My 2012 Challenge to the eLearning Community

One of the things that I love and enjoy the most about the "elearning community" is that we seem to thrive on sharing and learning from one another.  I truly want to strive to do this more in the coming year.  I've started most years off with that intention, but the demands of work often get in the way.

That's why I was excited to see a question posed yesterday in the Articulate E-Learning Heroes forum that I could answer.  That feeling that you get when you can teach someone one something else is exciting and joyful.  What's more, when you do it with only the intention to HELP others then the feeling is tenfold.

I'd love to challenge everyone this year to teach or help someone, in our elearning community, with their questions and problems that they may be having.  You'd be amazed how great you'll feel, how much we'll learn together and how much stronger our connected network will become.

Top 10 Tweets from #lrnchat - July 7, 2011

Let's face it; I can never pick just ten.

These entries have won the coveted "Top 10 Tweets" award based on originality, costume and choreography.

Photo by opensourceway.com
Created by Colleen Simon for opensource.com
CC: BY-SA

Early Session
Q0) Introductions
@Robin_Bridson: Do you play one on TV? RT @JaneBozarth: Note: I am NOT a social media expert. #lrnchat

@aaronesilvers: #lrnchat oh, btw, I’m Aaron Silvers. I like to rock the party


Q1) Social media has changed how people learn forever. What else has it changed forever?

@trinarimmer: Q1) Great quote I saw the other day, “I love my computer because that’s where all my friends live.” That sums it up for me. #lrnchat


@edCetraTraining: Q1) introduction of Acronyms… birth of a new language. English? Grammar? Syntax?? #lrnchat


@ddogaudium: Q1) It has forever changed the power balance between those who hold information and those to whom it is disseminated #lrnchat


Q2) How do you learn differently now, because of social media, than you did before social media? 


@StephanieDaul: Q2) I feel like I have more control over my learning – I decide what, where and when I learn #lrnchat


@LnDDave: Q1) My ability to know almost anything at any time. I carry the world in my pocket now. #lrnchat


@ChelleRobertson: My learning is in continuous beta version, meaning its ALWAYS improving and never static. #lrnchat


Q3) What are some ways you learn through social media that aren’t collaborative, with other people per-se?


@AndreaMay1: Q3) The conversation is “recorded” with SoMe. I can go back and explore on my time line rather than anyone else’s #lrnchat


@NolanHabegger: Q3) Quiet observation (“lurking”) and watching others collaborate – sometimes you learn more by NOT asking questions #lrnchat


@ChristyATucker: Q3) I do a fair amount of lurking (ie “legitimate peripheral participation”) #lrnchat


Q4) How are social media and social learning different? Is it important to explain the difference to people? 


@espnguyen: Q4) Social Media = the tools. Social Learning = Leveraging the tools to do the learning. #lrnchat


@Tracy_Parish: Q4)Watch kids do something & then follow 1 another doing same thing. Social learning-no media involved, just mud. #lrnchat


@kelly_smith01: Q4) Social learning does not have a schedule, appear in a catalog, or have a lesson plan. It happens. Anytime anywhere. #lrnchat

Top 10 #lrnchat Tweets from Feb 24 Late Session

I'm a little late in posting this week's top 10, but here you go.  Once again this list is based on creativity, humour, sarcastic wit, and costume design. 

#lrnchat - Fact.  Tonight's session had 770 tweets.

Q0) We begin w/ a #lrnchat welcome: What have you learned today? If nothing fabulous, what have you learned this week?

08:49:54 pm dpelkins: Q0) Learned something extra super cool this week, but I’m not allowed to talk about it yet.  #lrnchat

(now that's just a tease)


Q1) What games do we play? #lrnchat

04:52:33 pm KristiBroom: Q1) I love clicking buttons and seeing what happens. Luckily, things don’t often blow up. #lrnchat

Q2) What are the most tedious (or stressful) tasks related to your work?  #lrnchat

08:56:51 pm minutebio: Q2) Playing helpdesk with WBT participants and LMS users #lrnchat

09:00:46 pm Quinnovator: Q2) stupid proprietary format incompatibilities.  Grr… #lrnchat

Q3) If we were to play our work as a game, what would be some of the rules?  #lrnchat 

09:09:12 pm kelly_smith01: Q3) As in Monopoly,  I am the banker. #lrnchat

09:10:38 pm elearningguy: Q3) exponential points for solving learning challenges with never-before-tried solutions (without first getting permissions) #lrnchat

