Thursday, September 30, 2010. 11:00 am PDT/ 2:00 pm EDT From Elearning! Magazine: "Tapping the Power of Collaborative Content Authoring for Creating E-learning" Mike Alcock, Product Specialist, Kaplan IT Learning’s Atlantic Link (I’m moderating) Register here. FREE. Online. What it’s about: How to place eLearning development capabilities within the hands of SMEs and other contributors so as to reduce the cost of using external resources How British Telecom used collaborative authoring and centralized content management to easily create the variety of training needed within each business unit, regardless of the unit location How to easily enhance exiting training materials, such as documents and PowerPoint’s, with interactivity, assessments and branching learning scenarios. Wednesday, September 29, 2010. 12:00 pm EDT PLENK 2010. Online. I’ll be a guest speaker for the topic: Understanding the neXT/eXtended Web PLENK 2010 is a MOOG (Massive Open Online Course) about thinking facilitated by George Siemens, Stephen Downes, Dave Cormier, and Rita Kop. Free. Wednesday, October 6, 2010. 11:00 am PDT / 2:00 pm EDT From Elearning! Magazine: "Engaging for Influence: Delivering Virtual Training with Impact" Camille Prestion, Founder, AIM Leadership; Jessica Eastman, Marketing Manager, Citrix Online Moderated by Roger Courville, 1080 Group. Online. What it’s about: What prevents Virtual Trainings from having full impact: Inside-out Alternatives mistakes What people really need: The 8 Keys to Virtual Influence How to develop Virtual Rapport, Authenticity, Trust & Agility Register here. FREE. November 4, 2010 6:00 am - 2:00 pm PT Elearning! Summit 2010 (online) This takes place online within the UNISFAIR virtual environment. The Elearning! Summit Virtual Event includes: Educational sessions with industry experts and live Q&A Exhibit hall displaying hundreds of products & solutions Networking opportunities with 1600+ professionals Sessions: eGovernment Roundtable (Jay Allen, ADL Co-Lab; Dr. David Twitchell, Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs; Haley Steele, Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs, and Mark Oehlert, Innovation Evangelist, Defense Acquisition University) Best Practices: Integrating Learning & Talent Strategies (Stacey Harris, Senior Analyst, Bersin & Associates) Best of Elearning! (Catherine Upton, Group Publisher, Elearning! Magazine Group) Solutions Roundtable (Jerry Roche, Editorial Director, Elearning! Magazine Group) I’ll be there throughout the day so stop by or I’ll be totally ticked off at you. Plus, it’ll be kick ass of course. Register here. Free.

Had a good time at the PLENK2010 session today. The session was part of a free Massive Open Online Course. I was thrilled to be asked to participate. It’s led by George Siemens , Stephen Downes, Rita Kop, and Dave Cormier. I thought there was a great amount of interaction. I used annotations on blank slides and saw a lot of chat and some Twitter conversation. Slides are below and here’s a recording that, according to one at least one person, was poorly moderated (below). I know right? Geesh. Chill. It’s more about the content and what people do with it than me performing. Whatever. Anyway, it’s always quite a buzz kill to get one of these comments even if 50 others found value in the session. Plenk2010 Of course there’s always one. What’s been your worse? (Oops: I forgot to add the fourth moderator - Dave Cormier - when I originally posted this. Saving the best for last : )

The September/October issue of Elearning! Magazine is out (my first as technology editor). I wrote an article E-learning on a budget. Other features: E-learning Goes Social, Rolling Out a New LMS, Maintenance: The Forgotten Step, What Makes a Top Learning Organization, and a story about Crowd-sourcing by Ross Dawson. Enjoy!

