A Twitter Experiment June 21, 2009
Posted by cjescribano in Learning, Twitter, change management, experiments.Tags: Twitter
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I have recently started using Twitter as a way of staying on track with my goals.
I’ve never been very disciplined with goals. This blog is the perfect example. You can see when my enthusiasm spikes and I write some posts. And then when my enthusiasm wanes, there are long gaps. I have the best of intentions, but mostly those intentions are overcome by events. Too much going on, so I say, “I’ll write that post tomorrow.” And tomorrow turns into the next day and the next, then the next week and the next. Then the next month. And all those good intentions evaporate into nothingness.
Lately, I’ve come to believe that the way to make a change, to learn something new and make it part of your life is to commit to it daily, to do something toward that goal everyday.
I suppose I could do that here, but Twitter seemed a better approach, more suited to the small steps forward that I think will help me achieve my goals.
So, a week ago, I started off, and for my first goal, I chose communicating more effectively. I am fortunate to work with many effective communicators. And I watch as the people in a meeting hang on every word they say, but turn deaf ears to what I say—even when we’re basically saying the same thing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pitched an idea in a meeting that met with lukewarm reception, and then someone else pitched the same idea a half hour later that was received enthusiastically. So, I decided to focus on this skill of effective communication for a while and see where it takes me.
As guides, I have two books: 1) The Power to Connect by Teresa and Chuck Easler and Words that Change Minds by Shelle Rose Charvet.
Each day, I read from these books and make my notes in Twitter: LLLearningLab. Follow along with me as I work day-by-day to become a better communicator.
Getting Unstuck April 30, 2009
Posted by cjescribano in Web 2.0, training industry.add a comment
This month’s Learning Circuits Big Question asks if we are feeling stuck because of our clients’ or organizations’ insistence on using the same old training approaches.
Unfortunately, that is a common problem that designers face , especially those of us who make it a point to keep up on new thinking and new technology. We’re halfway down a path that our clients, bosses, and even peers are just getting to. We have to wait for them to reach a level of comfort that we’ve been living with for awhile.
But I don’t think we have to stay stuck. We can give our clients and our organizations the benefit of our experience to help them move down that path a bit more quickly.
Here are a couple of strategies that I use to help convince clients, bosses, and peers to try something new.
1) Show, Don’t Tell
After many failed attempts at convincing someone of a great new approach, I’ve come to realize that telling someone about my ideas is generally a waste of time. They’ll argue about it. They’ll list a slew of reasons that it won’t work, and I’ll waste a lot of energy fighting that uphill battle. Luckily, with today’s free and easy-to-use technologies, we don’t have to waste our time telling; we can build a quick prototype to show what we mean.
This “Show” approach worked well recently with a client who wanted an e-learning course on doing business in other countries. He wanted learners to be able to quickly get up-to-speed on common business practices in a country before going there. The more he described his goals, the more I thought that a wiki was a better option than a traditional e-learning. But my client had no idea what a wiki is. So, I went to wikispaces and in about an hour’s time, I set up a prototype using my client’s content. When he saw it, he knew that was exactly what he needed. No arguments. No selling. Just the testimony of something that he could see would work.
2) Talk to your audience’s needs
It’s a basic rule of good design, but something we can forget when in the throes of excitement about a new idea: Know your audience.
Your client, your boss, and your peers have needs. And if you can show them how your approach will meet those needs, then you’ll quickly find resistance replaced with enthusiasm.
Recently, many of my friends have asked, “Why would I want to go on Facebook?” The term “social media” doesn’t mean much to them. They haven’t been out there, so they can’t see its benefits. I ask them: Do you have friends around the world you wish you were in more frequent contact with? Do you wish you were better at staying in touch with people? Do you ever wonder what happened to your best friend from high school? Do you ever wish there was an easy way to share your vacation photos with all of your friends? Suddenly, they’re interested–because I’m talking about things that matter to them.
