Engaged Learning

Archive for the ‘Social Learning SIG’ Category

Social Learning Strategies and Trends Podcast Out Today!

Jan 6, 2009 Social Learning SIG

Dave Wilkins and I have teamed up to create a podcast on Social Learning. Right now it is only on our blogs but will be on iTunes in the next couple days.

Please listen and give us your feedback. We would love to hear what you think and what you would like us to discuss. Let us know - the lines are now open…

“Why Social Learning” Series - Wrap Up

Jan 6, 2009 Social Learning SIG

The genesis of the WHYs started with a webinar I did for the e-Learning Guild. When I was first creating it, I was going to explain the characteristics of social learning. Then I found that instead of explaining WHAT it is, I needed to explain how the participants would sell it - because that is what they really needed. I am finding that most people are having a difficult time selling it to those who make the decisions.

From that webinar I created these series of blog posts.

So, why use social learning?

Tags: Why #7: Choosing When To Learn

7 More Things You Don’t Need to Know About Me

Jan 6, 2009 Social Learning SIG

Michele Martin tagged me on this meme- so I shall make good.

My first car was a yellow, Levi edition AMC Gremlin that my dad bought for $350. Boy was I the talk of the town. Yah, baby!
There are so many things in life that I want to do that I will NEVER be able to do them all (like learn all about string theory & light, compose and arrange music, participate in an Iron Man, be a skillful woodworker…). It makes me cry. YET, those important things (like my family) will give me the most satisfaction.
Wonder Woman is my wife. I know all you guys are all jealous - too bad. She deftly manages me (the most challenging), our 7 kidlets, homeschooling them all, responsibilities at church, our home, a new puppy, teaching a group of home schooled teenagers, VP of the home school group, running 5 days a week, making sure we ‘date’ once a week, and I could go on forever but I don’t want to bore you. But, really, Linda Carter holds nothing on my wife (thankfully she doesn’t wear the same outfits).
Root beer makes me happy. Thomas Kemper is on the top of the list. Although I do have a Henry Weinhard staring at me right now, begging me to drink it. In fact, you should try this concoction: 1/2 TK Root Beer and 1/2 Orange Juice. Bizarre you say? True, but when you drink it the two tastes don’t combine. They take turns in your mouth about every two seconds. Very funky and fun to do. But I can only stand about one glass full, then I’m done.
Frisbees also make me smile. I rarely am able to play Ultimate, but when I do I am on cloud nine. How fun! And Disk Golf is fun for the whole family. Easy to play, hard to be good at and courses aplenty in the NorthWest.
I have always been against Apple for philosophical reasons: They are closed off - not nearly as transparent and open as I like. I broke that with the purchase of my iPhone. And after I-don’t-know-how-many Windows updates each week, I may be changing my tune. I know some people (probably you as well) swear by a Mac, but I am slow in getting there.
Because I am way too color blind to do anything with graphic design (although that doesn’t stop my dangerous habits sometimes) I need to obsess over something else. My love is a good font. And even more if I can write it out using (hold on…) pen and paper - which are two other things I obsess over.

Now you know. And I tag the next generation to do the same…

@slqotd on Twitter - What a conversation!

Dec 11, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Wow. I am blown away by the response and the quality of tweets offered up in the Social Learning Question of the Day on Twitter. Thanks to everyone who has chipped in to the conversation.

Here are a few great responses:

via @toddbynum: @sorden, I think SL goes way beyond just a substitute for F2F. It embodies the concept that anyone can create content.
via @dwilkinsnh: enabling learners to produce, not just consume; stem courses that link to discussions for example
via @JaneBozarth: It will force training to let learners drive
@wilko64: Social Learning is a very personal journey before it is social in any form!
via @toddbynum: I can see SL being used to augment formal training as a way to support the learner in his/her everyday environment.
via @tonykarrer: - Does social learning change the fundamental approach to Training Design? - http://is.gd/aT1h
via @ericwilbanks: Most valuable characteristics of social learning for me is the sheer breadth of the insights created by multiple pers
via @kerrymcguire: access to knowledge rather than just information, context rather than just content, expertise rather than just FAQ

There is so much to explore, yet so little time (and only 140 characters). Oh that we never needed to sleep!

