Learning, Technology & Change

What is becoming a common theme amongst every traditional business that is affected by the internet. Middlemen are replaced by the open and accessible framework of the internet. The press and the business of journalism are being transformed (just watch CNN anchors read tweets on-air). A recent paper by economist Joel Waldfogel shows the results of his study around the music industry. The claims made by the industry around the internet is that piracy is destroying culture and music itself. Loss of sales by major record companies have always been greatly exaggerated but other claims are suspect as well. The growing trend is that mega music vendors are down, but the true question is whether there is less music available. Independant music labels using the power of the internet can make good music flourish much easier. Youtube and yes torrent sites make it easier to get music into the hands of more people. In the end getting good music to the masses is a key measure.Artists can then ca...

The Toronto District school board is looking to expand their TV screens in schools pilot project. School news and student-generated content is broadcasted to screens in the halls. Now the company which put the TVs in place would like to take it to the next level and show ads for 30% of the time. Approximately 2hrs a day. Naturally the school would receive some ad-revenue. There is a large divide over the potential harm this would do. The very nature of ads are to influence behavior. Typically to influence consumer behaviour. Should that influence be exerted on impressionable minds? Yes, they do see ads online and on TV at home, so why should school be any different? Ads have been used in the classroom to teach media awareness, but it is not a far cry to see a day where teachers would be unable to critique ads for fear of losing sponsorship or ad revenue. A second point is regarding the amount of revenue given to the school. It's being reported that each school would receive 120...

Apple TV just updated with MLB TV and NBA League Pass. This is big news! This means big trouble for cable companies right? Not so fast. NBA League Pass is designed to compliment your cable subscription. Any games that  are broadcast nationally are not available on league pass. So if you're a fan of your local team, you're likely out of luck. So long as the NBA employs this policy home team suckers like me are without a real online alternative. http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/09/apple-tv-apps/

At this time of year, it's natural that our sense of charity is heightened. The weather is turning colder, we spend time thinking about how fortunate we are. Many often respond to this by volunteering. It's a great way to give back, pay our good fortunes forward and generally feel good about contributing to society. The problem is that with volunteering, your options can be limited. While volunteering at a soup kitchen or sorting food at the food bank is valuable and rewarding work it can be problematic. The hours required may not fit with your work or family schedule, leaving you with only five hours to volunteer a month versus 15-20hrs on a "non-traditional schedule". Physical labour or administrative work can get tedious, while the end result is good, the monotony can get to you. Well of Change aims to bridge this gap.  By looking at your own unique skills you can surely find something that you can share with others to raise money for a good cause. Even if you ...

No matter what a charity a does, who leads, where it serves, nine times out of ten when it seeks assistance the question posed is: "What's your efficiency?" People often expect charities and nonprofits to to have 0 administrative costs which is impossible. This isn't a sustainable practice for any charity looking to make a large impact. There needs to be people dedicated full-time to a worthy endeavour. Few people have the means to make this happen. There have been some disappointing headlines recently about charities with massive golden parachutes and less than stellar visibility.  The efficiency of some large charitable organizations running lotteries and big galas is suspect. While the non-profit sector is not where you should look to get rich, you shouldn't have to live at the poverty-line either. Enter MoneySense , they looked at the the top charities in Canada in terms of the cost of raising $100. The goal is to provide increased transparency for poten...

In business, you get what the market believes you are worth. This is why so many website logos have reflections, and use a similar font. This is why there are so many "me-toos". They know what those solutions are worth, and they become a checklist for how to get things done. All the little things they do, we'll do. Whether it's valuable or not. This month's big question at the Learning Circuits blog is around the effectivness of audio in eLearning. When should a professional voice be used? Should it be dropped altogether? Is text-to-speech sufficient? Looking at this from the business-side, less from an academic effectiveness, I think about: What will the client think if we drop the audio narration?  When you go to a restaurant and see that the portions have been reduced, do you think it's because cost of goods have gone up? Is the restaurant trying to help me lose weight? Or - they're cutting back to save a few bucks. That's exactly what ma...

Some interesting insight on consolidation by lrnr . This was sparked by the acquisition of Learn.com by Taleo. It seems like a a natural progression given the rest of the market. An interesting point Ani makes is that enterprise consolidation seems diametrically opposed to the web's social software which takes a more plug and play stance (read: open social ). I think this all comes down to the almighty dollar. Enterprise consolidation is all about fully branding customers with a complete "solution". Not leaving an inch in related verticals where a competitor could unseat them. With Many of the social apps are small startups, looking to join a bustling ecosystem. The best way to do that is to play well with others. In an enterprise license what should small niche players do? Integrate with a big guy and hope they acquire you? or stay open and adaptable to the entire system? which leaves you vulnerable if the established players decided to build or buy. Working with p...