Proud Connections to the Blue Cloud People

"Looking at Your Connection Network with New Eyes"

So last week when I saw that you make a visualized map of your connections on Linkedin I thought excellent, I want to see how mine compares to the example they show.  And voila here it is.

Compared with examples I was kind of embarrassed on how small mine was.  It didn't look very dynamic or exciting at all.  How was I to share this with #CCK11?  Look how few connections I have.  I need more peers!!!

So I decided to keep it to myself.  Don't let anyone see how "unconnected" I am.  Then I re-looked at it today with a new set of eyes.

Let's give some context  here.  I'm in the middle of the network.  The green dots represent some of my organizational development contacts.  The orange dots are some colleagues from an improv troupe I once belonged to.  The pink dots are some of my colleagues from work (I'm adding to that).  The red dots either don't have a category or fall somewhere into the ones represented.  Then there is the large blue cloud of dots. That represents my elearning network of peers.  Some of these people I've met in person once or twice, but very few of them have I every laid eyes on.  These are my connections I have made purely through social networking.

Now that is a powerful statement.  I'm more connected to people I've never met face to face then I am to co-workers in my on organization and there are 2800 of them (there's about 15 dots represented by organization staff).

So several things come to me from this diagram.  Thinking from a career and work perspective I have more in common with the Blue Cloud people then with the people I interact with daily at my place of employment.  In fact to be honest I believe I interact with the Blue Cloud people more on a daily basis.  (face to face is over rated ;) - I jest).

The connections within the Blue Cloud are astounding.  There are so many interconnections within that network.  Truly a group of peers that connect and related to one another on many levels.  The links between the people are so great that they are almost solid.  I know many of these people here have a great number of further connections to other Blue Cloud people so the network I have represented is probably 1/10th the number of people that are actually in that cloud if with expanded it further and further to second connections.  Most probably my connections are 1/1000th of the secondary connections of those people, maybe more as I am only guessing.

Another very striking observation for me, and this is in light of some of the controversy at our organization about social networking and social learning, is that I am a bridge between those that I know are using and getting the significance of social networking and those that do not.  The people in the Blue Cloud my not understand it (and many might as they are a part of CCK11 or past CCK's), but they are all apart of my connected knowledge.  These are the very people that I connect with daily.  These are the people that are finding information, reworking it, retooling it, re-purposing it, sharing it back into the network for more of the Blue Cloud people to find, rework, retool, re-purpose and share back into the network.

This extremely tight network, and I say that because I have observed over the past several years that anyone with in this network can ask a question or look for feedback and some part (people) of the network always responds immediately.  Not an hour from posting the question and not a day, almost instantly someone answers back.

If I could post my Twitter network in a visual display such as the Linkedin one my Blue Cloud people would be more accurately represented.  The image above does not show the 900+ people in my Blue Cloud (elearning peers) network.  That is my place for connecting my knowledge to them and they to me.  That is where we share and learn together.

Small representation of twitter network - not great.

So the diagram above that bridges me between those that get it and those that are trying to understand, I believe will be a very powerful tool as I move forward in my organization being a champion for social learning and reasoning behind the need for connective knowledge.

Thinking Inside of the Circle May Be Just What You Need

Okay, so the real saying is "Think Outside of the Box", but two postings I saw this recently were so far out of the box for me that I started to wonder if it's a way of thinking I can every accomplish.  Maybe my thinking is outside sometimes, but the real genius is inside the circle or tip-toeing around the triangle or maybe skipping around the hexagon.  Whatever the phrase might be, these two gentlemen displayed some great ingenuity.

Bruce Graham is one of these gentleman.  He's a frequent responder in the Articulate Community forum (a place where users of Articulate can gather help on the product in general, but more specifically on elearning design and delivery tips, tricks, and general idea sharing).  Recently someone (Jenise Cook) asked about her course on protecting your SIN#.  She was just looking for some different ways to perhaps present the material.  Various ideas were shared by a few different community members, but the one that stuck out for me was Bruce's.

His thought, which again I thought was brilliant, was to present the material back to the learner in a completely sarcastic manner.  In a way this would showcase to the learner that the main points of the lesson should be "so obvious" to the average user that there should be know doubt in their mind that they should know and remember this information.  The "over the top" course would reinforce the lesson, most likely, in a humoristic manner that would stick to the learner.

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing hobbies in America. Anyone who has your Social Security number can use it to get other personal information about you. But HEY!. That's OK - we're all friends here.  Lesson One - DO NOT MAKE EFFORTS TO PROTECT YOUR NUMBER

The lesson is filled with humour and sarcasm (maybe way I like it so much), but the overall summary or morale of each lesson is solid and factful.  A brilliant twist on a normal lesson delivery.  Spin the tale into a way the learner would never imagine.  Shock them with the material and it will stick.

The other example of ingenuity was from Thomas Baker (and if you haven't added his blog to your readings you should - an incredible and fun interactive teacher).  How much do you love this pic?

At Universidad de los Andes in Santiago, Chile. Thomas Baker having fun in class doing Limbo. Students waiting on their turn. (Source: La Tercera newspaper) via Final: The 80-20 Rule Re-Visited: Implications for Teacher Talking Time #ELTchat (blog posting)

His example to think differently about how to present material came from a posting he did on his blog 23 Educator Roles an Imagined Interview with Stephen Downes.  We've been taking CCK11 together this year and Stephen is one of the co-facilitators of the "course" (MOOC).  Thomas took an article (The Role of the Educator)  from the Huffington Post written by Stephen Downes and then re-wrote it into his blog as a series of questions and answers.  As if he was the one giving Stephen the interview.  Asking him questions of the material that was in the article and then using the article material as the answer to the question.

What a simple yet ingenious way to present material back to a learner in a different format.  It broke a long article in to manageable chunks.  It place that bit of human interaction back into what was just text and from, originally, one perspective.  More importantly it was well received by Stephen as well.

These two examples have me looking for more and more ways to think very differently about the way I would  like to present courses to learners.  Give them something they don't expect and look at the material from a completely different point of view.  I will be watching, reading and learning from these gentlemen for many years to come.  I thank them both for opening my mind to new and different possibilities.

