tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22603863611734930992024-02-06T18:30:14.389-08:00A Learning QuestMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-60168939193946558202011-05-16T14:09:00.000-07:002011-05-16T14:09:31.247-07:00What's the ROI on ROI?A few weeks ago I participated in a panel discussion arranged by the network Swedish Learning Association. The subject for the discussion was Competence Development and we who was in the panel came from two furniture dealer companies from Sweden, IKEA and Kinnarps. It was really interesting to learn from another company working in the same field.<br />
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But what really caught my interest was a discussion that started way too close to the end of the gathering. One participant started asking us questions about how we proved that our competence development initiatives were successful. Did we prove it with showing the ROI? My response was that I have never calculated ROI in my life. But the participant wasn't happy with that answer, because how can I prove the right for an L&D department, if I don't show the management that they get something for the money they invest.<br />
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On the way home I reflected on my views on ROI and came to some conclusions. So here they are:<br />
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1. I hate economics. Every time people start talking about investments, ROI, budgets etc. I start to sweat. I don't know why, but that's how it is. So is this making me deny ROI simply because I have a fear of these kinds of things? No I don't think so. Because I also realised this:<br />
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2. I have actually never been asked to prove mine or the L&D departments right to exist in any company I have worked for. Why is that? Is it that the I am possessing some cool stealth equipment and simply managed to keep myself below the company radar? No I honestly don't think so. I think the companies I have worked for has seen the need for learning and development within their company. I mean, any profit driven company will close down departments that they don't see the need for. Now I think I am on to something:<br />
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3. In my profession, working with learning and competence development one thing is crucial as I see it. Working as close as possible to the business, preferably as an equal partner. By that I mean that I don't come up with suggestions for learning initiatives on my own. I do it together with the business. Together we start with identifying the needs the business has and if the need can be fixed with the help of learning I find the best solution to their problem. This means that I suggest a solution to a problem the business themselves have identified. By doing this there is no need to prove ROI. It's enough to show that what we wanted to change has been changed. If I would be asked for ROI on my job I would consider it a failure for me, since to me that shows that I have come up with a solution to a problem the business don't see as partculary important. Think of it like this: if a car sales man knocked on your door and suggested that you should buy a new car from him. Wouldn't you start to question this? Wouldn't you ask why he suggested this? And wouldn't you ask for some ROI? But what if you turned to a car dealer and together with the sales man started to discuss your needs and desires for a new car. After long discussions he suggests a car that fulfills your needs. Would you then start to question him? Would you ask for prove of ROI? Probably not, because you have a problem that he can fix for you and that is enough proof.<br />
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4. To prove ROI is a complex task that takes a lot of time and require both manpower and money to be successful. So as I stated in the title: what's the ROI of ROI? Is it really worth spending all that time and resources? Wouldn't it be better to focus on fixing a critical business problem?<br />
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Maybe I am naive, but I just can't understand the thing with ROI. And to be honest I still haven't met anyone who has been able to prove me wrong or even show me how they have calculated the ROI on a learning investment. And maybe more important, what they have gained from doing so.<br />
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So is anyone out there ready to prove me wrong? I am really, honestly looking forward to it, because I don't mind being proved wrong and I love to learn new things.<br />
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Thanks for taking the time,<br />
/MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-6014152445638256342011-03-14T14:17:00.000-07:002011-03-14T14:18:02.216-07:00Is the future of Learning either/or?I have been enjoying reading "The New Learning Architect" by Clive Shepherd. I am not through it yet as I try to keep the pace of the #lrntect book chat on the book. The main reason I really enjoy the book is that it takes a very humble approach to different types of learning (such as formal learning, informal learning, Top-down, Bottom-up). Often when I follow and participate in discussions on these topics I get the feeling that you have to be either/or. Either you believe fully in formal learning and a top-down approach or you believe only in informal learning and a bottom up approach.<br />
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As I said in a tweet in the book chat I don't believe in black or white. Often the best solutions can be found in the grey zone. This goes for most things, politics, sports, religion, learning, you name it (except for music since the music I listen to is basically the only music that is wort listening to. All other music styles are just crap :-) ). I simply find it hard to fully believe in people being to extreme in their views on any subject.<br />
Of course, I understand that sometimes people take a certain stand just to get a discussion going. I know I do that quite often. But I think the discussions sometimes becomes to much of a boxing match where one side tries to knock the other side down. I prefer discussions that are more focusing on finding a common approach that "everyone" can share, but maybe that's just me.<br />
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In The New Learning Architect Shepherd tries to explain the pros' and cons' of all the different approaches and this makes it very interesting to read.<br />
In my view the greatest learning environment offers me as a learner different approaches, some formal, some informal, some top-down and some bottom-up. This to me is an environment that supports all learners in the best possible way. It gives me as a learner the opportunity to explore and learn by myself in some cases and to let someone else train me in other cases.<br />
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So the questions are:<br />
Am I thinking like this just because I am a chicken Swede?<br />
Don't I dare to take a stance?<br />
Or is a mix the best solution?<br />
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What is your view?<br />
Thanks for reading,<br />
MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-6530888436874829352011-03-10T02:45:00.001-08:002011-03-12T22:22:00.940-08:00Response to Question 8 in the lrnbook chat on The New Learning Architect.Ok so I am trying out the Essay function in HootCourse. Let's see how it works.<br />
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In this post I will respond to the following question:<br />
<blockquote>Shepherd suggests that people don’t resist change, but do resist <em>being</em> changed. What strategies do you employ to help people buy into/embrace changes?<br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>First of all I think it is important to realise that change is not something that happens over night. It's a process in which you have to allow time to let the change sink in.<br />
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By creating a clear change plan involving all the different stakeholders/groups it's easier to see when and how to involve them in the change. In my world communication is the key, especially in the beginning of a project. Many times you hear about a project when it starts and then you hear nothing until they start to roll out their solution. This is not the way to go, it's better to have an open and transparent project where people can follow the project and by the time it's time to roll out people are well aware of what's coming.<br />
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I would like to give a little anecdote on how things can go completely wrong if you hit people with a change like a strike from Mohammad Ali's uppercut.<br />
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A couple of years ago I worked in a company in the mobile phone industry. In January we were briefed about a new IT-system that we should use to report travel expenses. They showed how the tool worked and talked about how fantastic this tool was. Then they added that there were trainings that we could sign up for. These trainings would start in March and there would be sessions all the way until summer so everyone would definitely have the chance to sign up for a training.<br />
At this point everything was ok, but when someone asked: "So when will we start using this system?" it all went down the drain. The answer was "Today!".<br />
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This is NOT the way to handle change. And I can honestly say that still after more than one year using this system I still hear daily complaints about it. We were thrown into the change and we will not accept it, ever. Unfortunatelly for the project they forgot to invite my department to the project. I am confident that if they had done so the outcome would have been completely different, as we would never have accepted their approach to handling change.<br />
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Thanks for reading,<br />
MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-17688964233818835362011-02-21T07:06:00.000-08:002011-02-21T07:06:52.662-08:00Suggestion for Hootcourse on "The New Learning Architect"In a few weeks time there will be a #lrnbook chat about the book "The New Learning Architect" by Clive Shepherd, that I will participate in.<br />
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Our course leader @britz asked a question on Twitter today on how to divide the reading of the book over the course period. Here is my suggestion:<br />
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1. We skip the Profile chapters as these deal with one individual per chapter. I am not sure if it's interesting to discuss these peoples work.<br />
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2. This is how I would chunk the chapters:<br />
<ol><li>Week 1: Introduction, Time for a rethink, One more time, how do people learn?</li>
<li>Week 2: A contextual model for learning, Top-down learning, Bottom-up learning</li>
<li>Week 3: Formal learning, Non-formal learning, On-demand learning</li>
<li>Week 4: Experiential learning, Putting the model to use</li>
</ol>Ok, that is my suggestion. Take it or leave it :-)<br />
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Thanks for taking the time,<br />
MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-5867464789267063152011-02-20T13:13:00.000-08:002011-02-20T13:13:04.892-08:00Change of behavior - Response to @janet_frgEarlier today I participated in Marcia Conners (@marciamarcia) webinar on "The New Social Learning". It was a great seminar with a lot of interesting points. During the webinar there was also a backchannel discussion going on at #newsociallearn. During the session Marcia got a question on how Social Learning can create behavioral change. To me that seemed like somewhat a strange question. So I threw out a tweet saying:<br />
<blockquote>Isn't the goal with all learning, social or not, behavioral change? </blockquote>It didn't take long before I got a question what I meant with this tweet from Janet Laane Effron (@janet_frg). Here is our conversation:<br />
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<blockquote>@janet_frg: "goal of all learning=behavioral change?" Not sure how you are defining terms. Is goal of learning Thermodynamics behavioral?</blockquote><blockquote>@mattiaskareld: I think so yes. If you want ppl to use their knowledge of thermodynamics to do something differently. Otherwise what's the point?</blockquote><blockquote>@janet_frg: I wonder if we're looking at a different definition of terms. I don't see behaviour as identical to understanding/application</blockquote><blockquote>@mattiaskareld:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> </span>to me behavior is how you act in a certain context. Learning something just for having the knowledge is not enough for me.</span></span></blockquote><blockquote>@janet_frg: Thanks, Mattias, for the clarification. I think you are using "behavior" as I would "application of knowledge".</blockquote><blockquote>@mattiaskareld: not necessarily, that is too narrow. To me behavior is how we act in a context. I see a blog post coming to explain further.</blockquote><br />
What do I mean with change of behavior? To me, behavior means how we act in certain situations. Often behavior is seen as how we act towards other people, but to me that is not the full picture. Then you might ask: "In that case, doesn't all learning have an effect on our behavior?" No, is my answer. Let me give you one example:<br />
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Traditionally in Swedish schools the kids have been told to learn all Swedish kings by name, when they were crowned and when they died. Basically they should know this by heart. Does this knowledge change my behavior? In some cases probably (a few students probably found this interesting and decided to learn more about these kings),but for most students this was simply something they had to learn. They learned this because the teacher told them to. If they didn't you would get punished. The goal for teaching this was not that the students should get interested in history, or that they should draw some conclusion from it. It was simply a knowledge that, in the teacher's view all people should have, no matter if they would ever use this knowledge. Learning that the Swedish king Gustav Vasa was crowned in 1523 and died in 1560 does not change my behavior and that was never the intention.<br />
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Luckily, this type of teaching was challenged. Why does anyone need to know this? Isn't it more important to know what this king did, during his time at the throne? And does it affect us who lives over 500 years later? Can we learn something from his life that we can use in our life now?<br />
By changing this all of a sudden you are actually looking at changing the behavior of the students. Instead of just remembering dates they are asked to draw their own conclusions and to think about how history can affect us living in this day and age. Knowing that Gustav Vasa was responsible for the reformation in Sweden, breaking with the Catholic Church and moving Sweden towards Protestantism is of more interest since that is very much the base of the Swedish society as we see it today. By knowing this you can understand why Sweden is one of the most secularized countries in the world and you can also understand why religion plays a much greater role in many other countries. By having this setup it is more likely that you will change behavior towards other people as you have the understandings mentioned above.<br />
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So what about Janet's example with thermodynamics? First of all I must say that my own knowledge about this subject is very limited so bare with me if I don't use all the right words and terms below:<br />
