Some Great Posts Finishing Off The Year & Predictions for 2009

I saw some great posts from the last couple of days with great summaries of 2008 and 2009 and I'd like to capture them here as well.

Jane Hart's prediction for top tools of 2009. I've used a few of these and agree with Jane that they are wonderful tools and simple to use.

Robin Good led a group of 130+ through an online live mind mapping exercise creating an amazing picture of 2008's collaboration tools. This was incredible to watch it coming together live.

15 ways to improve your presentations in 2009 by Olivia Mitchell. Everyone can always use more tips or at least reminders on upgrading our presentations.

15 Useful Tools for WordPress Bloggers by Jacob Gube. I don't use WordPress, but many do and the options here are impressive.

I'm sure over the next several days the wrap ups of 2008 and predictions for 2009 will start flooding in and I look forward to reading all of them.

A New Year, A Chance to Start Fresh

I was a little disappointed with my self and my postings over the last year, mostly the last half of the year. They became fewer and fewer as I became more consumed with work. It's nice to be really busy, especially with the outlook of economic lows ahead. However, being too distracted with work hindered my learning from and networking with others. My reading of other blogs dwindled and with that my learning decreased which ultimately lead to me posting fewer items to my blog.
I am looking forward to a new year with my RSS reader cleaned out and ready for a whole new load of information ready for my eager eyes to scan through. There is one catch however, it's nice to start fresh but one must develop a plan for actually keeping up with the growing or over-growing amount of information that gets passed through the reader.

My plan is to learn from others and dump out those feeds that I truly only scan the headlines of and rarely look deeper into, this should hopefully make my inbox a little leaner. Second, I have set aside an hour at the end of each day (I find there are more posts then) to read through feeds and post my own thoughts. When I first started blogging I was writing once a day. I would like to get back to that habit, but we'll see if 3 times a work week is more feasible.

I'm hoping that this will work well for the upcoming year. I'll need to revisit "the plan" in a month to see if it is actually working. A little more than an hour may be necessary or work might be all consuming still and not allow me any time. Fingers crossed on this resolution.

Cheers to All for the New Year!

Ever want to just escape it all? (Two LMS's? Are they trying to kill me?)

Ever just want to run away and escape from it all?

I just came from a meeting from our Emergency Planning dept. and have been so graciously informed that they are purchasing a system to ensure or emergency readiness. Great, sounds wonderful. I think we need that. The catch....it has an LMS built into it and they want to run it for just those courses. Ugg Why would we want 2 LMSs running in the organization?

One of the main reasons we even started on this journey was that our educators were getting concerned that they were each tracking the learning of their staff in a billion different ways. Know one knew what anyone was taking or had taken. This is especially a problem with several hundred transfers a month around the organization.

On that note...I don't know how some of my peers cope with more than 3000 staff and multiple facilities. They should be praised.

I'm now in need of a desperate talk with my CIO to see what we can do, what we should do, where we should proceed. I'm quite concerned that when staff see/use this new LMS (it will be their first LMS experience and is scheduled to be up in several weeks) and then need to use my original LMS (yes they have yet to actually see it) they will be very confused and will be drawn to the new system as it is (as my IT buddy calls it) a much "sexier" system.

I'm confused already and neither system has launched. I'm also quite concerned about the potential of having two areas of administration. Historically our department (or I should say me) has been responsible for the administration of our Core Curriculum (6 mandatory courses that must be sent out to all staff each year). This new system would be responsible for only 2-3 of those courses. That makes little sense as well and would only duplicate much of my work.

I now need to desperately have a meeting with my director and my CIO to get these concerns on the table asap as this new system seems to be a go whether I like it or not.

I want to Blog...Where to Start?

I'm curious to find out a few things from bloggers who have been posting for more than a year:

1. What is your blogging tool of choice (blogger, wordpress, etc)?
2. Have you always used the same tool? If you switched why?
3. How often to you post?
4. Does traffic to your blog matter to you?
5. Do you try to stick to one topic/theme or are you generalized?
6. How many other blogs do you follow?
7. Have you kept your blog in the standard templates offered, have you tweaked it, or have you designed your own fully?
8. Do you blog internally for a company/organization or is it out there for the world to see?
9. Do you try to promote your blog (increase its searchablility - is that a word)?

Trouble Concentrating on One Task at a Time

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on one task at a time, let alone complete one and before I move onto the next. Am I normal for my generation; a product of my environment; has work forced be to be this way; is it just too much info all at once? I'm just not sure any more.

I certainly know, as it seems to be discussed more and more that information overload is bogging us down. I never believed that it was really happening. I felt like I was thriving learning more and more. I was excited to read, hear, see the next big thing or learn more about a topic I that found really interesting. I also never believed that I couldn't multitask and still get everything done that needed to be finished.

I now think, as 2008 is coming to a close, that I feel more drained then I have in a very long time. I feel that little has been accomplished. I've started a lot of projects, but have I really completed them to my full potential. I'm not sure. Even when I think of housework, something simple, something just for me....I fly around the house from one bit to another....clean a sink, wait spot on the mirror, do that....do another mirror, do another mirror....lint on the floor, better vacuum...back to sinks.... Eventually it gets done, but the process is crazy.

How did I get this way? It may be a bit because of my work. Rarely does a day go by where I can sit there an concentrate on just one task. There are phone and email interruptions both of which must be answered immediately. For some reason a culture has developed at my work where if a call/email is not answered immediately the person will try another method to reach you. I've even had people come to my office if I don't answer them within 30 minutes. There are the constant drop ins asking questions and usually they are about something irrelevant to the task at hand. I sit an area of the hospital where there are frequent visitors and patients that often need assistance with just logging on the computer. You can not tell them to wait, that is not an option.

And so wrapping up 2008 I seem to have my LMS at least in my grubby hands, but not yet functioning at a level that will make my users or instructors completely happy. I have started to create 2 different elearning courses, but haven't completed either. In case the LMS isn't a go in Jan. '09 then I've started creating 5 other courses for paper distribution. Oh and even if the LMS does work who's to stay everyone is going to access it anyway....the paper distribution better be ready any way. I've hosted 6 orientation sessions over the year. I did run a conference for our staff in April, but I'm back planning (in bits and pieces) the one for next April.

I'm feeling a bit like I'm running in a hamster wheel right now. Once in a while I get out and breath for a moment, but then I'm right back in running my little feet off.....and my brain.

An Interpretation of Training in the 21st Century

I love Harold Jarche's SlideShare here explaining many of the ideas and concepts we need to think about as we move forward in this web 2.0 world and the ways that we are going to continue to foster learning.

I find it very important, yet very difficult still to get managment to understand the greater need for collaboration regarding learning and producing, really anything. I'm fond of his slide representing Supporting Work in Complex Environments. I wonder how many of us are truly adopting this or are we still trying to pursuade our "power's that be" that we need to go this route and go now.

Training 21 C

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: complexity wirearchy)

LMS Is Not Managing Classroom Based Training

My days and nights are still consumed with the issue that our LMS does not manage classroom based courses well at all. I can not find a work around for our courses that run over many different days. The vendor gave me a solution if they are all in the same week, but that doesn't solve it.

