Like Minds: a place for discussion & laughter

Lots of tools. No time to learn them.

2011-11-26T13:56:00.000-08:00

I just heard about a tool that looks pretty cool for online collaboration. Asana. See Video here. Tools like this look like they are on exactly the right track for what teams in this century should be doing. Spend less time on operations and more time doing. I look at a tool like this and instantly see the benefits for collaborating and tracking a project.

The profiles in the video are all young, hip small businesses, which has to be the target audience. Why? Because they have the most freedom to try something new and innovative. They haven't spent years investing in other productivity software or products.

What about large corporations that have already invested millions of dollars in software designed to enhance our productivity? Every company I have ever worked for has had a ton of software at our disposal to supposedly enhance our productivity. The problem is no one knows how to really use it. I don't think anyone has grasped the full functionality of half the things we have purchased.

It is really a waste.

When purchasing software or hardware, the importance of training, coaching, and change management cannot be underestimated. It is worth it to buy the training and support! It is worth it to invest in the time it will take to change habits.

Productivity software should be inherently intuitive and easy, but it must play nicely with the giants that already exist, and in order to get full adoption you need to allow the resources and time for the entire organization to accept the change.

Moving an entire organization to change requires care and feeding. You can't just purchase the hardware or software and cross your fingers.

Plant it, water it, feed it, care for it and watch it flourish.

God Hates You.

2011-10-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you saw the headline "Herman Cain Blames Unemployed, GOP Crowd Cheers." To liberals, this crowd cheering was an egregious show of lack of compassion, to conservatives, non-news. What accounts for these diametrically opposed point of views? How come some people have such an easy time blaming people for the adversity they suffer?

I realized, that it all comes down to the whether you believe in luck.

Do you belief in randomness? Happenstance? Serendipity? Luck? My bet is that if you say you do - you are more likely to think Herman Cain was behaving like an ass. If you don't, you think he speaks divine truth.

I have figured out the key to understanding the difference in this world view, and why it is so easy for some to "blame" others for their joblessness, illness, death of a family member, food poisoning, whatever it is. See, if you are a believer, if you have "faith" - you don't believe in luck.

In this world view there is no such thing as "luck" - everything happens for a reason. The world was intelligently designed, you make your own way, you follow the rules, God has blessed you, God has a plan for you.

And, if you lost your arm, you got cancer, you were born to poor parents, you were born in Mexico, or your child died - it has nothing to do with cosmic randomness, it is because you are pissing God off. You are doing something wrong. God hates you.

Conversely, if you are wealthy, beautiful, and healthy it's because you are truly better than everyone else. It's because you are so incredibly smart; you do everything right; God loves you and constantly showers his love all over you.

Now, before you go getting all crazy on me, I am using hyperbole on purpose. I get it. Some folks just think we should take more personal responsibility. I do too! I am a firm believer in the "check yourself" first theory. Someone was mean to you? Check yourself first, were you nice to them? Yes, of course, we should be more accountable for our actions, etc. I believe we should plan ahead. But I honestly believe, our lives are a complicated mixture of choices we've made and those consequences, and pure, random, crazy, unexplainable luck.

What I am trying to point out is that it is extremely difficult for these two camps to see each other's point of view. I think bad things happen to good people because of randomness. There is simply no reason.

I believe you can make enough money to buy the safest car, drive on the safest roads, obey all the traffic signals -- and still get in a horrifying, disfiguring crash. And I believe it would be purely a random accident - most likely caused by the bad luck of being in proximity to a drunk or bad driver - and that, you know what?

It wasn't your fault.

From our favorite Wikipedia:

A New York Times article in 2002 cited a number of scientific studies of schadenfreude, which it defined as "delighting in others' misfortune." Many such studies are based on social comparison theory, the idea that when people around us have bad luck, we look better to ourselves. Other researchers have found that people with low self-esteem are more likely to feel schadenfreude than are people who have high self-esteem.^[25]

Some statistics:

Blogs that got me thinking:

Matt Taibbi's List of 5 Demands of OWS
Bad Luck? Bad Faith? Charles Krauthammer
GOP Debaters Get Shit Wrong, Don' Care
Conservative Teacher: Obama's Belief in 'Bad Luck' Part of What Religion Exactly?

These views are entirely mine and not my blog partners, Adam or Jim's.

Connecting Grief

2011-09-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

Brian Fairbrother

Dear Friends and Random readers,

I lost a very dear friend on September 8, 2011. He was in a terrible bike accident and suffered a brain injury from which he was unable to recover.

Brian Fairbrother was an institution in Seattle - and my friend of 20+ years. I was incredibly lucky to have an opportunity to sit with Brian, hold his hand and spill out everything he meant to me, ask for forgiveness, forgive - I said everything I meant to tell him when we were much older, much grayer (or balder), and much drunker. I want to believe that he heard me and that when he looked at me he saw me somehow - even though science says that may not be the case. Brian's spirituality says he heard me and I will take that.

In that hospital room, I also visited and talked to people who I hadn't seen in years, but I have felt incredibly close to because we shared a job, family members, neighborhood, and Brian...it's a lot of history.

People came to the hospital to get a hug, cry, or laugh hysterically recounting some funny shit Brian said. People I didn't know held onto to me like we had been together forever. A life is an interesting thing.

People and events have their moment in your personal timeline. They mean something to you - or you meant more to them than you could ever possibly know.

When you are dying that timeline suddenly becomes today - everything is level set. All the jigsaw pieces of your life rush together. It doesn't matter how long you knew Brian or how well - it matters that he brought something to your life - it matters that he was there. That he walked the planet and was connected to you.

He was, and you are, significant.

Since Brian's accident, Facebook began to be on fire. Everyone who was part of his timeline wanted to be closer and share their grief and their love for Brian and what Brian meant to them. That connection became even more important to me. People that swore off Facebook signed up again because they wanted to be with each other and get more news. But Facebook is a strange place, it can represent a part your timeline - the people of your timeline who want to stay connected to you, but haven't walked all the way through your house; they haven't been in all the rooms of your life. And you may get a sense that your friend is in another room in pain, and you may not be sure what to say or do.

Moreover, often we get only pieces of a story and must try to connect the dots - and may worry if we are intruding or not. Nobody knows what to say or do - even though all these events happen all the time and are part of life. You would think we would have learned by now. If you are reading this, it is because you are connected in some way - you are in my house. And I thank all of you who have read between the lines to offer condolences - even though you played a different role in my life and may not be familiar with this part or knew Brian.

If I have learned anything this week is that someone's life goes deeper and wider than you can ever imagine. And that letting people know they matter to you - matters.

Here are some links concerning Brian. As with all of the stories written about him; those who knew him really well don't always agree with the content or how he is portrayed, but nonetheless, it was nice that many tried to show what he meant to the community. Come on into this room and get to know a little about a wonderful person.

Seattle Times Article

The Sunbreak Blog (good job!)

Capitol Hill Seattle Blog

Seattle Bike Blog

Raja of Capitol Hill - Video

Seattle Magazine (link is wonky)

Conundrum

2011-08-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Transactive memory is a psychological hypothesis first proposed by Daniel Wegner in 1985 as a response to earlier theories of "group mind" such as groupthink. A transactive memory system is a system through which groups collectively encode, store, and retrieve knowledge.

The organization I work for is devoted to finding better ways to train. This is a wonderful work environment because we question everything without question. This includes the content within our delivery systems. As I write, we are looking to re-vamp our LMS, social business software, and partner portal.

What impact does this shifting and moving of information have on our audience? As our business changes and grows we create print, video, web based trainings, and instructor led seminars. Sometimes we look at the number of views per training piece and wonder why there are so few views relative to our audience.

One guess, of many, is that the information is a moving target or we put the information in a place where “we” think it should go. Basically, we may be playing hide and seek with our audience. If that is the case then how is our audience still getting the facts correct?

Having done some time in the field I have a guess – they are using their account managers and representatives find the answers for them. I can tell you that when I was an Area Sales Manager I spent 70% of my time explaining and relaying information to my accounts. Information that was available in 3 hyperlinks or less.

The basic idea behind transactive memory is that within a groupthink system, we no longer choose to retain information because the answer is a mouse click or an email response away.

Our audience isn’t getting their information through osmosis; they are just leaning on the human barrier between them and on-demand information. I believe we call this a conundrum. You could cut off the human Google engine but transactive memory tells us this is the equivalent of losing your mind – almost literally.

The answer may lie in training in the New World Order. We have become so dependent on letting our knowledge live in the clouds that we have to train people on how to use the system that stores the information – so they don’t have to. This is a little scary to be completely honest.

Learning Interrupted

2011-06-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

"Learning interrupted" is how mLearning was described by Richard
Culatta during the final panel discussion at mLearnCon 2011.