Be careful with the words you use. Words like “blog,” “wiki,” and “social network” can scare some people away because they can sound like some new teenager trend. Instead, talk about a knowledge repository or a professional community. Listen to what’s important to your clients and colleagues, and be sure to use those same words when you talk about your ideas.
If all else fails…
…Find a community of people to keep you inspired
Even if you’re never able to convince your client or your organization to adopt your exciting new approaches, don’t let that keep you stuck. It’s so easy these days to find like-minded people who will help you grow your talents and keep you inspired.
Not too long after one of my clients told me that they didn’t see any educational uses for Second Life, I met an educational professional who is actively advocating the use of Second Life for educational purposes and helping clients to realize its benefits. He had just spent more time playing and experimenting in Second Life, so he could see possibilities where my client saw obstacles.
Use free software to test out your ideas, and then get feedback and support from other adventurers. The only way to really understand the uses for a new technology is to try it out.
There’s simply no reason at all to stay stuck. It’s just up to you to keep moving forward, and the more you know, the better able you’ll be to drag your clients, bosses, and peers along with you.
Personal Responsibility for Learning September 28, 2008
Posted by cjescribano in Informal learning, Learning.add a comment
As the month of September comes to a close, I thought I’d squeak in my response to the Learning Circuit’s big question on To-Learn Lists. I started by spending some time reading everyone else’s responses, and I learned a lot. Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts and lists.
To-Learn lists can help shorten to-do lists
Like everyone else I believe that knowledge workers need to learn continuously to stay abreast of their industries and that to-learn lists are a good way to do that. I also think that to-learn lists can help us shorten and better target those long to-do lists.
In the old paradigm, managers were responsible for an employee’s learning
Tony’s questions on to-learn lists got me thinking about the whole idea of personal responsibility for learning. In the old paradigm, much of the responsibility for a worker’s learning was on the corporation or the worker’s manager. Human resources and/or managers came up with employees’ learning development plans and decided what learning opportunities to make available: Which classes would be approved for next year?
We should be responsible for our own learning
But those who move up in their careers ultimately realize that the responsibility for learning rests on themselves. And while they may work with their managers to make that learning happen, they no longer rely on their managers to plan their development. In many cases, they guide their managers: Here’s the training I’d like to take this year.
Today’s technologies make it easy to develop a personal learning plan
Today’s technologies have enabled informal learning so that it’s easier than ever to develop and act upon a personal learning plan. The first step, and possibly the hardest step (for me anyway) is to set clear learning goals. But once you know where you’re going, development options are many and mostly free. Based on your goals, you can set up your to-learn list. Then venture out to the wide open Web for blogs, social networks, articles, Webinars, colleagues, wikis, videos, tutorials, and all kinds of resources to help you meet your goals and check off items on your to-learn list. Many people are creating their own Personal Learning Environments to help capture their learning and share it with others. Michelle Martin at the Bamboo Project Blog has a whole section devoted to PLEs, with lots of useful advice for setting one up.
Your personal learning plan is not complete, however, without personal measures of success
In The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, Patrick Lencioni makes the case that managers need to help employees come up with personal measures of success so that they can objectively know for themselves when they’re succeeding. Taking that a step further, I’d say that those who want to move up in their careers need to develop their own personal measures of success. They may want to share those with their managers so that they can be sure to align with their organization’s requirements. But at the end of the day, as managers come and go, organizations change directions, new technologies arise, and industries transform overnight, each of us needs to have our own standards and take the steps needed to meet those standards.
So, here is my to-do list, inspired by the Learning Circuits Big Question on To-Learn Lists:
1. Define my goals.
2. Make a to-learn list based on those goals.
3. Identify ways to check off the items on my to-learn list.
4. Define my personal measures of success.
5. Set up a Personal Learning Environment to capture and share what I learn.
A Social Learning Instructional Strategy July 22, 2008
Posted by cjescribano in Instructional Strategies.add a comment
- Facilitator is conducting a workshop in a classroom.
- As big issues related to the subject matter arise, the facilitator captures these on a flipchart.
- The facilitator then e-mails the flipcharted big issues to a group of experts (convened ahead of time).