• I tried making session 2 a whole new course and that session 1 is a prerequisite, but they can't register for number 2 until they pass number 1.
• I tried about putting all the sessions under one certificate, but they can't register for a certificate only an individual course.
• I tired making one course and just putting all the dates in the details, but that doesn't help the instructor keep track of everyone showing up for all sessions.
• I tried letting the learner registering for the first session and the instructor registering them for all the other sessions (hidden from public view). Nice idea however the instructor is never notified if a new student registers, they would have to go into the course, see who is new, go the the learner management screen add the other sessions (of which they can't see entirely because the window is too small), and then go back and look up the next new learner. Too much for an instructor that may have 6 sessions and 30 learners.

I'm at a brain freeze trying to work around this issue and about 60% of our in class teachings are like this. I'm ready to scrap the whole think and become a shepperd.

An LMS Rant to No One in Particular

I'm working on the "1 course, many classes" issue.

I've got it now that the learner registers for module 1 of 6.

If the learner clicks "my courses" they see module 1 that they registered for (there is no date of the course for them though. (It can't added to Outlook either like it should).

I've kind of got a solution to my "1 course many day" issue, but I've also got some concerns over ease and efficiency of this process. What I worked out is I "display and allow registration" of module 1 (noting to learner they will be registered for the other modules).
Module 2-6 are hidden (do not display).

As an instructor....currently I have to go into the "course manager", & "edit the session" to see if anyone has registered (there are no prompts to the instructor, no emails, this would be great every time a registrant signs up). Then I have to go into "manager learners". Then I have to export or note all the students (I wouldn't really know who is new and who isn't).

I then have to go to "learner manager", find the student, look at their courses, edit their courses, add in the other modules that they need to take.

The learner now does have the next module added to their "my courses" roster.

However they don't get any other notification that it has been added for them (and email to them would be helpful).

Oh and I guess if I wanted to add one course that has more than 1 session......I wouldn't be able to, because I can't see which session is which.

LMS what does it stand for?

This is a really quick post, but after my day yesterday struggling with my LMS, my computer that sounds as if it is taking off like a 747, and the constant screen freezes, I've come up with a new accronym for my LMS.

LMS = Losing My Sanity

When is the content enough? LMS Pilot has become too intense

I'm working on a school project where I get to use Blackboard as a teacher. I have an assignment worth 30% of my overall class mark, but the actual content of the course material I put into the system is only worth 1/3rd of the mark. I've been working at it and working at it creating this in depth learning course on using myUdutu.com to create online courses. I'm at the fifth page (.doc) of my course material and I haven't even gotten past the templates that are available to you as an author.

I'm now mulling over where do I "stop" the course so that it ends at an appropriate place (end of topic). When can I say I've done enough that's about 1/3rd's worth. I think I may be creating the supreme version of the course as opposed to the first chapter.

I've realized today that I'm doing the same thing with my LMS pilot or preparation for the pilot. I've been killing myself mentally and physically (okay only my fingers are cramping up, but it does hurt). I've been working endlessly to get all my physical course catalogue inputted into the LMS catalogue. I've been trying to create 2 elearning courses for the learners to try. I've also been trying to make sure the system works flawlessly from a student perspective, author, manager, and administrator.

A friend was kind enough to slap some reality into me today and allowed me to step back and look at it for what it is....a pilot. Not everything is going to work right away and it probably should not work perfectly. It should be expected that there will be things you'll want to tweak and fix so that it better matches your learners expectations. It doesn't need to have the entire course catalogue created. It just needs a sampling of classroom courses and online courses for them to register for and take. I have 2 SCORM courses from the Ontario Health Association that will make good test courses. One has sound and video. I would love to have one or two of our own courses in there, but it's not a necessity.

My LMS Tips for today is to take it easy on yourself, remember your pilot is only a pilot. It is simply there for you to test out the functionality of your system for you as an administrator and for your learners for ease and simplicity. Can they navigate their way around the system easily? Step back, simplify it for yourself, get the main components in that you require, it does not have to be at the 100% GO LIVE stage. Another really big big tip I got today as well is....you don't have to turn every part of the system on. Our system has the ability for the manager to approve a staff member taking a course. I've been going nuts trying to make sure this works....but why? Mangers don't do this right now in our learning environment, why do they need to do it online. Myself and my colleague aren't convinced it works the way we would want to any way. So we'll leave it be for now. Pretend it doesn't exist and deal with it later if we see it as a necessary tool.

Hope this too helps you sleep a little better my LMS friends.

eLearning Learning - Now Launched

Tony Karrer graciously asked me to participate in the launch of a new tool called eLearning Learning. I've added to my blog sidebar and you will be able to use it to see the most common terms, tools, and concepts that I blog about. Each of those links within the tool (widget) can then be break down further in to more specific content. As you follow a link you will first come to the content that was created by myself, or fed into the eLearning Learning site. As you scroll through that you will come to content created by others. If you use one of the links available to you now on the eLearning Learning site you will be able to further into the first topic link (i.e. Learning > Learning-Blogging, or Learning-Technology, etc.). The break down goes on and on.

"This is the beginning of a community portal where the community will help to collect and organize the best content from blogs and web sites. The goal is to create a place where it's relatively easy to find current content and highly relevant content surrounding eLearning." - Tony Karrer

Currently the content is mostly feed in through blogs, but will be expanded in the future.

If you want to try out the tool on some live blogs there are a few launch sites you can take a look through and play with:


Tracy Hamilton - Discovery through eLearning (mine)

Collin Kromke - Web 2.0 Work

Kevin Jones - Engaged Learning

Wendy Wickham - In The Middle of the Curve

Tony Karrer - eLearning Technology

Educational Videos Online and Other Great Stuff

I saw this linked passed through Twitter from Dennis Callahan, it's 10 Free Online Educational Video Options. The list was compiled by Ace Online Schools blog.

"Ace Online Schools is a guide to useful online resources for students and professionals. In addition to our own tips and tutorials, we recommend websites and applications that help you work and live more productively."

I was aware of the first few as they are quite mainstream but am grateful to see the remaining fantastic options. I'm not a school teacher, but there definitely appears to be some great resources here for instructors in general.

LMS Big Dreaming...Darn

I was so close to being happy....they almost had it. Update to my earlier post (moments ago). Further investigation by me is they haven't quite got it yet. They have grasped the concept that a course may take place over many days with in a week and that each day the time may be different, but what if it is over several months. Giving me the option to enter in a class that happens Monday at 2:00 and Wednesday at 3:00 doesn't quite solve my problem.

Mine is I have 1 course that runs twice a year (2 sessions). Each session has 6 modules (full days). Due to the lack of rooms available to us they are not always every other Thursday or follow any pattern for that matter. I have one schedule Feb. 12, Feb. 26, Mar. 19, Mar. 26, Apr. 9, Apr. 30 2009. Take a look at a calendar and see how scattered these are, at least they are all Thursdays. Luckily they are all in the same room, but this is a fluke.

