BOOKS
Renaissance eLearning
Samantha Chapwick, Jimm Meloy Pfeiffer WileyISBN: 0787971472
This book is a constant source of inspiration. It looks at how popular narratives – movies, books, television, theatre and so on, can be emulated to make a more satisfying and effective learning experience.
Advanced Web-Based Training Strategies
Margaret Driscoll, Saul Carliner Pfeiffer WileyISBN: 0787969796
Good, practical book. Easy to follow with useful chapters on storytelling and contextually based approaches.
The Blended Learning Book
Josh Bersin Pfeiffer WileyISBN: 0787972967
There is lots of best practice in here and some useful stuff on media selection.
The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear
Walter MoersISBN: 0099285320
A book written by a celebrated illustrator and cartoonist, described by Rolling Stone as 'A yarn of drollery, deeper meaning and sheer lunacy'. A unique novel, Moers' imagination is brilliant.
The Art of Looking Sideways
Alan Fletcher Phaidon PressISBN: 0714834491
A virtually indescribable concoction of anecdotes, quotes, images and bizarre facts that offers a wonderfully twisted vision of the chaos of modern life. Fletcher is a renowned designer and art director and the joy of The Art of Looking Sideways lies in its beautiful design.
FILMS AND TELEVISION
The Mighty Boosh
Julian Barratt and Neol Fielding Genius.The Boosh combine surreal comedy, great music, animation, fantastical sets and costume into a fairy-tale take on the world. Populated by monsters, idiots and dreamers, you can never guess where the Boosh will take you. I have massive respect for people who are genuinely multi-talented.
Amelie (2001)
Jean-Pierre JeunetA charming fairy tale of a girl who decides to change the world by changing the lives of the people she knows. The understated use of special effects works really well here. Jeunet’s City of Lost Children is also excellent.
Repo Man (1984)
Alex CoxAlex Cox's directorial debut is a wickedly funny and willfully bizarre tale of disaffected punks, repo men and decomposing alien corpses. I’ve always been fascinated by low budget films, and how you don’t need a huge production budget if you’ve got a good yarn.
Belleville Rendez-vous (2003)
Sylvain ChometA sumptuously animated film with a cracking soundtrack. Filled with inspired, twisted imagery, this nearly dialogue-free film is a crowd-pleaser of unusual power, with the strange, measured pacing of a dream, and a great soundtrack of bizarre alternate-reality '30s jazz.
LINKS
iStockphoto
http://www.istockphoto.comIncredibly cost-effective stock images from as little as $1 each. You now have no excuse for shoddy images in your course! Remember to check the licence agreement.
Mohive
http://www.mohive.comMohive e-Learning Publishing System is a web-based software system used to collaboratively create and publish e-learning. It's one of the best I've seen - the approach they take to QA is superb.
The Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies
http://www.c4lpt.co.ukJane Hart's invaluable site which includes her directory of tools for learning. Jane established C4LPT as a place to keep track of learning trends, technologies and tools. It is one of the most visited learning web sites on the planet.
Prezi
http://prezi.comPrezi is a zooming, panning presentation tool. It allows you to structure a presentation visually, incorporate images and media, and give viewers free or guided navigation through it. Bored of PowerPoint? Give Prezi a try. For more information check out the review on the 'Rob Reviews' page.
Mindmeister
http://www.mindmeister.comA mind mapping application where you can add icons, links and notes. It's collaborative so you can work with colleagues based anywhere in the world and also output the maps in a variety of formats. It has a rather nifty ‘history’ function where you can roll back a mind map and see who added what. Collaboration is the way to go.
The eLearning Network
http://www.elearningnetwork.orgThe eLearning Network (eLN) is a non-profit organisation run by the elearning community for the elearning community. The eLN is the number one source for guidance on best practice and future trends in technology-based learning and development at work, with more than 2500 members in the UK and beyond. I am biased - I'm on the Board!
The Plain English Campaign
http://www.plainenglish.co.ukThe Plain English Campaign is an independent pressure group fighting for public information to be written in plain English. Two excellent free guides are available. Also check out their humorous 'Foot in Mouth' awards.
A searchable micro-blogging application with millions of users. Set up some keyword searches and use it to discover new ideas and technologies (or to stalk your favourite celebrities). Using twitter is like holding your hand under a cascade of thoughts and ideas and seeing what sticks.
Vimeo
http://vimeo.comA great video sharing site. Better than YouTube in that there are fewer adverts, the videos are higher quality and it’s much more attractive. YouTube may have quantity but Vimeo has class.