Digital Scholarship - Martin Weller (Elluminate Session - Jan 26, 2011) #CCK11

Book - The Digital Scholar

Blog - The Ed Techie

Blogging is:

• social - create networks using, reading, commenting
• democratic - anyone can start one
• posts can be long or short
• can be about any topic/subject
• filled with multi-media
• professional or informal (or both)
• anyone can read, no one can read them, 1000s can read them

Questions about blogs:

• do they represent "proper scholarship?
• central or peripheral to practice
• applicable to all domains
• more useful for some functions than others
• which are filled with quality (number of hits, readers, posts?)
• compliment or replace existing channels
• should the authors be rewarded (tenure)
• should blogs use institutional systems or be separated

Digital Scholarship is Digital Network and Open
- common format
- open - a way of thinking, find something you share it

Wolfgang Greller (Netherlands) 1: scholarship is kept within the 'system', anything outside is called 'wisdom', no?

They Boyer View of Scholarship

• discovery - research
• integration - across domains
• application - taking knowledge and applying it
• teaching

http://www.walshier.com/wall/digschol1 - add your thoughts to this list

Academic scholars do not only do scholarships for money (tenure).

Resource for later - slideshare by Marin = http://www.slideshare.net/mweller/thoughts-on-digital-scholarship

Link to Martin's last presentation: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2010-09-22.0729.M.340DDA914E66190DED68B759DCF9C3.vcr&sid=2008104 (PLENK 2010)


Recognizing Digital Scholarship
Determine the quality of someones research.
- recreate existing model
- find digital equivalents
- generate guidelines
- use metrics
- peer-assessments
- micro-credit
- developing alternative methods

Some of the interesting comments made by participants

Moderator (George Siemens): @Tracy - basically, being a scholar in digital environments
Moderator (George Siemens): i.e. traditionally, an academic or scholar was "validated" by journal articles, review committees, etc
Moderator (George Siemens): with digital scholarship, we recognize activity in online settings

Martin - what scholars do and how it is affected by digital practice.  Digital practice blurs the boundaries.  You may not typically be recognized in the scholarly role, but the lines of this are now less defined.  Demonstrates that people with a good online reputation.  Recognized in a manner that is still credible.

Moderator (George Siemens): so anyone who has a passion in a topic and writes about it, engages around it online, then they would be a scholar?


Moderator (Stephen Downes): So far, what I've seen of 'scholarship' in our field is people who have no knowledge or experience of technology writing in academic journals about technology
Simon Fowler: @SuzGupta - yes, I'm struggling too in seeing how Connectivism (knowledge in networks) has any identifiable measures of 'quality
 
jackiegerstein: Charles McClintock defines the scholar-practitioner as "an ideal of professional excellence grounded in theory and research, informed by experimental knowledge, and motivated by personal values, political commitments, and ethical conduct
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2963240/what_is_a_true_scholarpractitioner.html

Moderator (Stephen Downes): Why is one person a 'scholar' and another not? Because the one is 'schooled' - ie., has read the literature, has relevant experience, etc
Moderator (George Siemens): i.e. one who has read the literature, is informed and knowledgeable
fredgarnett: @NinaC many PhD students have quite a reach through their blogs now
elaine: huge difference between consultant and scholar. In Canada we are experiencing a boom in business and therefore consultancy while scholarship and research is clearly under attack. Eg. Environment Canada researchers are muzzled by government whose permission to speak must be sought. Ghastly!


Moderator (George Siemens): This is my new favorite journal: http://www.math.pacificu.edu/~emmons/JofUR/


Moderator (Stephen Downes): Google Knol - http://knol.google.com/


keith.hamon: @Lindsay: I agree that scholarship is not about money. Open Web allows anyone to be a publisher (however poorly) or a scholar (however poorly). The evaluation is up to the marketplace of the Web to attend to this scholarship or not


Moderator (Stephen Downes): I think there's a couple of different ways to 'do scholarship' - one is to be embedded 'in the flow' and to be sharing content, resources, etc., with people - the other way is to be more detached, less embedded, to pull back and reflect on concepts or experiences - each has strengths and weaknesses...

SuzGupta: @elaine: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=scholar

Recorded Presentation:
https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008104&password=M.9F5B4A75EE14B7E56C1A9B3D5967B6

Dynamizing my Learning Experience - #CCK11

How much do you love the word DYNAMIZE?  When I saw/heard Stephen Downes use it in his talk on "Learning Networks: Theory & Practice" from 2005, he says "Dynamize...I know dynamize is not a word, but there wasn't a good word.  A networks is something that is fluid, it is something that is dynamic, it is something that changes constantly.  Connections are grown, connections are shaped, connection are changed."

I thought well if it wasn't a word it was a perfect word to describe how my learning connections within this course are growing.  Each day I am looking to more and more blogs, I'm searching for more images, seeking out new videos, increasing the people I follow on Twitter and those that follow me are increasing.  My connections are growing, shaping and changing.  I very much suspect some of these connections will remain until the end and into the future and some will not.  We each will serve each other in a variety of ways and what ever those are is perfect.  I may only connect to student A once and that is great.  It may be all I need to gain more insight into something or even more so, it may be all I need to create 1000 new connections.  If the latter is the case think of the impact that 1 student has made to my increased knowledge portfolio.

When do I love learning....when one idea, piques my interest to seek out more information and that piques my curiosity to find even more.

I tried to search out dynamize since it did indeed or rather Stephen's explanation perfectly fit my current experience.  So after finding out that dynamize is indeed a word, I started looking to find out when it became a word.  In doing so I found great video from BBC News - "When Does a Word Become a Word?"   I then started hoping that if Stephen thought in 2005 (and the audience since they chuckled at his remark of using the word) it wasn't a word; perhaps he is the one that is responsible for putting it in there.  Alas, one reference does link it back to 1850 dynamic.  Oh well, the journey and connections I followed to find this was worth every moment of the experience.

W2: More - Network Diagram Examples (#CCK11)

When I thought of looking for a network diagram, I'm not sure why, but looking for one on how bees interact came to mind. Maybe it is because the network of communication that goes on within any particular hive has got to be astounding.  So on my hunt for such a diagram, here are just a few that struck me as intriguing (perhaps by content, perhaps by visual appearance...I won't tell).

Here's an interesting site with a Gallery of Network Images.  I'm not exactly sure how the person developed them, but the are intriguing.

This one is about our biological clocks and all the factors that contribute to its regulation. "Two-Way Communication Between Common Biological Pathways and Body's Daily Clock."