My vendor is close to solving it, but not quite there yet. I've taken their screen shots and with some graphic editing resent back to them what I was hoping for instead. Fingers crossed I'm not dreaming to large.

Big Changes in My LMS World Today

A couple of key things have begun to happen today. One I attended a meeting with my key IT people and the HR manager. Our HR system is a little old (okay very old) and has not really been updated for the size of staff we have currently. It was a great little system 10-15 years ago, but now that we have tripled in size it doesn't really meet our needs. One of them being who reports to whom. We have been existing with who is paid by which budget line. Not great for accountability, performance support, or my LMS.

The good news today is that the HR system is now approximately 10% away from being complete to function the way we need it to for the current situation. We of course have larger, grander schemes in mind, but it will (should) suffice for now.

Secondly, I began to panic this afternoon as simple procedures within the LMS as an administrator seemed to have disappeared. So I fired off an email to the vendor, stated they must be up to something as everything was crashing on my end and I went to lunch.

To my surprise upon my return; nothing was fixed. I then decided forget it I'll work around the errors and keep doing what I'm doing. A bit more typing, a few more screens and suddenly I have new fields available to me for creating courses. My biggest excitement is they may have, just may have, found a way for me to input courses that run over multiple days. Yippee!!!!

My LMS tip for the day: create really strong communication connections with your vendor. Make sure that you each know what the other is doing, when, and for how long. We have run into several issues like this where suddenly nothing is working. We panic on our end, only to find out that they are fixing bugs that we requested be fixed. Unless you each know what the other is working on ill relationships and understanding develop very quickly.

Latest LMS Implementation Issue - External Access

So one (of the many) things to keep me awake at night right now, in regards to my LMS implementation is the whole issue around access. Currently our intranet is not accessible externally. Our LMS portal runs through our intranet.

Management and physicians have access to the network from home or external offices. The issue now is the 2600 other staff that don't. The several issues I have with this are how do we expect staff do complete mandatory education that will be provided as elearning packages if we 1) don't have enough computer stations for them to use, and 2) have limited amount of free time we can give them on the job to do the packages. The logical choice then appears to let them work on it at home through the elearning system.

Hense my dilemma.....that does not exist. Please tell me these issue begin to dwindle at some point.

Corporate Learning Trends & Innovations 2008 - Have You Signed Up

I'm working through all the incredible events that are offered through Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations 2008 site. I'm surprised there are so few members currently, considering it will run from Nov. 17th until the 21st.

"Join us to explore new developments, track emerging opportunities, network with other learning pioneers, and deal with topics you don’t find at the conferences you have to travel to. Come online the week of November 17 for a different kind of conference experience. Mark your calendar now. The event is free. Events are live and online. Hook up with fellow innovative thinkers and international visionaries to gain insight into what’s going on, swap opinions, and shape the future of learning. Share your suggestions with the organizers at learntrends.com"

Did you see that word FREE in that quote? How can you pass up joining in the discussion? Not enough for you, then how about the speakers scheduled to share on their insights....

Nov. 17
Jane Hart - 25 Free Tools Every Learning Professional Should Have in their Toolbox
Robin Good - Best Online Collaboration Tools for Learning
Learning Technology Strategy in Climates of Change (organized by George Siemens)
Q&A with David Weinberger

Nov. 18
Tools, the Discussion (organized by Tony Karrer, Robin Good, Jane Hart)
Tony Karrer - Work Literacy - Implications for Learning Professionals
Dave Pollard - Working Smarter

Nov. 19
Nancy White - Online social architectures - Networks & communities
Marcia Connor - Learning When the Money Runs Out
Jay Cross, Jane Hart, Harold Jarche, Clark Quink - Learnscape Sandbox

Nov. 20
Alvaro Fernandez - Key research behing cognitive & emotianl training

Nov. 21
Kevin Wheeler - Future of Work
Allison Anderson - Enterprise Learning
Jay Cross - What's it all about?
Dave Gray - Visual Literacy

EnglishCafe - helping each other to learn English

I had this interesting site sent to me today; http://www.englishcafe.com/.

"Like the best Cafés around the world, EnglishCafé is an enclave for vibrant and respectful exchange of knowledge, ideas and entertainment. We value the diversity of people, the unique experiences they bring, and the cultures from which their voices rise.

English does not belong to any group of people. English is a language that is malleable enough for the entire world to use. For this reason, we can learn from each other and about each other through this language. We can indeed advance our careers with English knowledge and make ourselves more marketable in the global economy. It is with a spirit of openness and desire to understand that we built EnglishCafé. We invite you to come in, gain or share knowledge, and join in a world-wide conversation about words and culture."

They asked me to look at it as it is in beta stage currently. I immediately was drawn to how easily I could navigate around the site looking for the answers I might need to find as a user. Also I got drawn in through out the day looking at places where I could contribute answers to other users that were asking questions.

There is an area where any registered user can post a question such as "what is the difference between Miss and Ms." This might seem a simple question to first-language English speakers, but for those learning it is confusing. As our organization becomes more diversity aware we realize more and more how difficult it might be to explain how so many English words, such as "fare" & "fair", may sound the same but are spelt so differently and mean vary different things as well.

My colleague who is getting her certificate as an English as a Second Language instructor said there are many sites out there that do assist with this, but her first reaction was very positive as well.

Another aspect I liked about the site was it's collaborative nature in posting a question to the community and the community responding back with answers. Each new member responding often elaborates on the previous answer and so the user posing the question get's quite in depth responses.

I look forward to seeing how well this site is received by users and how it progresses into the future.

eLearning & LMS Implementation Mentor Needed

Driving for 3 days at 8 hours at a shot gave me lots of time to think, ponder, and worry more and more about the LMS implementation that is a few weeks away. I reach out to my peers quite often through this and am so grateful for all the help I continue to receive. I know now I really need your assistance again or even a mentor that I can ask questions of and bounce ideas off as I move forward over the next few months.

I am a department of one and I am only a subsection of our Organization Development department. My project is of course then not the priority of the department, but one of several priorities (yes, an oxy-moron for sure). I made the mistake of looking a my email the last night of my vacation and that threw lots of questions and worry my way.

Please assist/answer any of these if you can either through this blog or through my direct email. Any advice is sincerely appreciated.

1) I have many depts in my organization that are all wanting to develop self-learning packages (everyone is sick of doing training for 2600 people 10 students at a time).

• Do I let them each develop their own training and leave it at that?
• Do I let them do the developing and then assist with giving suggestions where it can be improved?
• Do I develop guidelines/procedures that they have to follow when creating their own training packages? (Does anyone have an example?)
• I've had recent questions about getting Articulate. I know Articulate and Captivate each have their own merits. Wondering if someone that has used both can give me some background on their preference?
• Do I let them produce their packages in PowerPoint and then have them give the material to me to convert into elearning courses?

Any suggestions.......(whew)....I'm ready for vacation again and haven't even stepped foot back in the office yet.

