907 - Question of the Week Model, Philippines Visit, Great Microphones

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - Feb 13, 2016.
#907 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
57,211 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.
Host: Assessment, Evaluation & Research LAB - April in Saratoga Springs.

1. Question of the Week: Employee as Learner!
2. Elliott Masie to Philippines This Week.
3. Microphone Adds Audio Fidelity.

1. Question of the Week: Employee as Learner! What if an employee created a Question of the Week?  I can imagine working in an organization where each colleague crafted and publicized a personal Question of the Week.  Here might be a few examples of Questions of the Week:

- What are faster ways to get our procurement requests approved at HQ?
- How are the sales of our new product line going, compared to our competition?
- Can I modify my customer profile searches to get more focused results?
- What are the next steps in qualifying for advanced certification?
- Anyone have suggestions that would help me raise my performance review ratings for delegation effectiveness?

One of the best forces to spike the learning culture in a workplace is to create, float and honor questions from colleagues.  Questions of the Week might create a culture shift that would honor the curiosity of each colleague and empower conversations around individual and common queries.

I used this technique in a Leadership Development program that I hosted a few years ago.  We actually created a Question of the Day model and each participant wore a new nametag with their daily curiosity.  About 30% of the conversations during the breaks hovered around these questions.  Imagine how our Questions of the Week might become viral with corporate social networks.

Can you do me a favor and send a note with an example of your Question of the Week?  Send it confidentially to emasie@masie.com

2. Elliott Masie to Philippines This Week: On Monday morning, I will be flying from New York to Manila, Philippines for a 9 day visit with learning, corporate and theater colleagues.

First, I will be giving a keynote at the Learning Summit in Manila to workplace and learning colleagues.  Details at: http://www.goalonlinelearning.org/learningsummit2016/

Next, I am excited to meet with fellow learning colleagues and readers of Learning TRENDS.  If you could meet for a drink and conversation in Manila on Friday, Feb 19th, please send me an email to emasie@masie.com 

While in Manila, I will be meeting with theater producers and organizers to explore the opportunity to bring our Broadway Show to Manila in 2017.

I am very excited to visit and collaborate with my colleagues in the Philippines.  It is one of the most active developers and innovators in the world of learning (and theater).  Stay tuned for a video report during my trip.

3. Microphone Adds Audio Fidelity:  As we use video chat, Skype and webinar formats to collaborate with our colleagues over distance, it is interesting to look at the fidelity of our audio. 

Way too often, the microphone we use is a small, internal and non-adjustable mini-device in our laptops or desktops. Sometimes the hole above the internal microphone is on the side or even back of the screen.

There are several USB microphones that we have been using at The MASIE Center LAB that cost approximately $99.  The Neat Widget Desktop USB Microphone is awesome and also very cool looking.  It reminds me of the microphone used on older TV or radio shows.  And, it has multiple audio inputs that can be adjusted to make your audio capture perfect, for a sole voice or a group conversation.

Check it out at: http://www.amazon.com/NEAT-Widget-Desktop-USB-Microphone/dp/B015NBV3JM 

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie
Host, Learning 2016
Email: emasie@masie.com
Twitter: emasie

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
- Learning Innovations LAB - May 17-19, Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Assessment, Evaluation & Evidence LAB - April 5 to 7, Saratoga Springs, NY
- Learning Systems: LMS, LCMS, Social & More! - April 27 and 28, Chicago, IL.
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM.
- Learning 2016 - October 23 to 26 - Orlando, Florida.

Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com

906 - Elections and Gamification; Assessment/Evaluation LAB

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - Feb 10, 2016.
#906 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
57,207 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.
Host: Learning Systems: LMS, LCMS, Social & More! - Chicago in April.

1. Elections & Gamification: Oh Myyy!
2. Assessment, Evaluation & Evidence LAB Announced.

1. Elections & Gamification: Oh Myyy! Watching the coverage of the United States Presidential election campaign has been a very strange experience. No matter what your political party or leanings, it is strange to watch how the media (and the candidates too) have invoked a Gamification approach to Election Coverage.

My working definition: Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to non-game situations (e.g. learning or shopping) to trigger higher levels of engagement.

I watched 4 hours of election coverage in the past day, as the results of the New Hampshire Primary were covered. It was stunning to observe how much gamification was invoked:

- Leader Boards: The television stations used the same graphic packages from sports coverage to show macro and micro level Leader Boards.  Position on the leader board was significant, even if there were only 500 votes between two candidates in the middle of the pack.
- Threshold and Levels: Reporters created these thresholds or levels that candidates were asked to predict against. For instance, will you be at the top of “Former Governor Lane”?
- Positions in Game vs. Positions in Policy: There was an amazing lack of deep conversation about the policy implications of each candidate’s approaches. Rather, the positions were seen as short term strategy to gain higher position on the Leader Boards.
- Voters in the Game, Too: Interviews with voters also took on the gamification approach.