If you haven’t joined us, please do! The more join in on the conversation, the more perspectives we will learn from. Social Learning at its best.

One thing I have powerfully learned from a number of experiences lately is the power of sharing the stage and letting the learners participate in not only learning, but creating. This includes during the learning. It is often a scary thing to do for many reasons, but the synergy and ideas that come up are FAR better than I could have ever have done lecturing preconfigured material by myself.

Social Learning Question of the Day (@slqotd)

Dec 8, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Tomorrow @slqotd will start with its first question.

The Social Learning Question of the Day will simply do just that - throw out a question about social learning to the twitterverse and allow anyone to answer. Since we all have differing experience it would be good to come together and learn from each other.

So, jump on board:

Make sure you are signed up on Twitter.
Follow @slqotd
It will automatically follow you back (it may take an hour, however).
Each (business day) morning a new question will be asked about social learning.
To respond to this questions or others’ responses, direct message (DM) back to slqotd by adding this (without the quotes) to the beginning of your tweet: “d slqotd”
This will go to everyone who is following @slqotd.

Both Dave Wilkins (@dwilkinsnh) and I will be monitoring it. But we expect that everyone will add their thoughts and insights, ask more questions about the question, share resources, links, etc.

We hope you enjoy it!

Tags: slqotd, Twitter

A Followup to “15 Objections” - 120 More

Dec 5, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Before I presented at DevLearn I posted the objections in my presentation to a forum and to try to get some new perspectives. Just today someone added a list he uses. They are particularly true and I swear I have heard them all. Thought you might enjoy them…

120 Ways to Deter Innovation

Which ones do you use?

1.   The savings are only peanuts.
2.   That’s beyond our responsibilities.
3.   That’s Joe’s job, not mine!
4.   Not enough help.
5.   It’s against company policy.
6.   We don’t have the authority.
7.   Have you gone through proper channels ?
8.   Lets get back to reality.
9.   Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
10. Good thought, but impractical.
11. Let’s think about it some more.
12. Management would never go for that.
13. The client won’t like it.
14. They won’t hold still for that.
15. Let’s put it in writing.
16. We’ll be the laughing stock.
17. Not that again!
18. Weld lose money in the long run.
19. We did all right without it.
20. Where’ d you dig that one up.
21. It’s never been tried.
22. Let someone else try it first.
23. That’s been tried before.
24. What’s the use?
25. Not enough time.
26. Too hard to sell.
27. I don’t see the connection.
28. It’s not practical.
29. What you are really saying is . .
30. It leaves me cold.
31. It won’t stand up.
32. Let’s all sleep on it.
33. You’re right, but . . .
34. I’m not convinced.
35. We’ve tried that before.
36. We’ve always done it this way.
37. It won’t work.
38. We can’t pay for the tools.
39. It costs too much.
40. If I thought it’d work, I’d have used it.
41. It’s not in the budget.
42. Where will the money come from?
43. You can’t do that!
44. You should know better.
45. We’re not ready for that.
46. This isn’t the right time for it.
47. We’re not considering hardware yet.
48. Everybody does it this way.
49. Too academic.
50. Not timely.
51. It’s a gimmick.
52. It isn’t progressive.
53. Not for us.
54. Too hard to administer.
55. No good!
56. Plain stupid.
57. Screwy.
58. Too radical.
59. Too complicated.
60. The idea is unsound.
61. It isn’t feasible.
62. Too difficult.
63. Impossible!
64. Production won’t accept it.
65. We can’t hold up production for that
66. Engineering won’t approve it.
67. My Boss won’t like it.
68. I can’t see it.
69. Too much trouble to get started.
70. So what? We’re making a profit!
71. We don’t have the manpower.
72. We haven’t time for detail.
73. The design is frozen.
74. Schedule won’t allow any plans.
75. Who is going to do it?
76. Takes too much time.
77. We don’t do it that way here.
78. Our product is different.
79. Too much work.
80. It won’t apply to our problem.
81. Don’t move too fast.
82. It will set a precedent.
83. Not enough background.
84. Why can’t we do it another way ?
85. We’ve got something just as good now.
86. Don’t be ridiculous.
87. We know all this . . .
88. I’m too busy to decide now.
89. We haven’t enough facts.
90. What about the directive?
91. That will take two years to test.
92. It will make present equipment obsolete.
93. It’s not permitted by specifications.
94. It’s not according to standard changes.
95. We’ll come back to it later.
96. Let’s form a committee.
97. Cost doesn’t matter.
98. Why change it - it works.
99. We can’t help it - it’s policy.
100. Forget cost - just get it out.
101. The way we’re doing it is best.
102. Why?
103. Runs up our overhead.
104. That’s too “ivory tower.”
105. What do our competitors do?
106. What can we expect from the staff?
107. Has anyone else ever tried it ?
108. It won’t work in our industry.
109. It won’t work in my department.
110. No, no, no.
111. Too theoretical.
112. Personnel aren’t ready for this.
113. The users won’t go for it.
114. Its new.
115. We have too many projects now.
116. We don’t want to do this now.
117. It’s not standard stock.
118. We don’t have enough volume.
119. Let’s shelve it for the time being.
120. Could a vendor supply this for less ?

