Citation
(2009), "What's on the web", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 23 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2009.08123bag.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
What's on the web
Article Type: What’s on the web From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 23, Issue 2
Informal research
If you want to research into any aspect of learning then infed may be a good place to start. infed (the informal education homepage) was established in 1995 as an open, independent and not-for-profit site. Put together by a small group of educators, it is now accessed around 6 million times a year.
There is an excellent search facility and a wealth of material available. The site is not overcrowded with pop-ups or unnecessary illustrations and is clean and modern. If there is one criticism it is in the insistence of having everything written in lower case letters – this sometimes looks great in advertising design but doesn’t really seem appropriate in an education context.
Exchange of views
www.corporatelearningforum.com
The Corporate Learning Forum is a web site (they, rather irritatingly, call it a repository) for members to post questions about challenging issues affecting the training industry. From questions about corporate university curriculum planning and instructional design methodologies to the latest trends in instructor-led, web-based and mobile learning, there is a lot here.
It is an American site so the information is US-centric but nevertheless useful. Membership costs $50 – they acknowledge that it is a “for-profit” venture but state rightly that prices are kept low to attract small enterprises. The key element is the listserv forum where members can exchange information and answer each other’s questions.
Nice clean design and lots of information. American businesses should definitely consider it. Others around the world might want a trial explore first.
Odious comparisons
Distance learning is still a popular strand of the learning world and just-compare.com claims to be the price comparison site for distance learning colleges and courses.
They offer to compare some of the most popular colleges to help you find the course that’s right for you. “By comparing the courses offered by multiple colleges we can find you the best available price. Enter the details of what you are looking for into our easy to understand search engine and you will soon be comparing courses from some of the most popular colleges in the distance learning sector.” Well there’s not much substance here. After a period spent entering unnecessary contact details, a search under computer basics came up with just four quotes when there are hundreds of places offering ECDL and similar courses out there. More sophisticated course-searches do not seem to be available. A waste of half an hour’s research time.
If you bild it
The new British Institute for Learning and Development has replaced the British Learning Association. For once we are not sure what to make of this site. The home page is perfectly adequate but when you drill down things get a bit slippery at first. BILD is both a charity and a membership organization and aims to “address the needs and raise the status of all those involved in learning and development”. It has the usual worthy mission, values, aims etc. couched in the usual jargon. Further in and there are some excellent clear definitions and explanations of facets of today’s complex learning world. A real mixed bag this site, but worth persevering with.
Learning transfer
Transfer of learning is the phenomenon of learning more quickly and developing a deeper understanding of the task if we bring some knowledge or skills from previous learning. This may seem simple but there are a number of more complex issues attached.
This web site put together by Dr Roger Greenaway a trainer of trainers, is a comprehensive review and source for material on this important subject. It is very easy to access and dip into and has a short review of each contribution so that you can get a quick idea of where to go first if time is tight. A good resource this.
Best of all
For a particularly interesting and useful site you could always try the Emerald one!
If you have any favorite (or otherwise) sites that you would like us to review on these pages, or wish us to consider your own site, please drop us an e-mail and we will ask our reviewers to check them out.