Clark Aldrich was the last 2 questions on my mid-term last night.

I wrote (or clicked) my way through a mid-term last night for a Online Technology course, and yes I passed with flying colours Mom.

I was pleasantly surprised for 2 reasons. I was interesting to work through a multiple choice test that actually covered everything taught so far, and was challenging at the same time. I haven't had a real thought provoking multiple choice test since University Biology classes (those are NOT pleasant by any sense of the imagination).

The second surprise was that the last 2 questions on the exam were "According to Clark Aldrich....."

Care to have a go at them?

True or False: According to Clark Aldrich in Learning Circuits, he predicts that immersive simulations will short-cut the experiential learning process to become the dominant form of high-end pre-packaged management training for the Play Station 2 generation.

True or False: According to Clark Aldrich in Learning Circuits learning experiences such as mentoring, apprenticeships, and group projects can lead to the kind of profound experiences that fundamentally grow people that can be orchestrated and captured by LMSs.

Blog Action Day - Poverty (Tsunamika Dolls)

My friend at work that volunteered in India this past summer and the summer before brought me back a precious little gift. A Tsunamika doll. A symbol of living hope.


"This project is conceived and executed by Upasana Design Studio of Auroville in the seaside villages of Auroville's bioregion. Nearly 480 fisherwomen from 6 villages are trained and from them around 180 ladies are now creating these little dolls called Tsunamika. She has been hand-made from fabrics left over from other creative works in Upasana. The project team, who trained the ladies, now supplies them with raw materials to continue producing the dolls. All dolls produced are bought from them in bulk and are gifted unconditionally worldwide by Upasana."

What strikes me here is that these women are being empowered to make life a little better for themselves. Many, if not all, were left with very little after the Tsunami. These ladies now have a job they can do daily. "When they earn money through work, there is dignity, pride and self respect in them, they know the value of what they receive, they learn new skills, they learn to discipline and channelize their energies. These are the real but intangible assets they receive, money is only a means to brings this out."

Ending poverty is not purely giving out money to those in need. It is helping those that need it to find that dignity, pride, and self respect that we each strive for regardless of our situation. It is a fundamental need we each have.

I proudly wear my Tsunamaki doll each day, pinned to my name badge at work. It reminds me of many things of which I am thankful and grateful.

Simple Clean Learning Example on BBC News

I just wanted to make note of this simple interactive bit of learning that was on the BBC News Science & Environment page from Friday. The title first caught my eye "Alien species are a problem in the UK - and invasive plants are causing some of the worst damage." So I took a quick look.

Without reading anything I was drawn into the simple, yet colourful illustration of a garden with labels scattered around it. Little arrow symbols for "PLAY" immediately made me know there was more to the diagram. As I clicked through each of them up came a quick 2-3 minute video about the Alien Plant, when it arrived in the UK, and the damage it was causing being alien to the UK environment.


The topic might not intrigue everyone, but the simplicity of the way the lectures were delivered would probably draw your students into any lesson you might want to share. A good idea/model to follow.

LMS Name & Logo Created, If I Could Just Get the LMS to Look as Nice

I think I've got it. With a little more brainstorming with a different colleague we decided we liked SOL. So we added an S on the end and now have SOLS, the Southlake Online Learning System. Ooooh sounds so fancy you say.

Then I played with some logo designs I'm sure Corporate Communications will never approve.

Well here's hoping they do. I think they're kind of neat and it was a nice distraction for the last 1/2 hour of my day. Now all I need is to get the LMS running and looking just as good.

I did get a new version of the system loaded up today. Some good new fixes were added. Some old bugs were removed. There are still a few things I'd love them to change, but I'm not sure how much further to press my luck. I've got 5 more working days to get some content loaded onto the silly thing. Then a week vacation - Yeah!!!! Then I'm suppose to being piloting it with users at the end of the month.

Where ever will I find the time to make cool t-shirts, hats, and any other swag I think will sell this to the masses.

Careful what you name your LMS

I was just brainstorming with a friend from our Corp. Communications on a name for our LMS. I've been looking into this for a bit, but it slipped my mind and now I need to come up with something.

So we threw around the words "university", "college", "academy", "elearning", "online", "intranet". Finally we came up with Southlake Online Learning. Sounds plain. Sounds simple. SOL is catchy. It's "brightening our Stars for tomorrow.

Oh ya, in case you missed it the acronym is S. O. L. If you don't know what else that stands for....give me an email.

Back I go to brainstorming.

Dear Boss: Let me tell you what I really think....whoops

I saw this post today via LifeHacker and them in turn from The Official Gmail Blog. Google labs is working on a feature, Mail Goggles, that once set will give you a series of math questions to test your own level of consciousness on whether sending that late Saturday night email is such a good idea.

If you're one of those people that decides at 1:00am you've waited long enough to tell someone exactly what you think of them, then it sounds like this feature might be for you. On the other hand if you often find the need to self-edit, then perhaps this tool is just pointing to something greater....step away from the computer....go to bed.

I'll admit it...I've made a few phone calls that way in college, but no emails...yet :)

Getting addicted to Tweets? Maybe.

Last year at the Annual Gathering someone asked if I was hooked into Twitter that they would send me a message that way about where to meet up later during the event. I wasn't but quickly did to give it a try and check it out.

It did take me a little getting use to setting up and using as I still have an old regular cell phone. (hmm no iphone, instinct, or other yet) I'm also in Canada so it took a few more screens to get it going, but it wasn't overly frustrating. Soon I started finding a few key people who I follow on blogs to follow on Twitter. Messages started to come in about what project they were working on. What articles people were reading. Blogs they were posting. So on and so on the work related info came to me.

My hubby kept wondering why my phone was going off all the time. So I tried to explain how it was a connection to peers and I was learning from them some of the latest and greatest of what they were learning. Then came in the messages on the weekend...kids just won a swim meet, flying my kite at the park, sitting at the ball game, watching a race, meeting with other Twits (lol....is that right...perhaps not...but I kind of like it).

So many months later I now have a few more people following me, I'm following a few more people, and the messages are coming in more and more and more. And frankly I really like it. Now I'm wondering hmmmmm am I getting addicted to knowing what others are doing. At first I wondered why would someone tell me that their kids just won a race, now I've changed my thoughts and am thinking I'm really happy they are sharing this with me. Not only is the work stuff important to share, but the personal stuff is as well.

It's strange how the little bits of personal messages that flow in after the work hours and on the weekends help you to learn more about the people with whom you are connecting. It takes the "coldness" (if there was any to begin with) and turns a bunch of stranger peers into friend peers.

It's much like coming into work, going to the coffee break table and asking what people did on the weekend. I'm thrilled to know that someone and thier wife just tried cooking lobster for the first time. I'm happy to find out that someone is in downtown Omaha. I'm estatic to find a new free video capturing tool. It's all good.

Check with me in another 6 months to see if I still like it....lol.

Internet and Email Use at Work - Study Findings

PEW Internet and American Life Project have a great paper out right now with some interesting stats on use of the internet and email and how it effects workers. It is from September 24, 2008 and the data seems to have been collected earlier in the year.