(Credit: John Hogenesch, PhD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Cell)

Excerpt from posting: The new data, published online in Cell this week (Sep, 21, 2009), suggest that someday physicians may be able to use small molecules that inhibit or stimulate these biological processes in order to influence a person's clock when it gets out of sync due to jetlag or shift work, and to devise new ways to treat metabolic disorders that are intimately tied to the body's daily cycles.

Also a fascinating Organic Industry Structure diagram from: GreenWala - Live Life Greener blog posting: "Organinc Brands - The Greener Choice with an Oddly Crunchy Darth Vader Center?"  (I just love the title)

(Credit: Phil Howard, Assistant Professor, Dept. Of Community, Agriculture Recreation and Resource Studies, Michigan State University)

Real time air traffic images.  This is interesting because there are no true lines to be seen, but certainly nodes can be seen. Cloudless Real-Time Air-Traffic

I never did find my diagram of bee hive communication.  However, it certainly led me to some very interesting examples of network diagrams and in many different configuration.

Thoughts on Losing Waldo? - #CCK11

I was explaining to someone today about the idea that was raise in our online conversation last week, that knowledge is something that can't be unlearned.  As Stephen Downes explained, it's similar to looking at a "Where's Waldo" picture.  Once you know where he is, you always see him.  You can point to him in an instant and will be able to do so into the future.

This person at work looked at me, said "hmmmm, I'll need to think about that, I'm not sure I agree."  Stephen's explanation seemed completed logical to me and to many others in the class.

#cck11: Connectivism and Social Constructivism – what’s the difference? blog: Life through a Linz
Day 4: Where's Waldo? #CCK11 blog: Profesorbaker's Blog

(2008) Rehasing Old Tools to Look at CCK08 blog: OUseful.Info, the blog...

I'm curious to hear from anyone who perhaps didn't agree with this statement?  Please feel free to comment here:

W2: Network Diagram Examples (#CCK11)

There was a great Screenr that was shared this week by David Fair, Articulate Customer Support Engineer on "How to embed Qwiki.com presentations into #Articulate Presenter."  I hadn't yet heard of Qwiki so I began to try it out to see what results I could find.

This week's task in #CCK11 is to find examples of network diagrams (etc.).  So I began using Qwiki to see what I could find.  Here are a few (not great, but I wanted to give it a try):

Social Network
Connectivism  (no images, just words)
Network Topology

Here's a diagram of the various systems and databases that are all connected here within our facility.  I've had to take out most of the labels as they represent direct vendor products, but one can see the many interconnections present.  These systems house all the information of patients, treatments, staff, purchasing, lab works, pharmacy orders, etc. and how they all connect and work together.

Concept Map at the End of Week 1 - #CCK11

I've been working on a concept map of what I learn or gather in regards to my activity within the CCK11 (Connectivism and Connected Knowledge).  I've been using the PersonalBrain tool to gather together all blogs I read and the posts that I read within them, twitter feeds and the links I follow from them, daily feeds and the links to blogs, videos, images, etc from them as well.  Basically anything I read, watch, or interact with during this course I'm capturing into my map.

Please keep in mind that with as many people in the course as there are, this map in no way captures everyone and everything thing that is being communicated or created in relation to CCK11 or years previous.  It is a map of what I observed and interactive with as I seek out my own knowledge into and around Connectivism.

So far after 1 week it looks like this completely expanded:

I'm excited to see how it will transform week by week and can't even image its appearance at the end of this course.

I still tweak it each time I look at it.  I make new connections from one main heading to another.  I think of new ways to better catalog ideas within it.  So it is truly an ongoing and changing map as I continue to use it, but I think I'm comfortable sharing it now in this form and as we move forward.

Please feel free to take a look at it and I promise it will change daily and grow dramatically. (link to  MY MAP)

Talking with George Siemens and Stephen Downes - CCK11 (week 1)

NOTES FROM:
First Facilitator Session - Review of Readings

 http://cck11.mooc.ca/week1.htm - "The Stephen and George Linkfest"

From George's first paper:
Connected specialization - "Store my knowledge in my friends".  I might not know how to do something, but I know who to call (connect to) that does have the answer.

Does Connectivisim entirely change the notion of expertise? - Stu Harris (cck11)
George's reply - a significant influence for sure.

What is the difference between "adaptive patterns" and "remixed prior knowledge"? - Jack Park (cck11)

• Adaptive reveal our development over a period of time.
• Over time you see how someone connects with others.
• This might start to show how our patterns of knowledge develop. (e.g. many new inventions are combinations of other inventions - example the steam engine)

What connectivism claim in terms on knowledge construction that constructivism cannot? - Saadat (cck11)

• Not all learning is acquisition. 
• More organic growth of knowledge
• New nodes are created and this can change the existing knowledge
• Focus on the connection to understand knowledge develop
• How we are connecting people and concepts
• Seeing learning from the lens of connection and connection forming
• "Explain what is the underlying biological pinning of other learning theories?"

"...not rejecting old theories, but how are you actually using them?" - Simon Fowler (cck11)

• Some value in existing theories don't apply to the needs of people today
• Determine what is learning and how does it actually occur

Jack Park "so you're saying they are the same. you appear to be saying that one builds on the other. so I'm interpreting the answer to say that connectivism builds on constructivism: not using the term "constructs" sounds a bit like wordsmithing -- don't mean to sound hostile, but everything that goes on in biological entities is anticipatory, whether constructed or not--at least, that's one view. I buy completely the renewed emphasis on relationships (connections)"

• If we can understand the underpinnings of learning, how the brain itself produces similar connections, it tells us some level of synchronicity between these  (Olaf Sorns)
• Sense that increasingly that the emphasis is shifting to a network assessment of learning.  Constructivism is very board umbrella.

Look back in 10 years time, and we will most likely realize we still don't have one theory that covers it all.  Can we find a more imperial basis of how people learn and in turn the best way to teach?

Stu Harris (cck11) - Connectivism makes it more difficult to continue the silos.

Keith Hamon (cck11) - The connection is the key. A single neuron knows nothing, contains no idea, only a pattern of interconnected neurons can generate knowledge

Meaningful way to connect knowledge?

• We do need a base of knowledge to start with (George yes, Stephen perhaps no)
• Listening to a good lecture is much like a good book (sometimes)
• There is value sometimes, with some topics - exploration does not work.  Direct instruction is needed (eg. medical)
• Experts can sense elements that novices can not. "intuition".  Not truly - fire example- it was too hot, too much water, too much etc.  The Expert could "see" the patterns, but the novice couldn't yet.