Tags: 15 objections, objections

Twitter Brain: The New Condition Which Torments Me

Dec 2, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Image via Wikipedia

My brain has made a strange transition and it is continuing to mold.

@KevinDJones has been active for some months now with 350 updates and 112 followers - neither of which even compare to many. It wasn’t until DevLearn, however, that I really started using it. Sure, every now and then, but that conference planted a twitter seed that started my brain reformation.

Now, unconsciously, my brain is starting to think in “twitter-bytes”. With every (OK - EVERY is too much, but you get the idea…) experience I have my mind goes into twitter mode and I rehearse how I might relate this in 140 characters. “How would I describe this experience/thought on twitter?” Then logistically my mind (still, all in the background) comes up with ingenious phrase:ology which will ensure brevity yet preserve substance.

Overall this is great for my writing skills, but I find it annoying that I am trying to think in twitter-bytes. Am I crazy and alone or do others feel this affect of twitter taking over your brain as well?

Tags: Brain, Mind, Twitter

Creating a Learning Ecosystem - Why Blended Learning is Now Inadequate

Nov 19, 2008 Social Learning SIG

(WARNING - this is an unusually long post for me. And, as Mark Oehlert pointed out recently, I echo Mark Twain’s quote, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” )

Blended learning is now inadequate - it is only mediocre. Let me explain why I think so.

Blended learning assumes some characteristics. For example, here is the Wikipedia definition:

The instructor can also combine two or more methods of delivery of instruction. A typical example of the delivery method of blended learning would be a combination of technology-based materials and face-to-face sessions used together to present content. An instructor can begin a course with a well-structured introductory lesson in the classroom, and then to proceed follow-up materials online. The term can also be applied to the integration of e-learning with a Learning Management System using computers in a physical classroom, along with face-to-face instruction^[1]. Guidance is suggested early in the process, to be faded as learners gain expertise (Kirschner, Clark and Sweller, 2006). (Bolding added.)

What do you notice in there? The paragraph keeps mentioning the title “instructor.” I don’t know about you, but when I think of blended learning I think of combining ILT with a job aid with some online training with a podcast - or something like that. Part of Elizabeth Israel’s class, Getting your Sales Force Productive with True Blended Learning, which was presented at DevLearn08, was described this way:

This session will show participants the various rapid e-Learning development and deployment learning solutions one company developed and implemented using Articulate, Camtasia, and Captivate. You will walk through how using Live Meeting sessions, toolkits (self-study), and case studies increased performance and readiness of the sales and technical sales teams. This real-life session focuses on the design, development, implementation, and effectiveness results of creating a true blended learning environment. (Again, bolding added.)

Again, all very focused on creating and delivery from an instructor point of view. Before I go on, I want to point out that I am in no way against this. I was not able to go to Elizabeth’s session - which I think is a great topic. So please don’t misunderstand me, but do understand this: It has its place, but by itself blended learning is not complete.

Being a big proponent of learning using social media, I must fully admit that this, too, is not complete. It must all be taken in together. But this time with a different view.