It caught my attention in relation to the Work Literacy Web 2.0 for Learning Professionals workshop/class/network (it's a bit of all of these). Someone was wondering if the tasks people are doing in relation to age have shifted over the last year or so. It seems that the older boomers maybe even seniors (in terms of generations) are more 2.0 savvy than ever. I'm not sure to be honest, but this report has some interesting information on how email (personal and work related) and the internet effect workers at home and in the "office". I know the eLearning Guild is also doing a free webinar today on their eLearning 2.0 360 findings as well and may address some of this - who is doing what and where idea.

Some of the PEW/Internet findings:

Working men and women are equally as likely to blog, but young adults far outpace older workers in their engagement with blogging. Employed internet users ages 18-29 are more than twice as likely to blog when compared with 30-49 year olds (20% vs. 9%). However, young adults are no more likely to report at-work tending to their blog; just 2% say they blog from work.

Blog reading is also most prevalent among younger generations of employed internet
users. One in three internet-using employees (33%) say they have read someone else’s blog or online journal, and 11% report at least some at-work reading. However, among young working adults, 46% are blog readers, compared with 33% of 30-49 year olds and 25% of employed internet users ages 50-64. At-work blog reading is equally prevalent among all of these groups.

Starting to be a Collector (comment from Work Literacy Ning)

Susan Neva commented today, after seeing a graph (What People are Doing) that I shared, that they would like to become more of a collector and wants to learn how to accomplish this task starting with RSS feeds.

I responded (and decided to share here) with a comment.

Week 4 of Work Literacy seems to be when we get into RSS feeds a bit more, but if you want a place to start try Google Reader. It's quite simple to use and navigate though and a great place to start collecting feeds. They don't have to be just on the topic you are interested in (ie: elearning) but can be space, news, cooking, it's endless. Word to the wise, don't collect too many or you end up not having time to read them all.

I'd start with Tony Karrer's blog, Brent Schlenker's, or mine. Tony and Brent have amazing content, but the reason I listed all three is they have great blog lists of others we follow and might be of interest to you. Tony suggested at one session to keep a feed for 30-60 days (I think) and then determine if you are getting much from the content. If it isn't of much interest to you after that, then clear it away. This way you don't end up with 1000+ rss posting a day.

Brent has just changed his reader to no feeds at all. If someone has a blog that he is following, he hopes they have now got Twitter Feeds coming from it as well and he relies on the blog headings that come through twitter. Not sure how this is working yet for him, but it's an interested way to keep up with all the info we share with one another. I use the Twitter Feeds myself through out the day to check those topics that pop up and are intriguing to me at the moment.

Feeling behind, overwhelmed, leading to discouragement - LMS blues

So I guess I have the LMS blues. I'm coming to what should be the final stretch of getting the LMS functioning. I should have access to a new version of the system. I should have several courses on it for users to try out. I should have our HR system talking to our Active Directory system, talking to the LMS and functioning. I should have a pilot group all set ready to give it all a try. I should feel like things are coming together.

BUT I DON'T.

I, like most of you, feel completely swamped by the every day tasks that come my way. The barrage of emails, the phone calls, and the drop-ins. They are all taking their toll and time away from me being able to concentrate on the tasks at hand. Getting the LMS running.

I'm in a bit of a panic there in that I'm not convinced the people that can (IT) have been able to get the HR system to have all the fields populated that should be populated so that we know who reports to whom instead of who gets paid by whom. Even if that is completed, I'm not sure our Active Directory is picking it up yet. However, as B.J. Schone has told me many times....always have an IT buddy and I think Ryan is mine. I gave him some blank discs today...he said he can get the AD up to speed in no time. So I hope it works, I just have no control or authority to say "make it happen".

As I said the drop-ins have been a bit overwhelming so I don't know if the new system is ready for me to try out or not. When I say new I mean a few tweaks here and there. But the vendor's idea of a pilot group and my idea are off by about 60 people. I don't want to test the system and see if it works and functions. It should upon purchase. I do want to have a small representation of various users give it a go and tell me if they can easily navigate and find what they need, register, take a course. If they can't then perhaps some tweaks, but more likely change the training to address the gap.

Finally the time line. According to the vendor I should have everything in place, oh let me see, yesterday. Doesn't work like that. Most of the elearning people I have connected with are departments of one. How many of us have time to concentrate on one thing either? Don't get me started if you are in health care. My colleagues here in Ontario would definitely know that most of us wear 2, 3, and sometimes 4 different hats. Each of those have their own priorities as well and let's not talk about where our bosses think our priorities should start.

Okay. I feel better, well at least feel it's off my chest. Thanks for the rant. I think I've covered a few concerns I hope you'll concern if you go through an implementation.

Work Literacy - Workshop

Working through many of the postings, forums, info on the Web 2.0 for Learning Professionals workshop (http://workliteracy.ning.com/) lots to think about here. Many intriguing people to connect with and learn from.

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Exploring Electronically

Searching out new areas in SL, new to me, an unconference in secondlife://Jokaydia/114/158/23, and the creation of some discworld areas, and a book store secondlife://Elysian%20Isle/149/204/26

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A new title for me....of course that means more work.

A little while ago I was asking out for any suggestions for a new job title for myself. Well today the goodness came and as of Oct. 9th (next pay date) I will be the Education Technology Specialist.

Ooooohhhhh, Ahhhhhh, Wooooowwwww, (insert ticker tape parade, fireworks, etc. here).

Okay really it's not a new job. It the same thing I've been doing for well over a year now, but the timing was just right to say...excuse me....I'd like to be called something a little more reflective to what I do at my desk each day.

They wouldn't let me use Desk Monkey so I went with the next best thing a Specialist. Basically it's because I'm the only one doing the work in the organization. However, I really hope the Education Technology piece speaks volumes to the skills, tools, and techniques that I am bringing into the organization. More over I hope now the-powers-that-be take a little more notice into the importance of getting our staff up-to-speed and more current in some of our training practices.

Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development: TONCHIDOT - Tagging the world - Extreme Mobile Learning

Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development: TONCHIDOT - Tagging the world - Extreme Mobile Learning

Wow! If you haven't seen this, you HAVE TO take a look at Brent's posting above.

Amazing and overwhelming all at once.

After just showing this to my friend who just came back from India, she said she was so surprised to see that everyone there had cellphones. There would be 5-6 people piled on to one scooter (yes, try to imagine that first) and you were guaranteed to see one of them on a cell phone. This medium is certainly every where.

CoverItLive - Repost (Updated, Searchable, Neat)

I sent an email to the CoverItLive folks and got some great feedback from Paul Crawford Manager, Quality Assurance. I tried CoverItLive for blogging live during an EG online session last week. My concern was that often I want to go back and search the content of the blogs I post not just the headings and I was under the impression that CoverItLive's iframes tool would not allow this to occur. Paul's feedback led me to another area of their site where I could "Save Content Locally" which leads to the posting below of the same content from last week. This content is fully searchable within my blog. (If I don't remember the speaker, only the topic, I could still find the posting I was looking for in my archives.)