- The experts respond to the e-mail by entering their thoughts and perspectives on either a discussion board or a wiki.
- The next day in the workshop, the facilitator provides a brief summary of the experts’ responses.
Of course, there are lots of alternatives for implementing this strategy. For example, I could see having the workshop participants reviewing the discussion board/wiki in the evening, adding their thoughts, and then coming to class the next day with their own summary.
And Jay mentions at the end of his post some other alternatives, like having Instant Messenger available as a back channel for virtual dialog with the experts and others.
Second Life Roundtable: Best Practices, Security Concerns, and Future Developments July 1, 2008
Posted by cjescribano in Second Life.1 comment so far
The Second Life Roundtable: Best Practices, Security Concerns, and Future Developments was held in Second Life on Monday, June 30, 2008, as part of a week-long celebration of Second Life’s fifth anniversary.
The event was done in Second Life, but for people who aren’t able to get into Second Life, a GoToMeeting Web conference was available so we could see what was going on in Second Life.
Overall, I have to say that I’m not sure that Second Life was a good venue for this particular event. The speakers’ avatars just stood on a stage and talked. Some had slides and some didn’t. The slides were hard to see because depending on the view of the room, they were far away or off to the side. So, I think a simple web conference with a teleconference line would have worked just as well.
There were several references to the difficulties that corporate people may have in getting into Second Life. However, it seemed like these were more related to security and firewall issues than the graphics card issue that some of us have experienced.
Here are my notes from the presentations:
1. Presentation from Michelin: Enterprise Architecture training
Phillipe Barreaud, Michelin
Project they worked with on IBM.
Feedback from attendees: The interactivity and game-like feel kept people engaged.
Best practice: They allowed 5 – 10 minutes at the beginning of the session for people to get used to being in and navigating in the environment.
Question for presenter: There were a lot of people who could not attend this event because of their corporate environment. Do you think Second Life is ready for the enterprise?
Answer: It’s getting there. Security, PCs have to be checked to ensure that they support SL.
Best Practice: Michelin used a progressive approach to get learners used to the Second Life environment. First, they conducted their Second Life class with all participants in the same location. This allowed the facilitators to control the experience and help people as needed. Then, they gave participants access to Second Life so they could play with it on their own.
2. General View–Where We Are and Where We’re Going
Erica Driver, ThinkBalm, Independent Analyst–company focused solely on corporate use of virtual worlds
3 reasons for using virtual worlds:
1) Increase engagement: Comes through immersion–that feeling that you’re really there.
2) Increase proficiency gains: Example: Study that came out of Stanford University Medical School, traditionally set up a simulation to train doctors on how to communicate with each other during an emergency. When replacing the physical simulation with a virtual one, the proficiency was exactly the same. But costs went down.
Did an interview with Microsoft: Microsoft has begun using virtual worlds within developer communities; did a launch of some products in SL, and part of that included training. Typical product launch costs $45 – $55/ head. When did a virtual launch instead, spent about 5%, and people stuck around a lot longer.
Learning and training is where people are most excited about investing in 3D worlds.
3) Minimize costs
Trends for corporate use:
- Teaching and learning; practicing work–hottest investment
- Turning presentations into tours–instead of just talking; show you what I’m trying to talk to you about.
- Managing real-world systems in a 3D environment.
- Networking/conferences and events
3. Current State of 3D
Ben Lorica, Senior Analyst O’Reilly Media
Use both qualitative data (following the “Alpha geeks”–leading technologists) and quantitative data to find out the latest trends. They merge the interviews with the Alpha geeks with solid quantitative data.
Here are some of their findings:
- Google searches of SL are down. Could mean that people are losing interest. But could also mean that it’s reached a level of maturity where people don’t need to Google it anymore.
- There are been major growth in the sale of books covering 3D worlds in the past few years.
- The number of job postings for virtual worlds is also up–61% since May 2007. The largest number of postings are from media companies–even more than the virtual world software companies themselves.
He sees a lot of opportunity to provide cognitive cycles away from TV. Even 1% means a lot of virtual world cognitive cycles.