I was recently listening to a podcast entitled, “Is Innovation Withering on the Vine?” It was part of the “Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series” by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. In there, Judy Estrin, author of “Closing the Innovation Gap” talked about the essential characteristics of innovation.

During the presentation she talks about an ecosystem. Not the one us business people might refer to, but one a biologist would think of. And this was her definition. Ecosystems are:

Communities of living organisms that interact dynamically with their environment. And one very, very key thing about this is that for an ecosystem to sustain life, it must be in balance.”

Later she says, “The ecosystem is a combination of the organisms and the environment.”

KEY: Living organisms; environment; balance. They all play together. Translate this into learning. Unlike a traditional blended learning environment where those who learn are fed from one source, a learning ecosystem balances those organisms (people) with the environment (organization, culture, tools). When we think of it this way we suddenly realize that we all rely upon each other to learn. I am accountable to ’stay alive’ and not be forced to rely upon one ‘hand’ to ‘feed me.’ Rather, I interact with all the organisms as necessary, within the environment. Sometimes the actions of us organisms changes the environment and culture as we start relying on each other and use the tools in non-conventional, but extremely useful ways.

Rather than creating a training department or curriculum, we should be thinking about all the ways learning can happen within an organization and apply the correct ointment where necessary. Sometimes it will be an ILT. Sometimes it will be eLearning. But more often than not, it will be people teaching people of which the training department will have nothing to do with except to help create the environment. Sometimes it is the role of mother nature to create that environment and step back and let the organisms figure it out. We must learn to do the same and then be amazed at what they can do.

So really - what is the difference between blended learning and creating a learning ecosystem? Blended learning takes on the funnel mentality. All knowledge must funnel through the learning department’s people, systems, processes, packages and must be measured in standard ways as it goes through. If it does not route and measure in these ways it is out of our circle of influence.

In a learning ecosystem the environment is created so that learning just happens. It is a part of work rather than separate from it. It includes traditional blended learning when appropriate (for each piece does not lose its significance) but the funnel, for the most part, is gone. Formal learning intersects with social learning intersects with informal learning intersects with traditional learning…

This changes the environment in the eye of those who create the environment and in the eyes of the organisms. Instead of, “I am going to learning” it is “I am always learning.” Just as your heart beats and your lungs fill up with air, you know they are separate functions but one cannot live without the other. They work toward the same goal. Both very necessary but playing different roles.

We must strategically create learning ecosystems within our organizations where formal courses of all kinds, social interactions using all mediums and all types of informal learning blend together. Creating this environment is much more strategic on so many more levels. Think about accountability of learning. Think about ownership of content. Think about distribution channels. Think about measurement. The game changes because the goal and the path to get to the goal changed.

Done correctly, the ecosystem goes far beyond merely existing, always trying to keep up but never fully realizing its potential. Instead it will thrive - totally interconnected with it’s environment. It is a holistic approach to learning.

Instead of being a subculture unto the larger, it is wholly integrated so that the learners don’t make a choice to learn, it’s just a part of what they do. Again, like breathing or the beating of the heart, it just happens and is not a separate event. At times they won’t know it is happening- other times they will. But these times will be more rare, so interconnected will be their learning. And the learning ecosystem will thrive by creating the culture which understands it’s more subtle needs and will adjust as necessary. It will take more than the learning department. More than an executive blessing. It will take, and will affect, everyone.

In the modified words of Benjamin Zander (a ‘must watch’), “How would you act, what would you say, what would you do if you thought that learning happened at discrete times and in discrete ways and you controlled it. Now how would you act, what would you say, what would you do if you felt learning happened by everyone ALL THE TIME!”

This may have been way too philisophical, but it really hit me when I listened to that podcast. We finally have the tools to create full learning ecosystems, whereas before we only were able to influence a part of it.

In Sean Kearney’s session entitled, “The Bionic Brain: Learning, Technology, and Social Networks” at DevLearn, he asked, “How many of your learning organizations are a barrier to learning?” Almost every hand in the room went up. And that was from the people - the experts - who run the organizations!

I dare you to create these ecosystems of learning in your organization. Think on a more global scale than you have before. Don’t get caught in doing the same things for the same old reasons. Do the same things, do more, change more - create that true balance between organisms and environment in which a learning ecosystem thrives.