Now I would have the option to blog live as I go, keep that original iframes posting, or after the event replace it with a searchable version. I'm definately liking this tool more and more.

Reposted Content (text form)

Title: Wink In Wiki
1:05
Another new tool that I just had to try out. Thanks again Brent. Keeping up is difficult, but Tony Karrer just presented how important it is to keep trying, learning and staying on top of new tools. Even a little knowledge of how they work and can be used is better than none at all.

1:07
This will be my first attempt at true live blogging as opposed to "taking notes" and posting as soon as the event is over. My typing speed better not fail me.

1:11
Wink and a Wiki - presented by Debi Crabtree, Hamilton County Virtual School

1:19
Wink: a software tool that creates tutorials about other software programs - freeware, - screen shots, outputs Flash, PDF, HTML and other formats

1:19
Great for answering questions of your employees/students with visual screens.

1:23
How can I use Wink:- Answer questions visually- Create tutorials about software, OS,- Advertise software- tutorials- instructions(all features at ww.debugmod.com/wink)a good tool for reaching multicultural/lingual audiencesAdvance Features- templates- cursor editing- palettes- control bars- online community/user forum www.debugmode.com/userforums

1:24
Task: Create a "wink" showing how to make a "wiki" then upload the "wink" into the "wiki". Sounds quite circular.

1:25
67% of participants in this particular forum have not used a wiki.

1:26
3 easy steps:capture screen shotsadd call outs, buttons, time delaysthen save project, create pallete, render

1:27
Starting:Best to create a folder on your desk top first to save the Wink documents into.Then open the application that you will be taking screen shots of.

1:30
Debi is doing a great job of actually going through all these creation steps, piece by piece live. You may want to access the eLearning Guild's Online Forum archives to see this presentation recording.

1:46
Participant's in forum comment that Wink appears to be a "Captivate Lite" kind of tool.I could see using this for my upcoming LMS implementation/training/creation to train users, educators, managers, etc.

1:55
I'm not actually convinced though that I can't do all of this in PowerPoint yet and it's already downloaded on my computer. However, the export to Flash is I guess the selling feature, however I have an add-on that I got from http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/ that does export presentation to Flash.

1:58
It does let you created a sound file for each individual slide thought. I don't know if PowerPoint does that, but I'm sure there is a way around it some how. The sound editor looks not much different than the media recorder in Windows.

2:00
You can export it as a PDF. Nice if they need a hard copy. I know there are several ways around doing this (within my office), however it is nice to have all these tools in one location (program).

2:03
73% of participants feel her presentation will allow them to go out and use Wink with just a little use from the manual. Again, a great tutorial by Debi.

2:05
30 minutes after creating the slides (a few voice overs, a few bubbles) we are on to the wiki and inserting the wink just created.

2:06
***** this area is just a test post for use after this online session*****
2:18
End.

My Heart's Been Touched Again by an Angel

I have a wonderful and dear friend that I have the pleasure to work with every day. She just returned this week from India from an 8 week volunteer experience. This was her second volunteer excursion to India and we were honestly expecting her to come home and tell us she is retiring to stay and help their permanently.

I can't express as well as she some of the experiences she has encountered, but I'll share a few she shared with us...

My volunteer time at the orphanage has been significant...4 hours in the mornings doing construction work...teaching English in afternoons & then in the evenings to be with the children for learning and play...all the 38 children here are so wonderful and in need of care...they all come to the home with sad stories...the orphanage is a rundown place you can't think that children could live this way...they have no toys, no beds, no books to read...nothing...the administrator is a very nice man who i admire greatly for what he tries to do for the kids...

The past 7 weeks i have worked with Indian workmen to build new toilets and demolish the old...by the time i painted the new toilets the kids had been using them ...they are a hole in the ground and some chemical needs to be put in to break everything up which gets done only occasionally...the stench, flies, mosquitoes, heat of the day were the conditions i had to endure to get these stalls painted... for the following week the kids kept thanking me for painting the toilets...a humbling experience ...

I have carried thousands of bricks and lots of sand and mortar...before i leave i
will have helped to construct the foundation of a building for the children to sleep in...they sleep out in the open with just a roof over their heads...the place is infested with mice...one day watching out for snakes in the rubble pile i was working in my feet were attacked by swarms of ants...that took a week to recover from...i only wear sandals to work in ... no work boots...sometimes it is even easier to work in bare feet..

I would like to imagine myself having the strength to do what she has done, but I'm not sure I ever could. My friend Kathy and the thousands of other volunteers around the world are making differences every minute of the day.

She brought me make a very touching memento as well, a Tsunamika doll. It's a tiny little doll made from a small scrap of pink fabric, little sewn eyes and a mouth, and another scrap of blue fabric for hair. "She has been hand-made by women, the women who live by the ocean, the women whose lives changed forever after the tsunami, the women who are exploring a new way of living, the women who are empowering themselves." These dolls are always a gift and are never sold. You may get Tsunamika dolls by contacting one of their worldwide ambassadors. Look at thier Project page to see the true impact these little dolls do for the women that are creating them.

It's these little things that are done daily, that pass us by, that we rarely see first hand, that are also attempting to make our world a much better, happier, kinder, and closer world for everyone.

Look no more for a great list of Open Source tools

Wow, Inge de Waard was inspired by Software Freedom Day on 20 September and has posted an incredible list of open source tools that offer great reliability and flexibility. Please look to her posting when you are seeking software for:

• Graphics
• Multimedia
• Supporting software
• Internet
• Office
• Relaxation

Thanks Inge for compiling such an extensive list.

SL Question - How do you start sending staff into Second Life for training?

I certainly haven't got all the Second Life lingo yet, but I'll try to pose my question here anyway. I was looking at a virtual conference in Second Life coming up that had some health care topics involved. Thinking about this I thought neat, I could register and give it a try to see what was covered and how they even do a conference in SL.

I then wondered though, if I wanted to create/send coworkers into SL for a virtual experience how would that be done. I realize it would take some time to get land and create my area (Sim? is that right?), but then what. Would you just tell your people to show up? I'm thinking not. It takes some time to get use to the environment, moving and looking around, inventory, chatting, etc. This is not to mention the billion hours (oh yes I mean billion) spent on creating and changing the appearance of your avatar.

I'm curious to find out how one would get their staff started into SL and how long it takes. Given you've already set up the area. Would you create 5-10 random avatars that staff could use to start with? Would you let them create their own avatars? Anyone interested in responding I'd be grateful. I'm not going there yet, but am quite curious.

Currently sitting in on another online forum. Posting from phone.
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ARRR Matey, Did Ye Know It's Talk Like a Pirate Day

Just incase you haven't heard the new yet. It is indeed talk like a pirate day.