He thinks that SL is growing, but the growth is slowing somewhat. Expects a second wave of growth once usability issues have been addressed.
4. How does SL behavior resembles behavior in real life?
Anne Massey Indiana Univ.; Mitzi Montoya NC State
Studying teams using various tools of online collaboration. Found that the immersion and engagement of virtual world improved performance.
Then started looking at which parts of virtual world most correlate to performance.
Virtual presence–complex subject; been studied for 10 years or so.
5. Other corporate uses: Recruiting and new hire orientation
Susan Raycroft, Accenture’s recruiting efforts in SL.
In late March 2008, Accenture launched Career Island to provide a single area for global recruiting efforts. It includes:
- Interview building
- Event auditorium
- Career Central building–provide info about careers at the company; try to make the content interactive
- 9 interactive games to create engagement; provide something to make people come back and to tell their friends about
Because Acceneture is a global company, all the content and signage is in 5 languages.
The area can be customized for specific events.
The recruits that they’re targeting are comfortable in Second Life, but Accenture’s recruiters were not. So, Accenture took some special steps to try to make the recruiters comfortable:
- Developed a How To guide for using and navigating in Second Life
- Created a marketing toolkit, with a full suite of tools for communicating about Second Life
- Offered live training and support for recruiting events
They are making progress in helping non-GenYers feel comfortable in Second Life.
So far, they have had 4 or 5 networking events in-world. In monitoring engagement, Accenture has found that most people that attend the events stay.
6. Royal Phillips Electronics
Dolf Wittkamper, responsible for developing 3D internet capabilities at Phillips.
Interested in virtual worlds from various perspectives–started doing it in 2007.
Looking at how virtual worlds can be a part of value propositions.
Focusing on co-creation this year.
Launched first sim for Co-Creation
Ideation Quest: developed with University of Innsbruck; testing and exploring how people can engage in co-creation in a playful way. Different stages that people go into. All facilitated. And ultimately, people can submit ideas.
Right now in Co-Creation area, people are discussing ideas for Sustainable Living.
Dolf has found that when people go to a virtual world, they are more committed. They are there at all different times of day because of global audience. When project stops because of budget constraints, people get really mad.
7. Dr. Gary Woodill, Director of Research and Analysis, Brandon Hall Research
What changes does SL and can SL bring to corporate training?
One of the reasons that SL may not be growing as much is because there is a chasm between those who are early adopters and those who want to wait and see what other people are going to do.
Marshall McLuhan: When we have a new technology, we tend to look backwards and do what we’ve done before. Gary is interested in what we can do that’s new.
Gary’s advice on SL to corporate trainers: Proceed with some degree of caution. This is a transitional technology.
He believes that this technology will start to be combined with other technologies. For example, it may be combined with the Wii so that people use the Wii controller to interact with objects in-world.
There aren’t a lot of studies yet showing how SL aids learning.
The conundrum for corporations: Do you get in now and make a conscious decision to ignore ROI so you can be a leader? Or do you wait knowing that if you wait, you won’t be a leader in this space? You have to decide how much risk you want to take.
Go forward, but be cautious.
8. Glenn Fischer, Director of Business Programs, Linden Labs
SL approach to security for corporations:
Two issues:
1) have to open a number of ports for communication
2) people don’t understand the private regions. With a private regions, only people you’ve given access to can access. Can also have private calls even in a public setting.
So much data out there, would be hard to find people’s private data.
Working with IBM on externally hosted servers that provide a higher level of security.
Smart Robotic Avatars–can test them in SL on Education Island on 7/1 and 7/2.
Buzzin’ on the Biz for 5/12 – 5/16/08 May 19, 2008
Posted by cjescribano in Learning, blogging, training industry.add a comment
Buzz
Buzz in the Professional Organizations
- ASTD Learning Circuits: May’s Big Question: Do we have to design, develop, and deliver instruction differently for Digital Natives?
- E-Learning Guild: Reminder to members to update survey responses on the Guild’s Web sites. (not updated since end of March.)
