866 - Selfies in Learning; TEDx Design/Curation Model

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - February 26, 2015.
#866 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
56,829 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.
Host: Learning Strategies LAB - March in Saratoga Springs!

1. Selfies and Learning Branding?
2. TEDx Design and Curation Model.
3. Learning Strategies LAB - 9 Spaces Available.

1. Selfies and Learning Branding?  The photographic “selfie” has received a great deal of publicity for humor, touching images, and even banning of the selfie “stick” at museums. Whether or not you take and circulate selfies yourself, let’s explore how they are (and might become) a part of Learning Branding:

* From Class Photos to Selfie Tweets: Most of the corporate universities take a class photo of leadership groups towards the end of a residential class. The participants get a nice 8 x 10 photo to keep at home or the office. Now, we are seeing the Class Selfie blast replacing the formal photo. Each participant may send several snaps to colleagues around the organization or post a link with the photos on an internal social network. Significantly more folks see the images that validate both the course and the participant’s skill development.

* Selfies as Assignments: Learning designers can leverage the “selfie” as part of course design. If I were designing a learning program on safety or manufacturing standards, the learners or subject matter experts can be asked to take and circulate selfies that illustrate the content or context of the program.

* Selfies as Transfer and Assessment Process: If I were taking a course on Time Management or the use of a Learning Management System, one assignment might be to take selfies of work in process or even a screen shot as part of daily/weekly reminders for transfer to the workplace. These might be shared with my instructor or manager and used for anthropological data for assessment.

We are intrigued to explore the role of “Selfies” - formal or informal - in the learning process. Send me a note to emasie@masie.com

2. TEDx Design & Curation Model: I had the honor of being one of the speakers at TEDx Broadway on Monday in New York City. I was able to combine content from the worlds of learning, Big Data and Broadway Theater Production. Their design and curation process was quite impressive and I wanted to share a few of their design elements:

* TED Short Duration: My segment was a strict 13 minutes long. There is a countdown clock that starts the second you are on stage and is used to keep each segment short and on target.
* No Commercial Mentions Allowed: There are no commercial mentions allowed in any of the talks. This is adhered to on both a verbal and projection slide basis. The slides are reviewed prior to the event and feedback is provided for any violations.
* Three Rounds of Conversation for Design: TEDx organizer Jim McCarthy, who is not compensated for his leadership role, spent several hours with me in three rounds of conversation during the months prior to the event. He worked with each of the 17 presenters on their focus, process and honing in on a key topic with content that would resonate with the diverse audience.
* If You Break the Rules, Your Video Will Not Be Posted: One of the cool things about a TEDx event is that your message can be seen by way more than the several hundred people in the audience. TED videos are amongst the most watched and shared content in the world. Any violations of the above rules and your video will not be posted or shared.
* Quick Video Interview for Each Speaker: At the end of each presentation, the speaker is asked to do a 60 second video interview on one or two key points about the content. This is shared online in real time and extends the reach.

The audience really appreciates the TED model and the levels of reaction and engagement are high. It is way more preparation as a speaker than some of my hour-long keynotes around the world, and I was very impressed. Check out the site at http://www.tedxbroadway.com for content and videos posted in the weeks ahead.

As learning leaders, engage in the dozens of local TEDx events around the country and consider their curation model as an evolving example for our own learning production.

3. Learning Strategies LAB - 9 Spaces Available: There are only 9 spaces left in our new Learning Strategies LAB, led by Doug Lynch and myself from March 25 to 27 in Saratoga Springs, NY. We have senior learning leaders attending from around the world as we dig deep into the process of building and leveraging a new Learning Strategy for your organization. Details and online registration: http://www.masie.com  Space is limited - so please register soon!

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie
Chair, The Learning CONSORTIUM

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM
- Learning Strategies LAB - With Doug Lynch and Elliott Masie - March 25 to 27 Saratoga Springs.
- Learning 2015 - Nov 1- 4 - Orlando, Florida.
Upcoming:
- Gamification and Learning LAB.
- MOOCs and Corporate Learning Summit.

Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

5 Minute Survey on Learning as a Habit

TO: Learning, Training & Performance Colleagues
FROM: Elliott Masie, The MASIE Center
DATE: February 13, 2015

RE: 5 Minute Survey on Learning as a Habit, Please!

We are pleased to be researching the exciting topic of Learning as a Habit!

Would you (and your colleagues) take a quick, 5 minute survey on Learning Habits? It is confidential and will provide a context for the research on Learning Habits being conducted by Jennifer Cheng, our Research Fellow.

Go to: http://www.masie.com/survey/habit1

A summary of the results will be published online in the coming month.

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie
Chair, The Learning CONSORTIUM

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM
- Learning Strategies LAB - With Doug Lynch and Elliott Masie - March 25 - 27 Saratoga Springs.
- Learning Innovations LAB & Retreat - April 20 - 22 Saratoga Springs.
- Learning 2015 - Nov 1 to 4 - Orlando, Florida.
Upcoming:
- Gamification and Learning LAB.
- MOOCs and Corporate Learning Summit.

Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie

865 - Do Stories Evolve Over Time?

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - February 9, 2015.
#865 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
56,821 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.
Host: Learning Strategies LAB - March in Saratoga Springs!