Find tons of booty (treasure) here:

http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=xx-pirate

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

http://www.yarr.org.uk/talk/ (even has pirate ring tones...lol)

Pirate News Around the World

Swaggy: a scurvy cur's ship what ye be intendin' to loot!
Keelhaul: a truly vicious punishment where a scurvy dog be tied to a rope and dragged along the barnacle-encrusted bottom of a ship. They not be survivin' this. (ha, why does this make me laugh)

Tried REAL live blogging today - thoughts on CoverItLive

I just tried using CoverItLive for the last online session I just attended through the eLearning Guild. You can see the results here of this blogging session and here for the session just prior to it where I did my normal "note taking" method.

Brent Schlenker passed me along to it earlier today through his blog and well I just had to give it a try it looked so neat.

It is definitely a really neat tool. It was simple to start using and easy to keep using through the session. There were however a couple of things that stuck me as I was using the tool.

I have a bit of a science background to me, in that is was my primary studies through high school and the beginning academic career. There is one thing that taking a lot of science and geography courses do for a student and that is ridiculous note taking. As I was using CoverItLive during the last session, the majority of the session was a demonstration and there weren't really notes to take. Therefore, my live blogging post that you can look at has almost a 30 minute gap and you can tell that as a reader because the tool gives you a time line of published entries. (also a neat feature)

Something else that struck me is that once I start then what....I unfortunately don't have the option of closing my door and concentrating on the online sessions. They occur during my work hours and I need to be available for all the drop-ins that happen (luckily I screen calls and emails though). So with my normal method if I get really distracted or pulled away no one ever knows. I just don't post the notes. If I start this type of live blogging, then anyone who sees I start and suddenly have to stop might wonder.....hmmmm what happened.

I think therefore, it would be more useful if you can concentrate fully and if you can maintain continuity through the time you are using the tool.

Another feature of my normal note taking that I like is that because the text I enter is just like any other post all the text is searchable. If I can't remember the speaker (ie: Tony Karrer), but only remember that he mentioned maps during his presentation and I wrote about it, then "maps" becomes a searchable word as does the presenter.

If you look at my posting trying out CoverItLive I put in one line that says "test post". A search for this didn't come up. Perhaps I am unclear on how to search for it though.

I did think of another great use for it though and will put it forward to someone here (just have to figure out who). What a great way to take minutes during a meeting? I have so many colleagues here at work that hate minute taking, because they have to take the minutes, then go to their office and type them and then edit, etc. etc. This would capture everything that is happening as it happens, would record the main points, and anyone who couldn't make it to the meeting could at least watch and see what was going on. One blog for each committee, each using CoverItLive to capture the notes.

There are additional advance features for a price so perhaps some of my queries are addressed there, but it was definitely fun and easy to use. I suggest trying it at least once.

Wink in a Wiki (eLearning Guild Online Forum)

eLearning 2.0 - an Introduction to the Revolution (eLearning Guild Online Forum)

Presented by: Tony Karrer, Tech Empower, Inc.

NOTE:....check out Brent Schlenker's "Cover It Live" version of this forum.

Various 2.0 tools & use by participants in this session (110+)
Social bookmarking 43% know what it is, but....
RSS Readers 38% don't use one
Blogging - 65% Read Blogs
Wikis - 40% read wikis, 37% using a wiki

Tony shared a great example of his son looking up information on the California Gold rush. Starting with a text book and encyclopedia he found one or 2 paragraphs. Then with an internet search found a wiki entry. Then using that entry was able to find a few more terms to better search for more information. He then found a site with historical maps. Using one particular (electronic version) historical map that had text at the bottom directed specifically to miners at the time of the gold rush, he was able to discover there was a 4th route that miners used to get to California. Using this new information he went back to the wiki and entered in the new information into the wiki page. The next day someone came in and respelled a word and changed some basic formatting, but that piece of information is now still added to the wiki information page.

REMEMBER WHEN....you had to use a card catalogue and micro fiche reader to find information....lol.

Note taking.....helps thinking through the structure of what you are learning and listening to.

However, notes on paper and notes on laptops are quite different.

There are now over a trillion pages that Google is tracking and it is perhaps more important to figure out how to access it then remembering all of it.

How do we handle these challenges?
3000 new books published every day
2.7 trillion emails sent every day
175000 new blogs are created every day

New information doubles every year, 2015 it will double every week.

New information triggers an reaction that is slightly euphoric, but too many interuptions and too much information can make one feel completely overloaded and over whelmed.

We are not adapting to all this information overload very well....
(information retrieval via web - 2002)

Most people today think they are fairly adept at searching and learning.
Over time though if you don't keep up to date you slow down and lose how quickly you can.

Over 50 years old retain better phone numbers, under 30 only 40% because they use different devices to remember.

(ie: perhaps same as spell check, spelling/txting is getting worse)

(ie: ~ = approximately, Google gave up on people using this in their searches [not everyone remembers/knows what it is] and have programmed it into the background to assist in searching)

Remember Linkedin for building your networks and for looking for resources of people that know about the topic you are interested in. Great search features.

Learning and Work are inseparable for knowledge workers.

eLearning 1.0 is very formal
- needs are common
- content is known, understood, stable content,
- hits large audience
- examples - orientation, compliance, skills

eLearning 2.0 is informal, more collaborative, based on the learner
(social media tools help shift this and assist this learning)
- unique needs

Common eLearning 2.0 Scenarios
- alongside formal learning
- blogs used to answer classroom lessons with blogs
- wikis as collaborative learning tools (group projects)
- editable reference materials (wikis)
- product info
- processes
- scenarios
- faqs
- reference guides/glossary
- experience capturing
- new-hire blogs
- lab or project notebooks
- RSS readers - steady content flow inside and outside of organization
Roles of a Learning Professional in and eLearning 2.0 World

Same New
- analyst - Tool integrator/opportunity creator,
- desinger -practice leader,
- skill builder - content creator
- analyst & coach

Check out www.jingproject.com

People driving 2.0 changes
Most eLearning Guild members are reporting to the eLearning Guild that they are are the people in their organizations that understand the benefits of the 2.0 tools and are helping to drive the adoption. (least executive management)

Barriers
27% of EG members reported they can't get view YouTube, 8% can't view LinkedIn, 3% can't view wikipedia, 28% can't view Facebook

36.6% stated that their organizations are not preparing workers on using Web 2.0 approaches

Moderating Blogs
Think about perhaps uing Blog Ambassadors, or volunteers, or self-moderate by users.

TripAdvisor is Donating $1mil to 1 of 5 Global Charities - Please Vote

More Than Footprints Campaign
"TripAdvisor will donate a total of $1 million, allocated evenly among the Charities, as determined by the percentage of total votes that each charity receives during the Promotion Period. Each charity will receive a minimum donation of $50,000. The donation amount for each charity will be announced at http://www.tripadvisor.com/, and all other participating TripAdvisor domains, on or about November 12, 2008. "

Looking for a definition & explanation of the term LMS Roles

We, along with some colleagues implementing the same LMS at different organizations are having difficulty wrapping our heads around the term ROLES. We tried to no avail to get the term dropped or changed to something that makes more sense to our internal educational lingo.

I believe the term Roles is a common LMS term from some discussions I've had with various people, but it is not a common term within our hospital learning environment. I'm curious if someone can share a good definition or explanation that we could share with our learners, educators, and managers.

