Learning 2.0 eBook - Free
By jtcobb on Feb 6, 2008 in Trends & Theories
I’ve put together an eBook based on a presentation on Learning 2.0 that I did back in the fall (original presentation available on SlideShare). This is a very nice looking document–for which the credit goes entirely to the editor, Celisa Steele. I hope it is also a helpful document for those who may be new to Learning 2.0 and social media in general or who are looking for a good tool to help educate others in their organization.
The main downside is that the file size is quite a bit larger than I had expected. This is punishment, I suppose, for doing the work in Microsoft Office and not simply throwing up a wiki. In any case, you can download it directly (shouldn’t be an issue for broadband users) or find out a bit more about the book and smaller file options in the resources area.
I welcome comments on two fronts (well, actually all fronts, but these two in particular):
- If you find the book helpful, I’d be grateful if you would share how it was helpful. Conversely, if you find it lacking, I welcome suggestions on how to improve it.
- If you happen to have any insight on how to stop file-size bloat when printing from Word into Adobe Distiller, I’d welcome that too. We’ve tried all the usual things you would try, e.g. adjusting the conversion settings, etc. No dice.
Or, if you just have general thoughts on Learning 2.0–whether for associations or any other type of organization–please share those as well.
P.S. - If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the feed.
Related Items and Updates from the Blogosphere
Business Week: 10 Talking Points for Davos by Don Tapscott: Tapscott’s concept of the “Wikiversity” is a reflection of Learning 2.0 thinking.
The Digital Curator in Your Future: A posting from Steve Rubel on Micro Persuasion. The “curator” concept is mentioned in the Learning 2.0 book as well as on my earlier posting on George Siemens connectivism theory. This is an area where I think we will see much intersection between marketing and learning.
Mitch Weisburgh | Feb 6, 2008 | Reply
I find that when I write in Word, then open the file in Open Office, and then save to HTML, the file sizes are a lot smaller. I use a lot of Word shortcuts that don’t exist in Open Office which is why I end up doing the writing in Word.
Michele Martin | Feb 7, 2008 | Reply
Great resource, Jeff! I’m jealous–wish I’d written it!
Per your questions, I think what I like most are the clear descriptions of the different tools and the examples of how they can be used for learning. In a few places I thought that for real newbies, it might be helpful if the language was simplified, but that may be because I’m on a quick recently to find the simplest way possible to describe these things. Overall it’s a great piece of work–really well done!
jtcobb | Feb 8, 2008 | Reply
Michele–Thanks so much. I agree the language could be simpler in many places. Always a hard balance to achieve and something to keep striving for. The parts towards the end are the ones I wonder about the most. I think Fisher’s concept of the teacher as “network administrator” and Siemens’ of the teacher as “curator” should be intuitive to most readers, but I’m not entirely sure. And I am certain I have not managed to articulate Stephen Downes’ network vs. group perspective in the most accessible way. Still, I thought it was important to introduce some of the conceptual thinking that is going on around these new approaches to learning. It’s a start, and with the exception of dealing with the Microsoft/Adobe issues, it was fun to do.
Jeff
B.J. Schone | Feb 8, 2008 | Reply
Hi Jeff,
First, thanks for the eBook. I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but I really like what I see so far. Second, regarding your PDF question, I highly recommend using CutePDF to create PDFs from Word. It’s free and I’ve had great luck with it.
Thanks again,
B.J. Schone
Dave Ferguson | Feb 8, 2008 | Reply
Jeff, not only a great summarization but an admirable example of a digital book. (Besides noting it on my blog, I sent a link to three people within 30 minutes of reading it.)
While some people like to mess around with tools (or HTML) for fun, many more, I think, have things that need fixing or improving. You show how learning has moved beyond just shop class (instructor-lead), and provide both examples and suggestions centered on problems and opportunities.
Nancy Mikkelsen | Feb 8, 2008 | Reply
WOW! This is a great little resource as some of us try to explain the whole concept of social media and learning tools.
I did not find anything too overwhelming(but I am familiar with most of it). I loved your boxed summaries with ideas also.
It would be WONDERFUL if it was able to be transferred into a different size perhaps so it was not so long- lots of pages to print - even double sided - and a lot of people refuse to read online. Just a little thing!!
Thank you for doing this and I hope that (with proper credit)it is ok for me to use this as a tool to teach others!!
jtcobb | Feb 12, 2008 | Reply
Apologies for the late reply to the comments. I switched over to my own installation of WordPress recently, and because it allows some comments through without moderation and not others (a spam prevention measure), I didn’t realize there were a number of comments queued up.
Mitch and B.J.–Thanks for the PDF tips. I had wondered aloud about whether Open Office would do a better job, though at that point we were so far down the road on it that it seemed time to say enough is enough. I’ve tried some of Cute’s other products. Will give the PDFer a try.
Nancy–I have since uploaded this to Scribd, which provides for some different options with respect to viewing/accessing the doc.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2061591/Learning-20-for-Associations-eBook-v1
And the original PPT w/script is available for download on Slideshare:
http://www.slideshare.net/jtcobb/learning-20-for-associations/
I am hoping one of these two options will give folks what the need to view the doc and/or re-work it as needed (keeping the Creative Commons license in mind, of course).
Thanks to everyone for the comments and trackbacks!
Jeff
Pete Wilson | Jul 9, 2008 | Reply
Nice little resource there, thanks a lot
Gulzara | Jul 16, 2008 | Reply
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