Katrina Keene is an Instructional Technology Consultant based out of Chattanooga, TN who is also the Director of Innovation for the Canterbury School in Fort Meyers, FL. Follow Katrina http://www.twitter.com/teachintechgal This episode of House of #EdTech is brought to you by TodaysMeet. Visit http://www.todaysmeet.com/houseofedtech House of #EdTech is sponsored by Audible.com. There are over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or other mp3 player. http://www.audibletrial.com/houseofedtech   All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/03/education-innovator-katrina-keene.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

March Madness is in full swing and what better way to get in on the excitement than with the 2015 edition of the #edtech Final Four! Featuring: Aurasma, Tozzl, Meerkat, and Office Mix This episode of House of #EdTech is brought to you by TodaysMeet. Visit http://www.todaysmeet.com/houseofedtech House of #EdTech is sponsored by Audible.com. There are over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or other mp3 player. http://www.audibletrial.com/houseofedtech All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/03/2015-edtech-final-four-hoet032.html FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com  

Jennifer Cronk is the Director of Professional Learning for the Warwick Valley Central School District (NY). She shares her experiences as innovative educator and leader with diverse experience in designing technology curricula and providing and coordinating professional development. Follow http://twitter.com/jenniferacronk This episode of House of #EdTech is brought to you by TodaysMeet. Visit http://www.todaysmeet.com/houseofedtech House of #EdTech is sponsored by Audible.com. There are over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or other mp3 player. http://www.audibletrial.com/houseofedtech   All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/04/jenncronk-tobii-and-filip-oh-my-hoet033.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

It's that time of year and the nomination period for the 2015 Bammy! Awards is underway. I am eligible for a Educators' Voice Award that is driven by your online support! I would really appreciate your support for this honor and you can show your support by going to bit.ly/nesibammy15. I need your support to vote before May 15, 2015. It only takes a few minutes. Complete blog post at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/04/2015-bammyawards-show-edu-love.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi   Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com  

There is something positively magical about the last few days of school in June. Kids are overwhelmed with anticipation, possibility, energy and joy. It’s a wonderful time of year, second only in my mind to the days before winter recess. I decided to add to the magic by introducing some of my K-4 classes to our plans for the STEMLAB. My goals: share the vision, gather student input, and generate some excitement. Most of all, I wanted to listen. So, as I passed them my Chromebook (you can see it in some of the photos) I introduced the project with a few words about "what we want computer lab to be like next year." I showed them a photo of our new classroom (I made sure to mention that much/most of the existing furniture would be removed). We watched a short clip from an Engineering is Elementary video (click here, go to slide 6). I explained how we’d be doing projects some of the time, and other times, they’d be able to watch videos (made by me) explaining how to do things on the computer instead of listening to me lecture. Finally, I asked them - at the urging of Christian Long - to tell me how they like to learn. (The question evolved a bit as we went along, ultimately becoming "how they like to work.") "I learn best when I’m relaxed and I think, ‘Hey, I can do this,’ and everything’s going good." "I like to learn from my teacher and my mom and dad." "I like to learn by doing science." "I work best when I’m very comfortable. At home I have the X-Box seat, where I play, and sometimes I do my homework on it." "I work better when I’m playing." We’re not done yet - I plan to spend these last precious few days conducting and documenting more listening sessions. (Half the class gets to play games while I meet with the other half of the class, then we swap. It’s a win-win.) Takeaways so far: Comfort is king. Students say they learn best when they control the environment, so they are relaxed and can concentrate. Mobility is important. Individualized learning appeals to them. "You mean I can watch the video over and over until I get it?" Yep! Technology is great but teachers, moms & dads are important. Many students talked about learning activities at home, science projects, writing stories, practicing math, creating things on their computers, etc., with the help of an adult. Students were especially thrilled by my Chromebook. "It’s so light!" one exclaimed. "You mean I get one of my own to use?" (Me: while you’re in school, yes, but you can’t take it home.) "So we are going to have to be very careful with these, right?" (Me: yes, please!) I can’t WAIT for school to start in September! - Dom, rising 4th grader Neither can I, Dom. Neither can I! -kj- This post is part of a series about our plans to "reinvent" my K-4 Computer Lab class as a STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology & Math) course starting in September 2012. By "thinking out loud" here I hope to keep stakeholders apprised of our ideas, activities & progress while I gain wisdom and perspective from anyone who cares to join the conversation.

