Our team finally realized that our growth was limited by the lack of communication between the buyers and sellers of elearning courses. Content developers, subject matter experts and independent instructional designers need channels to publish their content, reach new customers and understand how their courses fit in the overall marketplace. Learners at all sizes of organizations need a marketplace where they can research and find the courses they need, purchase them simply and connect them easily to any learning management system.
Our goal is to create a community where both buyers and sellers thrive and elearning is accessible, easy to implement and rewarding for everyone.

4. What is your elearning philosophy?
Our philosophy is simple. We have a vision for a world where people can advance themselves through only personal desire and access to educational opportunities. OpenSesame is a competitive marketplace for buying and selling high quality educational content, where sellers will create courses to meet market demand, and learners can evaluate courses based on their reviews and success in the marketplace.

5. How do you see the future of m-learning evolving? What's the next breakthrough?
I believe that the next breakthrough in mlearning will be the killer app that takes any standards-compliant content and delivers it simply to a variety of mobile devices. This kind of app will enable learners to take their courses with them: to consult their training courses easily while actually employing the skills they are learning. I believe that well-designed elearning courses delivered through mobile applications will ease the transition from learning skills and abilities in the abstract to implementing them in your daily life.

6. Please recommend 2 books (can be fiction / non-fiction / technical)
Daily Drucker for the business book and anything by Vince Flynn for my fiction addiction.

Interview with James Caras, Sapling Learning: E-Learning Innovators Series

Science education online is often a hit or miss affair, and it is difficult to develop an instructional strategy that both engages the learner and incorporates effective assessments at higher levels of difficulty. Welcome to an interview with Dr. James Caras, Sapling Learning, who focuses on science education.

1. What is your name and connection to elearning?
Dr. James Caras. I am the Founder and President of Sapling Learning. I have been developing online instructional technologies and media for higher education science for over 17 years--ever since the NCSA Mosaic Web browser first became available.

2. What is Sapling Learning? What is the content? How does it work? Where can people access it?
Sapling Learning is a leading provider of engaging and interactive online homework and assessment software. The learning software can be accessed anytime through a Web browser, and delivers question-based assignments to students, providing them with real-time tutoring when they need help in the form of hints, feedback specific to misconceptions a student has, and detailed solutions. Sapling is focused on higher education science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), but also will roll out solutions for other problem-solving disciplines such as economics. For instructors, our software provides automatic grading and detailed performance statistics, saving them time and increasing the transparency by which they can gauge their students' progress and ability.

3. Who are you trying to reach and what are your goals?
Sapling's goal is to increase the quality of STEM education through adoption of our software by higher education faculty. Besides the quality of our content and software, we are accomplishing this because we help drive down the cost of educational materials to students, and promote student engagement through rich interactivity and immediate instruction when students struggle. If this country is going to be successful and competitive in the 21st century, we need bright people to have access to tools that remove barriers to understanding STEM concepts and promote their interest in science and engineering.

4. What is your elearning philosophy?
You can't fill a closed mind. Students are open and receptive to instruction if they are engaged with a problem and therefore open to receive information on how to solve it.

5. How do you see the future of m-learning evolving? What's the next breakthrough?
Sapling Learning has spent a lot of time thinking about this. Mobile learning is actually very different than learning at a computer, if you include phones, iPods, and other single-hand-held devices as the hardware for delivery of eLearning software. I don't include the iPad in this category. Students will not do scientifically rigorous homework on a cell phone. These devices are much better suited to other forms of learning that are more "quick-click" oriented. Memorization exercises like flashcards are perfect for the phone, as are drag-and-drop diagram labeling. Multiple choice quizzing as well. Video delivery for instruction is a good use of mobile devices. But as far as working through the equations and calculations of a multi-step physics problem, tutoring a student through each of those steps, or asking a student to perform a virtual experiment, you need a much larger screen.

Breakthroughs are not the most pressing need for the evolution of m-learning--the current bottleneck is standardization. Online learning delivered through any device needs to be relevant to the discipline being studied. For STEM e-learning, there is a need for rich interactions such as drawing molecules or graphs, or performing virtual experiments. Rich interactions such as this benefit tremendously from Flash and Java, yet these are not fully supported on all mobile devices.