Well as I see it you can definitely teach someone about thermodynamics with the goal to change their behavior. If you just teach about formulas and how to calculate things with these formulas you are probably not changing much behavior. But if you give the learners a dilemma and asks them to solve it, and then discuss how they solved the issue you have probably created an atmosphere where the students will start to reflect on what they have learned and maybe even challenge it. By learning about the most significant scientists in this field and what impact they have had on it, the learners will also be more interested, and so on. This will create engineers (because I think this is a subject mainly for engineers) who are more willing to challenge the facts and be innovative and thereby you have changed their behavior from being calculating machines to being thinking innovators.<br />
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I really believe that if you design the learning experience in a smart way you can always aim for a change in behavior of the learners. If you only teach facts, figures and formulas you will create learners who know things but have no idea what they should do with this knowledge (except for maybe participating in Jeopardy). Instead of just focusing on what the learners should know after the training/course/class or whatever you want to call it, you should focus on what you want the learners to do differently after the training/course/class.<br />
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I hope I have made sense in this post. I am not really used to discuss these types of things, which made it even more interesting to write. I would like to thank Janet for the challenge. Looking forward to more challenges in the future.<br />
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Thanks for taking the time,<br />
Mattias<br />
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<blockquote></blockquote>Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-1885881729281659372011-02-15T14:32:00.000-08:002011-02-15T14:32:11.129-08:00Three reasons why some companies are scared of Social Media.For some time now there has been a lively discussion about why so many companies are not allowing Social Media to be a part of their employees IT-environment. After reading the great book "The New Social Learning" by Marcia Conner and Tony Bingham I have learned how to respond to the skeptics of Social Media. I have used these tips a number of times when discussing these issues with different people from different companies. And to be honest it has worked every single time.<br />
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But as these discussions pops up again and again I started wondering WHY so many companies (or actually people within these companies) have these attitudes. Because if we really want to make a change I don't think it is enough to have answers to questions. I need to understand where these ideas come from in order to really work with the needed change.<br />
So let's start with the first reason:<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">1. Loss of technological monopoly</span></b><br />
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I will go way back in history for this one. Historically companies have had total monopoly of the latest technology. Back in the Industrial Age people had little, if any, technology in their homes. Companies had all the technology available. It was the company who decided when it was time to invest in a new machine and the worker had no influence of these decisions as they had little, or no, knowledge of the latest technology. The engineers of that time was in total power and had monopoly on technology.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSUI6Uv8aETFNOxtFIGMNzdmnANGSBySGZ7JAYjDrW0s6ozJKb03Vhb2qlWx-ihn3F5bkoMmGbqqvCPdBpJPuXxwKodLKr57A14OGHHqIB1_oN0cBVtQl9_y-ioTpCbHR-LCuCy8bxBk/s1600/machine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSUI6Uv8aETFNOxtFIGMNzdmnANGSBySGZ7JAYjDrW0s6ozJKb03Vhb2qlWx-ihn3F5bkoMmGbqqvCPdBpJPuXxwKodLKr57A14OGHHqIB1_oN0cBVtQl9_y-ioTpCbHR-LCuCy8bxBk/s320/machine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today the situation is quite the opposite. At home people have 3D TV´s, we have high speed Internet connections, we use smart tools like Evernote and Dropbox. We socialise via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc. The companies no longer have the monopoly on the latest technology and this is a new situation to them. The tech-guys in today's companies are competing with all the amazingly innovative people at companies like Google and more. Of course, this situation must be quite scary and hard to tackle for the IT-department in many companies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>2. New media technology has always been controversial</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ok, so we visited history in the first point. Let's continue with this now. But this time we'll move even further back in history. Because often when an innovation has appeared in the field of media some people have reacted strongly against it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In 1440 Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with movable types. This made it possible to mass print books. Before this, writers had copied books by hand which made books expensive and rare. With the printing press all of a sudden books became cheaper and easier to come by (still they were quite expensive but not as much as before). Was there critics to this? Well, yes there was. The arguments against this technique ranged from that "writers will not have work anymore" to "ordinary people shouldn't have access to books, it's dangerous for them. Who knows what they will do with these books" (recognise it?). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the 20th century the tape recorder caused the same negativity. No one would buy records anymore since they could record anything broadcasted on the radio, or even worse they could start copying records. This would lead to artists loosing their income and the whole music industry would collapse.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXGFseFB-jZeNX-YhKaKv805gsl4BX8BqWMAnsHgfxv3RALBpjXwQNJ4oQPP789KSppeS4K9o-b7ePrTec2l_Z7mzDVgX0oOBuyJappV_H8E6748nC4lQ0GKOTokb8YpqA9FzHeZ_UAA/s1600/tape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXGFseFB-jZeNX-YhKaKv805gsl4BX8BqWMAnsHgfxv3RALBpjXwQNJ4oQPP789KSppeS4K9o-b7ePrTec2l_Z7mzDVgX0oOBuyJappV_H8E6748nC4lQ0GKOTokb8YpqA9FzHeZ_UAA/s200/tape.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The same debate happened all over again, first with cd-burners and then with file sharing. And now with Social Media the same debate happens once more. "Who knows what people will use these tools for? What if someone uses them in the wrong way? SoMe is not for work, people just use them to play games like Farmville".</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">3. Data is safe, people are not.</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Traditionally IT-applications have retrieved data from a database and then presented it to a user. Computers were programmed and did exactly what they were told. Sometimes things went wrong, but the computer and data was never to blame, it was a human who did something wrong with the code. As long as the code was correct we were in total control.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With Social Media a new element was added to the equation, namely ordinary people. People who do mistakes, people who act strange and do unexpected things, people who find work arounds' to problems. This makes the whole retrieving of data and presenting it much harder. We can no longer trust the source and therefore it is dangerous. This lack of control is probably the most scary things to traditional IT-people. People simply can't be trusted like raw data can. We are not the owners of all the content anymore, the owners are the users, and users can't be trusted.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is another reason why this new technology is dangerous and therefore has to be banned, the sooner the better. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, that was my list. What do you think? Does this make any sense? Am I on the right track? If I am, can this be of any use when trying to change the attitude towards Social Media or doesn't it really matter? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks for taking the time,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mattias</div>Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-54818299634925810392011-02-14T05:58:00.000-08:002011-02-14T10:29:04.153-08:00Reflections after the "Stupid Bloody System (Jävla skitsystem in Swedish)" seminarLast week I attended a seminar at Linnaeus University in Växjö, Sweden. The title of the seminar was "Jävla Skitsystem" or in English "Stupid Bloody System". It was facilitated by Jonas Söderström who has written a book with the same title as the seminar. The sub heading of the seminar was "Cognitive stress from today's fragmented digital work environment - the users' view" which in many ways sums it up quite good.<br />
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In the seminar Jonas talked about how users get frustrated by badly designed IT-systems and how that can be a major influence of stress in the work life. I think we have all experienced how some systems we use in our work can be quite frustrating to work with simply because of the way they are designed. Jonas gave us some examples of systems that were just plain stupid. <br />
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Just to give you one example he showed an image of a button with a big red cross on it and asked us what would happen if he clicked the button. The responses he got was "Close down", "Erase", "Exit". The correct answer, however, was "Create a new document". Well that wasn't very apparent!<br />
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As I said he showed a number of these examples, but however funny those examples were, that was not the important point in the seminar, at least according to me. Because most people can probably live with a system that has some of these strange designs. But how many people only work in one system? We have systems for reporting our time, reporting holidays, signing up for trainings, going through e-learnings, and on and on and on. If we add up these systems we can quickly realise that if all these systems have just one element of strange design a whole lot of strange things are coming our way. One stupid design in each system quickly adds up to a whole flood of stupidity, and we have to spend time, effort and sometimes even money to swim through this flood. <br />
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In the book "The new Learning Architect" by Clive Shepherd (2011) there is an example from research done by market intelligence firm IDC saying that:<br />
<blockquote></blockquote><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"></span>I wonder how much those seven hours could be reduced if the employees had smartly designed IT-tools at hand? <br />
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When we work in all these systems and they work in different ways we get frustrated. If CTRL+O means Open in one system and the same shortcut means Close down without saving in another system, you can imagine the frustration for the user. The fact is that these badly designed systems may very well be one of the main casuses for people having to leave their jobs due to work-related stress. Jonas showed a number of graphs to back this up and it's actually a scary view.<br />
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So what can we do about it? Well first of all we have to put the user in focus when designing new systems. For too long the only thing that has really mattered have been technical demands and business demands. I seldomly hear about IT-projects who has the user demands in focus. We have to understand that in order for an IT-application to become an IT-SYSTEM there has to be people using it, and these people have certain needs that the application has to fulfill, otherwise people will either be frustrated and stop using the system. Or they will be frustrated and find work-arounds. And what has the application achieved then?<br />
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Another thing Jonas pointed out as important is my field of expertise, Learning. We have to make sure that the user of the system gets proper training in order to be able to work efficiently in the system. I agree and disagree. Yes of course I think it is important to support the user of the system with learning, performance support, on-the-job learning and all that. But in all honesty: Learning is not the way to fix a crappy system.<br />
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A few years back I was in a band and we were going to record a demo (no it's not available on YouTube). The sound engineer who helped us said one thing that applies also to my above, namely: If you have crappy sound going into the mixer, you will have crappy sound going out as well (Crap in - Crap out).<br />
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I found the seminar really inspiring and thoughtful. I realised a number of strange things in systems I use daily that I hadn't really thought about before. And I also realise the importance of having the user in focus all the way from the start in IT-projects. In this work I think that we L&D people can play an important role. Because our experience of working with people in focus and understanding the needs of the people can help the IT-projects. I have written a previous post about this that you can find <a href="http://mattiaskareld.blogspot.com/2011/01/working-smarter-personal-success.html">here</a> . <br />
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If you know Swedish make sure to check the book out and also follow Jonas on Twitter (@Jonas_Blind_Hen). You can also check out the web page: <a href="http://javlaskitsystem.se/">http://javlaskitsystem.se/</a> and there is an English version as well: <a href="http://javlaskitsystem.se/english">http://javlaskitsystem.se/english</a><br />
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I would love to hear your stories on stupid systems that you use in your everyday life, please feel free to leave a comment. Think of it as a way to relieve stress.<br />
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Thanks for taking the time,<br />
Mattias<br />
<blockquote><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">"...employees are, on average, losing seven hours per week searching, resolving queries, and interrupting colleagues for assistance with procedures"</span></blockquote>Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-16273192935056704172011-02-02T14:07:00.000-08:002011-02-04T12:23:46.314-08:00Reflections after Learning Technologies 2011 Part 3In my attempt to reflect on my goals with visiting Learning Technologies Conference in London last week I have now come to my third and last goal. For those who don't remember the third goal, here it is:<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To get ideas on how to strengthen our L&D department in terms of brining value to the business.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I will not go into details on how the department I work in is setup and how we need to change, this is important to remember as some of the things I reflect on here isn't really based on my current job. It is more a general reflection on how any L&D department need to work in order to be at their best. </span><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
The topic of how to work with my own Learning & Development as well as the Learning & Development for my department is something that I have always found interesting. It seems to me that the L&D department are often so focused on L&D for everyone else that they forget about their own L&D. One of the reasons for this is probably that L&D isn't the core business of the workplace and of course we should focus our Learning and Development on the core business. Another reason is probably that "very little" has really happened in the field of Learning & Development the last couple of decades. When you look at some of the theories and names often referred by L&D people, like Behaviorism (1913), Cognitivism (1950's), Kirkpatrick's Four levels of evaluation (1959) it's easy to see that they all are more or less old. But in the last couple of years things have really started to happen in the field of Learning & Development. New tools and theories are being introduced and the old ways of delivering training are rightfully questioned. This is the background to why I think this is such an important issue for everyone involved in the L&D field. <br />