This got me thinking about what, for me, is the biggest challenge for designing and developing mLearning.

How do we get our train of thought back when we are interrupted from the learning?

How do we minimize the time to reorient and to get back to being productive?

Jason Fried argued in his wonderful Ted talk that "people need long stretches of uninterrupted time" in order to get meaningful work done. Contrast this to what we are saying about mLearning; we say that we should create content in small, easily consumable chunks.

But does that help someone learn, ingest, and apply what they learned? How do we help our learners connect all the smaller chunks to create a meaningful whole?

And worse, even the small chunks may be interrupted, and when that happens the learner
wastes time to reengage, what do we do to help our learner get back his or her train of thought?

Jeremiah Owyang argued that a key component to developing successful mLearning was to provide context.

Context - this is key to any mLearning development - or any lesson plan for that matter. Whenever I engage in learning, and in that lesson I am reminded why it's importation, and I am given a timeline of where I am in my course of study, I know exactly why I need to know this information; I know exactly why it's important. When context is provided, I remember more content and the lesson seems more meaningful. And studies show this to be true for most learners.

So, how do we provide context in mLearning with our small screens and short bursts of information?

How about incorporating intelligent bookmarks? Picture this, the learner is interrupted and pauses a module. But this time, when she reengages, a window pops up that outlines what was learned so far and provides a road map to what's next.

What's your creative solution on how you would provide context in short learning modules?
How would you help the learner stay on his or her train of thought?

*Picture "China Train" by Mark Unrau can be found in Burn Magazine.

Filters and Funnels

2011-05-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I had a discussion with a colleague and brought up Maclom Gladwell’s Tipping Point. He harrumphed and said, “Psshhh Gladwell just recycles everyone else’s ideas.”

My response was, “Uh huh, how come his books are selling like hot cakes at Barnes and Noble?”

Because Gladwell never claimed to come up with anything new – he just does a better job of filtering and packaging the hard work of academics and a gaggle of other smarty pants types that I’m sure are a riot at parties and have a large collection of hounds tooth jackets and extensive knowledge of scotch.

Ever hear of John Krohn?

He’s also known as RJD2, a famous DJ who is best known for creating the opening music to Mad Men. Is he a classically trained musician? No. Is he a dyed in the wool jazz head who studied under the masters? No. He’s a club rat from Ohio who does an above average job of shoving jazz, R&B, and rock through a funnel and filters out the sound of music into some of the best jams being played today.

Would Freakonomics be a bestseller if journalist Stephen Dubner wasn’t there to craft Levitt’s “rogue” economic theories into such an accessible form? A journalist’s job is to distill everything from science to geo-politics into a medium designed to help you pass the time in the bathroom. Are you, oh bathroom reader, any less informed because the journalist did the filtering for you?

As trainers and educators we should all strive to take the glut of information no matter how infected it is with technical or corporate-ease and shove it into the funnel and filter out the elements that disrupt the audience’s ability to process the information.

Be little Gladwells – don’t fear research but consume in easy to digest bits from sources that use pretty pictures and nice looking graphs. Scratch that turntable to a beat your audience can dance to.

2011-05-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

The Social Media Revolution. Eric Qualman's Socialeconomics still worth a look:

The One-Pager Syndrome

2011-05-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me in this age social media and applied interactive learning both in the classroom and online, that people still think that a one page document can accomplish all the learning needs of adults. I joked that some think that any topic can be summarized in a one-page document. So I decided to see if this was true. Below is a hastily hand drawn one-pager to help NASA get the space program back off the ground.

Think Quarterly

2011-03-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

Think Quarterly a magazine by Google

Wow.

I love the how whitespace is used in this online magazine. Some designer gets that

less is more.

Betsy Olson- Bad Ass

2011-03-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Betsy Olson is one of those musicians that you can help but love. How she manages to take the usual, stoic, dress in black,"I am too cool to dance" Seattle audience and turns them into foot-stomping, shaking, hands-in-the air, I love life rockers - is nothing short of amazing. Last night at the Columbia City Theater, she did that again. Sera Cahoone fantastically accompanied her with pulse-pounding, technically brilliant drumming skills. The way Betsy throws down on the guitar is a thing of beauty, while she is often compared to male guitarists because of her skill, her style and the way she performs on stage has a truly feminine appeal that is equal parts good-looking babe and total BAD ASS.

Keep your eye out for her next performance, she is not to be missed.

Find Betsy Here

Find Sera Here

Betsy Olson: Lonely Woman Blues KEXP Reviews.
- (self-released)
This Seattle guitarist/vocalist debuts with a promising album of gritty, stripped-down blues-rock reminiscent of the Black Keys, though she also stretches out with some haunting, atmospheric ballads and a couple of straight-up rockers. While she just performs live as a two-piece with Sera Cahoone on drums, she fleshes out her sound a bit more here with bass and keyboards. Still, the focus is on Olson’s primal guitar riffs and Cahoone’s equally ferocious drumming. 10/7/2009 -Don Yates

Saving Facebook

2011-03-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

My co-writer of this blog has some strong thoughts on how the emergence of Facebook as our single sign-on source for digital human connection can weaken our relationships. She makes some valid points about how we lazily make comments, “like” and blindly accept friend requests. She also worries about how the real you can dissolve into a watered down version as your army of friends and acquaintances balloon.

Lisa argues that the Facebook version of yourself becomes the “Stepford” you; an edited, apolitical, PG-13 version. I argue that we are always presenting a version of ourselves in both the real and digital world.

This morning as I was doing some much needed work around the house I decided to plug in the hands-free and make some calls to some friends I haven’t spoken to in awhile. That doesn’t mean I haven’t communicated with them, in fact, through Facebook I knew that one friend recently had dinner with two young men that he tutored while they were on suspension from school. Both boys were doing well and getting A’s. I knew this fact because I read it on his Facebook wall. Guess what we talked about?

Personally, my friend’s life-casting is a trigger for me to reach out and talk about those edited bits of their life they choose to share in Facebook-land.

As I see it, Facebook is no more to blame for our superficial relationships than the printing press is to blame for our inability to spin a good yarn around a campfire. Technology has for years fundamentally changed the way we relate to other people. Email, texting, tweeting, etc. – these are all inventions that were set before us to use or not use. Our choice was our vote. The medium dictates the version of ourselves we want to communicate.

People often talk about the romantic letters soldiers wrote to their wives during the great wars. Is it safe to say that those same soldiers spoke so eloquently to their brothers in arms while tossing back spirits? Not likely, I’m sure they versioned themselves based on the medium and audience.

My dad has taken to texting, in fact, he’s proven to be quite brief and poignant using this “fancy new” form of communication. He’s embraced a far less personal form of communication and it has been a welcome addition to our relationship. The technology has been a pleasant addition to our father-son dynamic.

With Facebook, we are learning more about ourselves than Zuckerberg probably intended. We are asking ourselves and others important questions about the human experience. Who qualifies as a friend? How many of these friends do I really care about? How does the community judge me? What is my stance on this topic? Am I interesting? Am I funny?

In end, the choice will always be ours whether we want to go down the rabbit hole or not. I will not judge anyone who chooses to disengage from The Social Network – at least not on Facebook – what would people think of me?

Facebook Dilemma

2011-03-05T11:24:00.000-08:00

Is Facebook ruining your relationships? Wasting your time? Sucking the life soul out of you?

I am having a facebook crisis.

Recently, I had an interesting conversation with my sister. She felt facebook was ruining her "real" relationships. She wondered, if she posted something - did she really tell her friend about the experience? Was she really connecting? She closed her facebook account.

She got me thinking about the place facebook has in my life, and whether I was truly connecting with people. Then, I read this article: "Facebook wants to be your one true sign on," and I wondered, how much should facebook be the centralized place for my online life?

Facebook used to be my personal space only. A place to share a few pictures and comments with close friends. Get invitations for my friends' art shows and concerts. Find out what the gang is planning for Saturday night. I loved perusing pictures of friends who now live far away, catching up on old times, and clicking on hilarious links.

But then the onslaught happened, former students, people from work or high school, and the greater universe at large requested my "friendship." How flattering! I say, sure, and now we are connected.

Now my past, present, and work life are mixed together and not easily compartmentalized.

I find myself posting less and less and becoming more reserved about what I post. I take down pictures that someone else might find offensive or misinterpret about me because - honestly, some of my new facebook friends really don't "know" me, and they miss the irony.

What about the message I want to send to my co-workers. Some of whom could become direct reports? So I pull back a little more. My humor becomes more reserved; I white-wash my comments and posts and "clean-up" my language; I stifle my "off-color" humor.

So, what happens? My facebook is not even me. It's the "edited" version. The radio version. The one that doesn't make mistakes, is always smiling in pictures, never tells dirty jokes, isn't "too political," and doesn't use foul language.

It's the Stepford me.