Angela Watson is an education consultant, tech coach, author and podcaster. Angela shares insight about coaching teachers, her latest book and her awesome podcast, Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/angela-watsons-truth-for-teachers/id954139712?mt=2 Follow Angela Watson http://www.twitter.com/Angela_Watson   This episode of House of #EdTech is brought to you by TodaysMeet. Visit http://www.todaysmeet.com/houseofedtech   House of #EdTech is sponsored by Audible.com. There are over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or other mp3 player. http://www.audibletrial.com/houseofedtech   All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/04/nothing-but-truth-with-angela-watson.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi   Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Here are a few more of my favorite Apple links of the fast several weeks. Some are informative, several just plain funny. I challenge you to tell me which is which. Ron Miller wonders is Steve Jobs may be right...

Miguel Kudry is the founder and CEO of HelpHub Services Inc. Kudry has a degree in Business Administration and Management with an entrepreneurial interests and passions for social media marketing and web development. Follow http://www.twitter.com/kudry http://www.helphub.me   This episode of House of #EdTech is brought to you by TodaysMeet. Visit http://www.todaysmeet.com/houseofedtech   House of #EdTech is sponsored by Audible.com. There are over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or other mp3 player. http://www.audibletrial.com/houseofedtech   All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/05/miguel-kudry-socializes-tutoring-via-helphub.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Laura Fleming is the Library Media Specialist at New Milford High School (NJ) where her library maker space has garnered national attention and has served as an inspiration for schools across the country. Follow Laura Fleming http://www.twitter.com/NMHS_lms   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   TodaysMeet.com   Audible.com   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/05/learning-and-making-with-laura-fleming.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi   Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

eLearning is an abundantly visual medium. As a result, designers and developers who can think visually are able to envision the final product, conceive visuals for content and visualize how information fits together. The great news is that visual thinking can be developed. According to Dan Roam, author of The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures, our built-in visual thinking tools consist of our eyes, our mind’s eye and a little eye-hand coordination. He then proceeds to teach readers how to compose sufficiently simple pictures with just a few components, specifically noting that software is NOT needed. The ideas in the book, of course, are supported by great sketches. Although this book is oriented toward the solving and selling of ideas in business, most of the techniques and concepts can be easily transferred to the general notion of solving problems through visual thinking. I’m a big fan of this approach. When I have a lots of information and content to understand and organize, I sit on the floor with large pieces of paper and start diagramming like mad. It might take ten tries to pull it altogether, but drawing definitely helps many of us to think things through. Often, our roles expand beyond design and development and into the business realm. We might need to convince a client that training will solve a problem, show a SME a quick sketch for an interactive activity, or visualize some concepts to help a client understand where we’re going with an idea. In this light, the book can be quite handy for multiple purposes. The Back of the Napkin is organized into four sections and here’s a quick summary of each one. Introductions: In Part I, get ready to be convinced that anyone can become competent at visual thinking. Why would you want to? Because it promotes problem solving and facilitates communication. The author then explains how looking, seeing and imagining are the processes of visual thinking. Discovering Ideas: Here, the author describes the principles and exercises for seeing the whole picture and then analyzing this picture in an effort to solve a problem. This second section is particularly relevant to designing instructional products. By the end of this section, readers have an idea of how to select the best framework for showing information visually, which helps one focus on the most essential elements of a problem. Developing Ideas: In Part III, the reader learns how to take the framework and turn it into a picture. This involves running through many types of visual models. The ultimate goal is to take advantage of visuals for expanded thinking and efficient problem solving. Selling Ideas. In our field, the final part of the book could be relevant when you need to convince a stakeholder, an executive or a client that your ideas are workable. How? Use Dan’s method for discovering, developing and showing your solutions. One thing about the book’s approach—if you’re looking for a quick and easy 1-2-3 experience, then this isn’t for you. The topic is somewhat complex and the author doesn’t skimp on providing depth. So you’ll need to think things through, ponder and maybe even sketch to really get it. That’s how I like it. The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam. Publisher: Portfolio, 2008. Post from: The eLearning CoachReview: The Back of the Napkin Share this on LinkedinTweet This!Email this to a friend?Share this on FacebookShare this on del.icio.usStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponAdd this to 100 bookmarks