<br />
In one sense all sessions that I attended had the purpose of strengthening the L&D department, but some of them more than others. One in particular had this in focus:<br />
<br />
<b>Building a better learning department</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
This seminar was facilitated by Nigel Paine and gave us as participants a chance to discuss with each other. It was very thought provoking and interesting to hear other persons views on these matters. Two main themes stood out. <br />
When it comes to competence development it's important to have a long term strategy in place. To decide where we want our department to be in, say five years, and then take the necessary actions according to that strategy. That makes it easier to evaluate my development and to secure I am on the right track.<br />
When we were discussing how to deal with new technology we ended up in a discussion of how to work with the IT-department that many of the attendants saw as a great hinderance. Some even went as far as calling it the Innovation Prevention department. Neils take on this was that it was better to make friends with the right people within the IT-department. It is also important to think about how to approach the IT-department. Instead of demanding a specific solution we should present our needs and ask them for a solution. I fully agree with this approach as we may not have all the information needed to make the correct decision on the perfect solution. If we have made sure that the IT-department are our friends we can work out the best solution together and hopefully end up with a solution that everyone involved are satisfied with.<br />
<br />
In all honesty it must be said that if we look back just ten or twenty years people working with learning had little or no contact with the Tech department. Maybe to only time they were connected was when they needed help with changing light bulb in the projector. So this situation is quite new to both L&D department and the IT-department, so in my world it's very much up to how we manage change and how we find ways to work together.<br />
<br />
This session was full of interesting discussions and what I have scribbled here is just a summary of the things I found most interesting. I would love to hear what others attending this session has to say about it.<br />
<br />
<b>Action mapping for great e-learning.</b><br />
<br />
Host for this session was the very interesting Cathy Moore. The session was a very hands on guide on how to create an engaging and rewarding e-learning for the learners. I simply love this approach. It's easy to understand, it makes perfect sense and most importantly it works. I have read about this in Cathy Moore's blog and I have tried it in one project so far and my experience is all positive.<br />
To make a short summary of the method it's about going from traditional information packed e-learning courses where the focus is on what the learners should learn, to an e-learning based on what the learner should be able to do and information is only given to support the actions and exercises the learner is undertaking.<br />
I had planned to go through the action mapping model shortly in this post but then I read Cathy's blog post from the conference and realized that it is better if you just go there and read it from the one who really knows what she is talking about. So go to <a href="http://blog.cathy-moore.com/">http://blog.cathy-moore.com/</a> and then come back here and continue the reading.<br />
This session was so interesting and the action mapping approach appeals to me in so many ways. I love working with mind maps, I see it as a great way for us in the L&D field to get closer to the real business, it's quite easy to explain, it makes perfect sense and most importantly it works. This session is definitely the one that I will pass on to my co-workers to give them this tool to work with.<br />
There is really only one thing that I haven't quite understood with this method, and that is: Why is it that it is said to be a method to create better e-learning? To me it seems to be perfect for any kind of learning experience. I am right now involved in a project where I will try this method for both an e-learning and a traditional face-2-face training. And I am pretty convinced it will work for both. If you have experience in working with this method please share it so we can all learn from your experience.<br />
Thanks to Cathy for explaining this method to us in such a fascinating way.<br />
<br />
<b>From cognitive psychology to learning design</b><br />
<br />
Dr Chris Atherton revealed her key findings from her research on how to design learning experiences that sticks with people. She made a very interesting presentation on how much people remembers from presentations depending on how the presentations are designed. We have all heard the expression "Death by Powerpoint" and we have probably also experienced it a couple of times. My believe has always been that you should work with images instead of words when creating your presentations (see this post for more about this <a href="http://mattiaskareld.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-kids-toys-treasure-box-for.html">http://mattiaskareld.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-kids-toys-treasure-box-for.html</a> ). And to my satisfaction this was proven in her research. Presentations packed with bullet points simply don't work. Or as Chris said "bullets don't kill, bullet points does".<br />
She also talked about the magic number 4. The thing here is that humans can only remember four things at a time. She asked us to look at 10 random letters and then see if we could remember them. Once again I was very satisfied that I actually managed to do so. What I did was basically to chunk the letters into groups that I could remember. Without knowing of the magic number 4 I actually grouped them in four clusters and by doing so I could remember all ten.<br />
This session was engaging and fun and very interesting. Dr Chris Atherton presented it in the best possible way and of course she had the best PowerPoint presentation of the conference (with Craig Taylor right behind her, he also worked mainly with images so again the point is proven).<br />
<br />
<b>Engaging learners with social learning tools</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
Paul Simbeck-Hampsons session was probably the nerdiest of them all (and I mean this in the best possible way) Paul talked with great inspiration about QR-codes. Many people in the audience didn't know what a QR-code is, but Paul showed how they can be used in a very interesting way. So in the nature of Paul's session I will not explain all about QR-codes. Instead I ask you to bring out your smartphone and scan this:<br />
<br />
<img alt="qrcode" src="http://qrcode.kaywa.com/img.php?s=8&d=http%3A%2F%2Fsimbeckhampson.com%2F%3Fp%3D254" /><br />
<br />
Thank you Paul for making such a nerdy subject really interesting. It will be so interesting to see the future usage of QR-codes.<br />
<br />
Wow, this post got longer than I expected. Sorry about that, but that is what happens when I have so many interesting things to share.<br />
I just hope you enjoyed reading it and that you didn't fall asleep.<br />
<br />
Thanks for taking the time,<br />
/MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-71957062137012234912011-01-30T14:54:00.000-08:002011-01-31T12:00:56.234-08:00Reflections after Learning Technologies 2011 Part 2Ok it's time for the second part of my reflections after the two days of Learning Technologies 2011 ( #LT11UK ). In this second post I will focus on my second goal that I had set up for the conference, namely:<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; line-height: 18px;">To learn more about how to use Social Media as a means to Learning in an organization.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;"> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">There is no doubt in my mind that Social Media can be used for learning new things. I have used Twitter and my blog for some time and have learned a huge amount of stuff that I would probably not have been able to learn without the use of these tools. So from a personal point of view I am in no doubt that learning can be enhanced by using Social Media tools, but what about whole organisations? Is it really possible to have a large organisation with high security demands on their IT environment to embark on the SoMe journey?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Two of the sessions I attended dealt with Social Media and how it can be used for learning in organisations and here are my thoughts on these two seminars:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b>Seminar: Using Social Media for workplace learning</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">This seminar was spot on when I read the title and since it was facilitated by one of my favorite Twitter-friends Jane Bozarth it was a must-attend seminar for me. I have read Jane's book "Social Media for Trainers" and enjoyed it very much. It's a hands on book with a great deal of tips for trainers who wants to enhance their trainings by using SoMe tools. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I was a bit concerned before the session that it wouldn't give me so much as I have been following Jane on Twitter for some time, read her blog and book. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">But I was wrong.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Hearing the message right from the horse's mouth (sorry Jane, no offense intended) is something completely different from reading books, blog posts and tweets. The energy, the knowledge and the humor she showed during her presentation gave me a lot of energy. It was a session both for those were completely new to Social Media and to those who, like me, are already using some of it but maybe not for training enhancement purposes.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">By giving examples of solutions she has taken part in creating, Jane showed us that this is not an impossible thing to do and that using these tools has some clear advantages, such as:</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">they are already existing, no need to start extensive IT-projects to create the solutions.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">they are free (at least some of them, and those that are not are generally not that expensive)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">people are already using them. Why bring new tools to people when they already are using the needed tools?</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">since people are already know how to work with these tools, the tools don't steal focus from the learning experience as a new tool tends to do.</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Even though I was very satisfied with the session, there were some things I would have liked to know more about. For one thing I would have loved to hear about evaluation of some of these projects: </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Are there evidence that using SoMe tools this way is more effective than not using them? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">From a trainer point of view, does it require more or less resources from me? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">and so on...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">But the main thing I really missed (but I am not sure I will ever get to hear this) was to hear one of the LMS providers downstairs at the exhibition respond to Jane's statement that Facebook can be used as an LMS just as well as any of the commercial LMS's. That would for sure have been an interesting discussion.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">So a big thanks to Jane Bozarth for sharing her extensive knowledge in this area. It's always rewarding to hear a true expert talk about their field of knowledge. I will definitely make sure that everyone in my department takes a close look at the works of Jane Bozarth.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b>Seminar: Getting started with Learning Technologies.</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">This seminar was one that I had been looking forward to. Craig Taylor who ran the seminar is once again a person I have followed with great interest on Twitter. We share many of the same challenges wanting to introduce SoMe tools for learning in our very different organisations.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">The target group for Craig's seminar was those who didn't know much about SoMe tools and wanted to learn more about them. So once again I wasn't sure that the seminar would give me that much. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">But did it ever. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Craig is an amazing source of inspiration. The way he presents himself and his subject really makes everyone understand his true passion for these matters. He is a man who loves what he is doing. Even though he has to fight some hard battles to get what he wants he still keeps on fighting. Simply because he knows that it is the right way to go. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Craig walked us through some of the major SoMe tools out there, such as Twitter, Social Bookmarking tools, YouTube, blogs, wikis and so on. He did it with such an energy, especially when talking about Twitter, that I am pretty sure that he got some new followers after this session. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">One thing that got me really interested was when he described an un-conference he had run with trainers in his organisation. The purpose with this un-conference was to learn the trainers about SoMe tools. I have myself been thinking of doing something similar with some of my co-workers so this part really inspired me and I hope that Craig will share more of the setup with me so I can go ahead with this.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I would also like to mention the way Craig used his Powerpoint presentation as it was one of the best presentations I have ever seen. Not only was it really nicely designed. He had also added automatic tweets for each slide (I know he was nervous that this wouldn't work). For the audience that hadn't seen this before it was like magic. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">This was to me the highlight of the two days. It gave me so much energy to hear Craig talk. I left the seminar with the feeling that I just have to take the bull by the horn and start pushing my own organisation just like Craig has done with his.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">As you probably have understood now I definitely fulfilled my second goal of the conference. The two seminars mentioned here were the main pieces of the puzzle but also by talking to all the fantastic people who attended the conference (some mentioned in Part 1) was also a big part in this. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">In my next part I will talk more about my third goal on how to strengthen our L&D department in terms of brining real value to the business.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Stay tuned for more!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">/Mattias</span></div>Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-22883133912085682622011-01-29T03:52:00.000-08:002011-01-29T03:52:50.204-08:00Reflections after Learning Technologies 2011 Part 1<div class="MsoNormal">It’s been a couple of hectic days in London this week as I was attending the Learning Technologies Conference #LT11UK . <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had written a blog post about my expectations before the conference. But due to issues with connecting to wireless networks I haven’t been able to publish it. So instead of publishing it now when the conference is already over I will just summarize my goals for the conference:</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ol><li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To meet some of my Personal Learning Network (PLN) in person.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To learn more about how to use Social Media as a means to Learning in an organization.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To get ideas on how to strengthen our L&D department in terms of brining value to the business.</span></li>
