Follow-up on "ID Techniques for Aging Workforce"

Thank you very much for your post AgelessAmerica. I certainly meant no offence with my post yesterday and I agree with you that age is definitely not a disability. My organization is looking to comply with the new accessibility laws and regulations that will be mandatory throughout Canada in the next year or so. One of the comments that came out the other day at a meeting was that our mid-career to late-career nurses have more of a fear of using computers. I actually thought that this wasn't really a valid reason not to use or try computers especially as they are an intricate part of everyday life. Even more so as so much equipment and documentation is now electronic in hospitals.

The point was then more clarified in that we need to admit that as we age (and we all hate to admit this) our bodies don't do quite want we want any more. Eyesight does get weaker; in fact both my manager and director ask me to increase the font size on my screen when they need to look at a document. Fingers might not be as fast with arthritis, hearing isn't quite as sharp, and their may be more and more aspects to our lives that Mother-Nature likes to "play with" and tweak.

I was curious if colleagues are thinking about these things as they design learning. I know font size altering seems to be a given on more and more computers, but I think audio is added more for learning styles rather than sight impairment. I was wondering if there are other considerations that people are focusing on as well.

Thank you for your comment it's extremely valid and something we must all remember - Age is not a disability, but perhaps aging can create some barriers.

Seeking ID Techiques to Use with an Aging Workforce

As instructional designers we need to consider the aging workforce population and the accessibility of the material we create.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 53 percent of the U.S. workforce will be 40 years old or older by 2010.[1] It is also predicted that this percentage will continue if not increase into the coming years. Necessity will force us consider the various accessibility needs that will arise from an aging workforce and how computer use might be affected by these disabilities.

One issue however is that the very definition of disability can be confusing and in-depth depending on the model of thought one chooses. The United Nations uses “The term persons with disabilities to apply to all persons with disabilities including those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various attitudinal and environmental barriers, hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”[2] As we become and more socially conscious society we also become more sensitive to these issues. Keeping this workforce population dynamic in mind, we as instructional designers will need to place our efforts to accommodate these needs.

Another thought that often comes out when speaking about the Boomers generation is that they are afraid to use the computer. If this is indeed a real fact can this fear be used as an accessibility issue? Could we as instructional designers instead focus in on the primary internet uses of users in this age category and use this as a means to entice others in the same range to be less fearful.

I'm curious to hear about any tips, tricks, techniques you may have when considering teaching/educating an aging workforce population. Have you run into "computer fear"? Have you found ways to over come this fear?

[1] U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Projected Labor Force Data: Civilian Labor Force, 2006-2016 [Data file].
Retrieved from ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ep/labor.force/clfa0616.txt

[2] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Social Policy and Development (2008). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved June 22, 2008, from United Nations, EnableWeb site: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/faqs.htm

Make it Work! (LMS must go forward)

Well I really wish right now that I had Tim Gunn over my shoulder mentoring me and telling me his Project Runway catch phrase "Make it Work" over and over. At least then I might feel more keen about it all or at least laugh a bit more.

The LMS project that I have been working on since gosh knows when is now finally picking up speed. I am now at the forefront of the entire intranet/document management/LMS project. Having the other 2 systems up and running now for almost a month has put the LMS onto the top of the list.

Of course we are already having communication issues, but director and I are determined to stop this before it gets out of hand. I have been waiting for the company to call me and they were waiting for me to call them. Another issue is that they have one idea of where we want to start on the project (uploading all our online courses - which we have none yet) and we want to just start tracking employees and their education registrations. Clearly some discussion needs to be had so that we can get more in sync.

I'm not entirely keen on the system we have acquired and I've voiced my opinion about this very clearly. I did however, finally get a clear answer on Tuesday that this is what we have, this is all we are going to have (current budget constraints). If I can pull it off to get the system to function as I wish it would and more importantly that our users (educators and staff) can understand how to use the system then I'm going to look pretty good.

In other words I've been told "Make it Work".

Have you created life yet? Have you SPOREd?

I was excited to see Brent Schlenker share the link to the trial version of SPORE's Creature Creator. I saw SPORE demonstrated, I through one of the TED talks. Since then I have been anxiously waiting to give it a try. I'm intersted to also see what training/education/ and pure fun we colaboratively we come up with together playing this game and networking.

So now I have and I proudly introduce my first creature Phyl. He's just looking for a little love an affection.

Does there really need to be an App for everything?

Okay so I just posted a message about 1001 apps creatively arranged into a mosaic of the world. I just wonder sometimes....as I dive deeper into sites....do you really need a web app for every aspect of your life. Maybe? Maybe not?

I'm going to say that one I found that lets you count your alcohol consumption is a Maybe Not.

I'm sure it works lovely and does exactly as it predicts what it says accomplishes. However, I'm guessing that if you are someone who needs to count your consumption or wants you...after 2 or 3 your not going to want to anymore. Let alone want to go to the computer, sign in, pull up your screen, type in beer number 4 and wait excitedly until you get to put in number 5. Maybe it's just me, but this one seems a little far fetched.

Map of the World 2.0

This is a pretty interactive map of the logos from 1001 different companies offering web 2.0 applications. As you roll your mouse over the various logos they pop-up larger. You can then click these to be taken to the site of the application. There are so many to go through that you can go directly to the company that sponsors the map - AppAppeal. If you go into the main site then all of these "colourful" logos are categorized into the function they will provide for you. Every thing from games, to social-networking, to dating. It's certainly a tool we've seen before, but the delivery catches your eye and the interactivity gets you exploring.

