ICS Learning Group Wins Gold in the 2014 Brandon Hall Excellence Competition for Best Use of Games and Simulations for Learning FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Maura Romano, Sales & Marketing Specialist ICS Learning Group, Inc. maura.romano@icslearninggroup.com Pasadena, Maryland, September 16, 2014 - ICS Learning Group, Inc. won a coveted Brandon Hall Group Gold Medal for Excellence in Training for the Best Use of Games and Simulations for Learning. The award was based on an online operational safety training module that ICS developed for one of its industrial clients for forklift operation. Using an approach that combined realistic 3D simulation with gamification, ICS developed an online training module that was similar to a video game, including competition among trainees, to make it interesting, engaging, and effective. "ICS should be very proud of receiving this award, especially based on the rigorous judging process. The entries were evaluated by an international panel of independent industry experts, Brandon Hall Group senior analysts, and our executive leadership team. The judging was based on the following criteria: whether the program fit the organization’s need; design of the program; functionality; usability; innovation; and overall measureable benefits." said Rachel Cooke, COO of Brandon Hall Group. "It was a real honor and recognition to receive a Gold Award for the learning content that we develop for our clients. We work with our clients to craft the most effective instructional approach, one that aligns with the target audience. We then develop the content to best fulfill that vision. This ensures the training will be effective and the learning goals are achieved." said Ed Gipple, CEO and President of ICS Learning Group. About ICS Learning Group ICS Learning Group, established in 1998, is a leading provider of custom training solutions, learning content, and e-learning software systems. The company, headquartered in Pasadena, Maryland, serves several markets including software, manufacturing, health care, financial services, pharmaceutical, and government sectors. With an emphasis and expertise in instructional design, ICS Learning Group develops customized software simulation training, corporate communications applications, and computer-based training solutions to meet the critical training needs of today’s workforce. (www.icslearninggroup.com) About Brandon Hall Group Brandon Hall Group is a HCM research and advisory services firm that provides insights around key performance areas, including Learning and Development, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition and Workforce Management. With more than 10,000 clients globally and 20 years of delivering world-class research and advisory services, Brandon Hall Group is focused on developing research that drives performance in emerging and large organizations, and provides strategic insights for executives and practitioners responsible for growth and business results. (www.brandonhall.com)

So now this blog will morph into more of a mish mosh and include schoolwork. After setting up various wikis and blogs for school classes, I thought it’d be a good idea to consolidate my work. I haven’t yet settled on a dissertation topic. I’ve gone through numerous iterations through various classes and all seem to revolve around a theme: professional development for knowledge workers in informal "Web 2.0″ communities. Here are some ideas I’m thinking about now (of course this changes weekly, or at least every semester : ) Is the practice of blogging and microblogging within a Web 2.0 community of practice effective as a means for the ongoing professional development of instructional designers? Does the reflective nature of blogging and microblogging within a Web 2.0 community of practice help instructional design practitioners develop new ideas about learning including the use of Web 2.0 tools in their own practices? What digital information literacies do instructional designers need when their professional development is primarily self-directed and powered by Web 2.0 tools?

Huberman, B.A., Romero, D.M. & Fang, W. (2008). Social networks that matter: Twitter under the microscope. Social Computing Lab, HP Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA and Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Abstract: Scholars, advertisers and political activists see massive online social networks as a representation of social interactions that can be used to study the propagation of ideas, social bond dynamics and viral marketing, among others. But the linked structures of social networks do not reveal actual interactions among people. Scarcity of attention and the daily rhythms of life and work make people default to interacting with those few that matter and that reciprocate their attention. A study of social interactions within Twitter reveals that the driver of usage is a sparse and hidden network of connections underlying the "declared" set of friends and followers. Notes: Researchers studied the number of followers and followees of 309,740 users (211,024 deemed ‘active’) and their ‘active time’ (time elapsed from first and last post; avg. 206 days) on Twitter, a microblogging platform. Researchers identified ‘friends’ as a person whom the user directed at least two posts to. Number of friends was compared to number of followers and followees of a user. Users who receive attention from many posted more often than user receiving little attention until they reached a saturation point as a function of the number of followers. Researchers found the number of ‘friends’ is a more accurate signal of activity. The number of ‘friends’ is very small compared to number followed. The social network, on the surface, appears dense but actually is scarce in part because it is easy to follow but hard to maintain ‘friends.’ Researchers identify two networks: one dense (followers/followees) and one sparse (actual friends). The sparse network was deemed more valuable - a hidden "social network that matters." Research opportunities: propagation of ideas, formation of social bonds. (Definition of ‘friend’ is deemed a weakness by researchers)

Has anyone ever went for any length of time without a kitchen? How much weight did you put on as a result of an increase in take-out? I plan to use the gas grill outside for some cooking and will have the stove for all but one or two weeks. But who am I kidding? Would you stand in the middle of this and try to cook? Maybe twice a week, right? I’m just 5 lbs away from my pregnancy weight for my first child (but this time I’m not pregnant) so I’ll have something to brag cry about at the end of this. We’re ankle deep (literally) in kitchen renovations now. The contractor stopped over this morning and the cabinets will be delivered in exactly two weeks. I am surprised to see a ceiling under the dropped ceiling with children names written in marker. My nine year old wondered how they got up there to write on the ceiling. Damned if I know. This is just a cob job mess. We’re stripping down to the studs, ripping out the ceiling, floors, sheet rock…the whole enchilada. H.O.L.Y. C.R.A.P.