That weekly calendar pop up I received every week for the PAST SEVERAL WEEKS reminding of the day I was to contribute to my good friend Jane’s book tour just kept getting pushed back. So here I am watching "Outsourced" and browsing through Jane’s book realizing that pop up popped up for the last time. There are so many nice review’s of the book, I just thought I’d give some advice on how to actually use it (beyond simply reading it). 10 Things you can do with Jane Bozarth’s new book, Social Media for Trainers: Read it, of course, then… Casually drop the book on the desk of a frustrated coworker who says he just doesn’t get all the "social media" stuff…or Use material from the book for staff training…or Donate one to a school or library…or be evil and… Send a tweet to someone who annoys you and tell them [you think] they’re featured in the Twitter chapter. You could also… Buy the Kindle edition so you’ll have it as an electronic resource then be all uppity and…. Take your Kindle to various events and say, "what are you reading? I’m reading my good friend Jane’s book. I have many friends who authors"…or Use it as inspiration to write your own book…and of course… Apply the ideas in the book. Finally, Thank Jane for writing a really easy-to-read, practical book.

A loose theme… From HRM Today, another good reason [in addition to locating experts] to have a social networking feature that allows you to recommend and rate peer contributions. "The easiest way [to find and retain your hidden performers is with strategic recognition in which you allow all employees, regardless of level of position in the organization, to give and receive appreciation from their colleagues. In a well-designed program, each recognition would include a detailed message on why that person is being recognized in a way that can be easily recorded and tracked. Surfacing your hidden gems becomes much easier when you have the proof right in front of you of all the people, across your organization, who value their ability to get things done." Of course, you could just walk up to a co-worker and say how valuable he or she is to you. Or phone them or send an email or something. Proof is not needed. And, of course there's the popularity contests and gaming of the system to deal with. Anyway, I'll take an 'atta girl over cash (the more popular 'retention' method) most days. Today, though, cash would be fine. ****************************************************** From D'Arcy Norman dot net, a link to a documentary (1 hour) from IBM researchers on data visualization. As a writer and researcher, I see so much potential here for understanding vasts amount of data. How much data left behind...hidden in results because we see what we want to see (and don't deny it). I look forward to the day where a lengthy report is replaced by a visual. So, for example, when trying to understand problems at work, you don't have to go to focus groups or whatever that tend to be so subjective. You just survey and SEE it. Love it. Job of the future. Journalism in the Age of Data from Geoff McGhee on Vimeo. ****************************************************** From Steve Roesler's boss, "Useful Work Phrases Guaranteed To Make You Feel Better." These type of comments - as harsh as they are - do run through my mind when I'm listening to blather, idiots, and the blather of idiots. Fave... "I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth." ********************************************************** I'm so beyond this "authentic self" stuff. I sit here at my desk (in what used to be my living room) with no makeup, a hoodie sweatshirt, and jeans pulled from the floor. Clean? Dirty? I don't know. I do know I just ate an Eggo waffle in 20 seconds. That's authentic. However, if I worked in a corporate office, I really couldn't do that. The advice in this post might be useful for women trying to fit in to various social situations so they're not at a disadvantage at work. Dr. Donna Thomas-Rodgers recommends that women ask themselves one very powerful question: "Would the person I’m closest to recognize me while I’m at work?" If the answer is no, she says, you’ve got a lot of soul searching to do. No, he would not but that's not the point. The problem is how women are often viewed in the corporate environment. BJ Gallagher, sociologist: "Research shows [no source] that if a woman wants to be successful in a corporate environment, she needs to behave in a way that is androgynous, neither masculine nor feminine. If a woman behaves in a manner that is viewed as ‘too feminine,’ she will be seen as too soft to take the ups and downs of business. If she behaves in a manner that is ‘too masculine,’ she’ll be seen as a ‘ball-buster,’ bitch, or even worse. In other words, she’s damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t and simply telling a woman to be herself is naive at best and career-suicide at worst. Advice to ‘be authentic’ doesn’t take into account the harsh realities of the corporate world." Amen to that. I can hear it now: "Which one is Janet?" She’s that sloppy looking one over there eating something that looks like a waffle. And she’s dripped syrup on her hoodie." ‘Authentic indeed. Neither masculine or feminine. Just fired. Atta girl. ******************************************************* First off, Matt Mullenweg, changed the look of his website (which has the best url ever). Second, he added a feature to his contact page that shows the amount of mail in his email queue (so you’ll know how long it’ll take from him to get back to you). This just seems like a lot of pressure. Kind of interesting though. I’d feel better if I contacted him and he didn’t get back to me knowing he has 128 things sitting in his inbox plus low priority and unknown items. ******************************************************* This may be a new format for me for blogging.