Stacey Lindes returns and is joined by AJ Bianco as I present our first episode of the #PodcastPD Podcast in the podcastic episode! Join in on #PodcastPD - Sunday nights @ 8:30 PM eastern.   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   TodaysMeet.com HelpHub.me Audible.com   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/06/the-power-of-podcasts-and-podcastpd.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi   Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Josh Gauthier is a Technology Training Specialist for the Unified School District of De Pere (WI). Josh shares his insight on Chromebooks, coding, coding and more! Follow Josh Gauthier   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   TodaysMeet.com - Add a backchannel to your classroom today!   HelpHub.me - Become a tutor and earn extra money!   Audible.com - Get 2 FREE Audio Books!   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/06/chromebooks-and-coding-in-class-with.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi   Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Not sure what we’ll be using in the space, exactly, but I have sourced some interesting pieces I’d like to incorporate if I can. The primary requirement: casters! This wheeled cart thing appealed to me with its industrial finish and convenient handle. The center stacking/filing area has some potential as well.   I like this rolling bookcase/magazine rack because I’d like to work some sort of easy reading / relaxing space into the classroom. The colored rectangles on the bottom shelf are paper and can be removed.   This is our laptop cart, it needs to be in the room to house our 24 laptops. Note the stylish "aftermarket" locking mechanism.   We will NOT be using these tables or workstations but I wanted to get this photo for reference. The current tables used in Computer Lab are 23.5″ high and they have worked well for our K-4 students. Chair height is 16″.That’s all for now!

Casey Cohen has been teaching secondary English for eight years and high school English at String Theory - Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School (a 1:1 Apple Distinguished school) for the past two years. Follow Casey Cohen   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   TodaysMeet.com   HelpHub.me   Audible.com   House of #EdTech VIP: Natalie Krayenvenger   Complete shownotes: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/07/app-smashing-with-casey-cohen-and-my-iste2015-review-hoet039.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi   Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Giggle a minute.. . Check out @jesslahey’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/jesslahey/status/422042729179144192

Here is an interesting factoid from Peter Pinch, Director of WGBH (Boston public television) regarding the breakdown of mobile traffic on their national interactive sites during the past month (which I presume is for the month of April 2010): mSafari...

Click image to see more FutureLearn photos on flickr Well, it’s over.  After a 2 week break for Christmas and New Year, the final two weeks of my MOOC flew past like Wally West with diarrhea. I was pretty sad to be finishing the course, having realised that I’d actually learned a fair amount about Richard III and society in 15th century Britain.  SPOILERS! Did you know, for example, that until relatively recently, ‘fish’ was used as a term to describe any aquatic-based animal, so as well as sturgeon, pollock, bream and the like, ducks, beavers and terrapins were also categorised as fish (and therefore, allowed to be eaten on a Friday)?  Did you know that Richard III had roundworm when he died?  Or that peasants, because they couldn’t afford to eat meat every day, actually had a healthier diet than their zealously carnivorous overlords? So, no credits or official certificate to say I’ve ‘passed’ the course (there was no summative assessment, and formative assessment took place at the end of each week’s quiz by way of a 5-8 question multiple choice quiz), but the nice image above gives all the proof I need, and completion of a MOOC will possibly look good on my CV.  Importantly, all the things I talked about in parts 1 and 2 of this subject combined, by course’s end, to make me feel quite downhearted when I clicked the final ‘activity complete’ button - very much like when one reads a book and simultaneously wants to get to the end and devour every glorious word, but also wants to savour it, eke it out and not let it come to an end. Interestingly, completing this course has whetted my appetite to sign up for another.  I’m not sure how wise this is: the time is fast approaching to make a start on my dissertation and I need to make a few tweaks to my CMALT ePortfolio.  Plus, despite my feelings of sadness at reaching the end of the MOOC, I also feel as if a small weight had been lifted - I now have more time to concentrate on the aforementioned ‘other stuff’. Finally, I’ve been invited to submit a brief abstract for  JISC’s eLearning in HE Conference in Manchester in March, so have written the following and sent it off, hoping that it fits into the conference’s themes of developing knowledge through hands-on practice and the learner as a collaborator: MOOCS (Massively Open Online Courses) have been a prominent part of the ILT zeitgeist for a few years now, and have attracted strongly opposing comments, with creators, users and commentators standing on two very different sides and stating that MOOCs are either the ‘next big thing’ in education, or a waste of time and money.  I have recently been able to experience first-hand how an engaging and successful MOOC can work incredibly well - and key to this is the community of practice formed and managed by the students themselves.  I would argue that without this self-created online presence MOOCs are likely to fail, and that providing an assessment of my own experiences will also provide food for thought to anyone who is thinking of creating, delivering or studying a MOOC. Fingers crossed…