Tags: blended learning, DevLearn08, environment, Informal learning, learning ecosystem, Mark Twain, organisms, social learning

DevLearn08 Thoughts - Twitter, Objections and Continued Learning

Nov 18, 2008 Social Learning SIG

(Dinner with Jay Cross, Clark Quinn and others, taking pictures of Stacey and her stolen skateboard.)

Wow. What a fabulous conference put on by Brent Schlenker and the eLearning Guild. (I am told that handouts & PPTs will be available next week.) Here were some hightlights from my POV:

Tweets - I had used Twitter casually before the converence. Then during the conference I swear I used it more in those few days than I had in all the time leading up to it. Now I can’t go back. What a great way to give and get info.
Meets - I met so many wonderful people. Some for the first time, some I had known online and met for the first time in real life. During the dinners I got to know a lot of new people and had some really good discussions. You guys (and gals) are great!
Presenting - Friday morning - early. Who’s going to show up for a Breakfast Byte? Actually, a lot. Way to wake yourself up! And thanks to everyone who chipped in and answered questions. Then, a few hours later, what a great concurrent session I had! Earlier in the week I had attended a session by Dave Wilkins. It was as if I was watching myself present - the same energy, the same passion and the same information I would have given. So, realizing that I am not the only one who knows this stuff, I asked him to join me and help present my session on the 15 most common objections to social learning and how to overcome them. In fact, I relied a lot on the audience to come up with the information as well, trying to make it as social as possible. It was spectacular. For it being the last session of the last day, we had more people than I had thought would come. And some fabulous comments from everyone. And Dave? We were on the same wavelength the whole time. So glad he agreed to join me.
Information - What I love about this is that the information lives on. I learned some great stuff there and am continuing to do so after the conference (mostly through Twitter). It just doesn’t end!

Tags: 15 objections, Twitter

DevLearn Keynote: Dan Roam - Back of the Napkin

Nov 13, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Back of the Napkin is #5 from Amazon on business books of the year.

Dan: His premise: We can solve our problem in pictures. When you try to solve in pictures you can solve anything. What Problems can we solve with pictures? ANY! If we are able to articulate it, we can do the same and solve it with pictures you can draw. Other questions: What pictuers will we use and who is ‘we’?

If you are visual enough to have walked through the door and find a sit and sit down, you can do this. 3/4 of the processing of our brain is visual - so it is pretty important.

Go to a Kindergarten class and ask, how many can draw? (all) How many can read and write? (few) Go to a group of 16 year olds and it switches. We somehow lose that thought that we cannot draw.

If you can map out (with simple pictures) using pictures you will (guaranteed) start finding more insights than you have before. You now have the most powerful way to communicate an idea.

Does it work in an online environment? YES!

“Whoever is best describe the problem is the one most likely to solve it.” Then, “Whoever draws the best picture fets the funding.” Hmmm. Whoever is able to articulate it the best leads.

Problem: 1967 Wanting to fly from Houston to Dallas. But there is not a connecting flight. Herb grabs a napkin and said, what if we just connected the three major metro areas in Texas. BAM! Southwest Airlines in born. It is the only profitable airline in the US and the only one that has been profitable since its inception. Explain something that may be complex, not in a simplistic day, but in a CLEAR way.

NOTE TO SELF: Draw more while I think.

Arthur Laffer - an economist in the 1970 was sitting with two other guys and he drew a chart about taxes. It looks like a bell curve. At what point does the government collect the greatest amount of revenue. The napkin served as the basis of the Reagan era. Decrease taxes and income increases.

%25 of us are those who would jump up to the board to draw (that’s me - Black Pen).
50% can identify in someone’s picture the parts that are most important (Yellow Pen)
25% think it is all trash. They may have the most understanding, but they won’t jump up (Red Pen).

We must get the participation of all of the people (including Red Pen) is to make them mad! Then they will finally jump up and correct you. That’s great!

Why do we let PPT cripple us and make us lazy? It is unfortunate. From a cognitive perspective, the worst way is to cram a PPT with information. They won’t get it. It is definately not the way to do it.