Our understanding of a Role is "a set of courses (that may include certificate(s) with one/many courses within them as well) that are required to be taken by the staff assigned the role".

Is that true? Is there a better way to explain this terminology? We use the role synonymously with job title and this is perhaps where we need to redesign our thoughts. (previous post)

Organization Structure? We need that?

Once again the LMS haunts me night and day. I should have bought stocks in Advil. Looking back at the implementation process and how poorly it has progressed is very much due to the fact that we do not have an HR system that properly or even semi-adequately has any organizational structure.

Each staff member is only linked by the department budget that pays for them. It is entirely a payroll system and now that we are finally moving forward with the LMS and looking forward to online performance systems and talent management systems; my little "wait did you guys think about...." is rearing its ugly head again and again. We have no system currently that displays which staff report to which manager, manager to director, director to VP. This can be tracked through many different systems, but this is completely impractical for any other usage.

The task has been placed onto the shoulders of one of our IT staff and a person in HR. I'm crossing my fingers very tightly that they can solve this issue quickly and simply as I don't want to have to map how our 2600 employees report.

I Love the World & Discovery Channel

...and I don't care who knows it. If I could lock myself in a room and just watch the Discovery Channel and National Geographic all day, I'd be a happy gal.

My friend jokes that they are my "nerd channels". I just don't care. I love watching them and learning all they offer. I saw this commerical today on Discovery and it just made me smile. I hope it makes you smile a bit too and be as intrigued about the world around you as I hope I am.

Discovering Your Brand

I saw that Christy Tucker was working through Michele Martin’s Web 2.0 Wednesday task to discover what was her personal brand. I loved the word cloud she showed using Wordle so I too gave it a try.

Michele suggests that the top 5 words should give you a picture into what brand you are portraying and to think about if it is truly what you want to concentrate on.

Mine seems to be LMS, Learning, Know, and Training. I know that LMS has been my focus over the last year and is the subject of many of my posts, but it is not because I want to be branded as such. This is just my primary concern currently and therefore the item that I post the most about and look for feedback on from peers.

Can a word cloud truly project your brand? Perhaps, it certainly would reveal the focus of your blog. Cnn's cloud currently looks like this (http://www.cnn.com/)

This wordcloud wouldn't surprise anyone given the current news. I think the use of a cloud definitely can help a blogger to pinpoint the subjects they are posting on, but you will need to discern if you are looking at your current focus or your brand and are you content with either.

Learning Styles a Myth

I saw this on Brent Schlenker's post who got it from Clive Sheppard who got it from Stephen Downes and wanted to place it here purely for my own future reference. Please refer to their posts for more thoughts/comments.



I love that Brent pointed out that the video states the myth exists because we all believe that it does. I was just asked to help a department out here with their training/teaching for adult patients and they wanted to know about learning styles & prinicples. I really think I need to reconsider this one and a whole new approach.

Reflections, Light, How does it work? - A Science Question for Anyone Who Can Answer

At a recent party my God-father, sister, and I were amazed at the questions that his grandson was asking about the world around him. Such as "Why can I see through the window, but not put my hand through it?" Big question for an 11 year old.

My sister then came up with:

When sitting on a train, bus, etc. I can look in the window that I am
sitting directly beside (on an angle) and I can see not (only) the reflection of
what is across the train from me, but I can see a reflection of what/who is
sitting in front of me even if they are several seats ahead. How does this
happen or how can it be explained? A simple version of this is if I hold a
small mirror right beside my right eye and something in my left hand, I can
extend my left almost to arms length and still see the reflection of the item in
the mirror. How does it reflect back when it is so far forward of the mirror?

I've emailed this to Bob McDonald, host of CBC's Quirks & Quarks. I'm hoping I get an answer from him or any one else that cares to answer. Things that keep me up at night.....lol.

Trying to get my LMS vendor to do what I want

So I have a meeting in 10 minutes with my LMS vendor to discuss our next steps in preparing for our pilot and ultimately our launch. However, I just sent them a list of about 20 tweaks I want done to the user end of the system to make it more friendly and easy to use.

I know that if it doesn't make sense from the start, why would the staff want to go back and use it again. Items like date/time/location of a course, I would have thought would have been listed clearly for the learner. Course descriptions should be precise and easy to navigate through. Mini-ads not long paragraphs. Icons for quick reference are in some places, but not used through out. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I got caught up looking at one aspect for the user and then found a billion other things that need changes. Now I need to go back with a fine tooth comb for the administrator, managers, and educators/SMEs.

Ugg!!!! This does end doesn't it?

Naming your LMS - Follow-up

I recently posted a question about the importance of naming your LMS. Coincidentally a day or two previously on the eLearning Guild's forum someone asked the same question.

Here are a few of the comments I received and a few from various Guild members:

• "Do the majority of customers actually care what the site is called or are they there to access their learning and look for resources? Would marketing for the LMS not be just marketing for the LMS regardless of name? After all, its about what you put on the site, the content and the ease of use, not what its called. Whilst a brand is important, does the brand have to be tied to a trendy/cringeworthy acronym?"
• "I think that calling it your "LMS" may not be the best idea. Does the average person (outside HR or training) know the term LMS? Calling it a "Learning Management System" goes a little further. If someone saw a link to the Learning Management System, they would at least know it had something to do with learning. Giving it a more descriptive name like, ABC's Employee University would let employees know that is the place to go for their training needs. I suggest picking a name that will have meaning to your employees and be a place they want to go. "
• "Using "ACME" as the proverbial generic name, customers have used: learnACME, ACME-U, ACME-Achieve, goACME (emphasizing easy access), myACME, and ACMETrack"
• "From working different ones and implementing at different corporations, naming the training environment is usually a good idea. Most general users don't care what LMS stands or it gives them a preconception of it being just another confusion computer system.Some ideas could be (Your Corporate) University(Your Corporation) Training Environment Branding could make it more of a success."

Struggling in a Dept of One

I know after going to the eLearning Guild Annual Gathering last year and chatting with folks I met that there are so many of us that are little departments of only one or if you are lucky two people with in them. I find that I am constantly struggling day-by-day to get accomplished what I need to get done. Especially right now as we are looming closer to a date that we have targeted as launching our LMS. I have had little to no time to prepare even the basics that I need to in order for the pilot piece to take place.

I work within the Organization Development department of our hospital and there are 3 other staff members, but each person has their own area that they look after. There is a director, a manager, a consultant (working on culture implementation), and then there is myself. I'm the only one working on the LMS, elearning, development, implementation, training, demos, etc. I will have some SME's eventually, but it's going to take a while to get there.

I just more and more am feeling the stress of the other office duties creeping in and taking over my time that I would much rather be spending on our corporate elearning development. It's very difficult to express this frustration to management when they too are struggling coping with their work load. We all must pitch in daily to keep the office functioning and our customers feeling attended to properly.

I'm curious how others cope within their departments of one or two and if you have any great tips and tactics for getting by and managing it all.