Overhead or skills necessary to truly utilize the tools in front of them?

• George - Learning and learning innovations need to work within the reality of what is available
• Stephen (perhaps) - ignore the system and do your own thing
• Focus on teachers, focus only material, focus only learners....need to balance all
• We don't yet have the tools to effectively learn in this setting, but we are getting there.
• Need more tools that permit learners to learn without boundaries and barriers.  Need fluid interaction.
• Barriers (time length, when, etc)
• Learning implications of social interactions?

Can connectivism exist without the technology?

• Yes constantly in a place of interacting with people with out technology
• (view that language is not a technology though)
• Treat the process of learning in social networks as a human attribute.
• Technology advances those social interactions to a level beyond the one on one level.

Larry Kahn (cck11): Given the pace with which technology is evolving, how long do you think Connectivism will remain a valid theory?
Stu harris (cck11): @Larry  Doesn't the theory itself provide for its own evolution?

Stephen: Insofar as other theories are consistent with connectivism, they can be adopted... but where they differ, they should be corrected.

Language - is itself a network.  Meaning of any particular word, sentence, phrase, expression depends on a network of relationships with other words, sentences and phrases.
In connectivisim we take this seriously and this approach goes into the teaching and learning as well.  The meaning is embedded into this network.  Therefore the teaching of "facts" becomes more involved.  More where learning becomes embedded into this network as well.

Connectivism explained to an 8 year old? Linn (cck11)

• You learn from your friends, but you don't take your friends word for eve5rything , you check things out for yourself and then share what you learn with your friends. (Stephen)

How to unconnect from connections that don't serve you well?

• G -Not connect any more - starve a node (concept) that's not serving you any more.
• G -Ie: Flat earth policy - how well is it integrated with your overall knowledge structure.
• S - Ie learned racism to have yourself immersed in a world view, attitudes, beliefs, phrases, "dog whistles"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-whistle_politics) this all together constitutes racism (works for biology, physics, math, etc).
• S - You can't listen to it and turn it on or off at will.  Over time you gradually gather these items, you may decide to agree or disagree, but none the less you have learned something. 
• S - Learning is natural, learning is something you do not matter what.  You're receiving input all day every day and this supports and creates learning.  Most is not purposeful.  Absorbing, understanding and adapting to environment.
• G - Learning is absolutely constant
• S - you have very very limited control over what you learned, but you have control over what you are exposed to.  You can try to resist (fire - if it touches you it will burn you). 
• Nina (cck11): Link to Buddhism and Sufism, consciousness enables you to learn from every small experience and action.
• S - Attentiveness to understand and experience something.
• graemeferris (cck11): I find it useful to think about this in terms of the feedback mechanisms at work. Both positive and negative feedback mechanisms lead to learning
• G - only physical or biological damage to your brain may effect learning

S - Flat earth - the power of a concept is how integrated it is into other perceptions of your life.

Learning to Understanding an "-Ism"

Understanding this "connectivism" stuff is a little more challenging than I was expecting, but the more I look into it, the more I read, the more I watch....the more I think I might be starting to comprehend.

I started by reading the first few items that were listed on the CCK11 board and thought "man what have I gotten myself into".  Then I listened to the webinar today and I thought "man what have I gotten myself into."  So I took one more crack at it tonight and listened, watched and read the remaining items.  I looked a few of the postings from other students and slowly, very slowly, I think I might be starting to understand.

It's amazing (and slightly sneaky) that what I'm learning about is how I'm learning about it.  Creating connections, seeking out information, working it all into a format that is something I can digest and re-access I believe is completely the essence of what we are each are trying to accomplish with in this course.

The other thing I'm trying to do as I work though this material is create a concept map.  I don't think I'm truly doing what is asked of me as part of the credit (yes, crazy me is doing this for credit too), but it is challenging difficult to wrap my thoughts around trying to, well in fact, map my thoughts.  I'm using TheBrain.com to collect, sort and connect all that I come across through out this course.  I am suspecting that by the 8th week when the concept map is due that I will have some incredibly complex web of information all related in some manner or another to CCK11.

Here's an image currently of what it looks like.  Please take into consideration that I've already replayed with it, moved things around, reconnected items at least 10 times and I'm sure I'll be tweaking it more as the course goes along.  When I get more comfortable with the layout of the main points and what should fall under them I'll share the Brain so that others can look at it and hopefully access some of the information on it.  Not sure about this as this may come down to a matter of $ for service by the vendor.  For now my mind is exploding trying to keep up and create this and it's only day 2 - but there in is some of the fun in this all for me.

The World Comes Out to Join in #CCK11

I was just reading through the introductions for this "go-round" of CCK11 and was excited to see the amazing minds that are being shared through this course.  The resumes of some of the participants are astounding.  (Feeling overwhelmed increasing drastically)

 I was also excited to see the wide variety of locations that participants will be joining in from.  The fact that some many people are connecting from so far away from one another always astounds me. The best representation of the excitement that this creates for me is a scene from `The Big Bang Theory`tv show.  The one where they turn on the lamp and stereo in their apartment remotely (video link) Some of you are going....ahhhh that`s hilarious I love that scene.  Others are going (as my husband loving calls me) nerd.  And still others are finding another blog to read.

If you haven`t left yet.....
Some of the people I`m excited to be learning from are (based on the introductions) from:

Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Canada
Chili
Germany
Italy
Mexico
New Zealand
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Scotland
Serbia
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
Taiwan
Turkey
UK
USA
Japan

Looks like a fantastic group to me.

Darn a wrote a huge post yesterday

I wrote a really long posting yestereday on my phone while I was commuting and now I've lost it.  I'm extremely upset, because it should have posted automatically.  Unfortunately, and I'm not sure why, I don't remember much of what I wrote.  I know it was about the #CCK11 material that I read yesterday for class, but what I specifially was writing about has completely eluded me.

Odd.

Participating in my first course that isn't hosted on a platform #cck11

I looked at this course in previous years and even followed some of the discussions for a very brief time. However, now that I'm enrolled and am participating for me the timing couldn't be better.

I'm so intrigued with the whole idea of the delivery not being on anyone platform. That the concepts or topics for each week are "broadcasted" to the world and that those that are participating in the discussion are "broadcasting" back to anyone who wants to look in on what is generated.