Perhaps the dilemma will solve itself; I'll become so boring, people will unfriend me.

Forgetting the family

2011-02-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

Microsoft’s recent partnership with Nokia got me thinking. My first thought was “why”? Why is Microsoft trying to dig into the smart phone market? In my mind it’s over. But I had to ask myself, why did I think it was over? I realized my cynicism had taken hold – this country is a two party system and how can you break that? Of course, I wasn’t thinking about the global market benefits of the deal between Nokia and Microsoft, which Tim Bajarin points out in the Slashgear article, “Why Nokia’s CEO Chose Microsoft." In my mind, the smart phone industry is a two party system. Any other players are just Ross Perot, Ron Paul, or Ralph Nadar. They might make you listen for awhile, but you won't actually vote for them. However, in the recent past, we were a near iPhone dictatorship and Android was able to spread some democracy into the smartphone body politic; how was Android able to do that?

Anyone trying to get votes in this industry has to remember the family. Maslow laid it out – a primary motivator for humans is the sense of belonging.

We want to belong.

Advertisers try to capture that family connectedness by producing smart phone commercials the show a dad emailing work, a mom using facebook, and grandma getting all excited and bright-eyed exclaiming, “Oh look! I can share pictures on my smart phone!"

But c'mon, all smart phones let you email, post to facebook, and share your pictures. They all "do" a lot of the same things. They all let you connect with your family. The question is, why do people still stand in line for hours to specifically buy the iPhone?

It’s all about the family of users, dummy.

It’s because everyone else has one. It’s because an iPhone user can speak the same language to another iPhone user. iPhone users can glance at a complete stranger across a restaurant table and give that knowing wink… “yeah, I love mine too, baby."

They belong to each other.

Step three on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is fulfilled. The iPhone user has a clear sense of belonging with other iPhone users.

So, Android made a dent in this market – how? Because it appealed to the family of rebels. They are hackers, unconventional, and don't want to play by the rules. They say to themselves, “you may go to the company retreat of iPhone, but I am going to the Hell’s Angels picnic of Android.”

It’s tougher for Android users to find their community because they have to take a closer look each other’s phones to see if they belong. They can be somewhat closeted, hiding their tattoos; but once they get a glimpse of that green rebel robot peeking out from underneath that shirt, they know. . .

“we belong to each other.”

So, Microsoft, I ask you what sense of community do you offer in this smart phone race? Who are the members of your family? Who will Microsoft Windows phone users belong to?

Building the best device, having the coolest app, or access to existing web content is not going to win the smart phone race… let’s face it, it’s whether using that device will fulfill that primal need of belonging to a family.

Knee Jerk Tablet Review

2011-02-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

For the record, I am a Mac-hater. But I have to clarify, I hate them in the same way I hate the Cooper Mini. Both are beautiful machines and the epitome of sublime engineering, but they both seem to come with an overwhelming air of…well…douchey-ness.

To clarify, the hubris of Steve Jobs and incessant need for Mac owners to remind you how their machine never crashes while you re-boot your PC for the 5th time; is what chaps my hide.

That said I’ve spent some quality time with both the iPad and the Galaxy Tablet (Android).

Here’s my review.

The iPad is an elegant, intuitive machine. When it was in my house I didn’t reach for my laptop once. It quickly flipped to landscape like an Olympic gymnast. It was so easy to use I could have updated my Facebook status, while skydiving, during a death spiral. “Adam is….going to hit a barn at terminal velocity.”

Then I went to watch a TV Show on Hulu and was reminded that it doesn’t support Flash. Seriously. Flash. Deal-breaker my friends. Not lying, had that episode of Community opened up I would have promptly swallowed my pride, then raced to the nearest consumer electronics store to purchase an iPad.

Now to the Galaxy Tablet, I was positive that Google, my saviors of the open-web, would have created a tablet OS that would run laps around the evil Mac. I expected at least equal performance levels and Flash support. After about ten minutes of unsuccessfully watching this device fail to connect to my home network – I decided to use the 3G network to go online. Once online, I went to Hulu so I could laugh maniacally while streaming video fed my appetite for SNL Digital Shorts; only to find a message that said, “apologies, this device doesn’t support Hulu.” Sigh.

I decided to check my work email over wireless access – after fumbling with the touch keyboard and trying to login, it went on stand-by and kicked me off the internet. Also, every time I clicked a link on a web page the Galaxy would ask me if I wanted to use “Browser” or “Firefox” to continue. No, Galaxy, I would like to use Angry Birds to visit this website. WTF.

Final Summary, if you absolutely have to get a tablet – get an iPad. If you want to experience all the web has to offer and you don’t mind “booting up” then get a netbook with Windows 7. Also, in case you couldn’t tell from this blog post, the Galaxy is a colossal let-down. As far as the Android OS – keep your fingers crossed that 3.0 works as well as…ahem…a Mac.

Sumtin' Purty.

2011-02-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

I want a pretty interface! I want it to look beautiful no matter device or browser I am using. I want to click and have the video work instantly, the slide show to work, the picture to open.

What astounds me is how far we’ve come and yet how far we still have yet to go when it comes to being able to read, watch, and view content on mobile devices.

I know tablets are going to be huge this year, but you know what? I won’t carry it everywhere like I carry my smartphone. I like to get my content on the go – at the grocery store line, waiting for my tires to be rotated, and in the line for my latte. I want my it on my smartphone. If you want your content to be viewed or read, you’ve got to make it easy and pretty for the end-user who is using a small-screen device.

So, I found a RSS reader for Android that I love it's called, “Pulse.” It is the closest thing I have seen to the future. It has a beautiful interface and does a great job of reducing the content for the small screen. The problem is that some of the content providers still don’t get it. Yeah, I am talking about you Salon.com, Cracked.com, and Atlantic Monthly. Why doesn’t the slide show in Salon work in the mobile view? Why doesn’t Atlantic Monthly have an elegant mobile interface? I want to read Andrew Sullivan, not slog through everything, and why must you ignore the millions of Android users? Seriously. I end up reading the Huffington Post because they get it. iPhone app? Check. Android App? Check. Pretty good interface? Check.

What applications for reading, watching, and viewing content give you the best experience on a mobile device? What online magazine has wowed you? Do you have Sumtin' purty? Share!

Check out the pretty RSS Reader, Pulse: http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/26/pulse-android/

Must Read!

2010-12-27T15:07:00.000-08:00

From Chief Learning Officer Magazine. Questioning the Questioner
by Mike Prokopeak on December 21, 2010 · .

. . .Who will own enterprise collaboration? Formerly the province of high tech
companies, collaboration is raising its profile as more organizations realize
the power of networks for innovation and results. There’s even a name for this
new kind of organization: Enterprise 2.0.
As collaboration rises as an efficient and impactful way to allocate resources
and connect employees with internal and external partners to solve problems and
drive rapid response, who will own it? The IT department won’t step up. They’re
too busy worrying about bandwidth. Marketing and sales will only take charge of
it to the degree it connects them with external customers. Finance and
operations? Don’t think so. Will learning departments take hold of the reins and
lead enterprise collaboration to the future? Learning has always been a
collaboration between teachers and students, experts and apprentices. It may be
time for that definition to expand.

From http://blog.clomedia.com/2010/12/questioning-the-questioner/

I think it makes sense that the learning organization take on building the Entrerprise 2.0 network. The learning organization is usually the only that understands how all the parts fit together as a whole. Who else is really privy to this big picture?

2010-12-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

Dear iPhone,

I'm leaving you. I know that are pretty and popular, but I need something more. That's why I'm with the myTouch 4G.

I know people usually say, it's not you it's me... well this time my friend, it is you.

First, myTouch 4G doesn't make me have to sync anything with iTunes ever. It took me less than 5 minutes to have all my contacts and connections up and running. Did I have to wait for a 20 minute back-up on iTunes? No, I never have to wait. And should, god forbid, some accident occur, my information will download again - just as fast.

Second, myTouch 4G isn't as picky as you. I can go to Flash-based websites.

Third, I can have as much memory to film in HD that I want. If I want more memory, I can open myTouch and put more in.

Fourth, I'm tired of you bragging about your million apps. I feel rich with myTouch 4G, every app I need or want I have been able to download, and frankly, the app itself seems to run better and gives me a richer user experience.

Fifth, the camera has a physical button, you hear that? No more fumbling around to hold the camera in an awkward way so that I can reach the shoot button on the screen.

Finally, the Genius button works. myTouch 4G does all the work for me. I say "call John" and it does. I say "open Pandora" and it does. I don't have to argue or say things twice to be heard.

I know that in any break-up I may have to find some new friends, but this doesn't worry me, I have found the Android community to be very friendly and open. They are very accepting.

I could go on and on, about the myTouch 4G WiFi HotSpot abilities, the cool widgets, the incorporation of social media, but I think you and I both know it's over.

