If you haven't yet taken a look at Where the Hell is Matt? , please do. His video is simple yet complex, fun, inspirational, and guaranteed to make you smile (MORE THAN ONCE)!!!
Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.
I love it. Great job Matt Harding
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
My 300th post is a call for LMS Help
Yippee I'm at my 300th post, but yet again I'm shouting out for some help and of course it's about the LMS. I have the system we are using, and access to a second system that is on my wish list.
I'm having problems loading in classroom based classes. Both systems have features for in class teaching, however neither is meeting our needs. I'm curious to know how others have handled this as I can't believe we are the only organization that operates in such a manner.
We have many, many courses that run over consecutive days or even just over many different days. They also tend to occur in many different rooms around our organization. Neither system seems to be able to accommodate this style.
As an example: Intro to Project Management. Runs 8:30am - 12:30 pm on Wed. July 30 and then again Thurs. July 31 at the same time. In the same room. Students must go to both sessions.
Each LMS that I am trying only has a Start date and End Date for the over all program. One system does allow for recurring days of the event, but they must be the standard (one a week, ever day of the week, every other week, every other specific day of the week). On this system the first day is the start date, the end date needs to be the same date (to capture the 4 hour window of the course) and the recurring can go on for as many days as you need. But the over all screen users would see is cumbersome.
Another example is: Frontline Leaders, runs 8:00am - 4:00pm on this Thursday, 2 Thursdays from that date, then 2 Thursdays from that date, then 3 Thursdays from that, and back to 2 Thursdays from that. (not a consistent pattern). The course is held in the same room for 5 of the sessions but not for the sixth.
Again, neither system seems to allow for room changes, or many modules of a course, various instructors, various times.
I know LMS's are primarily for online learning and these typically are start date - end date, open 24/7 with no physical location to speak of. However, most LMS's I've heard of are "all about thier registration and tracking" and classroom based is usually a part of that.
I've tried on both system to set up the various "days" of the class as individual sessions. These look prettier in the systems, however when I register into the first module as a student....then I can't register into any of the other modules.
Even if this did work.....then ever occurrence of this course would have to be individual in the system course calendar.
i.e. Intro to Proj. Mgt June Mod 1 & Mod 2, then Intro to Proj. Mgt July Mod 1 & Mod 2.
I'm curious to know has no one else in the eLearning World had to deal with this?!? I'm sure you have, so how did you get around this issue of:
I'm having problems loading in classroom based classes. Both systems have features for in class teaching, however neither is meeting our needs. I'm curious to know how others have handled this as I can't believe we are the only organization that operates in such a manner.
We have many, many courses that run over consecutive days or even just over many different days. They also tend to occur in many different rooms around our organization. Neither system seems to be able to accommodate this style.
As an example: Intro to Project Management. Runs 8:30am - 12:30 pm on Wed. July 30 and then again Thurs. July 31 at the same time. In the same room. Students must go to both sessions.
Each LMS that I am trying only has a Start date and End Date for the over all program. One system does allow for recurring days of the event, but they must be the standard (one a week, ever day of the week, every other week, every other specific day of the week). On this system the first day is the start date, the end date needs to be the same date (to capture the 4 hour window of the course) and the recurring can go on for as many days as you need. But the over all screen users would see is cumbersome.
Another example is: Frontline Leaders, runs 8:00am - 4:00pm on this Thursday, 2 Thursdays from that date, then 2 Thursdays from that date, then 3 Thursdays from that, and back to 2 Thursdays from that. (not a consistent pattern). The course is held in the same room for 5 of the sessions but not for the sixth.
Again, neither system seems to allow for room changes, or many modules of a course, various instructors, various times.
I know LMS's are primarily for online learning and these typically are start date - end date, open 24/7 with no physical location to speak of. However, most LMS's I've heard of are "all about thier registration and tracking" and classroom based is usually a part of that.
I've tried on both system to set up the various "days" of the class as individual sessions. These look prettier in the systems, however when I register into the first module as a student....then I can't register into any of the other modules.
Even if this did work.....then ever occurrence of this course would have to be individual in the system course calendar.
i.e. Intro to Proj. Mgt June Mod 1 & Mod 2, then Intro to Proj. Mgt July Mod 1 & Mod 2.
I'm curious to know has no one else in the eLearning World had to deal with this?!? I'm sure you have, so how did you get around this issue of:
- 1 program
- various dates
- various times
- various locations
- (maybe various instructors)
As always I truly appreciate any feedback and help I can get. Learning as I go.