</ol><br />
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the coming posts I will go through these goals one by one to see if I can tick them off as fulfilled or not. In this first post I will reflect on goal number 1.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">To meet some of my Personal Learning Network (PLN) in person.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This was probably most fantastic thing with the conference. It’s one thing to have conversations via Twitter but it was so nice to meet these fantastic people in real life. It showed to me one of the great things with social media in general and Twitter in particular. Because even though I had never met any of these people (expect for David Bennett @dbswe and Peter Fröhlin <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>@Peter_nLearn) before it actually felt like meeting old friends that you hadn’t seen in a long while. Everyone was just as open, sharing and inspiring as I had imagined them to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people I never got to meet this time, which was a shame, but I hope there will be more chances to do so.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Here are some of my fellow tweeters that need an extra tribute:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"></div><ul><li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">@learninganorak – The official Twitter wrangler of #lt11uk. But also the official “big smiley” I believe. Constantly happy and full of energy. Thanks for the warm welcome during the early bird #learningparty.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">@CraigTaylor74 – Another one with a constant smile on his face. We’ve been tweeting quite a bit and you exceed my expectations by far. Also one of the most inspiring facilitators of the whole conference, but I will talk more about that in an upcoming post.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">@dbswe – Yes we had met before but that was very short. Now I know even more about the amazing competence you have acquired in this field. Hope to learn more from you in the future.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">@janebozarth – My favorite twitter turned to be just as fun and intelligent in real life. It’s not every day you get to meet such an inspiration. SO much looking forward to what you will come up with in the future.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">@Quinnovator – We got to talk about one of our mutual disturbances in the world of mobile phones, stupid roaming fees. We’ve had the discussion before and it’s always nice to share your frustration with someone else. I didn’t get to hear his talk on games in learning but I will for sure check it out later.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">@finiteattention – Great dinner company. She was brave enough to join us Swedes for a dinner. Highly skilled in her field, and I will for sure keep track of your work, it was so interesting to hear your thoughts and ideas.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">@simbeckhampson – Never got the chance to really talk to him, but at least we got to say Hi shortly during his presentation.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">@kategraham23 – Another one of those constantly happy and inspiring people.</span></li>
</ul>I have probably forgot about some one. If you feel left out of this list I am so sorry but my head is still spinning from the experience.<div class="MsoNormal">Watch out for my coming posts where I will reflect on the rest of my goals and also draw some general conclusions about the conference.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Thanks for taking the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mattias</span></div></div>Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-10652220383139234792011-01-20T11:52:00.000-08:002011-01-20T11:52:39.430-08:00Confusion - A Catalyst for Learning?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Earlier today I listened to the first seminar in the CCK11 (#CCK11) course I have just started. Apart from general information on how the course works and the very basics of what Connectivism is all about there was some talking about Confusion. I think at least all the participants who are new to this kind of course (and probably some of the experienced ones as well) feel a bit confused right now. New things are happening that we am not in total control of and don't know enough about. We are asked to share our thoughts and ideas and reflections, something some of us might not have done before.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">But what is confusion really? and can it be a positive thing?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">To me, the base for confusion is a sense of not being in control. If I am left all by myself in a city I have never been to I will feel confused at first. Simply because I can't control what is going on around me. But then maybe I ask someone for help or find a map of the city. And all of a sudden the confusion disappears (at least partly). Because now I can navigate in the environment and I know a little bit more of what is going on around me.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The feeling of being confused is quite similar to feeling scared. One reason for this is what I have already described above, lack of control. When I asked my 6 year old son why he was afraid to go up in our attic, his answer was that it was dark up there and he didn't know what was going on in there since he couldn't see. So again the lack of control kicks in. He was not in control of the environment and therefore he felt scared. </span><br />
But there is a huge difference between confusion and fear. Because when you are confused you at least know that there is nothing dangerous going on, when you are scared you believe that there is something dangerous going on.<br />
<br />
Confusion can also be based on a feeling of knowing less than everyone else. Think of the last time you started at a new job. The first days are just a big bubble of confusion. You don't understand what the people around you are talking about, you don't know when it's time for a coffee break, you don't even know where the toilets are. This of course causes some confusion. But as you are aware that it is impossible for you to know all this from the very beginning, this confusion is somewhat easier to bare, you know that things will be clearer in a couple of days. This got me thinking of one of my favorite books "The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy". On the cover of the Guide it says in big letters "Don't panic" and that is probably a good advice for the readers of that book as they are most often in a state of confusion travelling in outer space.<br />
<br />
So can confusion be of any good. As I see it, YES! Because when you are confused you at least have identified that there are certain you just don't know. Said in another way, you have identified a knowledge gap. This is the first step to gain new knowledge. When you have realized that there is a certain thing you don't know, you try to find a way to learn this thing. And here your network is often of great use. , connecting with the right nodes will assist you. Once you have found the solution you have learned something and then the confusion is gone.<br />
Is it?<br />
Well maybe not. Because often when you learn something you also realize that there are a number of things you don't know, so you might end up being confused again. The more we know, the more we realize what we don't know.<br />
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I would like to finish off with a quote from my favorite punk rock band Bad Religion. In their song "Sanity" (appearing on the album with the suiting name "No Control"), the punk rock professor himself Gregg Graffin, states that:<br />
<blockquote>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #545559; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Confusion is a fundamental state of mind.</span> </blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #545559; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">It doesn't really matter what I'm figuring out.</span> </blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #545559; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I'm guaranteed to wind up in a state of doubt"</span></blockquote><br />
I think that sums it up quite nicely. So don't be afraid of confusion. It's there to make you realize that you are facing a learning opportunity. Go with it and you will learn new amazing things.Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-983065007714257362011-01-18T14:23:00.000-08:002011-01-18T14:24:01.444-08:00What is learning? What is journalism? And does it even matter?In the Connectivism theory one of the ground principals is that knowledge doesn't only exist in a human but rather in a network. For quite a long time there has been a discussion going on whether forums, blogs, wikis, tweets and so on can be considered as tools for learning. And can Learning exist in a networked environment. As I have my focus on learning I saw this discussion as something unique for the learning field. But I was wrong.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
This Sunday I listened to a radio show on Swedish radio about media. They reported that a thread on a Swedish discussion forum is suggested for a nomination for one of the most prestiguos journalism awards in Sweden. The participants in this forum had by using their network discovered a huge scandal that took place in a small Swedish town. I will not go into details about what they had discovered as that would require a post of its own. But a couple of months later a Swedish Television show focused on investigative journalism revealed the very same scandal (not knowing about the discussion on the forum).<br />
<br />
Two journalists who had followed the thread was really amazed that the participants in the forum managed to reveal this scandal, not by spreading rumours but actually investigating the sources and helping each other to find the hidden story. The two journalists decided to suggest the thread for the award. This started a heated discussion on what journalism is and what it isn't.<br />
<br />
I saw many similarities in how the discussion has been going in my field of interest, Learning.<br />
Can a thread in a forum be called learning?<br />
Isn't it just information?<br />
And what is the difference between information and learning?<br />
And does it matter anyway?<br />
<br />
What lies behind these types of discussions? Is it just about power? That journalists and L&D people feel that they loose the power if ordinary non-educated people can do journalistic work and learn without the assistance of the experts?<br />
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As I see it, people working together can create amazing things, whether it is building astonishing pyramids in Egypt, create investigative journalism in a forum, learn by being part of a network or innovate new things by sharing ideas on Twitter. That is something we shouldn't be scared of but embrace and see the amazing potential this holds for the future. This, for me, is the basis of Connectivism.Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-2075601728275663112011-01-17T12:18:00.000-08:002011-01-18T11:43:01.777-08:00Why I Decided to Join #CCK11About a week ago I saw a link on Twitter to something called a MOOC. Curious as I am I clicked the link to see what it was. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. I had heard of online courses before of course, but never of MOOC. I started reading the information on the page and realised that this actually was quite interesting. So what is the course about? The course is Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2011( #CCK11 ) and it is facilitated by Stephen Downes and George Siemens. I had never heard of Connectivism before but once I started reading about it I realised that this was actually quite interesting. I have a huge interest in Learning in general and Learning with assistance of new technology in particular and this is basically what Connectivism is all about.<br />
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As some of you might know I am quite new to the Social Media world. I have used Twitter for a couple of months now and blogged for about two months. And in these months my own learning has sky rocketed. I have built up a Personal Learning Network of people that I admire and respect. We share our knowledge and assist each other and together we create huge amounts of Learning. In these few months I have also realized that there are so many technologies out there that I don't know how to use, and so many interesting people that I have not yet connected with.<br />
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Now you might wonder what Connectivism is all about. Since I haven't started the course yet I can only give you a short and probably not fully correct answer. But as I understand it, Connectivism is a new pedagogic theory with its base in the possibilities new technologies offer to us. We learn by connecting with others, sharing our thoughts, ideas, failures and successes. Instead of Learning being seen as something that is only happening within a humans brain Connectivism sees Learning as something that happens in the connections we create with each other. Again I need to stress that this is just my very first understanding of what Connectivism is. I am sure that I, as the course progresses, will have a much clearer view of what it is.<br />
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Here are five reasons why I decided to join #CCK11:<br />
<br />
1. Expand my Personal Learning Network.<br />
2. Get new insights in what Connectivism is and how I could use it in my work and private life.<br />
3. Learn about new tools.<br />
4. Share my knowledge - to me there is no better way to learn than to share what you know with others.<br />
5. To have FUN!<br />
So all of you who have decided to join the #CCK11 journey, why did you take this decision? What do you hope to get out of it? Leave a comment and tell your story.<br />
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Thanks for taking the time,<br />
Mattias (@mattiaskareld)Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-37244036775658876732011-01-13T12:40:00.000-08:002011-01-13T12:40:22.661-08:00Organising my favorite tweets in a mind mapI use the Favorite function to store tweets that seem interesting for later reading. This is probably not how the function should be used but I know that many people use it for that purpose.<br />
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The main problem with doing so, is that after a while the Favorite list becomes quite long and it's hard to keep track of what I haven't read yet, what is an actual Favorite tweet and what could be deleted.<br />
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I started saving interesting tweets in Evernote which is a pretty useful way to do it, but I am not friend with the tagging in Evernote and therefore I created a new mess there which wasn't what I wanted.<br />
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I started thinking of how I would like to store my Favorite tweets and my later-read-tweets and came up with the idea that it would be great if it was possible to store them automatically in a mind map. Then I could have them organised in the way I want it and I could design it anyway I think is good for me. But could it be done?<br />
<br />
I put a question out on Twitter and right away got a response from Andrew Wilcox (@ajwilcox) who turned out to be quite a wizard when it comes to MindManager, which is the mind map software I use. He guided me on how to get my favorites to a mind map in a simple automatic way.<br />
<br />
Here is how I (with much help from @ajwilcox) set it up:<br />