The Lost Art of the Pitch

2010-11-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

The moment we toss our mortar boards into the air for the last time, we are no longer obligated to learn. It is our own free will that drives us to read, watch, and write for the sake of knowing more.

This leaves professional trainers in a position to preface their content with a strong value statement. A value statement is just a fancy word for a sales pitch. Every time I send an email notifying my audience of a new training, I have to write a compelling pitch in the body of the email or on the website. Writing an exciting pitch is not an easy task, primarily because big box stores, online shopping, and consultative sales have killed the lost art of a cheeseball sales pitch.

Here’s an example of an experience you may have buying a backpack at a sporting goods store today.

You, “I’m looking for a day pack to go hiking.”

Salesperson, “Isle 5. Next to the kayaks.”

What the hell? Salaried retail employees have no sense of theatrics.

Here’s the same example with a stereotypical 1955 salesperson.

You, “I’m looking for a day pack to go hiking.”

Salesperson in 1955, “Hiking! That’s great! What a wonderful way to enjoy nature! I have the finest backpacks you can find. These babies will hold half your house and a spare tire if you want it to. Where are you going? Doesn’t matter this baby here is perfect for all occasions my friend. Take it to the top of Mt. Everest or for a short walk in the woods – it does it all young man…”

Take note, I am not even close to old enough to remember what a 1955 salesperson would sound like. The 1955 scenario is based on stereotypes from Looney Tunes.

All kidding aside, remember that your audience can’t appreciate training, if they don’t feel excited or at least curious about seeking it out. I’ve blogged before about pull learning; “selling” your training helps facilitate that with a little creative push. If you put the time and energy into designing and developing then it shouldn’t be hard to sell the sh*t out of to your audience.

Have fun with your pitch and let the potential audience know about why your training is exciting.

Post Halloween Thoughts on Zombies

2010-11-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

Two new series are out right now that deal specifically with Zombies. Admittedly the zombie genre is my favorite. Apparently, I’m not the only one, considering the fact that two shows got the green light.

The series I’m currently hooked on is called Dead Set on IFC. The the survivors, mainly the cast of England’s Big Brother, survive the initial outbreak simply from their self-imposed isolation on a reality show.

Before I dive in, let me enlighten those not hip to Z-Cinema. The world of Zombies is typically an allegory for society in general. George Romero gave us the first glimpse into how ugly human nature can be when it’s backed into a corner – he also gave us the first woman and African-American survivors of the horror genre. That being said, he – and the Zombie movie makers – let us stew in our own notion that the un-dead’s need to consume and flock to population centers is similar to our own.

Now let’s return to the plot of Dead Set. The outside world is tipped off to the pending chaos from the news; the reality TV cast first notices something is awry when the cameras stop following them and the producers fail to re-stock the fridge.

Fast forward a few splatters later and our cast is now part of Survivor: Zombie Jambaroo. This group, like all survivors of a phase I Zombie take-over, go into survival mode – and not just survival mode but straight-up Navy Seal survivor mode.

Which begs the question; are we all secretly preparing for the walls of civilization to crumble so we can go bucknutty on any threat, pillage grocery stores, and grab whatever sweet ride has the keys in it?

Let’s consider our ill-fated reality show cast members on Dead Set. When the cameras are on they bicker, argue, and even fight. But they don’t steal or murder – they use napkins and close the door when they use the bathroom.

Is the difference between a law-abiding society and chaos the presence of a f*ck-all Zombie virus or simply the fact that nobody with any authority is paying attention? Authority, in the case of our Big Brother cast members, is more the public opinion police.

Now consider this, when the house has fully grasped the situation at hand (i.e. living dead crazies are calling the shots) they actually start forming a much more functional group dynamic. Leaders emerge and thus a more organized sense of teamwork. In a sense, they start acting MORE civil amidst a crumbling civilization.

What does this tell us about ourselves? This is what makes the Zombie movie so important – yes I said Important. I’ve yet to really identify the “Romerian” lesson in this series but I can’t wait to watch the rest of the series and let it emerge. I’m also happy society is running properly and I don’t have to consider the correct cutting tool to stop a Zombie.

Make Your Training Social

2010-08-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article as to why education needs to become more social. Though the author posits over the use of social within online, higher education courses, the same arguments could be made for corporate learning as well.

"The web, as a real-time medium, is begging us to build innovative courses that can be used for the rapid delivery of education designed in a way that integrates current news, information, insights and research about topics..."

With current Social Business Solutions (SBS) on the market, companies now have the ability to create their own social environments, without exposing them to the greater Internet, and can easily begin to make social training, communications and other information. Companies should, however, use the Internet to better understand their brand, listen to the conversations that are going on about their products and leverage that type of "real time" information to ensure their workers are responding in an appropriate manner. That could best be accomplished by bringing that information back in house to one's private SBS and create further dialog and training around specific issues.

Check out the article and tell me what you think.

http://mashable.com/2010/08/06/online-education-social/

jb

Finding Brook's Law

2010-07-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

I was recently one of two people put in charge of creating an all day training forum. This project was made up of four interactive workshops. Given our short timeline, we decided to recruit outside help to write the content for one of the workshops. Our outside help delivered on time, but we ended up re-writing and re-formatting the bulk of the content. The re-write included some late nights at the office – lots of fun.

Here’s the reality, what begins as “many hands, make light work” usually ends in “too many cooks in the kitchen.”

Why does collaboration seem to extend the deadline rather than shorten it? Turns out it has something to do with the idea that nine women can’t make a baby in a month. I’ve recently found out it’s also called Brook’s Law.

Brook’s Law, simply put, says that adding more people to a project prolongs or has zero impact on completion. Fred Brooks, the man behind Brook’s Law, was a software engineer and observed this phenomenon while working for IBM. As you add individuals you increase the number of communication channels exponentially.

Software Design and Instructional Design have many parallels, Brook’s Law being one Instructional Designers should consider. One solution to Brook’s Law was the idea of looking at your project team as a surgical team; a surgical team can only have one lead surgeon and a cast of supporting characters taking on less critical parts. In other words, if you have a lot of cooks; identify and promote one to Head Chef.

tedPAD - create millions of amazing and really bad TED talks

2010-05-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

A self-generating TED talk. You too can seem like a genius with a click of the button.

tedPAD - create millions of amazing and really bad TED talks

2010-05-02T06:13:00.001-07:00

Using Twitter in a face-to-face Workshop - Social Media In Learning The article shows exactly how it was done.

Wow! Instant interactivity.

From Jane's Blog http://janeknight.typepad.com/socialmedia/2010/05/using-twitter-in-a-facetoface-workshop.html

2010-05-02T06:07:00.001-07:00

5 Tips for Making Your Business Presentations More Social

2010-04-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

5 Tips for Making Your Business Presentations More Social

Interactive Polling via mobile phone? I am in love.

Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War - PowerPoint - NYTimes.com

2010-04-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

Yet another article on the dangers of PowerPoint. Here's the thing, why do we judge the tool? I can see why some want to blame PowerPoint for dumbing down of information, but really, isn't PowerPoint just a tool? It's like blaming the typewriter for a horribly written novel.

In this situation, maybe PowerPoint may simply be the wrong tool for the job. They seem to be using a blunt hammer when scalpel is required.

Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War - PowerPoint - NYTimes.com

Why take the time for e-learning? Because it is your bleeping job genius.

2010-04-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

In prior posts, I discussed the need to implement variables in your e-learning that “pull” users versus the traditional “push” aspect. While I still agree with this philosophy, I also grind my teeth on a daily basis as I watch users ignore the tools available to them for reasons so absurd that it makes me want to walk into our Whisper Room sound booth and scream like a banshee.

I recently had a conversation with an internal customer who was asking me a series of questions that could have been answered in a recently posted WBT created by a team member. I cut the Q & A portion short and asked if he had taken said 15 minute course. The answer was this, “who has time for that?” My response (after I swallowed my frustration and a few choice expletives was this) “People who are serious about understanding the business and products.” A simple statement that got the answer I love to hear the most, “you’re right.”

The excuse “I don’t have enough time” when they are calling or IM’ng questions to an actual human being is level ten absurd. They have time to spend 20 minutes asking me questions that could have been answered with 15 minutes of training. I’m no math whiz but according to my calculations that level of laziness wasted the time of two people for a sum total of 40 minutes.

Time and money is invested in adult learning content because it saves time and gives the learner a self-paced environment. If the content does not meet those needs then I will be the first person to accept responsibility and use the feedback to better my material. However, if they are simply not using the material then the blame falls squarely on the user. I imagine these are the people who gave up on golf because they couldn’t drive the ball like Tiger Woods on their first 9 holes.