Quick and Simple mLearning Tips (thanks BJ)

I was so happy to find this post by BJ Schone on starting small with mLearning. I used his tips and tricks and in 5 minutes created a quick tool that my management team could use for conducting 30 Day interviews with their staff. BJ has a great point, that your learning does not have to be 45 minute, interactive, "flash"y, and scenario based. Your mLearning can be quick guides, handy tools, brief instructions and other similar content.

What I did here (since I don't have access to throw up pages on the web) was create myself a new Google account. Gave it a "work-like" id. Then used Google Pages to post my content. The first page is a small home page with a link to the quick tool. The quick tool is another page that is purely content copied and pasted from a Word Document. It is literally 5 questions that we have our managers ask our staff after their first 30 days of employment.

That's it. How quick and simple is that. If you go on the web it looks simple but has a colourful background. If you look at it on your phone it is black text on white background. I'm sure with practice and skill I can get it to look nicer, but for 5 minutes of work, I'm satisfied with the results.

Thanks BJ for the great hints.

Manipulating my boss's photo with a free web app

Wow I haven't been here in a while. I just moved into a new house and that has been more time consuming then I ever imagined. The LMS project is still (and I now believe will always be) in the development/implement stage. So what's a girl to do to amuse herself? How about manipulating a few photos of your boss and her husband into something more interesting.

I actually had a real reason for doing this. My Director is retiring in a few weeks and we needed to put out a flyer for the party we will be having for her. Being that I am at work with limiting program options, I googled (still love that this is an adjective) "I need to put a head on a photo". I know silly thing to search for, but it pulled up a great program called FotoFlexer.

After a few tries (once because my computer crashed) I was able to manipulate the 3 photos together in a matter of minutes. I really liked that the option to cut out just a small section of the photo was under the tab option of GEEK. There are the basic photo editing features you would expect and some standard effect features (film grain, sepia, sketch). Under the Decorate tab there is glitter, text, boarders, cards, etc. There are also options to add a few animated items and remove blemishes. Then the geek feature is more of the manipulating, distorting, and cutting of pictures.

It also will work with photos off your computer or from some of your favourite photo sites ie: Flikr, Facebook, Picasa, MySpace. If you are looking for a fairly robust and simple tool to use, including tutorials as you work, then this is a great site to give a look to and try out.

Twitter and Second Life - 2 things I'm still figuring out

Just a quick note on some things I still haven't got the whole point of yet. Twitter - so I'm signed up and I'm following a few people. It took me some time to get connected to updates through my phone. I found out that it was a Canadian thing related to the number I post to for Twitter. Since then I've started getting little messages from this person and that person. Over the last few days several of the "Twitts" or is it "Tweets" have been pointing me to some interesting information. I think to myself this is actually kind of neat.

Today Brent Schlenker threw out a call for others to respond so he could demo it in a presentation. What a great way to collaboratively help someone in 160 characters or less. So I get these messages from my "eLearning Friends" but for my "Personal Friends" they stick to the tried and true Facebook and I mobile into that every day to see what everyone is up to. Both are like the one person you can always go to in the office because they know the gossip on everyone. I'm definitely going to give this a little more time before I turn it off from my phone.

The second thing I keep playing with is Second Life. It really can suck you in dramatically as you search around for the perfect shoes, pants, accessories, and most importantly just the right hair. It seems to me until you figure this part all out then there is little sense wandering around searching for anything else.

I am struggling to find some legitimate learning activities through SL. I was really hoping to sit in on a bunch of different topics, but this appears to be hard to find. Perhaps I am unassociated with the proper schools to participate. The only one I have sat in on was a discussion on NASA related topics, but it was above my knowledge. That and I found the guy with bat wings sitting behind be distracting.

I've tried to find some places where I have visited to see if they are true to life or close to real layouts. This too has proven unsuccessful. I guess this is part of the whole experience any way. It's not suppose to be real it's suppose to be a second life. I have been able to find a place that resembles Rome, another that looks similar to the Duomo in Florence, and Capri was laid out a little the same. If anyone has suggestions for more academic/learning type locations I would love to wander and explore.

Again with this, I haven't quite decided not to "play" anymore as I am having fun walking around in purple, pink, or blue hair and occasionally finding a place to dance. (I know sounds ridiculous).

How many social networks does one need?

Every other day it seems another social network has popped onto the scene that is suppose to be bigger, better, more connected than the last one. True enough many of the features of those coming out are indeed very intriguing. Sure I may try one out and think it's wonderful and far surpasses any that I have previously been using. But....then what?

So now I love this new tool. All my contacts are on the old one. Now I have to somehow convert my 200+ friends to drop the one they are on for the new one. Now I'm a "sales rep" for the new network. Some how I need to now convince all my friends that their old tool, that probably took them ages to get use too, is missing some great new features. Most of my friends aren't too technically inclined. They like using the tools, but haven't got time to be trying out everything to find the best one out there. On another hand, what might be a great set of features for me might be useless for my friend "Joe".

I do seem to find that my "Blogging Friends" tend to move around from tool to tool. There are the early adapters that find the tools, there's bunch of us that read about them on their blogs, then we try them out, start talking about them on our blogs, and then one of us inevitably presents on them at a conference. Finally, the rest of the e-learning community gets on board and someone then decides to write about another new tool they have found and we start all over again. My "Personal Friends" on the other hand...stick with the tools they know, that they have used for quite some time now, and are frankly quite happy with regardless of the silly videos, pictures, and chain messages that fly around.

I now have come to the realization that I am one of many that are trying everything out in the hopes that I can keep up with the latest trend regardless if it only lasts a day.