- ELearn Magazine: An interview on designing learning with Irene McAra-McWilliam, who specializes in cultural research for social innovation, creativity, new technology, and community and who is a pioneer in the field of interaction design. She talks about “transformation design,” differences in teaching certain subjects online and in the classroom, the use of imagining a person in online course design, the educational equivalent of fast food, the choreography of learning, and the value of face-to-face interaction in education.
- Training and Development Blog: Asks readers to think about how well they listen. Are they really hearing what the other person is saying?
- The MASIE Center: Masie is conducting a real-time blogging experiment using Twitter to capture his notes from a Harvard Kennedy School event on Presidential Leadership Competencies.
Also, a post last week talked about NBC’s new group called NBC Learn, which has launched a new product called NBC iCUE, which “takes ‘e-Learning’ a huge step forward, with the introduction of small video chunks (from the NBC News archives), social networking and gaming. They blend these learning and engagement components in new ways, which will form the basis of new pedagogical approaches.” - Training Day: Discusses how to prepare your business and your employees to function successfully in the global marketplace.
- Educause: A long list of podcasts and reading related to the use of technology in higher education, including IT issues in higher education, Web 2.0 and knowledge, communities, and cyberinfrastructure and the humanities.
Bytes
Research on Feedback: Will Thalheimer has just completed an extensive review of research and data on providing learners with feedback. You can download his free report.
New White Paper: Mobile Devices: This is part of a white paper on mobile learning. This part covers technologies, devices, and networks. The part on designing for mobile devices was included in the E-Learning Guild’s report on mobile learning.
Working Memory Down from 5 – 9 to 3 – 4: This post references a study conducted at the University of Missouri and reported in the April Proceedings of the National Institutes of Health that shows that our working memory struggles when handling more than about 3 or 4 items at a time (unlike the 7 +/- 2 that has been the rule to date).
Mobile in 5 Paragraphs: Clark Quinn provides a quick overview of mobile learning: what it is, what kinds of devices there are, developing content for, and how it enables learning. There are also links to the ELearning Guild’s report on mobile learning and other resources.
Lessons Learned on Social Networking May 9, 2008
Posted by cjescribano in social networking.add a comment
(One of My Social Networks)
We’re over a week into Social Networking month here at the LifeLongLearning Lab. Lots of activity so far, not as much blogging as hoped for.
Here’s a quick recap of some lessons learned:
1. Social Networking is Hot
Last Friday, my colleague Jenifer Lippincott and I conducted a Webinar on Social Learning. In preparation for this Webinar, I decided to Google the terms “social network,” “social learning,” and “social networking” to see how many hits were returned. Here’s what I found:
- Social network–71 million hits
- Social learning–54.6 million hits
- Social networking–39.4 million hits
By way of contrast, I found that “Angelina Jolie” returns just 37.3 million hits. Her husband, “Brad Pitt,” returns a mere 20.7 million hits. So, I think it’s safe to say that social networks and social learning are BIG. (But not quite as big as Britney Spears, who returns a whopping 96.4 million hits–I don’t even want to consider what this says about our society.)
2. Considerations for Running a Social Network
During the Webinar, we had some good questions about social learning. And these are some considerations I plan to think about as I work on some social networks for clients:
- If you are asking questions about an area outside of your usual knowledge domain, how can you be sure you’re using the right search terms? For example, you may not be finding a lot of helpful information because you’re not using the right term.
Cindy Rockwell of CustomerVision mentioned that you could use forms so that people could select from lists to pick keywords. - Is there a way to search on experts? How do you find who has the expertise?
The response to this is to provide a means for people to identify their areas of expertise in their profiles. If it’s in their profiles, then you can search on it. - How do you control information creep in wikis? What should you do if you have so many wikis that you’re not sure where to start looking?
The group agreed that wikis really needed some type of facilitator to keep things organized. If a group uses multiple wikis, perhaps they could provide a main page with descriptions and links to all the wikis–something like a wiki portal. - Do the characteristics of the group determine the amount of participation on a social learning site? The participant hypothesized that if you had a more informal, less hierarchical group, you would get more participation. No one on the call knew the answer to that question, but the hypothesis makes sense to me. If any of you know of any research in this area, please comment to let us know.