<a name='more'></a><b><u>Add your Favorite rss feed to a map</u></b><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">1. First you have to find your Favorites rss feed. This is done by using the URL: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><strong style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://twitter.com/favorites/[insert_your_ID_here].rss </strong><span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">so mine would be (http://twitter.com/favorites/mattiaskareld.rss)</span></span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 21px;">2. Copy the URL.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 21px;">3. In MindManager, open a new map (or an already created map that you want to use).</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">4. Click the Map Parts tab to the right and make sure that there is a folder called <strong>News Feeds. </strong>If not create one.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1b5bLj-gCWOfBaHJjeOcRkD4-kbkRQBCIPGDvA7Vryp_FrBSxFaeM3h-aM_L-indVwoZrod_D5I18_fS4UD-XnkuUPCDjHqFkgysM_NS62ez9nZ00TE-dHOWwwK7WavhPW2tq-JagnI/s1600/News-Feeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1b5bLj-gCWOfBaHJjeOcRkD4-kbkRQBCIPGDvA7Vryp_FrBSxFaeM3h-aM_L-indVwoZrod_D5I18_fS4UD-XnkuUPCDjHqFkgysM_NS62ez9nZ00TE-dHOWwwK7WavhPW2tq-JagnI/s1600/News-Feeds.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 21px;">5. In the <b>Tools </b>menu select <b>Macro </b>and then click <b>Add new News feed to Library</b>.</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 21px;">6. Paste your URL and click OK.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCU36Mi_YAryI7qoJwsMYDyK4tJROCqtOhppD3tXRjnQwkQIH8td6GZ4Yj2FEcu4e3sA4tqHzqfei6DeT2N8BXgL12HF5sjKHNMW0HaZoXdBUtGyXXvbOZdIlYAZbKvHU2sm96x-928_Y/s1600/paste.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCU36Mi_YAryI7qoJwsMYDyK4tJROCqtOhppD3tXRjnQwkQIH8td6GZ4Yj2FEcu4e3sA4tqHzqfei6DeT2N8BXgL12HF5sjKHNMW0HaZoXdBUtGyXXvbOZdIlYAZbKvHU2sm96x-928_Y/s320/paste.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">7. Go back to the <strong>Map Parts </strong>tab and you will find a topic in your <strong>News Feed </strong>folder.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">8. Drag it to your map and place it where you want it.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFACLXECjUsRm9QIifi3-Up3M4BZ7Wa9zEovint40Sd07oxExqGTUXXKhFQgUHUDdcmS9zSK2bbbM-fU5m5vacTCA34003CtX_ZvNWl_kSTby5nIt29LhmI7wwfpycG0H10TddskNa0Q/s1600/map-done.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFACLXECjUsRm9QIifi3-Up3M4BZ7Wa9zEovint40Sd07oxExqGTUXXKhFQgUHUDdcmS9zSK2bbbM-fU5m5vacTCA34003CtX_ZvNWl_kSTby5nIt29LhmI7wwfpycG0H10TddskNa0Q/s400/map-done.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"> So now you have your Favorites in your mind map. But unfortunatelly we are not done just yet. Because this feed will not update automatically. Which means that you actually have to remove the map part you added and add it again to update it. And then you get all the Favorites again, not just the new ones. So let's continue and see if we can fix that issue too.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><strong><u>Download and save a macro</u></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">1. Download the macro called <a href="http://www.activityowner.com/macros/download.php?macroname=rss_to_intray.mmbas">rss_to_intray.mmbas</a> from the great MindManager resource page <a href="http://www.activityowner.com/">Activity Owner</a>.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">2. Create a folder called AO in the My Maps folder and place the downloaded macro there.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><strong><u>Add the macro</u></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">In MindManager do the following:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">1. In the <strong>Tools </strong>menu, go to <strong>Macro </strong>and then select <strong>Macros</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">2. Name the Macro (I have named mine Feed updater).</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">3. Browse and locate the macro you saved in the AO folder before.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">4. Place the macro in a menu (I placed it in the <strong>Edit</strong> menu).</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheMg0BJWh_AHvWKleQHOkcIgcl_yoDF9S15m2T_CvVjvkjKdKpyh3rqUJAqHdtj1pRXZcWkFXRamlXcvuUnUoI8sX8ikXQl4Et5lmcMEVQt_7w-KNYDEyY56NJRooh0SbIo2c5fF_bmGo/s1600/macro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheMg0BJWh_AHvWKleQHOkcIgcl_yoDF9S15m2T_CvVjvkjKdKpyh3rqUJAqHdtj1pRXZcWkFXRamlXcvuUnUoI8sX8ikXQl4Et5lmcMEVQt_7w-KNYDEyY56NJRooh0SbIo2c5fF_bmGo/s320/macro.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><strong>Running the macro</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">1. Go to the menu where you added your macro (I go to the <strong>Edit</strong> menu).</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">2. Refresh the map part using Shift+F5. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">3. Locate the macro and click it.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">What now happens is that two map parts are added, one called In-Tray and one called rssdb. The first time you run it all your favorite tweets will be added in the three map parts we have added. This might look strange, but it's ok. Go to the In-Tray map part and start sorting your tweets into map parts of your choice. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Now you are basically done. The next time you save a Favorite, go to your map and refresh it and the new Favorite tweet will pop up in your In-Tray.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8T7kX4c8BeVF6Wd0DxV3gAvPOZSVeQpIE3qyJiWUL_zs_-__osvAdHqTgq0afgCWupdkDXOSQJKyZ6EaWvaU5j1NSxiipkow-OGkttlYwOWHO4lPsBCyhGhsw9ASOSM-xhMfI54HRw4/s1600/example.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8T7kX4c8BeVF6Wd0DxV3gAvPOZSVeQpIE3qyJiWUL_zs_-__osvAdHqTgq0afgCWupdkDXOSQJKyZ6EaWvaU5j1NSxiipkow-OGkttlYwOWHO4lPsBCyhGhsw9ASOSM-xhMfI54HRw4/s400/example.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><strong><u>Conclusion</u></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Setting up this was quite tricky but once I got it done it turned out to be really handy. I can now organise my tweets in any way I see fit. I have chosen to sort them by subject, but the great thing is that you can choose yourself how to sort them.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Before ending this long post I would just like to, once again, thank Andrew Wilcox for showing up with a great solution. I would also like to thank the guys at Activity Owner for the script and for being such a great resource.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Thanks for taking the time,</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Mattias (@mattiaskareld)</div>Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-88103824059548948092011-01-12T06:23:00.000-08:002011-01-12T06:23:27.223-08:00Reflection on "Growing Collective Intelligence" The New Social Learning chapter 5<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTh_QezxeVCENXfVFKN9R0L-vWicve4bGbyErgXOXIG-xobCfEpfCF0096AYw91FvsBCTzHWLPHGJDWrJgRkRzdX1ujfxSimcuCfc0Udog6GQuYnanF2D1SSUFNwDwsY7WfuuGDp48dCE/s1600/book-cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTh_QezxeVCENXfVFKN9R0L-vWicve4bGbyErgXOXIG-xobCfEpfCF0096AYw91FvsBCTzHWLPHGJDWrJgRkRzdX1ujfxSimcuCfc0Udog6GQuYnanF2D1SSUFNwDwsY7WfuuGDp48dCE/s200/book-cover.png" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Source:<br />
http://www.thenewsocialleaning.com</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I am right now reading the fantastic book The New Social Learning by Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner. For those of you that haven't heard about this book go check out the website <a href="http://www.thenewsociallearning.com/">http://www.thenewsociallearning.com/</a><br />
In this post I will reflect on the fifth chapter called "Growing Collective Intelligence", simply because I found this chapter really interesting and it got me thinking.<br />
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Collective intelligence in my world basically means that a group of individuals working together creates more and better outcomes than the same people would do working by themselves. To me this is common sense. There are so many examples of how bringing a group together over a specific subject creates things you could never have come up with yourself. And sometimes it doesn't even have to be a group. Just think about all the times when you are stuck with an issue and ask someone to come and help you. Often the other person just have to enter the room and all of a sudden the solution pops up in your brain. Or when you sit in a meeting and suddenly someone says "the magic word" that gets your brain working and you realize the solution to problems you have been struggling with for some time.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
Working together creates new ideas, innovations and learning for all involved. After all, this is why we usually set up teams, groups, projects, workshops, meetings, trainings, conferences and so on. If this wasn't the case we wouldn't even have to go to a workplace to work. We could just as well sit at home by ourselves, creating things and then occasionally connect and send the material we've been working on to whom it may concern.<br />
<br />
I am a hockey fan simply because I like the pace and speed of the game. And the most amazing thing in hockey (and other team sports as well of course) is when a team with maybe not the best individual players all of a sudden starts working together becoming a team rather than a number of individuals. Every pass is right on the blade of the stick, everyone works together in offense and defense, every player contributes with their skills creating something completely unique. It's an amazing thing to watch when this happens.<br />
<br />
Ok, so back to the book. This chapter focuses on the use of wikis and other collaboration tools in different organisations and companies. The whole idea of using a collaboration tool is that by letting people share their knowledge and create things together the final product will be greater than it would have been if everyone was working by themselves. The main focus when using these kinds of tools is not the end product but the actual process that happens when people start working together. In one sense you could say that there is no real end product as long as the content is in the tool.<br />
<br />
This scares some people who argues that content that isn't finished shouldn't be made public. To me that is somewhat strange. If I am asked if I want to receive a document as a draft that I can comment on or if I want the document when it is finished, I surely prefer to have the draft version. Simply because this gives me the chance to share my ideas on the subject. Documents that are considered to be done are simply not as interesting to me.<br />
Take a report from a project that is closed as an example. When you read such a report you often find a number of conclusions (what went wrong/right and why) but it doesn't give you the full view of what has been going on in the project (decisions taken, mistakes, good ideas). You don't get the full picture. If you instead could go to the project's wiki page you would have the whole timeline of the project. You can go in and analyse actions they took and what it lead to that maybe wasn't crucial for the outcome of the project (and therefore is not in the project report). But it might be crucial for you in your work.<br />
The same thing goes for a summary of a workshop. Being part of the workshop gives me so much more than just reading the outcome of it. Because then I get to take part in all the discussions instead of just being fed with the final conclusions.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvVBBxcxZKl5pyaFtJRvQXTaFIk76AM_C6UhvuFn16U3JiQI2lEQBxBUUCPg1_0Kf3h9-HgkJCu87VNBT3S7Xzfqf9akGWYNy8hFslZKDYR0pzl_mhTOtBUatyHPlc3eRhhmDUp81mbE/s1600/food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvVBBxcxZKl5pyaFtJRvQXTaFIk76AM_C6UhvuFn16U3JiQI2lEQBxBUUCPg1_0Kf3h9-HgkJCu87VNBT3S7Xzfqf9akGWYNy8hFslZKDYR0pzl_mhTOtBUatyHPlc3eRhhmDUp81mbE/s200/food.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Medieval dinner party</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In the book the authors discuss some things that are needed for a collaboration environment to be successful. It has to be vibrant, social and relevant. To understand what is meant with vibrant the authors compare it with a party:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>"Envision a party. When you walk in, it takes only a few seconds to judge if you want to be there and if it has taken off" (page 113)</blockquote>I like this image and will extend it a bit. The important thing with a collaborative environment is not the tool itself. Sure the tool can help by being easy to use and so on. But the main thing is the people who uses the tool. If a party is a success or not isn't depending on if you use a $200 knife to chop the salad or if the wine is served in fancy glasses, it depends on the people attending it. So to get the collaboration environment a success you need to get the right people in there from the start. Well then, who are the right people? To me anyone who is ready to share their knowledge, ideas and even lack of knowledge is the right person. My suggestion would then be: when starting up a collaboration environment search for people who you find interesting and who are ready to share their stories and let them do so. Once it's up and running more people will start to share.<br />
Back to the party analogy, if you are having a dinner party at your place you probably won't post an Event on Facebook inviting anyone and everyone. You will most probably invite a number of people you find interesting and who will find each other interesting. That way you create a good environment for sharing. Then next time you host a dinner party maybe you ask the guests to bring a friend along to create an even more vibrant environment.<br />
<br />
This turned out to be a rather long reflection, but this chapter really struck a nerve in me and I wanted to share that with you. What is your view on this subject? Am I completely out there? Are you using wikis and other collaboration tools? How did you start? What are the main issues with this way of working?<br />
I would love to read your thoughts as well.<br />
<br />
Thanks for taking the time,<br />
MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-81799143071046112322011-01-07T15:26:00.000-08:002011-01-07T15:27:30.052-08:00Working smarter - a personal success experience<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7koiP0Vi20budEZQ9peb98igOjkje2ZxaH8V-Gl7KD1MzgXf1wVkl7u7HClEYErJNbQCDsM1fYiQUwr4995lz2qsawqae3aXAQGBoJm7F8rluElUGy1OyPCuJbpWyr7Q2Upie3N7RXg/s1600/senior+coworker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7koiP0Vi20budEZQ9peb98igOjkje2ZxaH8V-Gl7KD1MzgXf1wVkl7u7HClEYErJNbQCDsM1fYiQUwr4995lz2qsawqae3aXAQGBoJm7F8rluElUGy1OyPCuJbpWyr7Q2Upie3N7RXg/s1600/senior+coworker.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good wizard should<br />
never be underestimated</td></tr>
