Somewhat random (but hopefully relevant) information

Something I have to constantly struggle with is that the media is not nearly as important as the instructional methods. I like the "tools". I like the "newest, latest, greatest." It's easy for me to become so mesmerized by the tools that I forget about the methods. For this reason, I appreciated the article by Susan Ambrose and Joel Smith about using new media for instructional purposes. The authors discussed the lens Carnegie Mellon uses to view new advances in media. The bottom line is that the media must positively impact learning transfer. That is what I need to always remember. This afternoon I also found another interesting site with information about educational technology as it is practiced in other countries. Ferl, (Further Education Resources for Learning), is a UK based organization managed by BECTA. It "is an information service for all staff working within the Post-Compulsory Education sector." It includes three main sections: Teaching and Learning, Policies and Strategies, and Technology for E-Learning. Both the Teaching and Learning and the Technology for E-Learning sections have a link to a Teaching and Learning resources bank containing links to over 2800 teaching resources. The resources bank includes quite a range of topics. Today (June 24th, 2004) the first page listed a link to two reports about learning styles and a link to the British Meat Education Service. The many other resources available through this site should help keep me busy for some time.