"Moved in" today. Snapped a few pics of the almost-empty space. Click here, check the last part of the stream. WINDOWS! OH, THE WINDOWS! I’ve got 80 days and 80 nights until students arrive on September 6th. Twice as much time as the biblical Noah. Should be PLENTY of time. -kj-  

I’ve looked at this particular topic before this school year as I’ve considered how to best help a couple of students I have in my classes this year.  My ESL student has transferred to another school in the district where he can be better serviced as he learns English and my hearing impaired student is making friends […]

Registration is now open for the 26th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning - August 4 - 6, 2010 in Madison, WIsconsin, home of the University of Wisconsin, my alma mater. This year’s conference provides over 20 workshops and...

My job means I get to play around all day with a nice mix of technology and education.  It means that I need to know about lots of emerging and developing technologies, theories, ways of teaching and learning, hardware, software…and so on, and it also means that I need to be (seen as) positive and optimistic about all things digital, which I always try to be.  And yet, when I stumbled across this post on the JISC RSC Wales blog yesterday, it made me feel as if a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders: Click image to access post For a number of years now, teaching and learning with mobile devices-now referred to as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD-Because Education Needs Acronyms) has been a constant theme.  It has also been something I have willfully ignored, because BYOD has always felt to me like a massive and incredibly knotty topic as well as a way of working that sounds both time consuming and tricky to manage.  Past experience has taught me that the IT infrastructure (well, the internet) in most institutions isn’t quite ‘fat’ enough or fast enough to deal with the volume of data pinging back and forth. Teachers have to find a way to get students with a massive range of skills levels to do the same thing on a variety of devices working on a variety of operating systems.  And this opens up a veritable shed full of possible problems. What if, for example, using an all singing and dancing app sounds fine in theory…but it isn’t available on all operating systems (Microsoft, I’m looking at you)? What if the WiFi signal is weak or keeps dropping out? What if your students are having trouble connecting their device to the Internet? I did a demo for a browser based quiz (using Kahoot) with a group of PGCE sessions recently, thinking that bypassing branded apps and sticking to the one thing all mobile devices have-the internet-would keep things quick and simple.  What I thought would take no more than 10 minutes took closer to 30 because, despite the wealth of mobile devices present in the classroom, half the class just couldn’t get their devices to connect to the WiFi. We got there in the end, but were I being observed I would have received a right talking to at the end of the session. It’s the easiest thing in the world to assume that everyone can use every aspect of their device, from Internet settings to film editing apps, but usually the truth is quite different.  Owners with the smartest of gadget will likely admit to only using it for phone calls / text messages / Facebook / taking photos. So assuming that all students can use their gadgets to the full is blinkered, naive, and possibly arrogant. Actually, assuming that all teachers have more than a working knowledge of how all mobile devices work is really asking the impossible.  Because surely for an activity to work, this has to be the case doesn’t it? And what if there are more students than devices? It may be good to have a spare iPad available to give to someone without their own tablet…but if they have no tablet, they probably have even less idea how to use the shiny and slightly scary tablet the lecturer has proudly put in front of you than those mentioned above. And do students want to be picked out by their tutor and peers, for whatever reason, as ‘the one who still hasn’t got a smartphone’? Equality of access is more than ensuring that everyone has a device in front of them. Students with physical and special learning needs make deployment of the right devices and software vital…and more complicated.  There can be accessibility issues beyond connection speed too.  ‘Blackboard’ can be accessed through a browser, but is an incredibly frustrating site to use on a device with a screen as large as an iPad, so must be hellish on a BlackBerry.  It can also be accessed via an app, but only on an Apple or Android-powered device, so is no good for people using Microsoft devices. And bingo!  We have an inequality of service issue. So I completely and utterly understand why teachers don’t bother. And I know that I should slap on my positive face and try to convince them that this is how (someone) has decided our students will learn BEST from now on, so get on board because you don’t want to get a reputation as an educational dinosaur. And if the shed full of problems wasn’t there, I would. I don’t want to be seen as a Luddite, and there are some common sense approaches to BYOD mentioned in the following articles, so I’ll finish up by linking to these, thereby leaving on a more positive note. UFI Charitable Trust: Primer on Bring Your Own Device - 7 reasons to leave them to their own devices (advocates letting students use their own devices in ways that suit them as a means of learning rather than trying to deliver lessons with prescriptive ‘you need a mobile device, this app and a working knowledge of network troubleshooting t0o do this’ content. Donald Clark: Keep on taking the tablets - 7 reasons why this is lousy advice (there must be something magical about the number 7!  Quite liking the author’s conclusion:  "I’m not against the use of tablets in schools, I just think that turning it into a ‘movement’ is a mistake and that too many of these projects are poorly planned, badly procured and lack proper evaluation.")