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Trouble remembering all those "strong" passwords
I came across this handy little Password Chart today. It's a decoder for strong passwords into simple ones. Actually it is kind of the opposite of that.
I can then use the chart to take a simple password and convert it to a strong password.
You enter into a field on the site a phrase or word and a matrix of random letters (Caps and lower case) and numbers appears. You can then use these the matrix to code out your simple password.
If I use the phrase "I can never remember my password" then I get this matrix:
I can then use the chart to take a simple password and convert it to a strong password.
Example: "password" gets converted to "gvaGwtJJimmgSFysb"
I don't even have to use the matrix to match up letters to the new code (p = gva); there is a field on the same page for me to enter in my simple password to convert it to the strong password.
The site can then be accessed where ever I go or I can print out the page and carry the matrix with me. What could be "JNqmgvaREicYcgSF" than that?
Monday, 7 July 2008
The Simple Features of an LMS Should be There, Right???
Warning - this is a rant. As previously mentioned I've been cursed with making our LMS work. One of my first tasks is to populate 10 courses that we will run here at the hospital. 3 hours later I still can't figure out how to get the first one set up. Seems odd right?
Here's some of my issues for Class A that has part 1 & part 2, reoccurring every month
Here's some of my issues for Class A that has part 1 & part 2, reoccurring every month
- Since when does a course only start on the hour?
- Even though my login has admin privileges I can't do all of the admin tasks.
- Creating an instructor - logout as self, login as grand-poo-ba of admin, create a user, go into manage a student, manage an instructor, now assign that person the label instructor
- Cut off date for registering for a course has to be on or after the course start date? Wouldn't you normally want to know how many are registered for your class in advance of the start date. For CBT how would you know how much material to prepare? Better yet, why would you let people register for a class that has already started?
- A course can have a prerequisite but a session can not
- Why would they assume a classroom course would run the same as an online course? You have weeks to complete an online course, but a classroom course you (probably) go to once or several times over the course of a period of time
This is going to be a long long long implementation. I wonder if I can get sponsored by JD!!!
Friday, 27 June 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, 26 June 2008
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
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".
Monday, 23 June 2008
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.
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.
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.Friday, 20 June 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, 19 June 2008
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.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
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).
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.
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.
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Well I haven't been here in a while. (LMS, Intranet, New House, Oh my)
So much is going on right now I haven't been around here in quite some time. Work has me so frazzled that my moment, today I think will have to be a bit of a rant.
The small team I've been working on has been madly trying to find all the bugs, kinks and errors that are ever present in our new intranet and document management system. Of course just as we think we've identified one problem and sent it to the vendor to fix, we find another. We're really close though and have married ourselves to going live June 3rd. Matt, Sandra and I have our fingers very tightly crossed and a bottle of vodka near by just in case of an emergency.
I've been going crazy trying to populate not only my department's pages for the intranet, but also all the material for the education section. One day the education section will be the LMS, but until I get that sorted out I've been forced to put every education event I could get my hands on in as an individual page. I sent out a mass email to the organization asking them to fill out a spread sheet with information on the courses/training they provide. I want the intranet to be a one-stop shop for finding all education opportunities the hospital offers. However, I guess the spread sheet (driven directly from fields in the LMS) was too complicated. Go Figure!
I then set a second mass email telling staff to send me the flyers they've already created for training events. What do you know....a better response. So my education catalogue slightly resembles something that a staff member may search through to find a training event. I think it will take them a great deal of time to search through, but at least it is a start.
As for the LMS. Where do I start!?! I've had a meeting with the company that they want to start planning exactly how we are going to roll out the product, populate it with data, etc. etc. That was suppose to be last week. The intranet, not yet being live, has set me back a bit again with even starting the project. My supervisor flip-flops each day in support of ditching the LMS and finding another (my preferred choice, but now feel every choice is doomed).
I've started yet another college course. Back to the beginning of a certificate. I'm hoping this school doesn't drop the certificate before I finish as did the last institution.
Finally, life has been wonderful in giving me a new house in 10 more sleeps. It's about 20 minutes from where I currently live, but it's one of those "if you live in this town, you don't want to move to that town, it's not nearly as good" situations. I've been jaded since a teenager and need to get rid of the bias of the new town. Funny how these thoughts get implanted into us when we are young.
I'm sure there's much more since the last time I wrote however, all of this has kept me from writing here as I should and from sleeping at night.
The small team I've been working on has been madly trying to find all the bugs, kinks and errors that are ever present in our new intranet and document management system. Of course just as we think we've identified one problem and sent it to the vendor to fix, we find another. We're really close though and have married ourselves to going live June 3rd. Matt, Sandra and I have our fingers very tightly crossed and a bottle of vodka near by just in case of an emergency.