As I may have mentioned in the past, I’m now working as Technology Editor for Elearning! Magazine and Government Elearning! Magazine. We’re hosting an online summit on November 4, 2010. I hope you can join us. It’s a FREE event. Here are some details: eGovernment Roundtable hosted by Jay Allen, Chief Collaboration Officer, ADL Co-Lab, Dr. David Twitchell , Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Haley Steele, Department of Veteran Affair’s, Mark Oehlert, Innovation Evangelist, Defense Acquisition University. Dr. Twitchell, as lead on the VA’s Healthcare E-learning Initiative, will discuss lessons learned from their large scale e-learning launch. Mr. Oehlert leads the social learning initiative at Defense Acquisition University. Learn how these agencies are deploying enterprise learning initiatives, the tools used and results achieved. Hear about the unique challenges and opportunities facing public sector executives. Bring your questions to ask these experts. Best Practices: Integrating Learning & Talent Strategies, hosted by Stacey Harris, Senior Analyst, Bersin & Associates Learn: To evaluate your organization’s current talent landscape, Which talent initiatives to begin with, The key stakeholders and partners to target to build integration strategies, The time and resource investments required, The impact integration has on team and business performance. Best of Elearning! 2010 with Catherine Upton, Group Publisher, Elearning! Magazine Group. See the top learning technologies and services deployed in 2010 ranging from the Best LMS to Best Authoring Tools. See Best-in-Class solutions at work Hear what your peers say about these solutions and share advice with learning professionals during and after the session. More than 40 solutions across 20+ companies will be covered. The Best of Elearning! Awards program is the exclusive readers’ choice awards in the market. Approximately 49% of buyers report that they rely on peer and word-of-mouth advice for product information. This session provides a formal platform for executives to share what works and why. Solutions Roundtable with Jerry Roche, Editorial Director, Elearning! Magazine Group. See how solutions can solve your business problems during this interactive session. Bring your questions and hear from real users and solution providers about these tools. Learn how to select between vendors; Hear advice on implementation and lessons learned. Register here.

When "checking in" via FourSquare at an iconic roadside BBQ and at an after-school soccer game (and even at Dunkin’ Donuts) I can’t help but scratch my head and wonder about location-based services and their use for L&D. Perhaps I can’t imagine their use because I post mundane information. (Basically, location-based social networking means you can share your physical location with others through GPS, mobile email, or text message.) I’ve gotten beyond the ‘this shit’s creepy’ phase of location-based social networking (mainly because I’m always 20 tweets, 1 video camera, and 10 FB status updates shy of being a lifecaster anyway). I like to thing I’m helping populate the social web and not just dropping location crumbs for the people losers who stalk middle aged women at Dunkin’ Donuts. What am I sharing beyond location? Well, I guess I’m saying "I’m here" or I’m looking for "who else is here" or "who else has been here." That might help me find the right people  in the right place at the right time. Or, it might help me make a decision (pumpkin muffin?). But what else? I read this interview with Julia Grace and thought of the need for good communication in getting projects done. And good communication, to me, is about having some sort of connection beyond checklists and schedules. She mentions a particular exchange: "I read your Twitter stream. I feel like I know you" and I smiled because there are several people I feel the same way about. But, she’s also talking about how we’re losing… …the "beautiful humanizing features of social networks are going away. It’s becoming more about finding information fast, and getting it to your network fast." Data. Not just people. Word clouds show us that (eXtended Web). She talks about IBM’s Spatiotemporal Epidemiological Modeler (STEM) which IBM researchers are using to explore data in new ways. She says: "When I go to use something like Twitter, Facebook, and FourSquare, like all of us do, everything is always time ordered. But now that we’re generating truly global data, and we’re able to look at information on this global scale, location is more important than time. You need to know where information is coming from in order to really understand what’s going on." I find it funny that she goes back to the 80’s and PowerPoint before Microsoft bought it (PowerPoint: the number one choice for rapid e-learning since 1985). She demonstrates how we’re using data visualizations from the 1980s…"Whenever I see charts like these something inside me dies." She sees us - in 2010 - being in a period of data purgatory. Trapped in Tron. See this 10 minute video from Julie Grace. IBM researchers took geo-encoded data sets (Twitter, etc.) and put it on a 3D globe. (2D rendered on a 3D surface gives you distortion and inaccuracy, she says) to see a pandemic. So now I’m seeing it beyond Dunkin’ Donuts. Beyond mundane. I see now that I’ve been thinking in 2D. Time ordered. So now I’m thinking about getting data out of 2D training data out of PowerPoint (or similar) and presenting it as a 3D visualization. Still not there yet…but getting there thanks to insanely bright people like Julie Grace.