I'm excited that (and this is one rare day for me) that I read today's material on my phone while on the subway. I'm posting my thoughts regarding the intro to the course on MY own blog. One that I've had for a few years. However, the best part or fun for me is that I'm able to respond and do the participating on my mobile.

I can read the material, watch videos, search chats and respond like this (by email) direct to my blog.

I've done lots of surfing on my phone, but to have a real purpose to search for more than the next movie time is exciting.

Am I a techno-nerd? My family and friends would say yes. Am I a learning-nerd? Again yes. I thrive learning more of anything. [ I think if I could have a show on the Discovery Channel it would have to Daily Planet because they cover the most topics. ]

So, back on topic. I'm really excited about the modalities I'm going to be able to explore this course through and with the incredible number of incredible minds I'm going to connect with.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

How do you read through it all and keep up with everything? #cck11

I was a little scared when I read that the first CCK had 2200 participants and the second 700.  If the course/theory about learning through your connections means I have to connect to that many people, how am I ever to manage.

Even with my Twitter account I'm approaching if not over the 1000 mark and it's becoming more more difficult to look at it all.  I think many people that hear about learning through a network or networks have that panic feeling initially about "How can I possibly read/view/follow it all?"

And then I breathed......

I though about my own advice that I often give people that I'm trying to explain the benefits of Twitter to and I watched Success in a MOOC.

And then I breathed again.......

You don't have to follow it all.  You don't have to read it all.  You read what interests you.  You connect with smaller groups or communities within the larger network of all the people in the class, or all the people you follow  on Twitter.

What is good about this practice and makes it all more manageable is that if you connect with a few great people that you know share great information....where do you suppose they are collecting some of it from....other connections within the greater network.

Consider this picture below.  If you connect to A & D  and they connect to B & C, you most likely will end up getting some of the best information from B & C even though you never truly connect to their RSS feeds, Twitter posts, bookmarks, blogs, pics, etc.  In turn Person C is going to get some of your best information as well.  Not from you, but from Person D or A as they are the people that follow you and share out your information to the network.

We can't possibly follow every person that is out there sharing information on specific topics.  However, if you can build up some really strong connections with others interested in the same "topic".  Develop some "trust in sharing" and "learning relationships" with them.  Create a network.  Then these people become your community.  We each in turn become gathers for one another.  Gathers of information.  Distributors of information.  All learning together.

Starting the Year off with #CCK11 - 'Connectivism' and Connective Knowledge

I walked into work yesterday and my co-worker told me how she had just signed up for 2 final courses she had been hoping to complete for the past year in order to complete her certificate.  I'm not sure which bulb went off in my head, or maybe the term should be which one went on, but I had the feeling come over me that I wish I was taking another course.

Then less then half and hour later I see on my Twitter feed from George Siemens:

We (@downes and I) start CCK11 on Monday http://bit.ly/hJwXEKbiggest change-no LMS (moodle). Sign up here: http://bit.ly/fNR8KF

As soon as I saw the #CCK11 I knew exactly the course before even following the links.  This would be the Connectivism course facilitated by George and Stephen Downes.  I've looked into the course in past, but didn't think I had the time to commit to joining the extensive "conversation "this course will create.  So a little more digging and I think I've found what I might academically be looking for right now.

I suppose it felt like to many "signs" all appearing at once that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to tap into a new learning opportunity.  Some of the faces in the class are ones that I have been communicating and learning from for quite some time.  So that feeling of first day of school and I don't know anyone is still there, but not nearly as bad as day 1 Grade 1.

My only challenge at the moment is getting registered.  It's amazing that this is a free MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), and I have registered online for the course.  However, if I can get a credit for it from University of Manitoba I'm going to and  there is the place that I'm currently having trouble registering.  It's my own fault leaving this to the last minute, but I did only find out about it yesterday.

So, here's to an exciting new learning adventure.  What a great way to start off a new year.

Using Social Media Tools Inappropriately is Not The Fault of the Tool

I'm getting a little tired of defending social media tools every other week at my place of employment.  Several "mishaps" have occurred during work hours and suddenly we need to ban Facebook and cell phones.

As an example:  We have 6 computers in our Library area that staff will come in on their breaks and use to search anything.  There has been an overwhelming number of technical issues on these 6 computers and troubleshooting this issues is falling on the resource person for the library.  Not her job and I agree on this point.  However, saying that if we ban Facebook the problem will go away is a false idea.

A department meeting yesterday allowed me to point out that if the computers are having technical problem after technical problem it is more likely that the computers are "slightly" out of date compared to workstation computers, or user error.  If she/our time is being wasted having to trouble shoot the computers and this is not part of our function within our positions, then there is a staffing issue with our area (and that's not going to change).

The next comment was that the computers were not meant for people to sit at and look at pictures of their friends, kids, wedding, trips, etc.  So once again I was able to point out that not everyone uses Facebook for this purpose.  Some people use this tool for connecting for school work, others are members of serious groups and meet through Facebook.  Other's use Facebook as their primary tool for email.  In fact with the launch of their new email function who knows how users will react to using it for their primary email account.  Chances are there will be a large uptake.  So if you ban Facebook do you ban Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, etc.  No.  You can't discriminate and say this tool is okay, but this one is not because you can look at pictures on it.  Guess what you can send pictures through any and all of them and in case you never knew it you can send music, video clips, recipes, white-papers, minutes, agendas, books, newspapers and an endless list of other "materials".

The bigger problem here (in our department) is not what is on the computers or what is being used on them.  It is what is the purpose of them.  If the purpose is, and this is because they are situated in a Library, that they are for research and work only, then say so.  Make this a policy that these computers are for the sole purpose of Yada Yada.  That is a valid argument.  It has nothing to do with the tools that are being used on the computer it is why are they being used and how do we actually want the computers to be use.  If people are looking at inappropriate un-work related materials, whether on Facebook, or catalogue shopping, or travel research then that is a performance issue.  If they are looking at it on their break/personal time then in most organizations what one does on their break is their business and so we are back to what is the purpose of the computers.  If someone is looking at inappropriate materials on work time, then we are back to a performance issue.  Neither of these scenarios are the fault of the social media tool  The issue lies either with the purpose of the computers or the performance of the employee.

I'll keep fighting and advocating for what I think is a good fight.  I'd be lost as an employee and basically a department of one with out my social network of peers and colleagues.

I'd love to hear any feedback from reader on this topic.  Is your organization open to social media tools?  Do you block some and not others?  Do you have policies for use/misuse?  Will you share them?  What are your personal thoughts on the topic?