I've been going crazy trying to populate not only my department's pages for the intranet, but also all the material for the education section. One day the education section will be the LMS, but until I get that sorted out I've been forced to put every education event I could get my hands on in as an individual page. I sent out a mass email to the organization asking them to fill out a spread sheet with information on the courses/training they provide. I want the intranet to be a one-stop shop for finding all education opportunities the hospital offers. However, I guess the spread sheet (driven directly from fields in the LMS) was too complicated. Go Figure!
I then set a second mass email telling staff to send me the flyers they've already created for training events. What do you know....a better response. So my education catalogue slightly resembles something that a staff member may search through to find a training event. I think it will take them a great deal of time to search through, but at least it is a start.
As for the LMS. Where do I start!?! I've had a meeting with the company that they want to start planning exactly how we are going to roll out the product, populate it with data, etc. etc. That was suppose to be last week. The intranet, not yet being live, has set me back a bit again with even starting the project. My supervisor flip-flops each day in support of ditching the LMS and finding another (my preferred choice, but now feel every choice is doomed).
I've started yet another college course. Back to the beginning of a certificate. I'm hoping this school doesn't drop the certificate before I finish as did the last institution.
Finally, life has been wonderful in giving me a new house in 10 more sleeps. It's about 20 minutes from where I currently live, but it's one of those "if you live in this town, you don't want to move to that town, it's not nearly as good" situations. I've been jaded since a teenager and need to get rid of the bias of the new town. Funny how these thoughts get implanted into us when we are young.
I'm sure there's much more since the last time I wrote however, all of this has kept me from writing here as I should and from sleeping at night.
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
My First Second Life Education Experience
I've been experimenting more and more with Second Life and now have my character looking more and more like a real person and less like the initial choices offered to first time users. I'm hooked on this silly thing. I explore all over the place and just this weekend was riding and Orca Whale, Parachuting, and Surfing. Wow I'm so virtually exciting.
I've been searching around for something educational to do though and hadn't yet found anything that really piqued my interest or was like a virtual classroom/discussion. That was where I had set my sights to start. Well today I finally found something.
I'm currently sitting in with NASA leadership, astronauts, scientists, and engineers along with local business, technology and academic leaders and local, state and federal officials discuss the role of space exploration in advancing science, engineering, technology, education and the economy that benefits your community and the nation. Sounds pretty cool.
I've been searching around for something educational to do though and hadn't yet found anything that really piqued my interest or was like a virtual classroom/discussion. That was where I had set my sights to start. Well today I finally found something.
I'm currently sitting in with NASA leadership, astronauts, scientists, and engineers along with local business, technology and academic leaders and local, state and federal officials discuss the role of space exploration in advancing science, engineering, technology, education and the economy that benefits your community and the nation. Sounds pretty cool.
(If you can see me, I'm in the second row of chairs to the left of centre, behind the guy with the red shirt. I'm the one with blue hair.)
Well it turned out it wasn't a presentation or lecture, but was an open forum. I can't say I understood or could follow all the lines of thinking that we going on as the discussion continued in just text form. Each person who wanted to join in the discussion would just type freely and their thoughts would display in the "chat" area.
It was certainly a neat place to start off to see the some of the potentials of learning in this manner. It was certainly an extremely more interesting and attending keeping method of group discussion than many of the chart rooms and discussion boards I've had to participate in for online college classes.
I shall continue my quest to find a "conference" kind of learning event.
We're Sticking With the LMS....So What Now?
I know a few have been following my LMS journey regarding trying to get it up and running and functioning. Last week I put a call out looking for any help I could in figuring out exactly what pieces I need to look for in an LMS as I wasn't sure mine has what I need. (Thanks again to all who helped).
Well, after a meeting on Monday (which I lost much sleep over) we've decided to continue down the current LMS road. I was really hoping to go with another system, but working in an Ontario Hospital we are limited, as most would be, to a certain amount of funding. If we decide to choose a different product 1) we'd have to find the funds somewhere in the budget [good luck], 2) we'd have to start the whole RFP process all over again [must follow politics], 3) it would take months to accomplish.
So, the vendor came in on Monday and demonstrated version 4 of the LMS....nice I've only been able to see version 1. There are some nice tweaks to the system, however there some significant reporting options that still need to be implemented. I'm happy that they are willing to run with any suggestions I put forward.