HTML5 is no answer because it is far from a standard, lacks easy-to-use and robust development environments, and has tremendous compatibility issues. All of these significantly drive up the costs of development and support, as well as degrade the user experience. Since student grades depend on Sapling's software being bullet-proof and widely compatible, we take these considerations very seriously.

6. Please recommend 2 books (can be fiction / non-fiction / technical)
I recently read two books that I enjoyed a great deal. For fiction, Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. For non-fiction, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

Innovators in E-Learning: eStudies Weekly

Welcome to an interview with Ed Rickers, founder of Studies Weekly, and eStudiesWeekly.com. E-LearningQueen.com is interested in the eStudiesWeekly.com format because the tight, condensed format is a good way to help students (and teachers) develop schemata for organizing what can often be an overwhelming amount of material. Their format also incorporates appropriate graphics and media which further help forge classification /organization schemes in the learner's mind. They take advantage of semiotic epistemological considerations (signs / symbols, etc), as well as text / audio / language-based ones. In addition to developing schemata for cognitive systems to help with data retrieval, the format can, when used within a solid instructional strategy, be used to optimize working memory. In the meantime, it's useful to note that the publication's stated design and information presentation objectives engage and create positive conditions for learning.

1. What is your name and your relation to e-learning?
We are Studies Weekly Publications with our electronic equivalent www.eStudiesWeekly.com. There are more than 1.5 million K-6 students per week that receive curriculum content fro Studies Weekly publications. eStudiesWeekly is the electronic version of those publications. Students with a subscription to Studies Weekly may login and take advantage of augmented learning opportunities available online.

2. What is eStudiesWeekly?
eStudiesWeekly is the online version of the print publications published by Studies Weekly. These are primarily science and social studies publications that cover the state standards at each grade level. Students can take assessments online, read all the content, search the content topically, take advantage of speed reading, or fluency, tools, point and click for on demand vocabulary and pronunciation. Developing readers can even have eStudiesWeekly read the content to them as the words light up on the screen.

3. What motivated you to put together the project?
Teachers have expressed a need for powerful online components that do more than deliver a PDF version of the print media. We've developed eStudiesWeekly to help teachers use time saving tools that help them have more time for their students. If a teacher can spend 15 minutes one-on-one with a student that she would have had to spend grading assessments, then we feel we've accomplished one of our goals.

4. Who is the targeted audience? Who will benefit and how?
The target audience of eStudiesWeekly are the print subscribers to our publications. There are 1.5 million students in grades K-6 that use Studies Weekly on a weekly basic to learn required learning objectives.

eStudiesWeekly is an augmentation of all the Studies Weekly content. We realize that it may not be in the next 2 years, but eventually more and more of educational content will be accessed online. We're building eStudies in preparation for that day and we're off to a good start.

Eventually, we think the day will come when we will deliver all or most of our content exclusively online. When that day comes, we'll be competing not only with other online systems, but with teachers themselves. Due to the capabilities inherent in multimedia platforms, economic factors may foster the necessity to transfer more and more of the responsibility of teaching required learning standards to the medium itself. In the future, online system that incorporate video presentations of master educators combined with media of all other forms, will be the most efficient way to transfer required knowledge to students.

However, one of the biggest challenges will be to develop systems that adapt to the individual aptitudes and capabilities of students. Currently, only teachers are intelligent enough to do this, but their ability to do this varies greatly. With computer-based systems this may be accomplished by providing a multitude of choices at each learning juncture by which the learner will self navigate to fulfill their utmost potential, yet still accomplish the goals set forth in the frameworks mandated by the state. The pace and depth of learning will finally be determined exclusively by the learner. Without computer-based individualized instruction that is scalable to accommodate an unlimited number of students we will not move forward in our effectiveness in educating our society to fulfill its highest potential.



This is not to say that computers will replace educators. This is to say that computers will enable society to extend the reach and influence of our greatest educators. Computers will give these great teachers access to unlimited teaching resources to teach an unlimited student audience.