How wonderful the PPTA file can be!!!!!!!

So I've saw a wonderful screenr from Jeanette Brooks about the reasons why a PPTA file is created when you are producing a course using Articulate Presenter, but I didn't really get it until today.

Last Friday my work computer crashed, AGAIN, but this time it was fatal and my computer had to be reimaged.  Essentially anything on my hard drive was gone.  This has happened to me before at work.  Not a large problem normally because I save most of my files onto a network server.  That was until I discovered that with each of the courses I created using Articulate, the colour schemes, player templates, etc. are also stored on my hard drive.  The crash wiped them all out.

Being instructional designers using rapid instructional tools I'm sure you can appreciate the need to use the same if not similar templates. So what's a girl to do when they are no more.

ENTER the ARTICULATE FORUM.  What a wonderful and joyful thing!!!!

I searched the Articulate Forum for a solution...couldn't find one....posted the question....searched some more assuming I'm can't possibly be the only person with this issue....and voilà there it was....my solution....hiding in the middle of someone else's question.

There post: http://www.articulate.com/forums/articulate-presenter/18335-s-weird-day-articulate-land.html  and in one of the responses MY SOLUTION.

ENTER the PPTA file.  What a wonderful and joyful thing!!!!

So, one needs only to open a previously published course.  Navigate to the Publish area and resave the Player Template (In Project) as a new name.  The same can be done with the colour scheme by navigating to the Player Template area, Colors, Edit Color Schemes, New and enter in a new name for the scheme.  Both are now resaved into your Articulate presenter to be used over again in a new project.'

Many thanks to Brian Batt (@articulatebrian), Jeantte Brooks (@jeanettebrooks), Justin Wilcox (@justinawilcox), and JP Redman (Articulate User) for all helping me solve my issue of the day.

A Few Lessons Learned from an LMS Implementation (or what I would do differently)

Well it's been a few months now since I rolled out our LMS at our organization and FORCED (at least that's what the staff think) the staff to complete 6 mandatory course.  I humbly admit that I failed in a few aspects of this roll out.  I wouldn't say my initial plan was at fault, more so my follow up when the masses did finally start to use the system.

One step I would do in another was would be to send more progress reports out weekly (for this initial launch) to the management team on how users are completing the mandatory course task.  [The system was live for 6 months with basic classroom registration, then 6 mandatory courses were launched hospital wide.]  Had they known more frequently the progress we may have had more compliance early on.  I think this would have eliminated some of the confusion and "broken-telephone" conversations about the material that spread throughout the organization.  I think it may have also eliminated much of the trouble shooting I had to do as everyone tried to login at once, however this did find some fatal flaws the system had as well.

I would also increase tutoring sessions (what we call "lunch and learns") to assist those new to this format of learning and would spread them out not only to occur at the start of the launch, but also in the middle of the "mandatory package" time frame.  Even more importantly having a few sessions at the end when everyone was scrambling to complete the courses.  It seems to completely slip my mind that the late adopters that would login and try to do the courses were also those that needed the most help in learning how to use and navigate the system.  

This was our first true year of having staff use the LMS for mandatory training.  The management team didn't start to make sure their staff had done the courses until after the 4 month deadline and once staff did start going in more frustrations from those that are less computer savvy emerged.  I had, at this point, moved on from the "implementation/orientation" phase of the LMS and had lost my own interest and sympathy in training staff that didn't bother to "come out" to learn about the new system during the initial rollout.  I'd advise others that are starting out in implementing their systems to prepare themselves that when they are keen to rollout the new system, it may be months before the staff of your organization is ready to listen to you.  Finding that enthusiasm in yourself (again) to go out there and be as energized, enthusiastic, and willing to show it off the system are as key the first day for the early adopters as it is when the others come to you knowing they too must figure out how to use the system.

How do you encourage new and scared users to elearning?

I had a staff member come in yesterday almost in tears to my office so upset and scared about having to do training online this year for our annual core curriculum.  This particular person is a friend of mine so I sat her down in my desk and slowly started walking her through all the steps piece by piece.  I said as much as I could to encourage her.  Let her know her frustrations weren't only hers and that others new to this process where finding it challenging as well.  She thought because it was taking her a long time to do that she must be doing something wrong.  So more words of encouragement that everyone will do this at a different pace seemed to help some as well.

An enormous discouragement to her was that if she couldn't get it done all at once she would lose all the work she had started in the elearning courses.  So misinformation from other users was scaring her and increasing her apprehension as well.  Once I showed her how she could go in and out as many times as she wanted to and still pick up where she left off, she was more relieved, but still some how skeptical.  She still seemed to believe her colleague over me, the so called expert.  I also made sure to show her how she could navigate back and forth and all through the course at her own will.  I explained how the course was still very "open booked" and that she could look at a quiz question and then refer back to the material any time.

When I left work yesterday she seemed to be working along at the course comfortably, but I will be extremely interested to hear her opinion today of the process and whether she is still as intimidated as yesterday.

I'm curious how you help and guide others that are scared to begin using elearning?  Any thoughts or ideas?  Please share.

Amazing what a little nice feedback can do for the soul.

So today I came in and started working through my emails from the weekend and true to form the first few were typical.  "I don't know how to do this..."  "Why can't I do....."  "Will you...." and so on and so on.

Then I came to this one:

Hi Tracy,

I just wanted to let you know about some of the feedback that my nurses from inpatient surgery were giving me after attending the HAI bus sessions today. Although they thought the information was good, and they enjoyed it, they all mentioned to me that they wished it could have been as interactive and wonderful as the core curriculum! They went into detail about how they liked that there were little quizzes as they went along and they didn’t get bored in core curriculum (you never could have said that in the past!), but two almost fell asleep in the HAI bus.


Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate all of your hard work on core curriculum and SOLS in general.


Julie
Julie Pierce, RN, BScN

All I can say is wow.  I feel...well...great.  I was actually nervous last week thinking about staff going on this bus (an education room on wheels providing healthcare e-training) and seeing these "professional" courses and then comparing them to the courses I have produced.  I did think mine were not bad at least compared to the ridiculous paper-based material they had to read in the past.  However, compared to some of the work I see out there in my social community I know I have a long way to come before I'm near a lot of that calibre. 

This email was the energy boost I needed to keep going and know that yes I am creating some good content and that it can only possibly get better with all the tips and tricks I learn from all my peers.  This email above isn't only addressed to me it is addressed to all those I network with that help me to improve daily.