I think I've come to a comfortable place (or a delusional place - depends on your perspective) where I'm ready to push forward and make it work one way or another. At the least we have a fairly robust system, considering it's price, that the vendor is willing to work with us to make even better. The system may or may not meet our needs after a few years, but at least we have something that we can utilize, get our staff comfortable with the idea of an LMS, and see how well it is adopted by all before we go to something more expensive. It may actually work out to be the perfect solution and we never have to go to something else. (Wow did I just look at the cup half full????? That's a first).
Well, after a meeting on Monday (which I lost much sleep over) we've decided to continue down the current LMS road. I was really hoping to go with another system, but working in an Ontario Hospital we are limited, as most would be, to a certain amount of funding. If we decide to choose a different product 1) we'd have to find the funds somewhere in the budget [good luck], 2) we'd have to start the whole RFP process all over again [must follow politics], 3) it would take months to accomplish.
So, the vendor came in on Monday and demonstrated version 4 of the LMS....nice I've only been able to see version 1. There are some nice tweaks to the system, however there some significant reporting options that still need to be implemented. I'm happy that they are willing to run with any suggestions I put forward.
I think I've come to a comfortable place (or a delusional place - depends on your perspective) where I'm ready to push forward and make it work one way or another. At the least we have a fairly robust system, considering it's price, that the vendor is willing to work with us to make even better. The system may or may not meet our needs after a few years, but at least we have something that we can utilize, get our staff comfortable with the idea of an LMS, and see how well it is adopted by all before we go to something more expensive. It may actually work out to be the perfect solution and we never have to go to something else. (Wow did I just look at the cup half full????? That's a first).
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
I Love My Blog Community
I just wanted to give a thanks out to everyone who contacted me an offered their help over the last day. I was fortunate enough to get responses from a few people I have "worked" with in the past. Even more so, I was greatly surprised to have so many new people contact me and offer their expertise.
I love my blog and all that it has given me over the past year. It's amazing how sharing a little knowledge with others builds such a great virtual community and support network among peers.
If you haven't yet begun your own blog, I really suggest you start giving it a try.
Thanks very much to B.J., Christy, Mike, Ena, John, Terry.
I love my blog and all that it has given me over the past year. It's amazing how sharing a little knowledge with others builds such a great virtual community and support network among peers.
If you haven't yet begun your own blog, I really suggest you start giving it a try.
Thanks very much to B.J., Christy, Mike, Ena, John, Terry.
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
LMS Assistance Needed if You Can Spare Some Time
I have these 2 checklists that were given to me of certain aspects to look for in an LMS. There is a column for required, optional, not required. I'm pretty sure I can go through the list and figure out what I truly need and what I can live without, but as peers that have actually lived with and worked with LMS's I was hoping you could take a look through the lists and perhaps give me hand as to what you think should/could/doesn't need to be there in order for me to really have it function. This way I will know much more soundly if I am on track requesting the pieces I think I should have.
Our background is:
- 2500 staff - growing to 2600 probably in 2-3 years
- 10-15 different job types (nurses, admin, physiotherapists, pharmacists, cleaners, etc) - actually captured as 700 difffernt roles within the hospital
- 15 Nurse Educators (probably will manage the LMS for thier staff) - eventual SMEs80
- Mangers (doing the same for staff)
- 1 Admin (me)
- Primary focus is for tracking enrollment, certifications, recertifications, what they are taking classroom, online, external (colleges)
- Online courses will be a secondary phase and we may create internally, maybe outsource courses
If you have anytime to take a look at the checklists I would greatly appreciate the help as there is not really anyone here I can turn to for assistance. Ideally I need them back by the end of tomorrow (Wednesday, May 7th) - any time tomorrow though. I have a meeting with my manager on Thursday. But even before Monday, May 12th would be appreciated as well.
I'm truly sorry to ask as I'm sure everyone has a ton of work on your plates already...doesn't everyone. However, I greatly appreciate anything you can do for me. If you can help please contact me and I will forward the checklists to you.
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Sharing web tools with colleagues
I'm doing another short presentation to a network group I belong whose members are primarily in training and development. This group, however, does not have a large knowledge base of many of the web 2.o tools that are out there or some of the ways in which they can be used within organizations for simple collaboration and sharing of ideas.
I'm going to reintroduce them to wikis and blogs and I have discussed these before with them. I am also going to show a few mind mapping tools, social booking marking, and a few survey tools.
I've tried using each of these in various ways, attempting to get my supervisor and other management team members more intrigued by the value that they can bring to the organization. For the most part they are receptive at first, but then do not continue to utilize the tools. Unfortunately this is huge, if not the largest means by which these tools succeed. Web 2.0 tools appear to work the best when people use them and expand the "knowledge" that is with in the tool. This can be files, photos, music, data, and more.