This particular scenario is also a ringing endorsement for companies to start implementing better social networking tools into their training strategy. If we cultivate the community and provide multi-directional feedback channels, then we can all communicate available resources and make them better through rapid response feedback. Until those tools are available our team will continue to market our training resources and try to eliminate the number of clicks it takes to get to them. In the meantime, a sound booth is a good place to scream – just make sure the microphones are off.

The Power of Images

2010-03-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

I know that at times, we have repeated this over and over, but a Power Point presentation is not the place for a wall of text.

Text belongs in a handout.

Your audience did not come to a presentation to read.

They came to listen to you. They came to hear an interesting story; they came to hear you make connections and give them ideas; they came to hear the passion in your voice; they did not come to read.

They can read at home.

Consider how information is conveyed in this graphic. It is effective because conveys a lot of information in a short amount of time, and, frankly, it is just more interesting than a wall of text.

Look over each and every slide in your presentation. Is there a way to graphically represent the information?

For those of you that want to see more information conveyed visually try ChartPorn.org

Positive Deviance: The Cult of Personality

2010-03-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

Positive Deviance (PD) is an approach to personal, organizational and cultural change based on the idea that every community or group of people performing a similar function has certain individuals (the "Positive Deviants") whose special attitudes, practices/ strategies/ behaviors enable them to function more effectively than others with the exact same resources and conditions. The premise of PD is that the superior practices of the Positive Deviants enable them to improve outcomes, and if those practices (also attitudes, thinking and behaviors) can be isolated then they can be used to improve the outcomes of others as well. An essential process in PD is the identification of 'comps or peers.

I am in a unique position to work for a company that employs a Senior VP that has a VERY visible presence that permeates throughout the company. His larger than life personality has taken on near rock star status with our sales partners and a palpable air of intimidation and bombast internally.

I recently stepped into a role of fill-in graphic artist while we were short-handed. My project was to create for our SVP a poster promoting an upcoming event with his likeness (big surprise) prominently displayed. This was an opportunity to flex some artistic chops and get my name in front of our own Positive Deviant. At first I unsuccessful took trickle down art direction from peers who were communicating directly with our SVP. The telephone effect was an alarming failure. I had no choice but to take it straight to the top for feedback. A practice wrought with landmines but I threw up a Hail Mary anyway.

What happened was a one-edit victory where I cut my design time by about 8 hours and got a quick response and the elusive “atta-boy.” Victory! Why did this work? Why did an individual who has an inbox engorged with emails give me the time of day – let alone email replies inside of 30 minutes? The answer lies in the beauty of PD Theory; the Positive Deviant will protect their Cult of Personality to the teeth. Furthermore, I employed the tactics of a Positive Deviant to promote the goals of the company and my own status.

The lesson learned here, now that I can return to my role as Instructional Designer is this; if your training product is good but needs a sponsor, seek out your Positive Deviant and sell the idea to him/her – attach their name to the project and watch as the users flock.

But tread lightly friends, stay grounded, and respect chain of command.

Connecting to your audience

2010-03-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite “untranslatable words” is the Czech word “litost” pronounced [lee-tosht] (noun)

This is an untranslatable emotion that only a Czech person would suffer from, defined by Milan Kundera as "a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one's own misery." Devices for coping with extreme stress, suffering, and change are often special and unique to cultures and born out of the meeting of despair with a keen sense of survival. From In Other Words: by Christopher J. Moore

I have often felt that way, but there is no such word in the English language. What I like about untranslatable words is that they often reveal the stark differences in culture. Growing up, I’d hear my mother say, “he doesn’t have any common sense.” We all grow up believing that there is such a thing as common sense, but really ‘common” sense is cultural sense – it’s whatever is the accepted norm in the culture you grew up in. In England, it is “common sense” to drive on the left side of the road. In the United States, driving in the left lane is dangerous.

I bring up this point for a reason; when writing a presentation, one must keep in mind not to assume that your audience shares your cultural sense. Are you making references and jokes that have a broad appeal? Are you using industry terms that some people may not know? Are you being sexist by using phrases like “your wife”? Assumptions about your audience can leave some out.

When writing a presentation for a large audience keep in mind these differences. Be aware that what you think is “common” may not be. A great presentation seeks commonality among audience members – it doesn’t alienate.

For more fun with untranslatable words click here.

The Absence of Humor

2010-03-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

Why can we recite movie quotes verbatim, but not the first amendment, or our company’s mission statement? How come the Daily Show is the primary source for news? Name an online trading company. I bet 8 out of 10 people will say E*Trade because they know the E*Trade baby and laughed, then went to YouTube to watch it again. And even more people probably heard the baby on the plane mention a Stop Loss Trade and went to Wikipedia to find out that that is.

What if E*Trade went the pretentious route and made commercials featuring urban hipsters complaining about their broker while eating sushi or drinking lattes out of tiny cups. Most people just find those f*cking hipsters unbearable and pray a bus hops the curb and plows through the “bistro” where they are kvetching about all their expendable income problems.

Delivering a sticky message is a conundrum that has existed forever. Advertisers have successfully used humor for many years. Why has the training and education universe been so resistant to the power of laughter?

Most corporate trainers and instructional designers operate in a very serious box built around them by a hypersensitive corporate culture. There is fear hinges on the belief that anything that makes you laugh is probably rooted in one of the corporate taboos like race, religion, politics, sports teams from Texas, gender, the VP of Finances toupee’

I’m not suggesting we fill our training products with zingers, but we should all consider the power of “bringing the funny,” be it a graphic, voice-over or text. Not so we can flex our comedic muscles, but to engage the learner and anchor your message to the emotional response of laughter.

I recently learned how to tune an edge on a snowboard by watching a YouTube video of a guy who used the term “buck nutty” to describe a filing technique. Had I been watching a sleep-inducing WBT, I would have missed such a hilarious adjective.

If you have ever golfed, think about how many times someone quotes Caddyshack and how many people can quote a mind-numbing video on how to correct a slice. Don’t forget to yell fore!

Round 1: Twitter4Trainers Limps Out of the Gate

2010-02-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

In the 60s people said, “what if they gave a war and nobody came?’ Well, my first foray into building an online community for a group of trainers is starting to feel like that. Except I gave an online community and a few people came but they are primarily mute and disengaged.

I recently started a Twitter page for a group of trainers; the purpose to share ideas, trainer videos and best practices. I envisioned a Utopian online community where people grew from the information, cracked wise, and felt they were off the island and part of a community. This was my first shot as a community manager and so far I feel like I am more of a retirement community manager. Like a retirement community, I am constantly reminding the residents of where they are, what they need to do, and encourage them not to fear the internet. The only difference is the average age is 35 and there is a lot less prune juice.

Granted, this was week one of the launch, and I admit that our company doesn’t exactly foster participation in social networking for business reasons. Being painfully aware of this fact, I delivered a clear job aid outlining a set-up protocol designed to keep our intellectual property as secure as possible on Twitter. Alas, the best laid plans of mice and men often...well you get the point.

However, just like the hippie movement of the 60s I will persevere. My symbol will not be tie-dye and peace signs but a Twitter logo that is eerily similar to the Woodstock dove. Where’s Bob Dylan when you need him?

Manhunt - 2.0 Style

2009-12-28T16:39:00.000-08:00

Last month, Wired Magazine writer Evan Ratliff took part in a social experiment; he would try to change his identity, go on the run, and avoid detection. The prize was $5,000 to anyone who could track him down. Evan had one month to avoid being caught.

The details of this experiment/contest made me think even more about Lisa’s commentary on our personal privacy in the age of Twitter and Facebook.

Those willing to accept the challenge of finding the missing writer, immediately formed hunting parties. What transpired was NOT a Rat Race-style romp across the country where loosely formed groups of eccentric characters chased down the wily Wired author for the prize money. These hunters were professionals who pursued the missing writer in their spare time. I was impressed by the speed at which the hunters were able to organize, communicate and collaborate. Twitter pages and #FindEvan hashtags materialized immediately, Facebook pages, secure chat-rooms and legal internet sleuthing became the bloodhounds and trackers chasing a man on the run.

Keep in mind the hunted had done his research on how to disappear. He used physical and electronic misdirection, disguises, fake names, paid in cash or gift cards and even traveled as a roadie with a band.

He was eventually caught.

This is our world now that we have opened a portion of our lives to the web. This is also exemplifies how collaboration and mobilization, that once took months, can happen in hours or days. Big Brother, the government version, isn’t paying attention anymore, but citizens are all paying attention to each other.

I don’t think we need to worry about the totalitarian Big Brother at the moment, because the eyes that judge us and comment on our behavior is ubiquitous. Big Brother is your actual big brother or sister, it is your friends or the stranger who flames you on your blog. Our dialogue and voyeurism is generally a self-policing and light-hearted affair. However, the story of the vanishing Wired writer is an example of how quickly a “community” can use available 2.0 tools to hunt you down no matter where you hide.