LMS Blues (akin to "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water")

Strange title for this posting....when I read an email joke this week saying that students starting college this year were born in 1992 never took a swim and thought about Jaws.

I digress already.

So my LMS blues continue.  I really thought things were going "swimmingly", pardon the pun.  I had launched our LMS earlier in the year and users seem to like it to register for classroom courses.  Educators seem to love the idea of adding electronic curriculum to the catalogue.  Learners were told to begin their mandatory education (6 courses - WHMIS, ER codes, Accessibility, etc.) in June and have until Oct. 1 to finish.  All seemed to be going according to plan with little hiccups here and there along with cries of discontentment due to CHANGE.  "What?!? We aren't doing this on paper any more?" and "I don't know how to turn on a computer."

So all the ranting and raving seemed to subside.  I sent out a report at the beginning of the week that over 1000 people had started the training. That's a third of our general staff.  Of that 1000, over 700 had completed the training.  Not bad for our normal track record.  Yes I did say this was mandatory...and that's another story.

So, yesterday the management team had a development day where the speaker talked to them about things that were mandatory in health care and things that were not.  Then asked them if they were leading by example and had they completed the material.  Well luckily he didn't have them raise their hands since only 18 out of 150 have.

Today the questions are flying.  Why are we doing this online? (my reader most likely can answer this themselves, but at the simplest level - it takes me 9 months to mark the paper ones, but it isn't just about me) Can't we go back to paper? (so we can cheat off of one another - no) We don't have access to computers. (actually you do, there are several dedicated for this purpose in the library)  One particular area we reluctantly made an exception too.  We let the staff read the material and sign a declaration that they did so and laid the responsibility back to the manager.  This has gotten to others and now they don't want to do the normal version they just want to read it.

This brings us to the issue....do we, as an organization, care if our staff knows this material.  The Ministry says we have to and frankly we want our staff and patients to be safe and know what to do in an emergency; so yes we care.  If we care then we need them to read it.  So if that is all we care about - give them a brochure.  However, the reality is that is not all we care about.  We want to KNOW that they read it and understand the material.  Hence the reasoning for not only the material but the test as well.  We also want to know that EVERYONE has read it and not one person in a group of 20 that has read it and "shared" the quiz answer with everyone else.  Hence the reasoning for it being online.  In this format, each person is now more accountable for reading and learning the material.  Each person has the questions delivered in a random format.  (It's not perfect and we - the readers of this blog - know that, but it is a method to more closely coming to the goal required here.)

And so the lovely journey or fight (depending on how you look at it) continues to haunt my daily existence as a proponent and champion for elearning.

(I think I need a super cape)

"Up Up and Away" - Super Smiley
(see yesterday's blog for more Captain Smiley Costumes)

A little boost of creativity for stress relief with #Articulate 's Captain Smiley

So today has been more than a little stressful so as I sat here pondering how to get through it....a small twinkle of fun and inspiration hit me.  I think my Articulate Captain Smiley might need to start thinking of halloween costumes.

And so...I present...Captain Smiley's possible 2010 halloween costumes.


"Boo" - Spooky Smiley

"Arg Matey" - Pirate Smiley

  

"Where is my conditioner" - Clean and Fresh Smiley
(A little red paint, could turn this to Psycho Shower Sceen Smiley)

"Ho Ho Ho" - Santa Smiley

Cirque Du Soliel Smiley

"Aloha" - Hula Smiley

"Reach for the Sky" - Buckaroo Smiley



"Mmmmph!" - Mummy Smiley

 Hope "we" made your day a little more smiley.

(honestly....I could dress him up all day...stay tuned for more???)

Using #Articulate #Quizmaker Hotspot questions in a different way

I posted a question on the Articulate Community forums about a paper based questions that I was having difficultly changing to an online question.

The question is this (image below) based on the diagram you just labelled, pick 3 correct sites for an I.V. start. Of the 10 labels, 5 are correct and the instructor wants the learner to pick 3.


Seems simple enough until to try to put it online. I use Articulate to create my courses and the questions are all based on choose all correct answers. Which is fine and easier. In fact, it's probably what I should have done here. However, if you do want to do a question like this, here is the solution Tom Kuhlmann showed me and my application of his solution.


Tom's solution is to use the hotspot question type in a very unique way. Instead of choosing one large area, you very carefully and selectively freedraw the area that contains the correct choices.

After starting to work on his solution I started getting caught up with the...well how many choices/times do I allow the learner to try this to get the question right. After several brainstorms tring to figure this out.

Realizing that was all to complicated for a question that is only worth 3 out of 50 total marks, I stepped back and relooked at how I could simplify the entire question and keep the basic premise.

I ended up adding a blank slide at the beginning that states exactly what the learner will do. Pick 3 spots, only 3, no extra attempts. Branched one correct attempt to another and used standard feedback for incorrect choices. Then I ended with a final blank slide with an image of the 5 correct areas that could have been chosen.

Here is my Screenr that captures how I used Tom's solution to fix my problem. Thanks to everyone that did assist me in solving this over-complicated question.

It's what makes the elearning community so great!

It struck me again yesterday and once again today about what makes me love the social community of which I'm a part. Specifically I speak of the folks that are part of the elearning community.

What is it that struck me you ask? It's the generosity that "oozes" from everyone. It's the comradery. It's the constant learning and sharing from one another. What is incredible and wonderful to experience is something that is so different from the commercial world and that's the quality of what is shared.

It's one thing to get a 10% coupon off of a coffee and it's something completely different to get an entire coffee for free. Two such examples of this shared quality are from Sasha Scott (@SashaScott) from Brighton, UK and the other is Olivia Mitchell (@OliviaMitchell) from New Zealand. (side note: I love that I'm learning from people that are "practically" on the other side of the world from me)

Scott this week shared his third in a series of PowerPoint templates for creating some interesting and engaging visual learning to be using in course creation. Here is where the "full cup" comes into play. He could have just showed the community what he did (10% off), but that's not what OUR community is about. He also explained in great detail how he did it (Free Cup of Coffee). AND THEN he shared a link to the ppts so that we could use them ourselves in our own course creation (FREE POT OF COFFEE).