If a course is free and open, the facilitator may have a lower tolerance for complaints. If a course is free and open, speakers may have a lower tolerance for criticism. If a course is free and open, attendees may have a lower tolerance for excuses. I imagine the third bullet is the same for fee-based, closed courses. Not so much the other two.

I’ve been reading Gary Woodill’s newest book The Mobile Learning Edge. This is an important book for a number of reasons. First, it provides a solid foundation for truly understanding mobile learning - it’s unique characteristics. In true Gary Woodill form, it first provides a well-researched background on mobile learning which will inform you’re thinking as you proceed through the book. This would even make it useful as a textbook (especially with the many resources listed in the book). But that doesn’t mean it’s a book for eggheads. There are numerous case studies from the likes of Merrill Lynch, Nike, and Accenture that, along with strategies for using mobile learning for employee training, will provide corporate L&D professionals with the information they need to put the mobile learning pieces together - to mobilize learners. My favorite chapter is probably Chapter 3: Methods for Effective Mobile Learning- Seven Principles for Employee Training. Although you might think some of these are common sense, it’s not always the case in how we actually approach employee training. Principle 1: Employees are adults who learn differently from children. Principle 2: Employees learn from solving problems that matter to them. Principle 3: Employees learn by collaborating as members of cohesive social groups. Principle 4: Employees learn through conversing with, and listening to, each other. Principle 5: Employees learn by integrating new information with what they already know. Principle 6: Employees learn through active experiences that involve their senses and their bodies. Principle 7: Employees learn best in concrete situations where the context matters to them. I guess my greatest takeaway is remembering that it’s the learner that’s mobile not the learning. There’s just a wealth of information in the book. I know I’ll reach for it often in my work. It’s a must have resource for anyone interested in developing employees through mobile technologies. See the table of contents for more on what’s inside the book.

I’ve been reading Gary Woodill’s newest book The Mobile Learning Edge. This is an important book for a number of reasons. First, it provides a solid foundation for truly understanding mobile learning - it’s unique characteristics. In true Gary Woodill form, it first provides a well-researched background on mobile learning which will inform you’re thinking as you proceed through the book. This would even make it useful as a textbook (especially with the many resources listed in the book). But that doesn’t mean it’s a book for eggheads. There are numerous case studies from the likes of Merrill Lynch, Nike, and Accenture that, along with strategies for using mobile learning for employee training, will provide corporate L&D professionals with the information they need to put the mobile learning pieces together - to mobilize learners. My favorite chapter is probably Chapter 3: Methods for Effective Mobile Learning- Seven Principles for Employee Training. Although you might think some of these are common sense, it’s not always the case in how we actually approach employee training. Principle 1: Employees are adults who learn differently from children. Principle 2: Employees learn from solving problems that matter to them. Principle 3: Employees learn by collaborating as members of cohesive social groups. Principle 4: Employees learn through conversing with, and listening to, each other. Principle 5: Employees learn by integrating new information with what they already know. Principle 6: Employees learn through active experiences that involve their senses and their bodies. Principle 7: Employees learn best in concrete situations where the context matters to them. I guess my greatest takeaway is remembering that it’s the learner that’s mobile not the learning. There’s just a wealth of information in the book. I know I’ll reach for it often in my work. It’s a must have resource for anyone interested in developing employees through mobile technologies. See the table of contents for more on what’s inside the book.