2.+Key+Features

What Are The Key Features of the Baby Boomers Community? In the major OECD countries more than 40% of teachers are over 50 (Mayer 2008) and it is becoming increasingly important that all educators are conversant with Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies. The realisation that today's twenty-first-century students are digital natives who have lived their entire lives exposed to current technology, forces educators to find ways to use technology to enhance traditional curriculum. (Adams 2008)

The generation of educators born between 1946-1964 are the senior educators of today. We hope to provide an E-learning community which will provide a simple non-threatening environment for these Baby Boomer educators to explore and experience the world of Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies.

To meet the needs to the users the following features will be made available:  >  > >>     
 * BLOGS: this section will be titled "Sharing Best Practice" to minimise the negative connotation which may be attached to the term "Blog" and encourage users to share their wealth of experience as educators and their successes and challenges with collaborative technology.
 * CALENDAR: Showing upcoming events and community milestones
 * FORUMS: Discussion forums will have distinct topic headings to facilitate ease of navigation by those participants who are unfamiliar with the online forum medium.
 * LIBRARY: Resources such as audio and video downloads, podcasts, text library, slideshows will be stored in a central library
 * LINKS:
 * Jargon will be hyperlinked to the glossary page within Baby Boomers, to aid understanding of unfamiliar terms
 * Relevant links to organisational information such as style guides, internal and external sites will be provided as deemed necessary
 * NETIQUETTE: Guidelines of appropriate behaviour when participating in the community
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">NOTICEBOARDS: Announcements and recent updates will be posted on the homepage
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">RSS FEEDS: Live feeds from relevant global websites
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">SEARCH CAPABILITY: Based on key words, tags and user ratings
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">SELF ASSESSMENT AREA:
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Monthly optional quizzes on tutorial topic of the month will help members track their learning progress.
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">After each Webinar members will be able to access an optional self assessment quiz to check their understanding of the key concepts delivered
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS: Individual groups can develop project areas of interest within Baby Boomers Online. These groups will give participants a central point in which to collaborate.
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">TUTORIALS:
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Proactive communication of upcoming events via email
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Webinars – using video and audio conferencing
 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Embedded instructional video and text from creators such as commoncraft
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