Olivia has followed the same path and shares on her blog tips and tricks to presenting effectively (10% off). She then follows the same premise that Sasha has done by sharing an free ebook "How to present with Twitter (and other backchannels)" (Free Cup of Coffee). Then this was where I was reminded again today of the sharing/learning/nurturing nature of OUR community; when you open the ebook the second page clearly says "You can post this eBook on your blog or email it to anyone who you think would get value from it." (FREE POT OF COFFEE).

We might still be in a world where "nothing is free", but it's truly wonderful to know that the people within my Personal Learning Network live by "you teach me and I'll teach you, you grow with me and I'll grow with you". The piece of information, template, clipart, etc that you share with me today, turns into me sharing something right back with you tomorrow.

An ENORMOUS THANK YOU to my/OUR social community.

Imagine what we could accomplish...

It was interesting yesterday to have a conversation with a few of my coworkers about how much we loved to facilitate training sessions with the volunteers that work at our hospital. Our volunteer membership is around 700 people, that choose to be here on a weekly basis. They are here because they love the facility, interacting with others and assisting anyone they can in any capacity.

Our volunteers are the first to sign up for courses that we offer. I never have to ask for a deposit from them to ensure they show up. I know they will. They're hungry for any knowledge we can share with them. Add volunteers to any facilitated session and a two hour session turns into four because they are willing to talk, discuss and share ideas. In fact they have so many great ideas it is often difficult to capture them all.

Our volunteers show up for every shift for which they are scheduled. You never have to worry that you'll be short staffed. They arrive cheerful and excited to have another day "at the office." Each time they arrive to work they come in ready to do the task at hand and you can be guaranteed that when they leave that task is completed. This is true even when they are assisting with truly mundane tasks like envelope stuffing. A certain level of "fun" is found in every job that is assigned to them.

Now imagine that each an every one of us came to our desk, our station, our position in the world of work with that same attitude. Same out look. Same drive to help. Just imagine how much we could accomplish every single day.

LMS Update and How My Organization Has Adapted to Online Learning

Our LMS implementation has been painful. Our nurse educators are keen to get everything they have been doing in classes or have access to in PowerPoint up onto the system. Not the best idea. So I'm slowly taking a topic at a time (mostly what is being driven by Ministry mandatory training first) and creating courses. We rolled out the system with registrations to classroom based courses and are biggest promoter is our Health and Wellness classes (pilates, yoga, etc). That got many people use to using the system, learning how to find and register for a course. It also got me to learn new ways to manipulate the system to "advertise" or list the courses in a more attractive manner than the default settings allow.

The next large push that met much resistance happened this past summer. We rolled out our Core Curriculum modules. 6 modules that are time consuming and painfully detailed. With little time to create them, the online versions are not entirely better than the paper versions of these courses. However, some of the feedback regarding the new online courses has been very positive.

Having to do training online has been a large change for many of our staff. There have been complaints of computer to staff ratios. There is, and always seems to be the argument, do staff train on work time or on their own time. If it is mandatory it should be on work time, but budgets are tight and no one has money to do this arrangement. So time is an issue even when it is online and they can go in and out as often as they want. However, the more I spread this message the more staff like that idea.

Management was very keen on the idea that staff could no longer do one paper test and pass it to all their colleagues to copy and hand in. The fact that online training is individual, increased the accountability factor tenfold and that is an extremely positive thing.

We are only just looking into integrating some blended courses into our curriculum, but this will most likely come with leadership courses that we offer and perhaps unit orientations. We have not quite got to that stage although I have presented many ideas.

The stats that my LMS put out aren't the best at this point in time. An upgrade that as been promised from the vendor for quite some time. I'm crossing my fingers it comes soon. I do know that since we launched the annual mandatory 6 courses (WHMIS, Occupational Health and Safety, Infection Prevention and Control, Incident Reporting, Accessibility, Emergency Codes) that 1000 people have registered for at least 1 of the 6 courses and 700+ have completed them. Not super stats based on the paper version, but on the other hand I do know that all of these people that passed actually looked at the material this year and didn't just fill in the bubbles on the answer sheet.

Some problems that we had come up were that even though I had 3 or 4 sets of eyes look at the courses, some errors were still found. These were spelling, grammatical and the occasional wrong answer to a multiple choice question. When these errors were corrected and uploaded as new versions into the LMS, learners that had registered prior to the new upload seemed to have error messages occur.

Staff that needed to take a course more than once to make grade often didn't have a certificate of completion issued to them.

Some courses didn't track completion. Some frozen and after multiple attempts learners got too frustrated to continue.

Some courses wouldn't relaunch and resume where a learner left off.

After some time with the system now live and working more with the vendor most of these issues have now been resolved and any further issues seem to be more user error than anything. I was really hoping the launch would be more seamless and less painful for my users, but that was a bit of a dream looking back now. I should have known how it might roll out considering the implementation struggles I had.

I'm happy to see that people are using, most are keen too, and that their hasn't been a lot of negative feedback. I'm most excited when I have a late-career nurse call me, frustrated that they can't figure it out, and after a few minutes on the phone with them walking step-by-step through registration and course launch that they exclaim "wow, I really can do this."

Finally some nice feedback

After months and months of hard work slaving over the implementation of our LMS system. Then many long painstaking hours and overtime hours to get our mandatory core curriculum courses created. The system and courses have been launched to the entire organization.

True to form they hate change. Why can't we do this on paper? (Because you cheat off of each other) (Because no one reads it) We don't have enough computers. (One computer, everyone take turns over the course of 3 months, that's 720 times the courses can be done in one dept over the course of 3 months and the largest dept here has about 150 people).

Okay now I'm whining. I guess I was very naive in thinking that everyone would be as excited learning my this method as I am. So to have so many negative comments come my way since the launch of the mandatory courses has really gotten me down on my work environment. (The 34C weather hasn't helped either).

However, today for the first time I got feedback from a frontline worker. Not someone I know. Not someone I owe a favour to or wants a favour from me. Just another person here doing what she needs to do wrote me this:

"My name is XXX and I work in PACU. Just working my way thought the online
Core Curriculum package and wanted to let you know that I am so impressed.
It is extremely easy to use and the visuals make for a way better learning
experience than the old booklet version, especially when you are a visual
learner like myself. Everyone here in PACU is working away on their
package. Thanks again for doing such a great job."

Wow! How cool is that? How nice is it to hear positive feedback from a complete stranger. It completely made my whole day, maybe my whole month. I'm recharged and ready to make more courses and make them even better.

Take a moment send some positive feedback to someone you work with; the difference it can make is invaluable.