1. Do Stories Evolve Over Time?
2. BYOD Access for Mobile Devices.
3. Learning Innovations LAB - April 20 - 22.

1. Do Stories Evolve Over Time? As we tell and retell our stories, especially if we are presenters, speakers or in the media, do we refine, hone and perhaps evolve or enhance our stories over time?

My question stems from the in-process news story about the storytelling of news anchor Brian Williams. TRENDS readers from the United States may have been following the crisis that flowed from flaws that are popping up in the stories that NBC Anchor Brian Williams told about his experiences in a battle that he was covering in Iraq many years ago. Apart from the truths or exaggerations in this specific incident - and we clearly want to have deep trust in the words of journalists - it does trigger a personal reflection on my part about what happens with stories that we tell over time.

I will admit that as I have shared stories in a keynote speech, they get better with each retelling. I figure out what to highlight, what to leave out and even the best sequence of the telling. This is a natural improvement. But, sometimes I may take elements from several stories and combine them into one better story. It is may be a speaker’s natural desire to be powerful or impactful - but am I bending the truth?

One example is a story that I have told about introducing my mother - who was a senior citizen - to the internet in the 1990’s in front of many of her fellow grandmothers in an apartment in Miami, Florida.

I love telling the story and referencing a woman on the end of the couch with red hair - who I “think” had the name of Ida - and telling it with gusto. I have told that story perhaps over 300 hundred times over several decades. And, it is true.

But, I am not sure if the name of the woman at the end of the coach was Ida - or Irene or Edith - and there may have been 4 or 6 other grandmothers. And, to be totally honest, I added a bigger, deeper Jewish accent to Ida’s comments to me. As I told the story, Ida became the best way of deeply telling the story to large groups. Stories sometimes naturally evolve with the retelling.

I have been thinking about the ways in which we deal with this “story evolution” reality as professional storytellers:

* Accuracy on Organizational Context: Let’s make sure that we are accurate on the name or type of organization that we are referring to in a story. If combining several, be direct to say, “Here is a story that reflects what several companies in the freight logistics area are undertaking.”
* Own Your Possible Memory Gaps: I really don’t know if her name was exactly “Ida”. But, I might say, “I believe that my mother’s friend name was called Ida.”
* Write it Down or Video It: As we tell stories, which will evolve, try to have a version of the original one - in video or text - to hold the details.
* Stories vs. Case Studies: Try to differentiate a Case Study, which is about a specific incident with a specific company at a specific moment in history, from a story that may be a more personal recounting of a set of memories. I use the word “Story” intentionally to differentiate it from a “Case Study”.
* Keep the Story on Them, Not You: One of the challenges of the celebrity nature of journalists and even public speakers is that we use too many “I” statements. Keep the stories about other people rather than always bringing it back to you.

There is much to learn about the evolving nature of Storytelling, particularly in the age of everywhere video. I would love to hear from Learning TRENDS readers about their views of how stories evolve over time. Send me a note to emasie@masie.com

2. BYOD Access for Mobile Devices: We have been tracking the enormous rise in the use of personal phones or tablets by employees as they do their work defined computing, searching and collaborating. More and more employees are in the BYOD - Bring Your Own Device - mode as they conduct business work throughout the day.

BYOD Access will be requested and in many ways required as all generations increase their desire to have technology access at their fingertips (and perhaps soon on their watches). BYOD Access will evolve to include Biometric Validation, GPS Location Validation or other extensions of selective access to the corporate firewall.

Learning and Development colleagues, along with other Human Resource professionals, will need to better communicate the nature of BYOD Access and include it in onboarding, orientation and other job readiness learning activities. Our IT colleagues will also need to mix the need for security and threat prevention while at the same time dealing with a more mobile and agile computing workforce.

3. Learning Innovations LAB - April 20 to 22. We are pleased to announce the next edition of my Learning Innovations LAB & Retreat, a 2 1/2 day deep dive into new technologies and learning designs.  We offered this for the first time in January and the LAB sold out. Therefore, I will be hosting a Learning Innovations LAB & Retreat from April 20 to 22 at The MASIE Center LAB in Saratoga Springs, NY. We will explore these technologies and topics:

- Learning Personalization.
- Mobile Learning Models – Mobility & Performance.
- Video: Fast, Targeted, User-Created, Open, Digital Studios.
- Wearables: From Glasses to Bands to Watches.
- Performance Support Technologies.
- ReDesigning Webinars.
- MOOCs: Massive and Open Content Models.
- Small Tech vs. Big Tech - Solutions in the BYOD Era.
- Collaborative & Social Learning Technology.
- Curation: Harvesting & Sorting Content.
and more..

Details on content and registration are available at http://www.masie.com

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie
Chair, The Learning CONSORTIUM

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM
- Learning Strategies LAB - With Doug Lynch and Elliott Masie - March 25 to 27 Saratoga Springs.
- Learning Innovations LAB & Retreat - April 20 to 22 Saratoga Springs.
- Learning 2015 - Nov 1 to 4 - Orlando, Florida.
Upcoming:
- Gamification and Learning Summit.
- MOOCs and Corporate Learning LAB.

Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com - twitter: emasie