Like all potentially good things there is an opposite negative potential. If this model is brought to maturity and offered to the public by a small number of providers—presumably large corporations and/or government agencies—there is an enormous potential for large scale bias transfer. Instead of our current system that relies on the collective goodwill and sensibilities of millions of educators, the future computer-based system would be controlled exclusively by relatively few people. This group that would choose tomorrow's educators and learning systems may have more direct influence on the minds of young people then any group in history. If this happens it may be said at some future point, "Never have so many been influenced, for good or for ill, by so few." That is the risk.

However, if competition is maintained among providers the dynamics of the free market system will as always safeguard the best interest of our common welfare.

With all this we're talking about what might happen in the future. Since this is the present, we believe that magazines with textbook content that is updated only as needed is the most efficient curriculum delivery system available. The magazines cover the standards; for the same cost as one textbook you can subscribe for 12 years; they are more fun; they don't require user names or passwords; you don't need the latest download of Flash in order to run them; no hard disk is required; no screen is needed; and they're available right now for an affordable subscription rate.

5. Is eStudiesWeekly mobile-friendly?
eStudiesWeekly is designed to be used on a classroom or home computer. However, we're just getting started. Later we hope to develop lots of other games and content that may be used on mobile devices, Kindles, iPads, etc.

Additional bio details:
Ed Rickers is a self-taught publisher / entrepreneur who started the business in his basement based on a publishing concept that was proven by his father-in-law a retired educator of 32 years. Paul Thompson (father-in-law) published Utah Studies Weekly, the first Studies Weekly publication, from 1984 to 1998. In 1998, Ed Rickers got involved and started hiring teachers, writers, and artists to create textbook substitutes in newspaper format that would teach state history to fourth grade students. Eventually this model was expanded to K-6 social studies and science. There were other relatives of Paul Thompson that also started publishing on the same concept at the same time. Eventually, Rickers' company acquired the other Studies Weekly publishing companies from the other relatives and has been building the Studies Weekly brand nationwide under one banner now since 2007.

Mobile Learning: Is It Doing What It’s Supposed To?

Is mobile learning really doing what it’s supposed to be doing? The core allure of mobile learning is that you can engage in substantive, meaningful learning any time and any place. Ideally, mobile content and instructional strategies effectively create conditions for learning – you’re engaged, the content is relevant, you’re able to connect it to applications and real-life settings that mean something to you, and the activities prepare you to succeed in any outcomes assessment you might have to do. Interactivity, functionality, convenience, and just-in-time are key watchwords. Colleges and universities are using mobile applications for their online MBA programs, sustainability studies programs and project management, literature courses, and more.

I’d like to take a moment to suggest that mobile learning has yet to live up to its potential. Yes, it’s true that instructional materials are increasingly available, and that one can view presentations, listen to audio, read text, review maps and diagrams, and watch video. But, how often are the activities guided? Where does the material lead?

To ensure you maximize the benefits of m-learning projects, think about incorporating data collection, field work, location-based activities with team-members, sharing information with team members while working in a distributed field-based manner (in multiple locations).

It’s also true that there are any number of programs that provide flash cards, multiple-choice questions, and quizzes that you can take using your handheld. It used to be complicated to do so – it required awkward downloads and frustrating implementation. Now, it’s largely web-based, so all you have to do is access a URL that is mobile-friendly. It’s easy to do, but are the materials any more useful than ones you might access from your laptop? Again, it’s all in the instructional strategy. How are you supposed to interact? How do you keep from being either distracted by the materials, or simply passive?



Smartphones and other handheld devices are much more powerful and more flexible than ever. There are still some significant barriers, though. Let’s look at a few:

---iPhone and iPad do not accommodate Flash.
---BlackBerry apps are limited.
---Some screens are small and when you zoom it gets too pixelly for clarity.
---Incompatible text forms (not all eReaders will accommodate pdfs)

Interactivity is valuable. Finding the best way to interact means understanding the conditions and circumstances of your students and their environment.

Finally, the learning community building aspects of mobile learning are most definitely valuable. However, being social networking, simulations, and augmented reality activities need to be designed with care as they can quickly devolve into unfocused activities that do not contribute to achieving learning goals.