Today’s the first full day working on the #K4STEMLAB. Key goals: Project Plan version 0.1 (should have done this weeks ago) Room Measurements & Floor Plan Develop Matrix of EiE Unit Maps by Grade Level, determine what to order Inventory donated materials More later, gotta run!

As a part of my new managerial role I will be collaborating with the School’s Digital Literacy Managers to plan, develop and deliver 2 new staff development curricula.  One of these will be for admin staff, and will concentrate on improving their Office skills.  The other is for academic staff, so will look at boosting their general digital literacy skills with a view to making them more technologically savvy. There is no doubt that these programmes need to be developed as soon as possible.  There is though the eternal problem of how to get this target audience engaged.  Once again, staff are being asked to squeeze something else into their already painfully packed schedules.  And let’s be honest here: learning how to use technology isn’t the top of everyone’s must do list.  Usually, it ranks in popularity about as much as cleaning a septic tank So on Wednesday, when I went to a Digital Practices Speed Networking / Knowledge Cafe session, I grabbed the ubiquitous piece of flip chart paper* that had been put on my table and, with the help of 2 other technical-minded attendees, we looked at how we could build curricula that would be attractive to staff at a variety of levels.  Importantly we discussed at length the knotty problem of getting staff to engage with this.  This is what we came up with: Give staff dedicated time to work through and complete their training. If the courses are merely something you’re supposed to work through in your own time,it runs the risk of being seen as being ‘just another thing I have to do’, with no real value.  If time is set aside in which to complete it, then from a psychological viewpoint if nothing else, it appears to be important. Linked to this, make them aware that by investing time in training now, they will save countless hours in the future.  Going back to the admin staff again (because there are some good black and white examples of what they can and can’t do and what would help them), it will be a lot easier to keep placement records in one database than 35 separate spreadsheets! Allow staff to ‘jump on and jump off’ at points that suit their needs and levels.  One size does not fit all, and forcing all admin staff to learn how to set up a simple SUM function in a spreadsheet (for example) when many of them are already at a level above this is unhelpful and reeks of sloppy and apathetic planning. It’s a start, and though it doesn’t even begin to look at the content of both curricula (that’s for another meeting with the Digital Literacy Managers and a whole pad of flip chart paper) it does start to look at an issue that is often ignored or awkwardly pushed to one side, and one of my favourite hoary old sayings: build it and they will NOT come. Carrots and sticks are fine.  Telling staff that ‘they have to do this course’ is fine.  But that isn’t going to win anyone over.  Make staff feel nurtured - and get hem to realise that this is something that will actually properly benefit them.  Maybe do sessions before work with free breakfast.  Stuff like that… * There is a small piece of me that finds that giving a group of people who work in digital practice / technology enhanced learning sheets of flip chart paper on which to record their thoughts is a bit…well..ironic? 