09:11:17 pm mrch0mp3rs: Q3) Beard Rules: 3. Strike hard, strike fast, no mercy, keep moving, repeat. #lrnchat 

Q4) If work was a game, what would be the power-ups (items that give you extra power or make you feel better)? #lrnchat

09:22:12 pm LnDDave: Q4) My PLN is my Power Up. #lrnchat

09:26:35 pm dpelkins: Q4) Who knew? Q3 and Q4 have the same answer: juice and cookies!  #lrnchat

Q5) How would you recruit your allies if work was a game? #lrnchat

09:32:48 pm elearningguy: Q5) Come to the dark side.  We have cookies.  #lrnchat

09:33:46 pm mrch0mp3rs: Q5) Ask yourself (as I do)… what would The Beard do? #lrnchat

Now I want juice and cookies too.  (Tips for making the top 10 list, I can be bribed with milk and cookies - just a thought).

Top 10 #lrnchat Tweets from Feb 17 Late Session

Well this was fun last week, so here we go again.  (Man it's hard to pick only 10...so I snuck in 11, but I could have made it about 30...great chat)

Q0) We begin w/ a #lrnchat welcome: What have you learned today? If nothing fabulous, what have you learned this week?

08:41:33 pm LandDDave: Q0) I learned that the more the snow melts, the less tolerant I become for the Christmas lights that are still hung.  #Lrnchat

Q1) What has innovated your practice as a learning professional? This might be a tool, technology or trend #lrnchat

08:51:28 pm ilearnatwork: q1) and playing – seeing where it takes you #lrnchat

8:49:33 pm Quinnovator: Q1) blogging, tweeting, presenting, writing. Read: risk-taking.  #lrnchat

Q2) What tools/technologies do you use routinely that you never expected to see yourself using? #lrnchat

08:58:05 pm JaneBozarth: Q2 cell phone as constant companion, though I rarely use it as a phone #lrnchat

09:00:30 pm minutebio: Q2) I have a time machine and after every Lrnchat I go to 2002 and make courses in Authorware. #lrnchat

Q3) If you were stranded on a desert island with a laptop, endless power, and WiFi, which tools could you not live without? #lrnchat 
(seriously...look at the answers on this one in the transcipt.  I was laughing so hard it brought tears to my eyes)

09:10:10 pm LandDDave: Q3) If I were were stranded on a desert island with a wifi connection… I wouldn’t be stranded on a desert island.  #lrnchat

09:15:06 pm jaycross: Q3) Desert island? CARE packages. Babes parachuting in. Maybe an iPhone. Oops. Substitute “wife” for “babes”.  #lrnchat

Q4) What tool(s) do you no longer use – and why? #lrnchat

09:23:26 pm OpenSesameNow: Q4) Um, any tools/software I have to pay for? #lrnchat

09:31:26 pm kelly_smith01: Q4) The screach of a modem’s handshake. #lrnchat

Q5) What tool/tech (or feature of existing tool) are you waiting for to be developed? #lrnchat
(This one too - lrnchat peeps are extremely creative when asked to be.  LOLOLOL)

09:34:16 pm xlents_com: Q5 still waiting for my electric flying car to fold up into a briefcase - a la George Jetson  #lrnchat

09:38:28 pm minutebio: RT @shiftguru: Q5) an influencing ray to reprogram unwilling or ignorant stakeholders | A SME-Ray would be good too #lrnchat

Well that was fun selecting several of the best (meaning funny, sarcastic, retweeted, amusing) tweets, and was actually a lot more difficult than I imagined.  I should have remembered the brilliance that appears during #lrnchat.


See you next week.

Top 10 #lrnchat Tweets from Feb 10 Late Session

I've teamed up with Bill Cushard to bring you the Top 10 Tweets from the evening session of #lrnchat.  You can find Bill's morning Top 10 here: Luminary Learning (Feb. 10th's)


The Top 10 Tweets from the afternoon #lrnchat session on February 10. The only criteria I'm basing this on is following Bill's method to capture those tweets that are "based on my whimsical nature and love of dogeral and quick, dry wit. I ranked the tweets based on the order of the discussion questions and not based on worst to best or best to worst." 


Q0) We begin w/ a #lrnchat welcome: What have you learned today? If nothing fabulous, what have you learned this week?