My recommendation to anyone looking to hide in plain sight is to un-plug, learn to grow a chin beard, and build barns. Big Brother looks less like the grainy image of a big floating head and more like the redhead from Wedding Crashers that says, “If you leave…I’ll find you, hahahahahahah.”

Left vs Right (World) | David McCandless & Stefanie Posavec | Information Is Beautiful

2009-12-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

Left vs Right (World) | David McCandless & Stefanie Posavec | Information Is Beautiful

This is an amazing visual way to convey information. It is what I would like to do more of when writing training. Today, I just had this conversation with a co-worker. She was telling me about how when she would take a test, she would visualize the book and the page number. By seeing the book in her mind, she was able to recall the information.

I am a visual learner as well. For my final exam in grad school, we were each handed a floppy disk (yes, a floppy disk) and a question. We were give six hours to answer the question. Our task was to answer by drawing upon all we had learned over the past two and a half years; this required remembering all that we could about every major learning theorist and their theories.

No small task. How does one prepare?

Well, I will tell you, my friend Kari and I made a mind map. We took butcher paper and filled a wall. Took out our markers and went to work. We had guidelines - no more than three pieces of information for each theorist. For instance, we would draw a bubble and inside write "John Dewey" then draw lines to three bits of information "Pragmatist," "Utilitarian," "Democracy through education." By remembering three points, we knew it would help us remember more. We used color; we drew connections between ideas; we drew stick figures and other crude pictures to represent ideas.

When I went in to take the test, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would our method of study work?
After the first moment of panic at seeing the question - one that I cannot recall - I realized I was going to be able to build an argument. I clearly saw the map in my mind -- Bloom in blue and Friere in red. Piaget in the left hand corner, Milton on the right. Locke in the middle. I saw it all and I was able to recall their theories and build my argument.

My only regret is not rolling up the butcher paper and keeping the map. I earned an A on the exam - and I thank Kari and the mind map for that.

I encourage anyone to try mindmapping. Here is a great online tool for mindmapping and brainstorming: webspiration

Also, for more information about visual information see http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index

What Can Trainers Learn From Mixed Martial Arts?

2009-12-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

Bettering yourself at anything requires the imagination to find inspiration in unlikely places. As a fan of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, I have come to appreciate the level of preparation that these athletes and trainers put into a 5 round fight. The type of preparation trainers and instructional designers feel when spending weeks to build a 30 minute WBT.

Georges St. Pierre is a French-Canadian fighter out of Greg Jackson’s camp that embodies the brutal arts better than anyone. His pre and post fight interviews are the embodiment of calm; calm that can only come from intense preparation both on the physical and mental side.

A sublime example of this preparation was a 2009 fight against arguably the one of the top pound for pound fighters at welterweight BJ Penn. After a one-sided victory St. Pierre gave a post-fight synopsis that sounded like a biology lesson. It was evident that his training involved a physiological assessment of his opponent. But the man behind the fighter was the voice of the “trainer,” Greg Jackson. In most fights you hear the din of three or four corner men shouting orders. Jackson rarely interjects during a round and if he does it is the perfect instruction.

In-between rounds when an exhausted fighter gets his brief moment from the onslaught of dangerous exchanges Jackson really shines. He usually starts by telling his fighter to focus on breathing then allows the fighter to make his statement about how the fight is going. If Jackson disagrees it is with a direct statement either in agreement or sharp contrast but always calm.

The fundamentals of fight preparation clearly arc into both instructor-led training and online training. Trainers in the instructional design world may not have to worry about defending against submissions but we have to know how to find a balance between psychology, science and instinct. If we all devote time to immersing ourselves in disciplines on the periphery we will be better at everything. When St. Pierre was asked by a sports writer if he was worried about his opponent the night before his title defense, St. Pierre calmly responded, “I train to fight an army, why would I be worried about one man.” Badass.

Twitter and Big Brother

2009-12-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

I consider myself technologically hip, but having been a student of history, I was reluctant write every thought I had down for public consumption on Twitter. I am someone who hates traffic cameras, and the thought that someone could track my movements on a GPS is downright frightening. This attitude is not because I engage in criminal behavior. It's because again, I have read and watched what has happened to those who might say something that the government doesn't like. Now I realize some may think my attitude is slightly paranoid, but that is because, frankly, they lack a sense of history. They forget that

...in Stalinist Russia no one was safe, and literally anyone might expect the dreaded "knock on the door" after midnight by the secret police. One did not have to be "guilty" of anything, needless to say: everyone was a target for arrest and the gulag or worse. Stalin the Mass Murderer: How many victims? Posted by William D. Rubinstein

Stalin used spies to justify capturing and "disappearing" every intellectual who opposed him (or, rather, those whom he perceived as opposing him). What if we tweet something that can be used against us later? What if your joke is taken too literally? What if you oppose something popular or support an unpopular cause? The government, employers, creditors, and thieves all have an interest in what you are doing.

The lack of privacy depicted in 1984 is a world that I did not want to live in.

Winston is painfully aware of the telescreen, which is both a receiver and transmitter at the same time. It incessantly relays messages from the Party and simultaneously allows the dreaded “thought police” to tune into the activities of any individual at any given time...(Chapter 1, 1984, George Orwell).

And yet, here we are, incessantly relaying our own movements and thoughts and allowing others to "follow" us.

Yesterday, some of us were talking about how Twitter was being used at sporting events in order to curb unruly fans. Someone bothering you? Tweet his seat number and watch how fast security shows up to lead him away.

You might think this is great - Yeah, remove those annoying people! Report them!
What about the impact on our culture with the loss of semi-innocent behaviors? Teenagers sneaking a drink or smoking in the boys room, concert goers lighting up some "herb" before the music starts -- will you report them?

I worry that the we have become have become the collective Big Brother.

Do we gain something by using Twitter? Certainly.
Do we lose something? Certainly.
Will I Tweet about this post today? Certainly.

The Pending Hulu Debate

2009-12-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

I recently read Mark Cuban’s blog post on how Hulu should approach a subscription model Cuban's Blog. He suggests that Hulu should remain free to the .edu world because they are going to figure out a way to get it for free anyway. This feels like decriminalizing marijuana to Phish fans because it’s a foregone conclusion they already have a bumper crop of Afghan Kush growing in their basement. Seriously, I always appreciate Cuban’s opinion but have to respectfully disagree.

I’m not going to claim I have the magic business model for Hulu but that’s not going to stop me from offering an opinion.

Despite the recent hockey stick in their user curve, Hulu has yet to prove itself to be a deflationary force on Pay TV. Personally, I’m a 10 ft HDMI cable from all the content I need but I still long to have my laptop on my lap and my TV connected to satellite. As a 31 year old forged in the furnace of Web 1.0 and maturing with 2.0 I would be happy pay Hulu for their services, just don’t make me get married to a Pay TV provider. I pay Netflix, Rhapsody and SIRIUS because I like choice and instant access. Hulu needs to embrace the new digital socialism and give it a way and monetize later. Cuban is right about one thing, we will find away to get it online for free and we don’t need to be in college to figure it out.

Hot tub on the go

2009-11-29T22:05:00.001-08:00

I need one of these!

http://dornob.com/quite-possibly-the-coolest-hot-tub-you-have-ever-seen/

Jay Rosen explains the ethic of the link

2009-11-27T07:44:00.001-08:00

Jay Rosen explains why the link is so important. Andrew Sullivan
argued that Obama's administration uses their web presence effectively
because they get the "ethic of the link."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIMB9Kx18hw&sns=em

Guide to social elearning

2009-11-27T07:38:00.000-08:00

Full Guide to social e-learning. http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsocialelearning.flexiblelearning.net.au%2Fsocial_elearning%2Findex.htm

Twitter tips

2009-11-27T04:18:00.000-08:00

Don't get Twitter? Start with this list. http://twittercism.com/10-cool-things/

Oatmeal strikes again

2009-11-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

This started with a tweet that said, "Twilight fans I apologize for what I am about to do to you."

And thus, a must read...

The Story of Twilight
Follow this awesome cartoonist on Twitter @Oatmeal

Moodle. Good or bad?

2009-11-24T06:56:00.000-08:00

An even handed look at Moodle - open source virtual learning environment (VLE)

zaidlearn.blogspot.com/2009/11/moodle-is-airport-not-total-solution.html

More uses for Google Wave

2009-11-22T17:21:00.000-08:00

Interesting article showing how newsrooms are using Google Wave.

http://mashable.com/2009/11/22/news-media-google-wave/

Employees pick their own technology. What a concept!

2009-11-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

Hmmm... sound like anyplace we might know?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703567204574499032945309844.html

Remembering the basics

2009-11-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

from Reflections on eLearning...