I'm going to show and example of a wiki being used to gather survey data prior to a management retreat. I just set up last week a wiki for sharing files for our retreats to the management team. These would include agendas, location maps, photos, evaluations, and any handouts for team retreats that we may not necessarily want the general staff to view. Finally, I'll be sharing the use of a wiki for collecting knowledge into a form similar to a database. I blogged earlier in the year about trying to find something similar to KBpublisher. Instead I used a wiki with a password (wik.is) to recreate the same database that the customer has set up on their website. I could add answers to group posted questions at any time and the advantage with the new knowledge database being a wiki was that all the users could continue to expand on the data that was stored.
I'm also going to show a blog being used as a newsletter. This is not a new concept for anyone in the blogging world, but may be for my audience. As well as just explaining how it is a great way to capture your own personal knowledge as you work through a project (ie: my LMS journey).
I'm going to show event planning using a mind mapping tool. One that I am fond of is mindomo.com. I'm not a fan of checklists but in creating a mind map of all the items that we needed for an event we hosted last month it didn't seem like such a challenge. My colleagues could also go in at any time and expand upon the items I had captures. I also created one of these late last year to capture new ideas for running our orientation sessions.
I'm going to touch on social book marking as I'm still new to all of it myself. I love being able to get my bookmarks from any computer in the world, but I am still learning more about sharing with others and collecting bookmarks from others. I'm really interested in getting our management team to use Diigo. Christy Tucker got me into using it and I really like the fact that you can create a group of users that can collect bookmarks together. I just need to get this project started at work.
Finally I am going to remind them of survey tools such as SurveyMonkey.com and Zoomerang.com. We use these quite frequently at work to gather data. Usually they are for facilitation evaluations, but occasionally the are used for more intense data collecting as well.
I'll be happy to share my slides on slideshare.net as soon as it is finished and presented this Friday. The slides are mostly just screen shots so that I don't have to rely on making sure I have a great internet connection at the presenting facility.
I'm going to reintroduce them to wikis and blogs and I have discussed these before with them. I am also going to show a few mind mapping tools, social booking marking, and a few survey tools.
I've tried using each of these in various ways, attempting to get my supervisor and other management team members more intrigued by the value that they can bring to the organization. For the most part they are receptive at first, but then do not continue to utilize the tools. Unfortunately this is huge, if not the largest means by which these tools succeed. Web 2.0 tools appear to work the best when people use them and expand the "knowledge" that is with in the tool. This can be files, photos, music, data, and more.
I'm going to show and example of a wiki being used to gather survey data prior to a management retreat. I just set up last week a wiki for sharing files for our retreats to the management team. These would include agendas, location maps, photos, evaluations, and any handouts for team retreats that we may not necessarily want the general staff to view. Finally, I'll be sharing the use of a wiki for collecting knowledge into a form similar to a database. I blogged earlier in the year about trying to find something similar to KBpublisher. Instead I used a wiki with a password (wik.is) to recreate the same database that the customer has set up on their website. I could add answers to group posted questions at any time and the advantage with the new knowledge database being a wiki was that all the users could continue to expand on the data that was stored.
I'm also going to show a blog being used as a newsletter. This is not a new concept for anyone in the blogging world, but may be for my audience. As well as just explaining how it is a great way to capture your own personal knowledge as you work through a project (ie: my LMS journey).
I'm going to show event planning using a mind mapping tool. One that I am fond of is mindomo.com. I'm not a fan of checklists but in creating a mind map of all the items that we needed for an event we hosted last month it didn't seem like such a challenge. My colleagues could also go in at any time and expand upon the items I had captures. I also created one of these late last year to capture new ideas for running our orientation sessions.
I'm going to touch on social book marking as I'm still new to all of it myself. I love being able to get my bookmarks from any computer in the world, but I am still learning more about sharing with others and collecting bookmarks from others. I'm really interested in getting our management team to use Diigo. Christy Tucker got me into using it and I really like the fact that you can create a group of users that can collect bookmarks together. I just need to get this project started at work.
Finally I am going to remind them of survey tools such as SurveyMonkey.com and Zoomerang.com. We use these quite frequently at work to gather data. Usually they are for facilitation evaluations, but occasionally the are used for more intense data collecting as well.
I'll be happy to share my slides on slideshare.net as soon as it is finished and presented this Friday. The slides are mostly just screen shots so that I don't have to rely on making sure I have a great internet connection at the presenting facility.
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