My Way or the Highway? The Future of Workplace Tools

I think many people in training and development in large corporations don't "trust" employees to "get it" through informal learning. Many educators at academic institutions think the same way! "If I don't teach it to them, they won't get it! I know what's best for them!" I have always been a rebel (and damned proud of it!) and I'm pushing HARD for a flipped classroom! Students don't need me to yap at them and they read as well as I do. Let them gain the knowledge transfer on their own time - read a book, listen to a podcast, watch a recorded mini-lecture. Then let's use class time for applied and informal learning. I'm all excited about the potential of wiki's now thanks to my book report. Maybe it’s time to send the teachers back to school and have them score a little informal learning! Maybe it would be easier to point out that all adults learn so much informally, and they don’t even realize they are doing it! The next time someone in my office watches me work on the computer and exclaims “Hey, how’d you do that?” before I answer them I’m going to tell they – “Hey – that’s informal learning! And it will be on the quiz!”

Say What? A Wordle? No - it's a McWordle!

Interview with Ms. Abigail Wheeler!

I was very excited to coordinate the "expert interview" with Ms. Wheeler this week. Our class certainly put her through her paces! I was most impressed with her common-sense, practical approach to instructional design. She is responsible for developing and delivering educational content for over 300 sales professionals, and she and her team use a blended approach. They minimize up-front training away from the employee's homes, and maximize the use of technology to continue orientation, and on-going development. She kindly provided insight into her own professional development (industry blogs, webinars, elearning guild, ASTD, learning solutions, Kathy Moore scenario-based learning, UK newsletter) and how she and her team developed bite-sized modules of instruction. I've already gone to several of the websites she recommended and downloaded a significant amount of material, and purchased on app! Thank you Ms. Wheeler!

McPherson UMBC 682 4th Entry

Last week in class we worked with master slides, themes and templates. We learned how to embed an image (e.g., your work logo) and reposition it; then it shows up on all the slides. Extra cool. You can even have more than one master slide. Whatever will I do with all the extra time now that I don't need for copying and pasting, and shifting and muttering under my breath?

I like the themed slides too (why were we all drawn to the fluffy white clouds?). It's a nice option from importing from PowerPoint (an option I'm still fond of). Captivate is one smart cookie!

Passion and Compassion? Who's with me??

So tomorrow I'm very fortunate to be receiving a very cool award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. In my acceptance remarks I discuss what I think are the two most important attributes of a faculty member and a student: passion and compassion. The following are my thoughts - I'm wondering who agrees, or disagrees with me?

"Speaking of passion, I think having and demonstrating passion and compassion are the two most important attributes of both a successful faculty member, and a student pharmacist. My area of practice is pain management and palliative care. Dr. Bob Beardsley and I teach an elective titled “Care of the Terminally Ill” – probably the only course at the school that engages their hearts, not just their minds. Treating students with compassion, and teaching them to extend the same courtesy to their future patients is a critical feeling skill in my opinion. Compassion is defined as a genuine concern for the welfare of others, or sympathetic consciousness with a desire to alleviate someone’s distress. This does not mean simply feeling sorry for someone. I believe we can teach our students about compassion by modeling the assessment of pain in a nonverbal patient, or showing patience with a dementia patient. Or perhaps acknowledging and working to minimize the shocking disparities seen in pain management for racial and ethnic minority groups.

In addition to teaching our students critical thinking and feeling skills, I think we should be proud to show the passion we all feel for our areas of expertise, and for teaching itself. Teachers who are passionate inspire students; they get excited about what they are learning. It makes them want to study more. Passionate teachers are perceived as being more authentic, and it’s contagious. When passion comes from both the teacher and student, learning is shared and valued together, resulting in lasting change. Robert Fried said “passion in teaching is not just something we offer our students. It’s is also a gift we grant ourselves: a way of honoring our life’s work and our profession.”

Ten MORE Cool Techno-Tools

As I write this, I'm attending the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in Chicago. I attended a session today titled "Top 10 Technology Tools" given by Jennifer Sparrow, really excellent. Here are her top choices (which kind of ran over 10!):

1. Google Moderator - a polling tool for collective intelligence gathering. Can use to see what's on student's minds before or after lecture.

2. Voicethread - can make anything into an image; can add audio to a posting. I frequently post readings for students and it would be helpful to add my thoughts on why it's a good reading.

3. Vizify - make graphics out of social media

4. Stormboard - can add images, post-it notes. Good for group collaboration.

5. Tagxedo - drop in any webiste and you get a wordle. You can even pick your shape. Students can do this and see if they have a good grasp on the big picture (and the smaller pictures!).

6. Google + Hangouts - good for online office hours, free for up to 10 users. Can record sessions and post (e.g., a review session).

7. Spicy Nodes - similar to Prezi (but easier).

8. Word Press - for blogs

9. StudyBlue - for flashcards, can add audio

10. Evernote - the speaker's absolutely FAVORITE tool! Can stores notes, photo's audio all in a project file. Can do shared notesbooks for collaboration.

11. Flikr - she loves this one!

12. Dropbox - a must for every human being on the planet!

13. Twitter and Tweet deck - natch!

14. She predicts the next huge things will be Google Keep and Tumblr!

An excellent session! So many apps, so little time!

McPherson UMBC 682 3rd Entry

For week 5 (June 26th) we used Adobe Photoshop and created Melon Man. Mine wasn't the most gorgeous Melon Man I've ever seen (his eyeballs were especially weird!), but it was cool learning about Photoshop.

We didn't have class this week, but we had an exercise where we were to take our quiz and practice publishing it as SWF vs. HTML5 vs. PDF. I tried to use the quiz I created a few weeks ago and of course I was not able to unclick SWF under the publish menu, and select HTML5. So I used a previous captivate file (one of the accessory files provided by our textbook) and I was able to publish it in all three formats. The file played in all three formats. Then I took a look at Jessica's project (who clearly, clearly puts me to shame) and her beautiful project played nicely in all three formats (although it ran a little slowly in one of the formats). I understand the purpose of the HTML5 format is so the file can play on devices (learned this last semester in 683!).

On another note, Group C is composed entirely of rock stars because we have FINISHED our design project. We get a little respite now until we need to build out the design plan we will inherit! On to bigger and better things!

Organization-Centric vs. Network-Centric - The Plot Continues

This week we are asked to contemplate the idea that the organization-centric model is characterized by our ability to tap expertise and share knowledge is constrained. In the network-centric model however, it is more expanded. The implication cited was "when we look for knowledge, leadership, and expertise, we will increasingly be able to access it in places that were once beyond our reach." When I consider my place of employment, I see elements of both models. I suspect the organization would PREFER the organization-centric model, but I think people are thirsty to push the boundaries and are unwilling to SETTLE for constrained knowledge and sharing. I believe the prevailing sentiment is "I don't need you to LET me seize the world, I can do it on my own." I wonder if organizations are a little intimidated to allow workers to go down paths that haven't been sanctioned by the organization? I know this sounds like "you young whippersnappers" but that's progress for you!

The second characteristic we were asked to contemplate is that in an organization-centric model, effectiveness is equated with longevity, while in the network-centric model effectiveness is equated with mobilization. I will admit that I am proud that the School of Pharmacy where I am faculty is one of the oldest in the country, and I am proud of our rich tradition. But we are ever mindful that we cannot rest on our laurels; I have witnessed first hand how beneficial transient team work can be - I agree that groups can come together to serve a purpose, then dissociate when the job is done.

Basically, whether organizations like it or not, I believe the network-centric model is being implemented, even if leadership isn't leading this charge!