3. Remember, Your Family Is Your Original Social Network
Last night, I realized that all my research into social networks is hurting my original social network–my family. So, instead of blogging last night, I read in bed with my daughter. It pays to remember that social networks do NOT have to be technology enabled. In fact, most are not–at least right now!
4. Expanding My Definition of Social Networking
Last night, I started to write a blog post about expanding my definition of social networks so that it would include my family and friends. Right now, when I hear that word, I tend to think “Facebook or LinkedIn.” So, I think if I did expand my definition, I would see even more possibilities.
But that line of thinking made me realize that unlike the kids who spend every possible second out on MySpace, most of my social network is not yet out in those technological social networks. That’s why I haven’t been as motivated to spend time here yet. But if someone told me that there was something I’m doing today either without technology or with a different technology that could be done more efficiently on a social network, I’d be ALL over it. So, I think that’s the place to start in helping businesses see the value–find a business process that can be done much more quickly and/or cheaply on a social network.
5. The Structure of Social Networks
I sketched out the structure of ning, and this week, I plan to sketch out Facebook’s structure, so I can compare them. Stay tuned!
May Is Social Networking Month at the LifeLong Learning Lab May 1, 2008
Posted by cjescribano in social networking.3 comments
(Note: Image created by Judy Loftin of Vangent, Inc.)
For the month of May, the LifeLongLearning Lab will be focusing on social networks. I actually belong to several: Facebook, LinkedIn, and ning. I rarely use them. Mostly because I don’t feel like I have time. But also because I’m not quite sure what I’ll really do out there.
But this year, I’ve discovered that month-long experiments are a really good way for me to focus in an area and learn a lot, without that fear of having to commit to something forever.
So, for May, I will spend at least 30 minutes a day in a social network. I’m also planning on sketching out the functionality so I have a map of what’s available and how it all relates, and how various social networking tools are alike and different. In addition to the networks I already belong to, I’m going to try out some new ones–like Elliott Masie’s learningtown, which my colleague Judy says is very good.
And to kick off this Social Networking month, my colleague Jenifer Lippincott and I are going to lead a Webinar tomorrow on Social Learning.
Buzzin’ on the Biz for 4/28 – 5/2 May 1, 2008
Posted by cjescribano in Learning, training industry.1 comment so far
In the latter half of April, there was a “blog carnival” on work at learning/learning at work, which provided an area of focused conversation. Of the 15 bloggers who participated, social learning and informal learning were big topics of conversation. Here’s the breakdown of topics into some categories I created:
- Learning best practices (my own category for people with concrete suggestions on improving learning at work): 7
- Learning 2.0 (including social learning): 4
- Informal learning: 1
- Leadership and learning: 1
- Learning sources: 1
- How we learn: 1
Buzz in the Professional Organizations
- ASTD Learning Circuits: May’s Big Question: Do we have to design, develop, and deliver instruction differently for Digital Natives?
- E-Learning Guild: Reminder to members to update survey responses on the Guild’s Web sites. (not updated since end of March.)
- ELearn Magazine: 14 excellent tips for how to keep students in a distance learning class motivated.
- Training and Development Blog: In honor of May being Older Americans month, Training and Development provides statistics on how many older Americans will soon be retiring and asks readers what plans they have to capture the knowledge of exiting workers and how they will replace them.
- The MASIE Center: (No change since last time) Masie’s learnings and impressions from his Learning Systems event last week where he met with 370 learning leaders to talk about learning and LMSs/LCMSs. Also, info about an interesting learning event in Atlanta for high school students–called FIRST Robotics Co-opetition. “It involves intentional use of a game challenge, atmosphere, coaching, “gracious professionalism”, short/intense action spurts and a design/build experience. Creative use of “failure” is also leveraged in a way that could be deeply emulated within corporate learning designs.”–Intriguing! Masie will be live blogging on this event and posting video interviews.
