{"id":17896,"date":"2014-07-02T14:25:41","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T14:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lern.org\/?p=1491"},"modified":"2021-08-02T12:23:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T17:23:15","slug":"new-etools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lern.com\/lern\/new-etools\/","title":{"rendered":"New eTools"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"etools\"<\/a>New eTools for creating online content are reshaping teaching and learning, says Les Howles, a\u00a0 leading expert in multimedia learning.\u00a0 Howles will be a major speaker at the big LERN annual conference in Orlando, Nov. 21-23, 2014<\/a>.
\n\u201cMost of these eTools are inexpensive or free. They’re easy to use and allow rapid development of quality eLearning materials,\u201d says Howles, who works for the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
\neTools for online instruction are a growing genre of software applications for instructors and other professionals who want to create engaging content for blended and online courses.\u00a0 Many of these applications are server-based while others are downloadable apps to install on computers and mobile devices such as iPads.\u00a0 Gone are the days when you had to work with a programmer or techie to create engaging online learning materials.
\neTools can be used to create a variety of online learning content.\u00a0 For example there are eTools\u00a0 for creating online lectures, quizzes and assessments, interactive multimedia, games and more.
\nOne popular eTool is Voice Thread.\u00a0 Voice Thread allows groups of students and instructors to embed voice comments, images and text into existing online content, providing a highly interactive and collaborative multimedia alternative to text only comments used in many online courses.
\n\u201ceTools offer new capabilities, making online learning much more interactive and engaging,\u201d says Howles.
\nOne trend we’re starting to see more of is the integration of eTools into course management systems making it part of the online classroom.\u00a0 \u201cCourse management system providers such as Blackboard and Desire2Learn are being pressured to better integrate third party eTools for content development as well as the learning resources produced by them,\u201d says Howles.\u00a0 Where this not possible students can access custom produced eLearning content by having it hosted on an organization\u2019s web server or on a vender’s cloud-based repository then linking to it from within the course management system.
\n“eTools can produce online learning activities that help learners interact with course content in\u00a0 new and more engaging ways to promote deeper learning,” Howles notes.\u00a0 Many well designed eTools incorporate best practices in instructional design through the use of templates and pre-formatted content objects.\u00a0 These applications often include placeholders for text, images, quiz questions, audio, video or whatever content the instructor wishes to include in the learning activity.\u00a0 The ability to easily embed and integrate various content elements to create engaging, media rich and interactive online learning experiences will only get better in the future, Howles predicts.\u00a0 He suggests that the next level of using eTools will make it easy for instructors to curate and integrate content created by others to supplement their own original material.\u00a0 Howles contends that there is new work to be done as we learn how to exploit the pedagogical capacities of these new tools.
\nLes Howles<\/b> is a leader in both online education and interactive multimedia design. He is currently the Director of Distance Education Professional Development at the University of Wisconsin Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies. He has more than 25 years of experience as an instructor, designer and technology consultant in corporate, government, medical and academic settings. In addition to teaching blended and online courses, he leads project teams in the development of online instructional programs, multimedia applications and other professional development experiences. Les has a graduate degree in educational technology from the University of Oregon and undergraduate degrees in education and educational psychology. He has been a frequent presenter at national, local and regional conferences, as well as a guest speaker at various universities. Howles will be a major speaker at the big LERN annual conference in Orlando, Nov. 21-23, 2014.
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