The next big killer application for the Internet is going to be education. Education over the Internet is going to be so big it is going to make email usage look like a rounding error. - John Chambers, president and CEO of Cisco Systems...

Friedman, T. (1999). Next, it's E-ducation. New York Times, A29, November 17.

...It seems as if every new medium or technology becomes training's new darling. Trainers blame their present tools and readily embrace new technologies. But in reality, these same trainers do not define performance problems and solutions in the required detail, hence, they go in quest of a silver bullet. . . but unfortunately there is no silver bullet or mystical orb to be found at the end of their journey. Reflections on eLearning

So, Donald Clark uses this quote to make an observation that every new technology is heralded as the answer to the problems with training. When Clark wrote "Reflections...," he was making this observation about elearning.

Clark rightly cautions educators against too quickly embracing "new technologies." I agree, while I am thoroughly excited about the possibilities of social networking and its application in education, I think it is still important to take a breath and consider the basics. Do we understand our audience? What is the learning goal? How do we measure performance?

I also wonder where the differences in learning styles fit in the social networking or informal learning model. What does this mean for the intrapersonal learner?

What's hot and what's not in elearning

2009-11-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting Blog Post from Tom Gram on what is hot and what is not in elearning. I especially like the quote below when referring to social media and elearning 2.0.

"Almost everyone is trying to figure out how to best use web 2.0 technologies for learning. Like learning 1.0, it will need the broader acceptance of a generalized web 2.0 platform on which to piggy back and an acceptance of the legitimate social and informal aspects of learning before it really takes off inside organizations. It’s coming."

The Confluence of Pull Marketing and Pull Learning

2009-11-17T21:15:00.001-08:00

As I exit my first trimester as a true Instructional Designer I have to reflect on the world of e-learning and the world of marketing and sales where I was tempered.

To be clear, the odd little group of idealist I have quickly grown fond of is firmly rooted in the belief that if you build it (content) they will come (users). This is largely true but I can't escape the idea that our product needs to marketed to truly meet the goal of knowledge sharing.

Luckily the idea of Pull E-Learning and Pull Marketing are now linked for what appears to be the long-haul. Social Networking is no longer a medium for personal interaction but rather THE medium for how we learn, create, collaborate, buy, problem solve and socialize.

My personal platform will be firmly rooted in the idea that whatever my message I need to make sure there are end users looking to Pull the content into their collective brains. I will not make the claim that I know how to do this. Luckily, in the new spirit of digital socialism I don't have to tackle this challenge alone.

I know unequivocally I am not the first person to champion Pull marketing of E-Learning I just hope that I can navigate the Petra-bytes of information and evolve with the rest of the 2.0 revolution.

Measuring success in social learning environments

2009-11-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

Jane Hart's site lists the pros and cons of social learning in the section of her website that introduces social learning. In part four, "Introduction to learning environments" she lays out the pros and cons of the three online learning environments. She makes distinctions among formal learning through an LMS and informal learning through personal learning environments and social learning environments. What strikes me here is how little criticism social learning encounters - the con list is very short for social learning.

Most educators seem to be on board with social learning; yet, we in the corporate world, have a tough time selling the idea to our employers. How do you measure performance or mastery of skills and knowledge in a social learning environment? Without measurement of success and objective, quantifiable data - demonstrating the value and importance of social learning will continue to be a struggle. In the next few weeks, this is the area I hope to explore, and I will share what I find. Furthermore, I welcome any commentators who can point me to research in this area.

ILT Masterpiece Theater: The Golden Banana

2009-11-16T17:22:00.000-08:00

While in a college marketing course several years ago I was witness to forty-five minutes of engaging, funny, relevant and interactive content all from a single PPT slide with the picture of a golden banana. This forty-five minute fruited-slide benchmark is my own personal instructor led-training equivalent of Michael Jordan's Game 5 performance against the Jazz. Except the instructor didn't have the flu...he also didn't have a Scottie Pippen so we'll call it even.

That night in Service Marketing 302 our instructor R. Hornfisher introduced the power of graphical simplicity backed by well constructed content. He used the Golden Banana to springboard into a brilliantly articulated lesson on the power of rewarding your employees and customers. The greatest lesson I learned that evening was not about service marketing it was about the power of content and simplicity.

Instructional Designers/Developers of the world, I challenge you to take the time to consider the Golden Banana or use the term as proper noun used to describe the perfect simplicity of graphics backed with a talented trainer. Or better yet implement an annual award ceremony where you hand out Golden Bananas to your designer, developer or trainer who exhibit the spirit of the GB.

Disclaimer: Under no circumstances should the Golden Banana phrase or likeness be allowed to mutate into anything resembling a phallic joke...no matter how hilarious or obvious.

Twiliobot: speech-to-text app for Google Wave

2009-11-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

http://code.google.com/p/twiliobot/

twiliobot is Robot extension for Google Wave demonstrating how to initiate calls from within a wave to normal cell phones or landlines using the Twilio phone API. The project is still in development and there are still several limitations.

-jb

The Daydream and Problem Solving

2009-11-16T10:16:00.000-08:00

Thank you Clive Thompson for giving me an airtight excuse for spacing off in the middle of a conversation with my girlfriend. Turns out my brain's prefrontal cortex is doing a little long-term problem solving.

This article in Wired is a short read but thought provoking on the e-learning and instructional design fronts. How do we build a model or cultivate an informal learning environment that can allow for daydreaming?

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/st_thompson/

Death by PowerPoint

2009-11-15T16:44:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Death by PowerPoint

View more documents from Alexei Kapterev.

The 10 Commandments of PowerPoint – The 2.0 Life

2009-11-15T16:41:00.001-08:00

The 10 Commandments of PowerPoint – The 2.0 Life

JB - Say Hey!

2009-11-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

Born naked and helpless, I've overcome these disabilities to contribute to Lisa's new blog. Though I am unsure of the degree to which I might contribute, I am willing to assume that my contributions may be light and negligible. That said, I hope you find my posts... Thanks for reading. Stay classy Like Minds.

Privacy?

2009-11-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

This is still my favorite commentary on the loss of privacy. Order a Pizza in the very near future.

Tool for collaboration

2009-11-15T15:21:00.000-08:00

I just discovered Voicethread. Collaborators can look at any type of media and then make comments. It may be an excellent way to review presentations. I am going to test today. More later.

In Case You Were Wondering....

2009-11-15T12:28:00.001-08:00

Leave it to Malcom Gladwell to do the "hard-nosed" research on the mystery of what it takes to be universally loved and adored. Spoiler alert - gain weight and bone up on your elf managmement.

“To become the object of universal love, one must first live with a red-nosed reindeer, and then gain a premier position as the sole registered employer of elves in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s as simple as that."

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/12/gladwell-200912

New Contributor to the Blog

2009-11-15T12:07:00.000-08:00

A Behrens in the Blog-O-Sphere

Greetings, I'm looking forward to contributing content and brow-lowering into Lisa's blog. My goal is to share content that I find interesting and relevant to folks interested in e-learning, technology, music, humor, coffee and beer. As a "centrist" you won't see a lot on politics or any other divisive topics from me unless it will make you laugh out loud or blow your mind.

To be continued....

LearnTrends 2009 The Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations Conference

2009-11-15T07:56:00.000-08:00

Since it is free....

November 17-19, 2009 | Online | Free

The theme/focus this year is on Convergence in Workplace Learning. Discussions will be around:

* Enterprise 2.0
* Communities and Networks
* Knowledge Management
* Corporate Libraries
* Talent Management

To register, you must first register on the LearnTrends community and then on the Conference Event Page.

What Do You Mean By

2009-09-26T09:52:00.001-07:00

What Do You Mean By "White Culture", Mr Beck? - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Shared via AddThis

Matthew McConaughey Cannot Stand Up By Himself (PICTURES)

2009-09-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

Matthew McConaughey Cannot Stand Up By Himself (PICTURES)

Rational Atheism: Scientific American

2007-08-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

Rational Atheism: Scientific American

A wonderful essay by skeptic Michael Shermer. An excerpt:
"Promote freedom of belief and disbelief. A higher moral principle that encompasses both science and religion is the freedom to think, believe and act as we choose, so long as our thoughts, beliefs and actions do not infringe on the equal freedom of others. As long as religion does not threaten science and freedom, we should be respectful and tolerant because our freedom to disbelieve is inextricably bound to the freedom of others to believe."

AlterNet: The Trouble with Anonymity on the Web

2007-08-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia and propaganda... who is doing the editing?