The key is to have a very robust instructional strategy and to make sure that the instructional content and the technology are aligned with what you want to accomplish.

OutStart Hot Lava Mobile -- Productivity Software
http://www.outstart.com/about-hot-lava-mobile.htm

ProProfs Free flashcards maker
http://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/

Moodle for Mobile
http://mle.sourceforge.net/mlemoodle/index.php?lang=en&page=start.php
screenshots: http://mle.sourceforge.net/mlemoodle/index.php?lang=en&page=screenshots.php

Quiz Creator by Wondershare
http://www.quiz-creator.com/quiz-maker/

Quiz-Buddy
http://www.quiz-buddy.com/

Hot Potatoes (version 6)
http://hotpot.uvic.ca/index.php

Articulate QuizMaker 09
http://www.articulate.com/products/quizmaker.php
Form-based editing with form view
Free-form editing with slide view
Demo: Think Like a Manager
http://www.articulate.com/products/demos/quizmaker/Manager/quizmaker.html

Softchalk
http://www.softchalk.com
Lessonbuilder for e-learning -- can be used within an LMS and also web-based (friendly for mobile devices)

Death and the Elderly: Caregiving, End-of-Life Issues, Family Challenges Research Paper Flowchart

Health care programs are important, quickly developing and evolving in colleges and universities. Nursing, health care administration, medical coding, nurse practitioners, physician assistant programs, medical billing, urgent care administrators, nursing home administration, and more are growing.

As our health care system changes, and the population ages, it is very important for all health care professionals to understand the inter-relationships between institutions, communities, and families.

Here is an effective flow chart / guide for structuring a research paper on topics dealing with caring for the elderly and end-of-life issues.

1. What is the research problem / social issue? Identify and define clearly.

You may wish to brainstorm and develop bullet points, and even do mind-mapping in order to arrive at a primary thesis / main topic. Here is an example / description of mindmaps and mind mapping: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm

It is often effective to look at the core primary problem and to find an article that contains a very thorough literature review:

Example:
Ethics: Ethical Challenges in the Care of Elderly Persons
Ludwick, R., Silva, M. (December 19, 2003). Ethics Column: "Ethical Challenges in the Care of Elderly Persons". Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Vol. 9 No. 1. Available: www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume92004/No1Jan04/EthicalChallenges.aspx

2. What has been written about the problem in the past? What are the core issues?

It is often good to research and read an array of articles. This is a good opportunity to review articles in a repository.

Example:
National Institute of Health: Bioethics Resources
End of Life / Palliative Care
http://bioethics.od.nih.gov/endoflife.html

May extend to related issues. In this case, it is useful to look at ethical issues with respect to end-of-life issues, and it has to do with younger individuals
Boy On Life Support Stirs Debate On Faith, End-Of-Life Care
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96998483

3. What are the facts? What do we know about the extent of the problem? Studies? Govt statistics? Describe.

Articles:
Examples
Hospitals Ordered to Follow End-of-Life Wishes (with podcast)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126055003

4. What can we find in the following areas?

http://www.fedstats.gov (scroll down and click on the link to the search function)

http://www.childstats.gov

also: investigative journalism? look up documentaries / investigative journalism, etc.

5. What have people done to address the issue? What are the various perspectives / solutions? Describe.

Example:
Caring for the Elderly and the Disabled Is a Family Affair
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/12/caring_for_elderly_and_disable.html

Example:
What to Do the Next Time Dad's Heart Stops (article, with podcast)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105593750

Example:
Ethics policies on euthanasia in nursing homes: a survey in Flanders, Belgium.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17996349

6. Case studies / examples / the human face...

Can search for examples, and also use statistics

Caregiving in the U.S. 2009
http://www.caregiving.org/data/Caregiving_in_the_US_2009_full_report.pdf

7. Your analysis -- what do the facts tell you? What are things that can be done? What is being tried? Is it working? Is it not? Why not?

This is a good place to list the key concerns and considerations that relate to the primary thesis.

For example, you could discuss the different approaches to health care, including home health care, nursing homes, and evaluate which ones work and which ones do not. You could then start to formulate recommendations.

Another example could be that you discuss new trends and issues with family dynamics, work issues, and financial considerations when it comes to the elderly.