I’m feeling like the female equivalent of Clark Griswold from the National Lampoon Vacation movie series. But I wish I was more like  the Christie Brinkley character in the little red convertible from the Wally World. Yup, I’ve been car shopping. My leased minivan is scheduled to be returned within two weeks. I’m so freaking happy to be getting out from under it. Anyway, the other family car has been with us 10+ years. It’s a real beater. The family decision was to replace the minivan with a more gas-efficient Subaru Outback that was capable of carrying kayaks and/or bikes on top and even limited towing. I mucked things up pretty good last night by thinking about my first "new" car, a Volkswagen. Oh, how I loved my little red car. How I loved driving stick instead of automatic. I visited a VW lot and found a nice little silver five-speed Jetta that’s no Lamborghini but sure would be sweet. I’m sure it can be fitted with a bike/kayak rack. And towing? Who are we kidding? The two times per year that might happen means that it makes more sense to get what I like and rent something for those few times I need to tow something. WTF would I tow anyway? Damnit. I want a five-speed sporty vehicle after 10+ years of minivan driving. Damnit.

Interesting article in the Telegraph yesterday that said women spend 3,276 hours over their lifetime "getting ready" for a night out. Interesting that it’s in the ‘weird’ news section. I would think it’s more "lifestyle" stuff or whatever. Weird it is. I don’t go out often so I’m apparently wasting my time in other ways. Like blogging during the men’s gymnastics finals. I wonder how long they spend getting ready for meets. Probably not 3,276 hours.

"And Janet, do you work outside the home?" he asked while writing up the contract for the van (yes, I know another fucking minivan!) Let’s break it down. On the 11th hour of the eve of the leased minivan return, we nixed the idea of getting a nice five-speed car for me. It became quite clear that a car simply would not only hold four, 14-year old boys and their bikes, as mine just had. So another van it was. Sucking less - that’s what I call this. I throw my hands up. We settle on a 2001 Toyota Sienna. I know right? WTF? Anyway, the salesman is a really nice guy except for his stereotyping while finalizing a sale.  First, he writes my husband’s name on the contract (the original van is in my name and he’s holding the registration card), then he gets only my husband’s income, and asks me if I work outside the home.  What? We all work all the freakin’ time. In the home, outside of the home, and now in a car dealership. My husband did not even negotiate the sale. He was there to give me a ride home. Whatever. My ride is a 2001 minivan and I’m so looking forward to that. Damnit.

The kitchen has been demolished and the contractor arrived today to begin the work of remodeling the kitchen. The cabinets arrived today too. Here were the before pictures. This post is the during. I thought the contractor was showing up tomorrow and I was the only one up when he showed up. Coffee, PJs, the whole works. Slight hangover. We talked about some details and I was on my way to the shower when much to my surprise, the KraftMaid semi shows up out front about six hours early. A couple more burly guys to talk to while I’m in a total state of yuk. Anyway, here are the photos. My husband pulled out the remnants of a chimney, cabinets, floor, walls, and a ton of rock wool. It filled a U-Haul truck. Un. freakin. believable. What a man.

Other than putting in the hardwood floor, hanging the light over the island, and hanging some pictures on the wall, the kitchen is done. I put some before pictures up previously, but wanted to put the  before and after together. Total time: 3.5 weeks. Total cost: 25K.

A paper by Erkan Saka, Blogging as a Research Tool for Ethnographic Fieldwork. (Erkan Saka’s fieldwork supports his dissertation thesis project on Turkish journalism and the European Union (EU). He is a Ph.D candidate at the Anthropology Department of Rice University and a Lecturerat the Public Relations Department of Istanbul Bilgi University.) Abstract: This presentation argues that blogging emerges as a new research tool for the ones conducting ethnographic fieldwork. Moreover, I argue throughout my paper that new media with a particular emphasis in blogging will have even larger consequences for the discipline of anthropology. In order to substantiate my main argument I focus on these issues: a) Blogging might be a remedy to the anxiety of being in ‘after the fact’ that is shared by many anthropologists. Blogging takes place in the present tense while actively engaging with ‘the fact’; b) blogging brings immediate feedback c) not only from the limited scholarly circles but from a wider public/audience d) which exposes the ethnographer to a much more effective issue of accountability. Moreover, e) blogging urges to see motives in a more regular sense, thus creates a strong sense of regularity f) that forces the ethnographer to produce on a regular basis) with a constant appeal to narrate what would normally remain fragments of fieldnotes. In addition to depending on scholarly sources of interest, this paper exploits the presenter’s own experience of blogging during his fieldwork. Notes: Noting the self-reflective mood of anthropologists, Saka suggests the validity of blogging as a research tool by focusing on various aspects of the medium. He talks about the potential of blogging as a tool for the public presence of anthropology as a field (and for others who conduct different types of ethnographic fieldwork). The paper is broken into four parts: blogging as a personal development tool and the place it occupies in between personal and public space feedback and audience potential of the blog the narrative and writing resourcefulness blogging may bring blogging as a remedy to the ‘after the fact’ problem of the discipline Based on my own blogging experience in the past 2+ years, I agree with Saka that blogging can be used as a research tool.  For me the value comes from several areas: Discipline - regular writing will keep me focused Context - my research focuses on using this medium (along with others) for professional development Methodology - ethnographic study Feedback - public feedback will be helpful for greater understanding and will help address concerns I have of being a part-time student away from the university community (physically) Scope - will put my work in a public space where I c an discover others researching the same area Better organization of research (tagging, bookmarking)