In this article, I’m featuring a wonderful interview with successful social media expert, Jane Hart. She provides compelling reasons to implement a social and collaborative environment as part of workplace learning. You can read more from Jane at her blog, Social Media in Learning. Coach: You were an early adopter of using social technologies for learning purposes. What motivated you to jump in? Jane: Using social technologies has just been an evolution of my experience and interest in learning technologies for a long time now. I was an advocate of computer-based learning in the 80s, then early Internet/web-based learning in the 90s, social learning in the 2000s is just another step along the path Coach: What are your criteria for defining a technology as social? Jane: One that allows people to share (experiences or resources) or collaborate (in many different ways). Coach: From a cognitive perspective, how does learning through social media differ from structured and self-paced eLearning? Jane: Social learning can still be structured i.e., take place within a formal course environment. The difference with social learning is that it supports conversation and discussion and learning from one another, whilst "traditional" self-paced learning is about learning from a computer without reference to others—it’s just content, content, content. We are all social beings, so social learning is a more natural way of learning. Coach: Do you think the knowledge and skills acquired through social media and technologies should be measured? And can it be measured? Jane: "Learning" per se shouldn’t be measured in an organizational context, it is the new "performance" that it brings about. Sometimes that can be measured by a positive change in speed or output or productivity, sometimes not. Sometimes it is important to just recognize the other intangible benefits that occur. I think we have become rather obsessed about measuring everything—course completions, test scores, etc. With social learning comes the need to think about new ways of measuring success. I think that is going to be difficult for many L&D professionals who have become used to measuring learning in a Learning Management System. Coach: In your consulting work, what social technologies have you found to be the best for promoting learning? Jane: Many different ones! In fact I don’t think it’s about the separate technologies. It’s about having a toolbox containing a number of different social technologies at your disposal in order to select the most appropriate one(s) that address a particular learning or business problem. It might just be one tool—it might be a number. For instance, I am currently running a formal programme where the group is using many different technologies to share and collaborate—social bookmarking, discussions, wikis, blogging, file sharing, etc. Coach: Can you describe the advantages of the social media environment, Elgg? Jane: Exactly to do what I have mentioned in the previous answer. Elgg provides a private integrated suite of social media tools—within a seamless environment for individuals to use for their own personal learning and for groups to use for formal or informal learning purposes. Elgg allows organizations to take advantage of the benefits that social technologies have to offer, and yet not worry about some of the issues with using public social media tools, namely privacy and security of data, muddling of personal and organizational identities in public, and the overwhelming number of tools (with their own separate logins and interfaces) that need to be supported by IT departments. Coach: What typical obstacles do managers and learning professionals face in trying to convince organizations to adopt social learning technologies? Jane: Senior managers are clearly concerned by the issues mentioned in the previous answer and that use of public social media tools by employees might cause embarrassment for the organization. They also think "social networking" is a trivial activity and compare it with Facebook. I have for a long time stopped talking about social networking in an organizational context as it comes with a lot of unfortunate "baggage." I do talk about social and collaborative platforms, social learning environments or networks or communities.  Those terms are much more acceptable and accepted by senior managers. Coach: Do you have suggestions for how they can overcome these obstacles? Jane: Demonstrate the value of social technologies for learning by installing a private and secure social learning environment so that the benefits can be experienced by the organization. Thanks, Jane! Do you incorporate social technologies in your learning strategy? Tell us how below. Related Articles: Podcasts for Learning Using Wikis for eLearning Post from: The eLearning CoachSocial Media And Learning Share this on LinkedinTweet This!Email this to a friend?Share this on FacebookShare this on del.icio.usStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponAdd this to 100 bookmarks