Evaluating different responses to caregiver burnout and the psychological dimensions of having elderly family members could be discussed.

8. Conclusions and recommendations.

Your final paragraph should be substantive and it should have an in-depth discussion. Make sure that you use APA style, since this paper deals with social and psychological topics.

You may find a very helpful bibliography-making software program at Bibme.org (http://www.bibme.org). For APA style questions, check out

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

or

APAStyle at http://www.apastyle.org

Assistive Technologies for Online Learning

For many -- not just those with special needs -- participating in an online course is very difficult without assistive technologies. Augmentive and alternative communication products can help students with disabilities. It is useful, however, to look at some assistive technologies as effective for learners who have specific learning preferences and who may benefit from being able to access content in more than one format.

Take a look at the different assistive technologies that are available. You may be surprised how affordable they are, and how helpful they might be for you, especially with respect to keyboards, touchscreens, screen-readers (and "talking books"), and speech recognition.

Vision
BAUM Retec AG: Products and services for the visually impaired (Germany)
http://www.baum.de/cms/en/

Claro Software: speech technology, image technology and touch technology.
http://www.clarosoftware.com/

Dolphin screen-reader with Braille and speech support:
http://www.yourdolphin.com/products.asp?cat=1

Biggy:
Provides large cursors
http://rjcooper.com/biggy/

Dolphin Oceanic Ltd.: .Magnifies the screen or allows users to listen with screen readers and experience refreshable Braille. Dolphin software also creates altformat reading materials for people with vision impairments or dyslexia - Braille, large print, DAISY talking books or MP3s.
http://www.yourdolphin.com/

Enabling Technologies, Inc.: Braille embossers / printers
http://www.brailler.com/

Extra Corporation (Japanese): Jaws for Windows in Japanese
http://www.extra.co.jp/

Freedom Scientific Products
http://www.freedomscientific.com/product-portal.asp

Freedom Scientific Products for Blindness
JAWS® screen reading software
PAC Mate Omni™ accessible Pocket PC
MAGic® screen magnification software
PEARL® portable reading solution
OpenBook® scanning and reading software
SARA™ scanning and reading appliance
PAC Mate™ Portable Braille Displays
Focus Braille Displays
Focus 40 Blue Wireless Bluetooth Braille Display
FSReader DAISY player
StreetTalk™ VIP GPS solution
ScanTalker® talking barcode reader solution
FSTTY deaf-blind telephone communications
FaceToFace™ deaf-blind personal communications

Freedom Scientific Products for Low Vision

TOPAZ® desktop video magnifier
TOPAZ® Connectivity Pack
ONYX® Portable Video Magnifiers
PEARL™ portable reading solution
SAPPHIRE® Handheld Video Magnifier
RUBY® Handheld Video Magnifier
SARA™ scanning and reading appliance
MAGic® screen magnification software


GW Micro: Window-Eyes, Notetakers, DAISY Readers, Braille Displays, Low Vision
http://www.gwmicro.com/

Hearing

Close-captioning software
http://www.cpcweb.com/

Speech Recognition and Assistive Writing

Speech recognition is often considered as an assistive writing tool for people with learning disabilities such as:

Dyslexia-- a disability in which a person has trouble reading words, sentences, or paragraphs.

Dysgraphia-- a writing disability in which a person finds it hard to form letters correctly or write within a defined space.

Acapela Group: Text to speech solutions
http://www.acapela-group.com/

Dexterity and Mobility

Applied Human Factors: screen keyboard computer access
http://ahf-net.com/

Madentec Ltd.: New keyboards and joysticks
http://www.madentec.com/intro/

Origin Instruments: The HeadMouse Extreme replaces the standard computer mouse for people who cannot use or have limited use of their hands.
http://orin.com/

Tobii Technology: Tobii Technology specializes in eye tracking and eye control. This technology makes it possible for computers to know exactly where users are looking.
http://www.tobii.com/corporate/start.aspx

Learning

Metroplex Voice Computing, Inc.: Speech-recognition mathematics
http://metroplexvoice.com/

textHelp
Browsealoud is designed to improve website accessibility for those who struggle to read content online. It works by reading website content aloud in a high quality, human-sounding voice at no cost to the end user and zero implementation for the web owner.
http://www.browsealoud.com
http://www.texthelp.com/

