E-Learning Resources
NCSL provides great professional development opportunities for
legislative employees, including staff sections conferences, the annual
meeting, special seminars, and the standing committees. NCSL is working
to develop the capacity to deliver such high quality training programs
to staff who cannot travel.
There are a wide range of e-learning tools that have the potential to dramatically expand NCSL's ability to deliver professional development programs to state legislatures. This page provides information about these tools and resource links to help legislative staff, staff sections, and NCSL identify ways to use these technologies.
What is E-Learning?
 E-learning is an approach to learning that is facilitated by information/communication technology. While it can encompass many different media, its basic purpose is to enable you to receive information and training through your computer or other device, such as an iPod, at your convenience.
For a quick introduction to e-learning, view a 10-minute narrated slide show, Introduction to E-Learning, and download a user's guide, Introduction to E-Learning for Legislative Staff, which highlight these tools.
E-Learning Tools
While you are already using some e-learning tools such as listservs and online discussion forums, there are others that might not be as familiar. These tools include:
- Blog - a website on which information is posted by one or more people, in a journal style, to which others can type in comments at any time; blog is short for web log
- Collaborative Website - a website that serves as a central location for a variety of materials (e.g., participant comments, document files) relating to a project
- Narrated Presentation - a slide presentation that includes audio narration
- Podcasts/Webcast - recorded audio or video presentations that are saved on a website and can be listened to at any time
- RSS Feed - subscriptions that allow you to receive automatic updates from websites of your choice
- Webinar - a live presentation initially shown (and heard) over the computer, which may also be recorded and made available for later viewing on the web
- Web Site Chat - a website on which several people connect simultaneously, and on which any participant can type in comments that appear on all participants’ screens
- Wiki - a website that allows users to remotely post and update content.
|