People simply get pictures. (This in from @writetechnology: Flickr’s beginnings)

How to do in a connected world. Use powerpoint and do the onscreen application. Go into presentation mode. At the bottom there are icons. Pick the pen. Draw. Use it over an online meeting. Everyone sees it in real time.

How to do all this?

Grab a napkin, draw a circle and call it “me.” Then a bigger circle and call it “My Problem.” The brain is now imagining “Where are we going next?” It gets the people’s brains engaged.

“Bill Gates: The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity. To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three of these steps.” Then he shows the userbar picture of complexity (can’t find it right now, sorry).

“What is the point of data if you can’t draw information from the data?” (Allusion from Tim’s keynote.) (Did I use that word correctly?)

Not that what you come up with will be a huge insight, but that it is framed in a way that it can finally make sense.

Look at Tree Maps for visualization purposes.

When he went through a problem with Microsoft using this, they didn’t get caught up in the details, in what colors were used or what font was used.

Our abilities with a pen and paper is infinitely better than any program because we play by our rules, not by the software’s rules.

The more “human” your picture, the more human the response.

A little bit of Neurobiology: What are your eyes doing right now? Pulling in zillions points of data and translating them and giving meaning. Vision is a serial and parallel process. Part of the brain translates the “WHAT” part - the objects that make up our world. Part of the brain translates “WHERE”. At the same time there is the “HOW MANY”. Here we make gross numerical generalizations. We visually recognize the passage of time from seeing the change of an object - the “WHEN.” That tells me “HOW” the world works. Combine all of that and make all of those rules, we start to make assumptions of “WHY.” “That is how the world works” we say.

There are six things we see - the 6 Ws.

W - Draw this…

Who/What - Portrait
How Much - Chart
Where - Map
When - Timeline
How - Flowchart
Why - Multi Variable

These are the only six pictures we need (or combined).

slide:ology

Circular pictures are difficult to grasp, Go linear and then loop back - easier to understand. Huh!

“Any problem is like a big layer cake. There are more flavors inside than anybody expects.”

Good stuff, Dan! Thanks for a great Keynote.

Tags: Dan Roam, draw, Microsoft, napkin, visual

DevLearn Day 1 - 3 T’s: Twitter, Tim O’Reilly and Tired

Nov 13, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

Phew! At the end of today I thought it was two days. Here are some thoughts:

Twitter has been great. I know B.J. Schone only from Twitter, until last night I finally met him in person. Same with Michelle Lentz, Clark Quinn and others. I couldn’t get connected to wireless from my laptop. I threw the question out and Tony Karrer and Brent Schlenker responded immediately. We organized dinners through it. Told each other of what sessions were good and which ones to stay away from. Good stuff. I have never twittered so much. I swear I have twittered more today alone than in the last few months.

Tim O’Reilly was the keynote this morning. A couple things from that. WWGD= What Would Google Do. Think about that next time you have a bright idea. Build against the data. He showed how Flickr made the default person icon ugly which, compared to 37signals.com, had many more people switch it to a personalized one. I think I am going to put a frowny face on the default faceless man at work. Then this one intrigued me, “The skill of writing is to create context in which other people can think.” He quoted that from somewhere else, not sure who, though. But chew on that one. Too often we come from different perspectives - the wrong perspectives. Also, what I have been preaching with the WHY series (as slow as it is going…) “You sell them based upon what they (the tools) mean, not what they do.” (Cheers) Follow the pioneers. One of my favorite quotes that I put on Twitter: “You don’t incent them to use it, you just make them do it.“ Too true.

Other sessions I attended were good. No other Aha! moments. But I did get to meet some great new people, share some content with them for their future presentations, start a group centered around measurement, and watch David Wilkins show that he gets it. It was refreshing to see. His speaking style and passion for it all reminded me of mine. It was also great to see that mZinga gets it. One of the only ones (or maybe only one?) that does. I need to dive more into their product. I have done basic research on it before, but need to dive deeper. David offered to do a webinar for the Social Learning SIG in January. That will be the next one.

Good day - tired as I should be. Ready for another day tomorrow.

UPDATE:

Another great review (admittedly better): B.J. Schone

eLearningLearning - a Pool of Information

Nov 6, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Today Tony Karrer has launched eLearningLearning, an aggregation of eLearning information. It pulls in information from mainly blogs right now, but will contain more sources as it grows.