Language and Communication

ZYGO: The Optimist-MMX is usable like a laptop from the keyboard. It can easily convert to a touch-screen tablet. It's durable, drop and spill resistent, and will withstand the demands of every day use.
http://zygo-usa.com/

Capstone / Research Paper Guide: Sustainable Business

New degree and certificate programs that focus on sustainability and sustainable business continue to gain traction in the economy, particularly as there continues to be a need for energy efficiency, cost-savings, and positive public relations.

Many schools require capstone projects and extensive research papers. For example, Anaheim University offers a graduate diploma in sustainable management, and has a choice of two capstone projects. Dominican University requires either a service-learning practicum, which can be either an internship or a capstone project. The University of Denver's master's degree in Environmental Policy and Management offers an emphasis in Energy and Sustainability.

Planning your capstone / research project:

Primary thesis: start with a clear statement, and then narrow it down. Make sure your thesis gives an indication of the possibilities contained in the project.

Introductory paragraph: Include your thesis statement, and be sure to provide details and a general overview of the scope of your research paper.

Engaging Opening: Start with a clear statement of why this matters, and show it with an illustrative scene or reference to a core or controversial paper.

Definition: What is sustainability today? Why does it matter? Definition section.

Your focus: Your sustainability focus. Describe your focus and goals in an in-depth way.

Background and contexts. Provide give sufficient background, details, and history of the particular issues you're exploring. Sources can include statistics, journal articles, government documents, news sources, reliable websites.

Literature review / history of the idea: who has written on your topic? what have they said? Sources: refereed journals, You can use blogs and opinions, but it is important to discuss their agendas and bias.

**Importance / Priorities / Issues that come to the surface
**Conflicts / controversies

Case Study Analysis?

Elements to Include:
**Sustainability Project Goals / Vision / Core Mission
**Project Overview
**Review of the Project Elements
**Sequence / Timing / Project planning

Conclusion and Recommendations: What makes your capstone or research project valuable is a combination of the following items: a) thorough investigation of your primary thesis; b) solid research in multiple databases and sources; c) reliable, credible sources; d) insightful analysis; e) creative, innovative conclusion and recommendations.

New Directions in Certificates and Degree Programs

College degrees and certificate programs are constantly evolving to meet the ongoing and emerging needs of people seeking to keep their skills up to date. The recent economic crises, combined with an awareness of human impact on the environment have led to a new surge of innovation and new programs. Here are new directions in degrees and certificates programs.

Environmental LeadershipEven before the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, there was a push to establish programs that examine the impact of human activity on the earth, and to bring together an interdisciplinary set of courses covering global and local interdependencies and the decision-making processes that are used to interlink the interests in a positive way. Focus areas include economic development, environmental science, energy policy, trade and commercial practices, ethics, responsible technology, climate change controversies, innovative entrepreneurship, and community sustainability.

An example of a program that falls into this category is Naropa University's MA in Environmental Leadership. The MA in Environmental Leadership is a "two-year, 39-credit residential program comprised of semester-long courses and an eight-day summer field course that involves a three-day wilderness solo. In the final year, students apply their leadership skills to a collaborative project within an organizational or community setting." (from the website). Naropa University is located in Boulder, CO. It is unfortunate that this program is residential; there are many ways to collaborate on projects in a distributed setting.

Environmental Design
Community planning, environmental science, economic development, and architecture come together to focus on all-encompassing "green design" -- not just for commercial, industrial, or trade, but also for residential and community development purposes. What is the best way to educate children in a way that optimizes learning environments, while maximizing energy efficiency, facilitating parental / family involvement, in a sustainable economic environment? Environmental design looks at how to facilitate functionality so that the processes and contexts allow the elements within a society to achieve sustainability goals.

University of Massachusetts Online offers a number of programs dealing with sustainability and the environment, including three launched in 2009 . They have a number of courses and certificate programs that involve green building, LEED certification, and a green built environment.