08:43:54 pm olliegardener: q0) learnING that 2.30 am is a silly hour to be awake for a #lrnchat #lrnchat

04:39:06 pm megbertapelle: Q0) Pocket Frogs is addicting. I need a 12-step program… #lrnchat

 

Q1) If we could wipe the slate clean, what would online learning look like?#lrnchat
 

08:52:48 pm TriciaRansom: RT @kelly_smith01: Q1) Less ADDIE – More Geary. #lrnchat <– DRINK! DRINK!

04:48:37 pm learninganorak: Q1 People would get brownie points for being helpful and supportive, not just for selling the most widgets (or whatever) #lrnchat
04:48:52 pm LandDDave: Q1) There would be a written law banning NEXT buttons. #lrnchat

Q2) Which are more important “learning outcomes” or “performance outcomes”? #lrnchat

04:58:53 pm bschlenker: Q2) Peformance! Next question! #lrnchat

05:01:41 pm LandDDave: Q2) Hmm.. Do I want my heart surgeon to understand how to perform my surgery, or do I want him effective at doing it? #lrnchat

 

Q3) If we could wipe the slate clean, what sorts of tools would be necessary in corporate learning?#lrnchat

09:10:48 pm jaycross: Q3) Tools? We’ll take advantage of the tools the web brings us. We will ride on rails that were put down for other purposes. #lrnchat

Q4) How would people need to be different in your dream corp learning world? #lrnchat

09:23:42 pm KristiBroom: Q4) I don’t think the problems are with the people (always). I think it’s the processes/structures we impose on them. #lrnchat

Q5) What are some things you can do to work toward that dream state?#lrnchat

09:37:13 pm davidbell02: Q5) Be creative and dare to do what has not been done… #lrnchat

Well that was fun selecting 10 of the best tweets, and was actually a lot more difficult than I imagined.  I should have remembered the brilliance that appears during #lrnchat.


See you next week.

Using #lrnchat as an example of the benefits of an online social group

Discussion Task for Online Course: select one effective moderating principle that you feel most comfortable with OR most challenged by, briefly explain why.

I feel most comfortable with the principle of "Moderating Takes Place in Both a Professional and Social Context" because of the numerous social online communities I am currently involved in. The first 2 questions posed in this section of the text (Facilitating Online Learning) asks "if one would see any real benefits from participating in a cyber community" and the other "can the feeling of community be created online?"

I see both of these being answered with a loud and clear yes. I currently participate in a weekly online chat that takes place through Twitter called #lrnchat. Each week 3 questions are posted to the group over the course of an hour and a half. The benefits each week are that I know I am guaranteed to learn something new or be directed to a new elearning resource that I previously was unaware. Brainstorms occur constantly as the conversation progresses through the course of the evening. One can see an increased progression in the discussion and even the energy level as the dialogue goes back and forth from one participant to another.

As for the feeling of community, I too think this group has an overwhelming sense of community as once the event is complete the same people continue to chat the remainder of the week. They continue sharing information, asking questions of one another, looking for guidance, support, and motivation in regards to the own increased learning, careers and even personal goals.
The person that moderates gives the questions to the group, keeps the group basically on track and on time. However, because the discussion quickly takes a life of it's own, they too are able to participate further increasing the knowledge of the group.

What is truly wonderful is each week the group grows little by little and because it is an online event there are participants from all over the world involved. Primarily because of the timing most are from North America, but that is not a steadfast rule and because of that we each gain increased perspective from various cultures. I'm truly thankful to have found the group and even more grateful to the moderator for creating and maintaining the group weekly.

What Makes Great eLearning?

I sat in and participated last night in the weekly #lrnchat through Twitter. If you haven't yet joined in to listen (read) and talk (write) in a #lrnchat session, you really should join us. Some extremely brilliant minds in the field of elearning (and I use that loosely as it includes social media, sims/games, teaching K-12 and beyond, etc) get together each week 8:30pm (EST) and chat over three questions posed by a moderator.

Question 2 asked to the group last night had to do with "What makes great elearning?" The brainstorm that followed was extremely interesting. I tried to capture the thoughts expressed into a mindmap (list version)(map version). I hope I have done the group justice in the way I grouped their ideas together in the map below. Please feel free to send me comments to add/adjust the image.

If you'd like to see the transcript from last night's chat or for any further information on the series of chats please look to the #Lrnchat Blog.