</tbody></table>There's a lot of talk today about the role of L&D departments in companies today. First there is the discussion about how to make L&D become an integral part of the business. Then there is also the discussion about what the L&D department should deliver. Traditionally learning within companies is delivered in a formal way either as face-2-face trainings or as e-learning activities. These activities are pushed from the top of the organisation down to the people in the organisation regardless of what the people on the other end really wants and needs.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div><b>Working Smarter</b></div><div>The Internet Time Alliance uses the term - Working Smarter - to challenge these traditional ways of looking at work and learning. When I first read about this term I thought: "Of course, this is just common sense". But when I started evaluating how I and my colleagues were working I realized that even though I thought of Working smarter as something completely obvious and common sense I didn't really work according to it. I realized that I often take part in creating traditional learning without really thinking about it and challenge its effectiveness. Therefore I decided to look back at all the learning initiatives I have been involved in during my time in the learning field, to see if I could find some examples where I actually did something completely different that worked. I found a couple of them and I would now like to share one with you to show that it is possible to move Learning into the very heart of the business and by thinking differently (actually just use ones common sense) basically remove all the need for training.<br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div><b>The Assignment</b></div><div>A couple of years ago I was working for a company who produced software for smartphones. It was a fantastic company to work at in many ways, it was young, fast growing, technology driven and nothing seemed impossible. I was hired to create a manual for a software they had designed themselves to be able to test their applications on different phones. The company had grown very rapidly and the control they had over how users worked in this application was now long gone with so many new people joining the company. So the decision was taken that they needed a manual. I got the assignment to write this manual and immediately challenged if it really was a manual they needed, I thought some face-2-face training and then add the element of performance support with a context sensitive help in the application would do the trick. I had to fight quite hard for this, but finally got an OK, but before leaving the room my manager said:</div><div>- Just don't forget Mattias, you are working with engineers here, and engineers love their manuals. So you better give them that as well. Good luck.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>Getting Closer to the Business</b></div><div>So I decided to start with the help texts and if I managed to write them in a smart way I could just create a pdf of them and call that the manual and then go ahead and implement the texts in the Help-system. </div><div>The first thing I had to do was of course to talk to the experts of this application. I started interviewing them about the application, asking them tons of questions and at one time when I came back for the tenth time that morning one of them said to me:</div><div>- Why don't you take your stuff and move in here instead, that desk is empty. That way you don't have to run back and forth between your desk and ours.</div><div><br />
</div><div>So I did, I took my stuff and moved into this room where all the magic happened. And that was the first major thing that proved to be a success in this case. Because since I now sat in the same room as these guys I not only worked with them, I joined them for coffee breaks, lunches and After Work activities. I simply became a part of the development team, something that would have been simply unthinkable just a few weeks back.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>The User Perspective</b></div><div>Being an integral part of the business turned out to be the most important thing to really make things happen. As I was writing my texts for the Help function I realised that some of the tasks the users were to perform were extremely complex simply because the tool wasn't logical in its design. This type of tool often is developed step by step, function by function and somewhere along the line, the red thread was lost. During one of our morning SCRUM meetings I popped the question: </div><div>- Does it really have to be this complicated? How about creating a wizard to assist the users?</div><div>And off we went. In three days we created a wizard that guided the user through the most common and complicated tasks. All of a sudden I realised why it's called a wizard, because with just a wave with the magic wand we had cut the need for training down to ZERO. Well at least almost, we still had to train some of the real expert users but for the average user there was no need for any training what so ever.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>Conclusion</b></div><div>So what do I want to say with this post? Well first of all that by moving yourself closer to the action will make you more influential. You will also get a much better grip on what's going on and where the challenges are that you really have to deal with. I would also like to stress that working in the field of Learning means that you often have a different angle when you look at things. Instead of having systems, routines, or whatever it might be in focus you have the people working in focus. And by having this different focus can spawn some fantastic ideas.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>Time to Share</b></div><div>Now I would love to hear some of your stories on successes. What did you do? how did you do it? and what can we learn from it?</div><div><br />
</div><div>Thanks for taking the time,</div><div>Mattias</div>Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-47260565362164024232011-01-05T13:38:00.000-08:002011-01-05T13:38:59.162-08:00London calling - but no data<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhggYF9N-gyXf6djt5DmZN_5foIoRNcltCHqu97P4WnHnNucbFfcrxSOduxNhGyy_uwfFHRAQk-5izxzUINbkwVSB4FNi7pZVOnZSOvWcNPixLTRTPNfG5k9g1wtn54QY1ysnJsiUDu8Cw/s1600/htc-hero-pictures-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhggYF9N-gyXf6djt5DmZN_5foIoRNcltCHqu97P4WnHnNucbFfcrxSOduxNhGyy_uwfFHRAQk-5izxzUINbkwVSB4FNi7pZVOnZSOvWcNPixLTRTPNfG5k9g1wtn54QY1ysnJsiUDu8Cw/s200/htc-hero-pictures-15.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>I am writing this post as a first warm up post for the coming Learning Technologies 2011 Conference in London later this month. I am really looking forward to this and will blog before, during and after the conference. In this first post I am frustrated over how ridiculous charges limit my ability to use available technology when going overseas.<br />
<br />
In my pocket I have the most wonderful tool, that just a few years ago was an impossibility. This little thing gives me instant access to all the knowledge in the world, all the latest sports results, all the music I could ever dream about, maps, games, you name it... I am of course talking about my beloved HTC Hero Android cellphone.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
In three weeks time I am heading overseas to London to participate in the Learning Technologies Exhibition. And just think about the amazing possiblities my Hero will bring me. I will be able to navigate with the help of Google Maps, I can check opening hours for shops, bars and pubs. I can use augmented reality applications to get more information on the things I see. I can book tickets to transportation, theaters and concerts. When I go into a store I can scan the bar code of things I want to buy and get information on the best prize in Sweden for the article and make a decision on whether to buy it in London or wait until I come home. And while strolling around the streets of London I can listen to my favorite British artists streamed directly from Spotify. I don't need a tourist map, guide book, calculator to convert British Pounds to Swedish Crowns- And if I get home sick I can ask my wife to take some pictures of my two kids and dump them in my Dropbox folder that I can access from my phone.<br />
<br />
Doesn't it sound great?<br />
<br />
But there is a problem...<br />
<br />
The ridiculous cost for data traffic when visiting another country. It's incredibly expensive to use the phone for anything but calling. EU has regulations on roaming costs but that is only for calls and text messages. I just don't understand how data traffic can be so extremely expensive. I am charged 32 SEK per MB (that is about 5 USD, or 3.6 EUR or 3GBP. And yes that is for 1 MB. Just think what this would mean if I were to use my phone in the way I described above. I would be ruined.<br />
<br />
Let's say I decide to listen to the classic album London Calling by The Clash for half an hour. Spotify consumes about 1.24 MB/minute which means that half an hour consumes 37.2 MB. That would cost me 1190 SEK (that is 176 USD, 134 EUR or 113 GBP) This is simply insane. London Calling is a fantastic album but it's not worth paying 1190 SEK to listen to 30 minutes of it.<br />
<br />
The fact is my mobile service provider has realized how extremely expensive it is and have put a roof on how much data I can use when being abroad to avoid me ruining myself. Because it's not just that it is expensive, it's almost impossible to keep track of how much data I have consumed.<br />
<br />
I can't understand why the EU doesn't act on this. I mean the politicians working in the EU must have the exact same problem when travelling from their home countries to Brussels.<br />
<br />
All of a sudden my fantastic tool has turned into a piece of plastic that I can't use for anything valuable (I can't even play a game of Angry Birds since it will fetch commercial and that I definitely do not want to pay for).<br />
<br />
About a month ago Clark Quinn (@Quinnovator) wrote a blog post on the same topic. In a response tweet to that blog I wrote that "my phone wants to be connected", but the fact is that it actually demands to be connected. It can be quite tricky to turn off all the data traffic, it might even be that you have to download an app to do this.<br />
<br />
So if you are in London and you happen to see a tall skinny guy desperately walking around with an HTC Hero in his hand shaking his head it's just me trying to find a free wifi-hotspot to be able to at least check my mail.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading about my frustration,<br />
MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-61283160956502279722011-01-03T12:34:00.000-08:002011-01-03T12:34:06.448-08:00Twitter Quiz game reflectionYesterday I finally got around to try out my idea of running a Twitter based quiz game. Unfortunately there weren't that many followers who were interested in participating but I decided to go ahead anyway. Simply because I really wanted to try it out and see how it would work. The setup was:<br />
<br />
1. I invited anyone to participate via Twitter.<br />
2. Two persons were interested (@CraigTaylor74 and @kstenqvist).<br />
3. I posted five questions using the hashtag #mattiasquiz.<br />
4. The questions were posted one by one with an hour in between.<br />
5. The responses were sent to me via Direct Message simply because other participants shouldn't be able to see the answers and when the answers came in.<br />
6. The one who first sent in the first correct answer for each question scored one point.<br />
7. The winner was the one who first got three points.<br />
<br />
And the proud winner was:<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;">@CraigTaylor74.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So what did I learn from this experiment?</span><br />
First of all I learned that running a quiz game using Twitter is actually doable. It's easy to setup, it is easy for people to join, it's fast and simple.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Let participants know when to start</span><br />
In general there was nothing really wrong with the setup used but some things could have been done differently.<br />
I should have set an exact time frame for the quiz so people knew when it was going to take place. This way I think more people could have been up to the idea since they would have known if it was possible for them to participate or not. So by simply stating a time and date when the first question will appear will make it easier for people to join in.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Different time zones</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Another tricky part with the time issue is of course the different time zones. If you have participants from all over the world you would have to distribute the questions over quite some time so everyone has an equal opportunity to answer the questions. It is of course possible to have two quizzes running at different times (like the setup with early and late #lrnchat, where the early session suits us Europeans and the late suits the North American participants).</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Setting a theme</span><br />
Then it would probably been good to have some kind of theme for the quiz, again to make it easier for people to join in. If I would have said that it would be a Star Wars quiz, at least all the Star Wars nerds would probably have been interested. Now no one knew what type of questions would come and therefore it was less interesting.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Practical use in a Learning situation</span><br />
But now you might wonder why I decided to run this little experiment. Well, apart from my fascination for quiz games I wanted to understand if this type of game could be used in a learning situation. And I think I can answer yes to that question. If you are a trainer you could use a quiz to create interest for your training. Let the participants in the training take part in a quiz prior to the actual training and then reveal the winner when you are all gathered for the training. It will be a fun and engaging way to start the training without it taking any time from the actual training.<br />
<br />
You could also run it as a test after the training to make the Learners reflect on what they have learned in a different way. Or why not try and run it during the actual training as an ice breaker exercise. Post a question right before a break and let the Learners find the answer during the break. I am sure that this, with the right questions, will trigger some pretty interesting discussions.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span><br />
Finally my conclusion is that Twitter quizzes can be used in a number of way, they are fast and easy to setup, and they can create a fun and engaging environment. I would definitely like to try it again with more participants, so if you find this interesting and want to try, give me a sign and I will setup a new quiz round.<br />
<br />
Thanks for taking the time,<br />
/MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-90978310341496040602010-12-29T15:42:00.000-08:002010-12-29T15:42:22.003-08:00A Twitter Quiz Experiment<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikfuWHODlWneOgUb7oqwQqbTcryehg0rDQ3K3cO22QBPBNRZnZQMORh-2an48uDDEAL0ojjp-Kef914RDwBKGO0kpqPdXuhXYo7rplIWPGe7XFzBAO9uIKR-k4XnhokS-fS7cyTdfy1Nw/s1600/questionmark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikfuWHODlWneOgUb7oqwQqbTcryehg0rDQ3K3cO22QBPBNRZnZQMORh-2an48uDDEAL0ojjp-Kef914RDwBKGO0kpqPdXuhXYo7rplIWPGe7XFzBAO9uIKR-k4XnhokS-fS7cyTdfy1Nw/s320/questionmark.jpg" width="217" /></a>Today I got an idea that I would like to try out. I have no idea if it's been done before. But nevertheless I want to give it a try.<br />
I will host a small quiz via Twitter, the reason for this are two. First of all I am a huge quiz fan. I like to watch quiz shows on TV, and set me up with a game of Trivial Pursuit and I will be quite happy for a while. Here is my idea how a quiz on Twitter would work:<br />
<br />
1. I post a question using a hashtag (#mattiasquiz for example).<br />
2. The participants responds to me with a Direct Message.<br />
3. The participant who leaves the first correct answer gets a point.<br />
4. First to five points win.<br />
<br />
Will this be possible? I think so, the only real issue I see is how to get the questions out so that all participants are aware of a new question being posted. Maybe I could post one question each hour? Is there a way to set that up so that the tweet with a question is sent at a specific time?<br />
<br />
Do you see other problems with this setup? Please leave a comment.<br />
<br />
I have advertised this experiment today on Twitter and two bold gentlemen have responded that they want to participate (@CraigTaylor74 and @kstenqvist). But I would like to have a few more to join us. If you are interested don't hesitate, send me a tweet or leave a comment here and you are more than welcome to join us.Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-78437211402910893022010-12-22T14:41:00.000-08:002010-12-23T03:03:09.595-08:005 reasons for using Twitter (and 1 why you shouldn't use it)The theme of the week seems to be twitter. I have during the last week discussed twitter with a number of people, explaining why I find it so useful. Then the latest #lrnchat session was about twitter and lastly I read the fourth chapter in the great book "New Social Learning" about microsharing.<br />
<br />
When I finally got to sit down and reflect a bit I decided to write a post on this theme. This has been done thousands of times before, but never by me. I try to sharpen my arguments for using twitter as I am trying hard to get me colleagues to start using it. So here is my list:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">1. Personal Learning Network</span><br />