Sustainable Hospitality and TourismYou might be surprised to see the ways that the hospitality industry has transformed itself to achieve increased efficiencies and to respond to the need to be as green and sustainable as possible. The person entering the hospitality and tourism fields must be aware of how technology is being used to promote to market properties and programs, and how aggregators / bulk discounters have transformed the markets. Property managers must be able to implement and administer the "green" operations that incorporate alternative / renewable energy, waste reduction procedures, environmentally friendly chemicals and coolants, low-water plumbing, and locally-sourced inputs. In addition, hospitality professionals must understand the best ways to accommodate the evolving needs of conferences and conventions and to provide infrastructure for hybrid face-to-face / distance (web-conferencing, streaming media) delivery modes.

An example of a program / course in this category is LSM Business School's Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Sustainable Communities
Sustainability in difficult economic times may mean dramatic changes in the services that a community provides, as well as a vision for how to change and incorporate new technologies. A community that finds itself suddenly unsustainable may have to seek guidance in the following areas: innovative approaches to employment creation, launching and supporting web businesses, reconfigured educational structures and delivery, green building, alternative and renewable energy sources, reconfigured social safety nets, invigorating inclusion in training programs, community-centric law enforcement, smartgrids and smart growth.

A number of colleges and universities offer courses in green, sustainable building design, which often incorporates renewable energy. UC-Davis Extension has a certificate course in green buildings and sustainable design as a part of a cluster of sustainable programs certificates. Newer programs will need to metamorphose to incorporate innovative systems and "smart" systems that function not only to monitor and control, but also to link together previously unrelated activities in a kind of green energy mash-up.

Sustainable Health
For health care to be sustainable, it has to make sense on many different levels. The bottom line is that appropriate and effective access must be expanded. For example, it is important for the health system to avoid an over-reliance on hospitals and in hospital emergency rooms as sources for primary care. The trends now are to move primary care to urgent care facilities and even pharmacies for effective "one-stop shopping." There is also a trend toward expanded home health care to avoid, delay, or minimize institutionalization. Ethical issues, especially unexpected ones, are emerging. End-of-life issues, privacy, impact of new technologies, debates about medication, are a few.

Many programs incorporate public health care administration and health care infomatics. However, fewer programs focus on sustainability and bring in the interdisciplinary approach needed to fully appreciate the changes that will occur in the future. California State University East Bay's Management of Health Care Administration does include courses in sustainable and integrated health care. It could be argued that it's important to aggressively pursue more interdisciplinary elements, and to include psychology, sociology, ethics, and gerontology in addition to the other options.

Community, Environmental, Psychological, Social InterventionsThe media has made what was once hidden and denied a public preoccupation, if not a full-blown spectacle. There are popular web-streamable documentaries / news programs (60 Minutes, Vanguard, etc.) and reality television featuring (Intervention, Hoarders, Obsessed, etc.), along with countless blogs, wikis, and social networking sites. The result is a surge in demand for an interdisciplinary approach to complex problems that involve all levels of society, from the individual to family members, social services, businesses, and often even law enforcement.

While it's not a degree or certificate program, USC Marshall's "Reconnecting to Remain Competitive" event captures the spirit of what it will take to be able to adapt to changes and times.

Enhanced Recoveries and Community RevitalizationsCreating jobs for a community is not simply a matter of providing tax incentives to attract a manufacturing facility to your town. The new jobs are for the new economy, and while one might argue that they're still service-based, they involve an entirely different skill set. Communities must attract web businesses, and they must have the infrastructure capabilities to meet needs of the distributed workplace. More companies are hiring home-based workers, and where there are facilities, they often come in the form of server farms, or administrative offices, all of which have high energy and internet infrastructure needs. New education programs must provide students with opportunities to learn the new technologies, but, even more importantly, to display them in the form of portfolios and projects. "Show what you know" is the new assessment dictum.

Community and Economic Development Certificate Program at Penn State University is an example of an existing program that does not specifically relate to sustainability. However, with a flexible five-course program, courses themselves can start to incorporate new views and vistas. Technical and career colleges such as TCI offer courses and programs that can be combined with liberal arts programs to help with the nuts and bolts of economic development at the state, community, or neighborhood level.