Another initiative, more work, more learning, and then more revisions

I did a presentation at the beginning of June for a network group that I belong to. The presentation was introducing my colleagues to the world of blogs, wikis, rss, collaborative spaces, booking marking, etc. Using my new found knowledge from various online & Guild presentations (Brent, Tony, Keith, Lee) I delivered the information flawlessly. Well maybe not, I did go over my allotted time. However, my presentation was so clear that when I summarized which particular egroup platform would best meet our needs (Yahoo! Groups) there was no discussion. Just a resounding, MAKE IT HAPPEN.

And so I have. The site is up and ready to use.

Initiative done.

Wait now I have to develop some kind of learning material to teach my colleagues what the site can do, how they can do it on their own and wait for it.....make the learning materials exciting.

So, I start. I capture my screen shots, put my arrows in, animate this, that and those. Step back and admire all my work. Then....I....let my boss....try it. Actually it went not bad, but there were a few slight tweaks to make it better.

And then.....I participated in another eLearning Guild Online Forum today regarding how to utilize PowerPoint to the extreme. I know so many of you hate, maybe that is too strong a word - despise, PowerPoint. For now though it's all I have to work with.

20 minutes into the opening keynote presentation I realize all the work I just did on my learning package was awful. Too many bullet points, screens filled with text, little interaction, no fun at all. Sure it pointed out everything that a new user could want, but did I really need to explain EVERYTHING.

So, that being said I've gone back to the drawing board and am so much happier with the product. It's not finished mind you, but will be by the end of tomorrow. A quick flash by my boss..."Oh you're too hard on yourself," she says, "Wow, that's the new version. Excellent."

Well, time will tell as I roll it out (hopefully) tomorrow to the entire network. Let's see what 100+ new users think of it all.

Collective Spaces for Groups

One task that was assigned to me months ago was to come up with a great collaboration space where members of a training and organization development network could share resources, info, speakers, templates and more together. We realized that we all were probably doing the same work (over and over), looking for speakers that we think had great messages for our staff, and we're probably developing the same template that 4 other members already have designed.

I googled and goolged looking for just the right egroup. There in fact use to be a site called egroups which I used years ago for a book club. I use to like it simply because it had everything I needed in a site and was simple to navigate. There was the typical member list, discussion board, file centre, photos, calendar and polls. It seems hard now to find all of these items in one location. Google groups is not bad but was seemed to be missing the calendar. You can use the google calendar, but when you have to explain to "non-techies" how to add it in, you begin to lose members. I know that the group I'm aiming for needs one simple point and click package. myegroups.com doesn't seem to have a file sharing area.

After the Boston conference I was convinced that a wiki was the way to go. Now I'm not so sure on that. I would love to see a great example of a "group collaboration" site on a wiki. I read through "The World of Wikis" by David Lenehan and tried out many of the suggested wikis here. I can easily navigate myself around the page, setting up new pages, adding headings, discussions, photos, etc. However, I know my audience and I fear that if it isn't simple from the beginning then I will lose them and their keen interest to get something like this up and running.

Items I have tried

• pbwiki
• wikia
• wetpaint
• collectivex
• myegroups
• google groups
• yahoo groups
• gather
• wik.is

I have until June 1st before I have to present my "brilliant" idea to them. Any suggestions here would be greatly welcomed. Pehaps I haven't found the right one yet or am looking at THE known wikis/egroups in the wrong light.