Ok so I have been on Twitter now for almost three months (time moves fast in the Twitter world. I thought it was just a few weeks but as usual time flies when you have fun). In that time I have managed to get myself a Personal Learning Network, something I didn't really have before. I was learning from my colleagues and that can be very useful, but at the same time it limits the scope of what you learn. In most cases you only learn things that refines what you already do. To say it a different way; You only learn what you know that you don't know.<br />
In order to really learn new things, and get new ground breaking ideas you need to get input from outside your realm.In other words; You learn things you don't know that you don't know. And this I have for sure got by using Twitter.<br />
<br />
In my three months I have built up a network that today consist of around 80 people from all around the globe. When you live in a small country like I do, building a network of 80 people who specialises in work place learning is probably almost impossible, but by using Twitter I have managed to do so in just three months time. But what's the point with having such a network?<br />
<br />
As I said before it's all about getting new ideas, challenges and arguments for and against these new ideas and challenges. To learn from those that has knowledge in things you didn't even knew existed. When I have a question about something in the field of Learning at work I am always finding good answers within my network.<br />
<br />
To all of you that are included in my Personal Learning Network, I would like to express my deepest admiration for the way you share your knowledge to me and others. And to those who are not part of my Network yet. Don't hesitate, follow me today (@mattiaskareld) and I will follow you back.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2. Having fun</span><br />
It's not all about Learning when I use twitter, it's also a lot of fun. For example I follow my personal hero Homer Simpson who always makes me smile with posts such as<br />
<blockquote>"Ways I’d like to die: drowned in nacho cheese sauce, or shot by a bullet made of frozen beer."</blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 19px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 19px;">I also follow a Swedish comedian named Henrik Schyffert, who is one of the smartest comedians around. I have followed his career since I was in my teens and now I get to follow him on a day to day basis which is so great.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Besides these true comedians a lot of the people I follow shows me a great time by tweeting fun tweets, links, pictures and more. And in my opinion, the learning experience grows when it is in a fun environment.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Another reason why Twitter is fun to use is in a more ego-centric way. When you tweet something that other people find enough interesting to re-tweet it is a small but important ego-boost. And when you tweet something that other people respond to it often creates fun and engaging discussions.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">3. Serendipity</span><br />
As I am a curious person by nature Twitter is a goldmine for me.It's all about learning things you had no idea even existed. And this is probably the most interesting part with Twitter. For example I wouldn't know so much about the danger the tigers are in if it hadn't been for @<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">sumeet_mogh<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">e. That is just one example of the things I have learned out of pure serendipity.</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">4. Keep myself updated</span><br />
This is probably the most obvious thing. By using Twitter I can be constantly updated on what going on in the field of my interest. Seconds after my favorite band Social Distortion had posted their latest song on Internet I got the message and could go in and enjoy. Another example is when the suicide bombing in Stockholm occurred. I got instant information via Twitter instead of having to wait for the newspapers to update their web pages.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">5. Direct contact</span><br />
Getting in direct contact with interesting people all around the world is actually quite amazing. When I read a book now I always check if the author is on Twitter because if I have a question it's nice to know that they are just a tweet away. If someone had said half a year ago that I would be able to discuss with great people like @janebozarth, @C4LPT, @tonykarrer ,@shiftguru, @learninganorak and many many more I would have considered them quite crazy. But now I have realized the power of Twitter. So thanks to all of you for making it possible to have all these interesting discussions and I look forward to even more interesting discussions in the future.<br />
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And then it is time for the reason why you shouldn't use Twitter:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">1. Addiction</span><br />
I am pretty sure that in the near future we will read that Dr. Drew has started a Twitter-rehab-clinic for celebrities that is hooked on the dangerous drug Twitter. And it won't take long before the newspapers start warning parents that their kids are turning into Twitter junkies if they don't watch out (good thing that not too many kids are actually using Twitter). Because it is really easy to get caught up in the Twitter stream and forget about time. It has happened more than once that I have realised that I should have gone to bed hours ago, instead I have been deeply engaged in some interesting discussion. So if you are the kind of person who easily gets caught up in things and starts to misuse them: Stay away from Twitter, it might ruin your life. But if you dare to take the risk you can look forward to a fantastic journey.Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-37176685367740777662010-12-20T12:50:00.000-08:002010-12-20T12:50:05.661-08:00My thoughts on application trainingsDuring my career I have a number of times been asked to help out with design of different IT-application trainings. Both from a pure design perspective but also as a trainer. Below I will describe three typical scenarios that I have seen over and over again, I also provide some simple yet effective ways to solve these issues. The three scenarios are:<br />
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<ul><li>Content Overload</li>
<li>Authenticity</li>
<li>Follow the Leader<a name='more'></a></li>
</ul><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Content Overload</span><br />
It's always hard to design application trainings as there are so many things that needs to be covered in a limited amount of time. There is a major risk that these types of trainings becomes extremely packed with information and little or no time for reflection, which all involved in learning knows is not a very good thing.<br />
The learners are expected to be able to use every single functionality in the application. And that will probably lead to learners who don't really know how to use any functionality in the tool.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Content Overload Solution</span><br />
I prefer to do a mapping of the different tasks that a user is supposed to perform in the tool. Once that is done I rank each task on complexity and occurrence, meaning how hard is the task and how often is the user supposed to perform the different tasks. I usually use a scale from 1 to 10. Once I have done this I focus on the tasks with the highest scores. The tasks with the lower scores I can deliver in another way, e-learning, Quick Reference Cards or as Context Sensitive Help in the application.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Authenticity</span><br />
Then there is the problem with authenticity. That the material you practice on and show during the training should resemble what the learners usually work with. A typical example of where this goes wrong is from a training I attended quite some years ago on how to build data bases. The exercise we got was to build a recipe data base. I am not in the chef-business and will therefore never build any data bases with recipes. The fact is that it was so far from what I was working with at the time that I had to put a lot of my energy on mentally re-coding what we had done to make it fit into my work. This made me loose focus on what was really important which made the learning fall short.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Authenticity Solution</span><br />
When you start designing the training, make sure that you don't only analyse the application, but also the business of the learners. Otherwise you will never be able to design proper exercises that is high on authenticity. Decide on some standard exercises but make the material the learners will work with adaptable so you can make it fit in with the business that the learners are working in. This is more difficult if you have a mixed crowd of learners. It can be really hard work required but it will be well worth it in terms of success for your learners. And who knows you might learn some things yourself about the businesses of your learners.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Follow the Leader</span><br />
Another trap that is easy to fall into is where you ask the learners to follow you as you demonstrate how to perform the different tasks in the application. This is the worst kind of training I know. Another example from a couple of years ago is when I participated in a three day training (yes, three days from 8 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon). What we did during these 24 hours of training was to sit behind our computers and follow along in what the trainer did. If that wasn't boring enough, the facilities we were doing this follow exercise in was a typical computer training room down in the basement somewhere also used as a storing room for the IT-support guys (who for some reason also often can be found in the basement). So the training method was bad, the facilities were bad, and don't get me started on the so called coffee. And the result was... you guessed it BAD. A couple of days after this training I got a phone call from a friend who had also attended the training and he asked me:<br />
- Help me, I don't remember how to log in. How should I do that?<br />
I think that says it all.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Follow the Leader Solution</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Instead of asking the learners to follow you, give them tasks that they should work with together in small teams. Give them the end result and ask them to solve it together. Once they are done ask them to show what they have done for the other teams. You can also ask them to write a small step-by-step guide on how they solved the problem, which can be mailed out to all the learners.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This way they will be engaged in solving the problem and it resembles more an actual working situation. By doing it in groups the social element of learning is also taken care of. This is important since it will secure a better learning experience and they might also learn things from each other that maybe isn't in the scope of the training but might prove valuable anyhow.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">To make it a little more fun I once introduced hints that they could buy from me. I gave them a stack of Monopoly money enough to buy three hints. So if they got stuck they could buy a hint from me. What happened was really funny to watch. All groups were in one point or another discussing if they should buy a hint from me. But no one wanted to be the first group to do it. So in the end, no group had bought any hints but they had all solved the tasks I had given to them.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">So what was the point of this you might wonder? Well I can tell you that they were all mighty proud afterwards and they all left the room with a feeling that they had beaten me. And it is never bad to make the learners feel proud of what they have achieved.</div><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">One Time Event</span><br />
Often IT-application trainings are designed in such a way that the learners go there, takes the training and is then left on their own. Since the learners come to the training unprepared you have to spend quite some time in the beginning to get everyone on the same level before you can start the actual training.<br />
<br />
If they have questions afterwards they are left on their own with little or no possibility to find the solution. It might even come to that the learner decides to take the training once more to be able to get answers to the questions, and that is not a very good solution.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">One Time Event Solution</span><br />
Think of your training as a multi-step rocket. Instead of just have one big occasion where learning is supposed to take place you provide several smaller occasions. It could for example be that the learners first do an e-learning to prepare for the coming face-2-face training. And, if possible, instead of having a full day training. Break it up into two half days instead. This way the learners get a chance to reflect and questions will probably arise. And last make sure that you have some support for the users after the training. It could be a forum where they can discuss the application, leave suggestions for improval or simply ask questions. It could also be a telephone meeting where they can ask questions.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Final Word</span><br />
I have written this piece well aware of all the negative things that is said about training these days. I fully agree that these traditional trainings in many cases are not the best solutions. But at the same time I am a realist and I am pretty sure that traditional trainings will be around for quite some time. And sometimes I think they actually are the best solution.<br />
<br />
In the future I hope that people designing IT-applications will find ways to make them easier to use. Today I see that usability is left behind and as long as the applications fulfill technical needs and business needs everything is fine. If we look at applications used by millions of people each day they have no training available at all. How many of you have taken a training in using Facebook, Twitter, iPhone, Android phone, iPad and so on? No one? Well that is my point, by building easy to use applications the training need is close to nothing. And even though I work with Learning every day nothing would make me happier than if an application responsible came to me and said<br />
-We won't need any training for this application, a three year old can use this without explanation.<br />
<br />
/MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-87558141001930893072010-12-09T13:52:00.000-08:002010-12-09T13:52:46.286-08:00My kids toys - A treasure box for PowerPoint presentations<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7koiP0Vi20budEZQ9peb98igOjkje2ZxaH8V-Gl7KD1MzgXf1wVkl7u7HClEYErJNbQCDsM1fYiQUwr4995lz2qsawqae3aXAQGBoJm7F8rluElUGy1OyPCuJbpWyr7Q2Upie3N7RXg/s1600/senior+coworker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7koiP0Vi20budEZQ9peb98igOjkje2ZxaH8V-Gl7KD1MzgXf1wVkl7u7HClEYErJNbQCDsM1fYiQUwr4995lz2qsawqae3aXAQGBoJm7F8rluElUGy1OyPCuJbpWyr7Q2Upie3N7RXg/s1600/senior+coworker.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dumbledore</td></tr>
</tbody></table>A post on what I discovered while taking care of my sick kid for a couple of days and how it has taken my PowerPoint presentations to a new dimension. Good or not, judge yourselves, at least I like them.<br />
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You got to admit, those LEGO minifigures are cool!<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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I have during the last couple of weeks put together a number of different PowerPoint presentations. I have also seen a huge amount of tips on how to design your presentations on the web. It's always interesting to see how other people think when they design their presentations. However it seems that most people don't design at all, or at least to a very minimal extent.<br />
<br />