- Training Day: Best practices in Second Life. This article says that if you’re just using Second Life for meetings/conferencing, you’re probably using the wrong tool. It also introduces a new feature in Second Life, called robotic avatars, that allow SEcond Life to be used for asynchronous e-learning. Learners interact with the robotic avatars, which seem to be real people but are not. Their completion of tasks and progress can be tracked via reports.
- Educause: Advertises a free Webinar on Digital Visual Literacy, which has become an essential skill for the 21st century college graduate; Discusses an Educause Learning Initiative on the social network, ning–7 Things You Should Know About Ning; Discusses the Senate committee meeting on the future of the Internet and network neutrality; LOTS of podcasts on topics related to technology and learning
Bytes
HR in Second Life: Provides a summary of a plenary session at the HRPS conference that talks about how companies are using Second Life for HR functions. Also provides videos that were used in that session.
Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day: Provides a brief writeup about a new tool or resource for e-learning. A great way to keep up with technology!
31-Day Comment Challenge: Challenges people to become better blog citizens by sharing their thoughts, ideas, and learnings on as many blogs as possible through comments.
Buzzin’ on the Biz for 4/14 – 4/18/08 April 17, 2008
Posted by cjescribano in Learning, Web 2.0, training industry.1 comment so far
The Buzz was busy as a bee this week, so this is a slightly abridged version. I didn’t have time to look through all 50 blogs I usually track. But here’s a run-down of the professional organizations. Plus some summaries of articles worth reading out there. Enjoy!
Also, a quick glance through my RSS aggregator showed a lot of references to the E-Learning Guild Annual Gathering. So, if you want to catch up on that event, plenty out there to read.
Buzz in the Professional Organizations
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ASTD Learning Circuits: April’s Big Question: What would you like to do better as a learning professional? There are some interesting answers to this question–about interactivity, ROI, and pushing back. There’s even a post from Bulgaria.
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E-Learning Guild: Reminder to members to update survey responses on the Guild’s Web sites. (not updated since end of March–probably busy with the AG.)
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ELearn Magazine: Usability testing of e-learning. Interesting article that talks about why to usability test and provides tactical information about how to test.
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Training and Development Blog: Celebrate Diversity!–article calling for companies to celebrate April as Diversity month. There’s also a good article on April 4 about problems with communicating with millenials.
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The MASIE Center: Masie’s learnings and impressions from his Learning Systems event last week where he met with 370 learning leaders to talk about learning and LMSs/LCMSs. Also, info about an interesting learning event in Atlanta for high school students–called FIRST Robotics Co-opetition. “It involves intentional use of a game challenge, atmosphere, coaching, “gracious professionalism”, short/intense action spurts and a design/build experience. Creative use of “failure” is also leveraged in a way that could be deeply emulated within corporate learning designs.”–Intriguing! Masie will be live blogging on this event and posting video interviews.
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Training Day: Discusses ways to relieve stress at work.
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Educause: Several new books are featured; there’s also an interesting article about a keynote speech at the 2008 Midwest Regional Conference, in which Susan Metros talked about new IT strategies for a digital society.
Bytes
The Power of Networking
Really, really great article about a group of bloggers who met online, wrote a book together, and finally decided to meet in person. Talks about the value of having a powerful social network.
What Work-Learning Audit Reveals
Will Thalheimer, who always offers excellent analyses of what’s going on in the learning world, provides some interesting data about where learning happens for retail clerks (hint: only a small part happens in classrooms and e-learning).
Seven Habits of Highly Connected People by Stephen Downes
Really good list of habits for a socially networked world. Good snapshot of the Web 2.0 culture.
Extreme User Research
This may seem old-hat to analysis pros, but I think this article puts forth a quick and easy way to get valuable user data for a design. I especially like that he uses sticky notes to organize his data and look for patterns.
Running Virtual Groups
Jay Cross posts some lessons learned from interviews that he conducted at a company that “lives and breathes community.” Another good description of Web 2.0 culture.