You will notice on my right sidebar that I have a graphic with the logo and then a bunch of ‘tags’ and how many times I use them. This widget, provided by Tony, will launch you in to eLearningLearning and show you everything that I have tagged with that word. Not only that, but it will give you access to many others information about the topic. And then it will lead you to other topics, more information to fill your curiosity.

Great job, Tony. Love the site.

What I Have Learned From The Elections

Nov 6, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Senator Obama did not receive my vote for President (as if voting Republican in a presidential race in Oregon makes a difference). I did vote what I felt was best given the circumstances. You may disagree and that is fine. But even though I may not agree with him, I am very impressed with his campaign strategy. We can learn a lot about our place in the learning and communication world from him.

What contributed to his win? This is my take:

He actively showed that he was listening.
His message was clear and easy to understand.
His sound bites and slogans made it personal.
He engaged as many as possible.
He used the long tail of contributions to achieve record financing and to get people talking.
He used social media far more extensively to touch more people.
He made it easy - to get involved, to believe, to spread the word.
He created a movement - he didn’t just run a campaign.

How can we use this as an example to help others learn, to help those around us to communicate more openly and share ideas? What can businesses learn from this about how they might interact with their employees and customers?

There are lessons to be learned here.

Tags: Barack Obama, election, McCain, strategy

The Conundrum of Colorblindness & Creativity

Oct 29, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Image via Ishihara Test for Color Blindness

What number do you see? The answer is below…

Colorblindness has been a wonderful blessing for me. There are so many things I would like to do - so many areas to explore - so many interesting and mind blowing fields of study to dive in to. Yet, not only am I a man with limited resources, but I am colorblind. This wipes out being an Airforce pilot, correctly matching my clothes in the morning or becoming a designer of any sort. I don’t even have that choice. I know that if I did have that choice that my life would be even more complicated with new areas of interest to explore. But, thankfully, I was born not seeing all the colors of the rainbow.

This is made known unto you, my dear reader, as an apology for the pain you have gone through as you have tried to read this blog. The colors, admittedly, have been horrible. I keep trying, but I give in. Christine Martell, last week, showed me a trick to match colors which was very helpful. YET, there is so much more to it. Shades, accents, and colors being interpreted as and arousing feelings (which colorblind people just don’t understand because we, for the most part, ignore color altogether).

So, after looking at hundreds of designs over the last few months, I finally found one that, in my estimation, looks semi-modern and sports shades of gray. I can work with gray. Sometimes I see gray as green or other colors, so even though it might be gray to you, I see so much more!

But, again, I apologize for any pain I have inflicted upon any of your eyes. Although I will continue to tweak it slightly (oh, ever so) I don’t plan on changing it any time soon.

Simplicity is what I am destined for in a color confused world. My wife would say that gray is so boring. That might be true, but that is all I can do.

Recently I read slide:ology, a fabulous book on presentations (if you don’t own it, repent). Unfortunately, the color part of that book went right over my head.

Even though it may be boring, I hope the posts aren’t (I hope).

Answer to the colored dots above:
The individual with normal color vision will see a 5 revealed in the dot pattern.
An individual with Red/Green (the most common) color blindness will see a 2 revealed in the dots

Tags: Color, Color blindness, ColorBlind, Web design

Friday Musings - Do I Care?

Oct 24, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Image via Wikipedia

Watch this short video which features Seth Godin and think about this question: Why does the person who you want involved in social learning care?
The webinar from last week recorded. Yet, I can’t get it to run. Technical (maybe user?) difficulties. When I get it worked out I will post it. I am getting the below error. Anyone know what this is about? (Click on it for a more clear view.)

Sign up for this webinar. I attended last year and learned some great stuff. It is after the eLearning Guild’s DevLearn 08 so you should have time.
Speaking of DevLearn, I am getting excited to go and learn and meet new people, meet those I know only online and see old friends. Make sure you and I meet if you are there.
Honestly, I don’t have very high expectations for my session. Not that it won’t be GREAT but it is at the worst time (last day, last time) and at the same time as a second of a two part series on pretty much the same thing. Oh well, we will still have fun and learn a lot from each other!