For many years I have seen myself as a person who is not very visual in my thinking. I have never been interested in art and don't ask me to draw anything because you will not be able to identify what I have scribbled down on the paper.<br />
<br />
But when I started to work on my presentations I realized that working with pictures and images are actually quite fun. It brings another dimension to my presentations.<br />
<br />
Up until now I have usually mixed text with images I found on the web. That is a tricky business since there are those copyright laws that you have to take into account. So I needed another way to find pictures to use. I visited the image bank we have on our Intranet. I work at a furniture company so there were basically tons of images of chairs, tables, rugs, pillows, sofas, et cetera. And, of course, these images are used in basically every presentation that is created at our company. I needed something else...<br />
<br />
When I was home taking care of my son who was ill the other day I found the thing I had been looking for, his toys. They are fantastic to use to represent all kinds of things. Below are some topics I will talk about next week and the images I use to highlight the topics:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQmnsqkax6hZYu9Lwo9qMimDNcvoXwxw8AKLF9aN1J9C7xN1BXDHtKfZLPoiVHczPJdDW2e-5o81K45QMgjpdtDD5VnmikyMX0pcCcRAaCrvDxITUHzQ1JZg3lM0EY2FCTEgoP93k0eQ/s1600/steering_group.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQmnsqkax6hZYu9Lwo9qMimDNcvoXwxw8AKLF9aN1J9C7xN1BXDHtKfZLPoiVHczPJdDW2e-5o81K45QMgjpdtDD5VnmikyMX0pcCcRAaCrvDxITUHzQ1JZg3lM0EY2FCTEgoP93k0eQ/s200/steering_group.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steering group</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHoTKf-yQw5xo_WcMS-4QWP6TkfGasP_40lopUL7x5Rxt9ufFrQXaGbgIMswXcI87ag3IitbMM5qThwtBxuIe5Q98Q1KpcYMCfzL413unzKfNhCYRB0FkSja037w5i1zr24hU6TuLDh0/s1600/working+group.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHoTKf-yQw5xo_WcMS-4QWP6TkfGasP_40lopUL7x5Rxt9ufFrQXaGbgIMswXcI87ag3IitbMM5qThwtBxuIe5Q98Q1KpcYMCfzL413unzKfNhCYRB0FkSja037w5i1zr24hU6TuLDh0/s200/working+group.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working group</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPUT7SYSaKGj8pe9Im34c4SP6qtgQMT4wi7NEpjc6lS3Myg9pv_LZJ9R_-U5l6cS3cEG8SC75HhVc1ACXbBsfVUsr4jLoYnu7Z_SlnnWtIZn-5l_aXLY5t05XuN3KNxDoEED4Er4sT6I/s1600/tools.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPUT7SYSaKGj8pe9Im34c4SP6qtgQMT4wi7NEpjc6lS3Myg9pv_LZJ9R_-U5l6cS3cEG8SC75HhVc1ACXbBsfVUsr4jLoYnu7Z_SlnnWtIZn-5l_aXLY5t05XuN3KNxDoEED4Er4sT6I/s200/tools.png" width="167" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IT-tools</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI7uU2vTKGc32g8JRh99Ezy4jZc22PUj8MNI_kkHDn7ucURvg8lElN2OLzNBCEjCMxVhDp_f7vM-6i9ekR_jY3AR29BdLDXlHUXyy3LBq_Tv5fISXgUVUG3Gnbxa8wooPfRDUiIjMFUhA/s1600/loading+data.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI7uU2vTKGc32g8JRh99Ezy4jZc22PUj8MNI_kkHDn7ucURvg8lElN2OLzNBCEjCMxVhDp_f7vM-6i9ekR_jY3AR29BdLDXlHUXyy3LBq_Tv5fISXgUVUG3Gnbxa8wooPfRDUiIjMFUhA/s200/loading+data.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loading data</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwGJyohXu-t4a7JaqX6YQql9-KgKMPSkgCuKlaMhPMzEC9WUBvcWTVR1o0djRFOSNx4j4kvw-DoUABpSINoODwmOaC9amzGPt3M7fuzPKAplZyt7Oo92LtsJ2LB6nPy4RLDr_sMeQjKdE/s1600/subprocess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwGJyohXu-t4a7JaqX6YQql9-KgKMPSkgCuKlaMhPMzEC9WUBvcWTVR1o0djRFOSNx4j4kvw-DoUABpSINoODwmOaC9amzGPt3M7fuzPKAplZyt7Oo92LtsJ2LB6nPy4RLDr_sMeQjKdE/s1600/subprocess.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sub process</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7koiP0Vi20budEZQ9peb98igOjkje2ZxaH8V-Gl7KD1MzgXf1wVkl7u7HClEYErJNbQCDsM1fYiQUwr4995lz2qsawqae3aXAQGBoJm7F8rluElUGy1OyPCuJbpWyr7Q2Upie3N7RXg/s1600/senior+coworker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7koiP0Vi20budEZQ9peb98igOjkje2ZxaH8V-Gl7KD1MzgXf1wVkl7u7HClEYErJNbQCDsM1fYiQUwr4995lz2qsawqae3aXAQGBoJm7F8rluElUGy1OyPCuJbpWyr7Q2Upie3N7RXg/s1600/senior+coworker.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Senior co-worker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>And I can assure you, there are tons of other toys that I will use in the future to represent my topics.<div><br />
<div>At least to me this is much more appealing than bullet lists, flow charts, diagrams and tables. I am actually completely moving away from using text at all in my presentations. I use images to highlight the topics and then I talk about these topics. <div><br />
</div><div>Another thing this adds is humor. Often I talk of very hard and "boring" stuff and I need to make the content a bit lighter. As I am no comedian I use the images instead to create this humor and also to de-dramatize the topics a bit as they are sometimes a bit scary for some of in the audience.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Ok now I have shared a little bit of how I work with my presentations. </div><div><br />
</div><div>What is your view on this? </div><div>Am I totally unprofessional when using pictures of LEGO minifigures and toys?</div><div>Is text necessary in PowerPoint presentations?</div><div>Should I continue doing this or should I take a step back and do what everyone else is doing?</div><div><br />
</div><div>Next week I have a presentation where I will only use images of toys and no words. I am really looking forward to see which reactions I get on this presentation. I will write a post and tell you how it went.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Thanks for reading,</div><div>/Mattias<br />
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</div></div></div>Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-71457430158441721392010-12-05T14:30:00.000-08:002010-12-07T13:51:13.993-08:00Nobel Prize in Learning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMnxdD6JCOSXp0Q7imrUcOw3vyJ3aIYuYUWiEpJPodJKwbMxppGch50VJ7CfoH_86p0PllKR4vO_gHCiUMlHavTduSIfhkTkI-bHt-0alK8FM173STx8n_F9rSxS_OQIcVj9cD9xhyphenhyphenkM/s1600/220px-Nobel_Prize.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMnxdD6JCOSXp0Q7imrUcOw3vyJ3aIYuYUWiEpJPodJKwbMxppGch50VJ7CfoH_86p0PllKR4vO_gHCiUMlHavTduSIfhkTkI-bHt-0alK8FM173STx8n_F9rSxS_OQIcVj9cD9xhyphenhyphenkM/s1600/220px-Nobel_Prize.png" /></a></div>This Friday the Nobel Prize ceremony will be held for the 109th time (if I did my math correctly). In the spirit of this I thought it would be interesting to see who would receive the award if Learning was one of the disciplines that was awarded.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So who would you like to nominate for the Nobel Prize in Learning 2010? </span><br />
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According to the statutes of the Nobel Prize it should be given to those<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" (source: Wikipedia). </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">UPDATE:</span> I think maybe the question was too hard as there are so many to select from. In the original will it was stated that the prize should be given to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. Therefore you only have to nominate someone that, during the preceding year has done something amazing in the field of learning.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Nominate your candidate in the comments field and by Friday we should hopefully have a winner.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks for participating!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">/Mattias</span>Mattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-83775628301070857792010-12-05T13:15:00.000-08:002010-12-05T13:22:16.945-08:00Being social in a multilingual worldOne of the reasons for writing this post is that I have for some time now been struggling with translating and localizing e-learning content. It is a process which demands a lot of resources, time and money. And once you are done you cannot be sure of the quality of the translated material since neither I nor the SME's that have quality secured the English master can understand the languages the content has been translated to.<br />
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At first I thought of writing this post in my mother tongue, Swedish, just to make my point. But then I realized that no one would probably read it. Which is exactly my point of this post. If you can't understand the language in which something is communicated you are shut out of the communication. Who knows how many great messages are out there written in languages that I, or you, don't understand.<br />
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I will give you an example.<br />
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I am a dedicated owner of an HTC Hero Android phone. I've had a number of questions on how to make the most out of this fantastic phone. All my answers I have found using a forum called <a href="http://www.swedroid.se/">Swedroid</a> . This is one of the best forums that I have visited, any question I have had on how to use my phone, I have found the answers here. I have used a number of English forums as well, but none of them has been as good as Swedroid. But this forum is limited to those understanding Swedish. And that is for sure a minority of the people in this world.<br />
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I can just imagine how many fantastic web pages, blogs, forums, wikis etc, that are written in languages I don't understand. That means I am missing out on things that could be of great importance to me.<br />
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But now on to the thing that I have been thinking about the last couple of months. As I said in the beginning of this post I have been struggling with translating e-learning content for a while. The reason for this is of course that I want to make sure that as many people as possible have the chance to learn from what I have produced. This is one thing, but what happens when we move into the wonderful world of Social Learning? Don't get me wrong here, I am a huge fan of Social Learning, I see it as one of the biggest revolutions that has happened in the world learning for quite some time. But I also see some issues with it, where language is one.<br />
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To me the great thing about Social Learning is that everyone is invited to the party. They are free to share what they know and take advantage of what others share. The important thing here, to me at least, is that it must include everyone. Otherwise we just build up the same old walls as before, but for other reasons.So how can we make sure that everyone can join?<br />
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Google Translate you might say. Yes, that can definitely be an answer some times, but often the translations comes out very strange. It has improved over the years, but still it has a long way to go to reach perfection. It often works very well if one of the languages is English. But if I translate from, let's say Chinese to Swedish the result is often close to impossible to understand.<br />
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For all of us who don't have English as our first language I believe it is more natural to look up English words we don't understand and to use Google Translate when we want to quickly translate a longer text. But how is it for those of you who have English as your first language. Do you often take the time to look up words and translate texts that are written in a language you don't understand?<br />
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Let's make a test. Below you will find a question written in Swedish. Translate it in any way you want and leave the answer in the comments field after this post.<i> </i>So here is the question:<br />
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Om man adderar tre och två och därefter multiplicerar det svaret med fyra. Vad blir det då?<br />
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I would also appreciate if you shared how you did when you translated. Did you use Google Translate or how did you do it?<br />
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I have only touched content that is somewhat stable, such as web pages, blogs, wikis etc. But what about chats for example. Are there tools available for translation of chats in real time that actually work? I have no experience of this. Do you? If so, please share, because I am really curious.<br />
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This post got a little longer than I expected it to, but that what happens when I start writing about something I am interested in. I hope you have stayed with me all the way, if that is the case... Thanks a lot for reading this.<br />
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/MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2260386361173493099.post-86212637120568258882010-12-02T07:56:00.000-08:002010-12-02T12:55:17.426-08:00A Swedish smorgasbord of LearningIn a lot of discussions regarding Learning today the main subject is the use of Social Media for Learning and moving from Push to Pull. I am a strong advocate for this but at the same time I see that this change might take a while and that small and careful steps might be necessary to reach my goal.<br />
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What I believe is the most important shift in this is to move the power from the top to the bottom. Let the Learners be in charge of their own Learning. But as said earlier, I think the change won't come in the form of a big fireworks bang but more in the form of a number of fire crackers that eventually builds up to the most magnificent fireworks you have ever seen.<br />
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One way to let the Learners take control of their learning is to present them with what I refer to as a <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Smorgasbord of Learning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">For those of you not familiar with what a smorgasbord is, it is a very typical Swedish buffet, which we eat on basically all our holidays. For each holiday we exchange one or two dishes but the most dishes remain the same (meatballs cannot not be excluded, unless you want to create a riot). The great thing with the smorgasbord is that you can actually pick and choose from a number of dishes. Ok, so I don't like pickled herring (another dish you cannot exclude) then I just pick something else.</span><br />
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So how can you create a Smorgasbord of Learning?<br />
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As I see it you create a number of learning dishes with clear goals and descriptions and present it in a tasteful way to the Learner. You might even suggest a good mix of Learning dishes and a suggestion on in which order to digest them. But, here's the thing... Once you have presented this to the Learner you leave it up to him or her to decide for themselves which dishes they want to choose and in which order to digest them. For example:<br />
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Learner 1: "I will go for learning dish 1,2,3 and 5 as I already am confident about the content in dish 4.<br />
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Learner 2: " I want the full package just as you have presented it to me, so give me dish 1,2,3,4,5"<br />
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Learner 3: "I would like to have the complete package but I think I will go for dish 3 first and then 2,4 and 5 and leave number 1 until last."<br />
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This way the Learner has some control over their own Learning. And you as a "chef" has control over the dishes served.<br />
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Are you afraid that this will create chaos? I honestly don't think it will. Most people will probably trust you and go for the dishes you suggested to them. And those who don't probably have a good reason for choosing the way they do.<br />
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Does this make any sense to you? Was the metaphor unclear? Am I totally wrong in my thinking? Feel free to comment.<br />
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Kitchen is closed!<br />
/MattiasMattiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296298298489848225noreply@blogger.com1