An excerpt:
"And now the public can see all if they visit Griffith's Wikiscanner site. Turns out that all the anonymous propaganda and lies on Wikipedia aren't coming from basement dwellers at all -- they're coming from Congress, the CIA, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Somebody at Halliburton deleted key information from an entry on war crimes; Diebold, an electronic-voting machine manufacturer, deleted sections of its entry about a lawsuit filed against it. Someone at Pepsi deleted information about health problems caused by the soft drink. Somebody at The New York Times deleted huge chunks of information from the entry on the Wall Street Journal. And of course, the CIA has been editing the entry on the Iraq war."
AlterNet: The Trouble with Anonymity on the Web

BBC NEWS | UK | Juror in the clear over MP3 claim

2007-08-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you need to leave your Ipod at home.

BBC NEWS | UK | Juror in the clear over MP3 claim

15 Unfortunately Placed Ads

2007-07-23T05:34:00.000-07:00

15 Unfortunately Placed Ads

Something to ponder when analyzing advertisements. Hilarious.

Little People - a tiny street art project

2007-07-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Check out this art.
Little People - a tiny street art project

AlterNet: Blogs: PEEK: A Picture of the GOP on Civil Rights

2007-07-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

Again, someone uses a photograph to make a point. Is it effective?

AlterNet: Blogs: PEEK: A Picture of the GOP on Civil Rights

All nine Republican presidential candidates are invited to an NAACP forum. Only one shows up.

TheStar.com - World - 'Fat tax' could save lives: U.K. study

2007-07-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

If you live in London that doughnut is going to cost you...
TheStar.com - World - 'Fat tax' could save lives: U.K. study: "LONDON – A 'fat tax' on salty, sugary and fatty foods could save thousands of lives in Britain each year, according to a study published on Thursday."

AlterNet: Blogs: Video: Michael Moore Rips Wolf Blitzer on CNN: "Why Don't You Tell the American People the Truth" [VIDEO]

2007-07-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

The blogosphere is going crazy about this clip. What do you think? Who has the "facts"?

AlterNet: Blogs: Video: Michael Moore Rips Wolf Blitzer on CNN: "Why Don't You Tell the American People the Truth" [VIDEO]

Registan.net » The Dumbing Down of America

2007-07-03T06:18:00.000-07:00

Must see... shows the covers of US magazines compared to overseas covers. Are Americans really that dumb?

Registan.net » The Dumbing Down of America

Today Show Reuses Gregory Clip During Duff Performance - Media on The Huffington Post

2007-07-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

By Lisa Weir

So, this is your trustworthy media working hard to bring you the news. What is the point of using an old clip? For those of you who don't know, David Gregory is a White House Correspondent. Gregory has often been praised for standing up to the White House, even though some think he ought to be tougher (*see Wilson, Cintra. "I invaded the White House press corps." in the reading section). Is this some sort of lame attempt to embarrass him? Is it a strange way to promote Hilary Duff? In any event, this type of behavior - inserting an old clip into a new shot - is LYING. Again, another leg of the journalistic integrity table being chewed off by the bored dog. When is that table going to crash to the ground?

Be a vigilant skeptic, if one cannot even trust video footage of a kid's concert - what else can't we trust?
Today Show Reuses Gregory Clip During Duff Performance - Media on The Huffington Post

During a live performance of Hilary Duff's new song "Stranger" on the Today Show Friday morning, admitted Duff fan David Gregory was pictured bopping along to the 19-year-old tween queen's music. If Gregory's unique dance moves seemed familiar to audiences, it's because they should be. Producers spliced in an old clip of the NBC newsman busting a move (from 2005!) to the new song. Also seen in the audience? Senior Vice President of NBC News and executive-in-charge of "Today," Phil Griffin

User admits 'death' editing on Wikipedia 14 hours before bodies found | ajc.com

2007-06-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

"Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys." -Emma Bull
This story is just weird.
User admits 'death' editing on Wikipedia 14 hours before bodies found | ajc.com

Money quote:

The editing that mentioned the death of Chris Benoit's wife was posted more than 14 hours before police discovered her body, along with her son's and husband's, at the pro wrestler's Fayette County home.

An anonymous user edited the biography of the wrestler on Monday at 12:01 a.m., said Ordonez.

Authorities discovered the bodies at the Benoit's Green Meadow Lane home that afternoon, at 2:30 p.m.

The Monday morning posting said: "Chris Benoit was replaced by Johnny Nitro for the [ECW] Extreme Championship Wrestling Championship match at Vengeance, as Benoit was not there due to personal issues, stemming from the death of his wife Nancy."

Michael Shaw: Reading The Pictures: Between Bush's TuTu and Tu Tu's Bush - Media on The Huffington Post

2007-06-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

Image Analysis! How do we know what is real? This picture is a composite. Tutu and Bush never posed together.

From:
Michael Shaw: Reading The Pictures: Between Bush's TuTu and Tu Tu's Bush - Media on The Huffington Post

QUOTE:
"After weeks on the newsstand, I'm assuming many of you have seen it, and even know of the concept behind this month's 20 different Bono/Leibovitz-produced VF Africa covers.

So, coming late to the party, let me ask you a few questions.

1. Did you know that this photo was a composite, and that George Bush and Desmond Tutu never posed together?

2. Did you know only one of the 20 covers features subjects that were completely photographed together? (And, do you know which one?)

3. Did you know that the issue never discloses that the photos are composites?

4. Do you think Tutu knew he was being paired with Bush -- and vice-versa?

5. And, if the men knew who they were being paired with, do you think they had any input on the way they posed?

Cover slideshow here. All 20 in one place. VF Africa issue TOC.

For more of the visual -- including a look at the real Digby -- visit BAGnewsNotes.com.

(h/t: Shepard. Image: Annie Leibovitz/Vanity Fair. July 2007. vanityfair.com)"

Elevated Voices - Colorado’s Fight Against the Real I.D. Act

2007-06-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

Deb sent me this article. It does a great job of explaining why some folks are against the "Federal Real I.D Act."

Some highlights:
"Conservatives and liberals have assailed the legislation recently as a violation of civil rights because it demands more information from residents and then keeps it permanently at the government’s fingertips. In addition to being a costly mandate for states, it makes citizens vulnerable to identity theft by keeping their most important information in a central place that could be hacked into, critics say."

Elevated Voices - Colorado’s Fight Against the Real I.D. Act

Oh wait...they already want to implant chips...Read the rest it is truly interesting. Has there always been objections to a National ID Card? Perhaps we should all just have an implanted chip? Moratorium on RFID chips urged

Drew Westen: Winning Hearts and Minds: Why Rational Appeals Are Irrational If Your Goal is Winning Elections - Politics on The Huffington Post

2007-06-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

A perfect explanation of the powerful nature of pathos in argument. Westen claims that reason or logos is not what wins elections. He compares the 1992 Clinton campaign commercial to Kerry's 2004 attempt. The video clips are provided. Westen's cocktail is an example of a comparative image analysis essay with a psychological twist.Drew Westen: Winning Hearts and Minds: Why Rational Appeals Are Irrational If Your Goal is Winning Elections - Politics on The Huffington Post

2007-06-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

As a student of rhetoric, another term you should familiarize yourself with is "master narrative." This term applies to the "story" in the article. Sometimes this "story" might distract the reader from serious issues. Jay Rosen's article discusses how the "horse race" narrative keeps the reader from learning anything substantive about presidential candidates.

PressThink: Who's Ahead? No, Seriously...
PressThink: Who's Ahead? No, Seriously...

The Opera Guy in the Semi-Finals

2007-06-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Leave it to a cell phone salesman to single-handedly bring back Opera. He's a become a rock star...

YouTube - AKIBA ROBOT FESTIVAL 2006: Actroid Female Robot

2007-06-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

Does this creep anyone else out? How many more years until we are living The Terminator?

Oglers of X-rated Paris Hilton exposed - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com

2007-06-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Privacy online - an oxymoron.

"Those of you who can't resist rubbernecking at the car accident that is Paris Hilton should beware -- others may discover your guilty pleasure.

Everyone knows that nothing you do online is really anonymous, yet nearly everyone forgets that on a regular basis. Your boss, for example, can easily find out how many Paris Hilton news items you read every day (a total that just went up by one). And if you engage in less-than-appropriate Web browsing through pictures and videos of famous female celebrities, well, that's easy to spy, too."
Oglers of X-rated Paris Hilton exposed - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com

AlterNet: Google My Bedroom

2007-06-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

Google My Bedroom

By Annalee Newitz, AlterNet. Posted June 13, 2007.

"Google's newest widget has questionable ethics. Do you really want to walk down the street never knowing whether your furtive nose-picking has been captured and broadcast to the Google-using public?"
AlterNet: Google My Bedroom

YouTube - dove evolution

2007-06-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

Something to contemplate for your image analysis paper...

Colbert again.... Wikilobbying

2007-06-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

Lewis Black: Creepy Google

2007-06-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

A Colbert Classic: Truthiness

2007-06-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

YouTube - Paul sings Nessun Dorma high quality video/sound

2007-06-13T17:49:00.000-07:00