And, perhaps most interesting was the sense of a multi-week game or reality show, where we the viewers were expecting that contestants would be thrown off the show.  The interest in the “election show” is sustained with continuing big waves of ups and downs, much as one might see on an episode of Survivor or Dancing with the Stars.

This is not a political rant on my part.  And, it is not triggered by or aligned with Donald Trump’s presence.  In fact, it is applied to both parties and to seemingly the entire spectrum of coverage.  For some reason, the US viewing public has “asked for” or is responding to Gamification of election coverage.

Like Gamification it can drive engagement, add energy and provide a more personalized sense of competition and challenge. And, like Gamification, it is a set of gaming elements applied to a non-game.  And, I have noticed that many of my conversations with friends and colleagues about the election have been tipped towards the Gamification side rather than exploration of difficult challenges that will require competent and agile leadership.  Would we select the CEO of our Fortune 500 company in this fashion?  Or, is the engagement level of the Gamification dimension adding to citizen involvement and participation?

So, does it help or hinder the process of democracy or leadership selection?  I would love to hear from TRENDS readers on your views. Send me a note to emasie@masie.com

2. Assessment, Evaluation & Evidence LAB Announced: I am honored to announce a new program, focused on the tricky topics of assessing and evaluating learning:

Assessment, Evaluation & Evidence LAB!
Led by: Doug Lynch and Elliott Masie.
April 5 to 7, 2016 in Saratoga Springs, NY USA.
http://www.masie.com    .

Our Assessment, Evaluation & Evidence LAB will examine these key changing factors:

- Tools are evolving and hint at better ways of capturing and analyzing data. Shifts in LMS, LCMS, Assessment and Talent Systems will impact or facilitate your efforts.
- Pedagogies & Learning Approaches give us new ways of helping learners improve their understanding and performance.  As learners drive more of their own learning choices, our assessment approaches are affected.
- External Factors are forcing us to teach different people new and different things. For example, what is the role that TED Talks have in leadership development – even though they are not prescribed by the organization?

Space is limited and complete information is online at http://www.masie.com

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie
Host, Learning 2016
Email: emasie@masie.com
Twitter: emasie

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
- Learning Innovations LAB - May 17-19, Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Assessment, Evaluation & Evidence LAB - April 5-7, Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Learning Systems: LMS, LCMS, Social & More! - April 27 & 28, Chicago, IL.
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM.
- Learning 2016 - October 23-26 - Orlando, Florida.

Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com

905 - Barracuda Bowl for Learning - Our Own Shark Tank

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - Feb 1, 2016.
#905 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
57,199 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.
Host: Learning Systems: LMS, LCMS, Social & More! - Chicago in April.

1. Barracuda Bowl for Learning: Shark Tank for New Systems.
2. Grease LIVE - Idea Jump to Internal Virtual Event?
3. Announcing: 3rd Learning Innovations LAB in May.
4. Follow Elliott Masie on Twitter: @emasie

1. Barracuda Bowl for Learning - Shark Tank for New Systems: What if we had a “Shark Tank” show for new Learning Systems Ideas? What if the developers, inventors or venture startups had to present their ideas quickly to a group of learning professionals - and got clear and unfiltered Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

While we don’t have Mark Cuban as a panelist, I am assembling the Learning Barracuda Bowl at our Learning Systems: LMS, LCMS, Social & More event in April. 

We will invite a small group of developers and startups focused on the world of Learning Systems to present their ideas - and the hundreds of participants will be our Barracuda Bowl panelists. It is a compressed way to get some deep feedback as designers target the corporate learning space. Come join us. Details at http://masie.com/Learning-Systems/our-design.html

2. Grease LIVE - Idea Jump to Internal Virtual Event? Last night, millions watched an interesting story/theater/TV show: “Grease Live”. It was an elaborate production of a theater or movie version of Grease that is world famous. It was interesting to watch how they did this show live - on a huge set - so that the audience felt it was part of the happening now reality of the show.

It got me thinking about a challenge that many organizations have to meet: engaging the widest audience of employees, who are often scattered around the world, in a corporate event. Streaming a one-day or two-day-long conference generally does not work. People don’t/can’t engage for that duration with full attention. Yet, just streaming segments from an event may be helpful, but folks often skip those because they are not live.

What if major organizations took a lesson from Grease Live and other theater being delivered live on TV  and created a short and targeted events, delivered live to the entire workforce?

Imagine a well-designed 75 minute “show” that included leaders, field employees and even some entertainment. It could be done once a year to engage the workforce. The “live” quality will create buzz and build a much bigger audience. Be brave if you are a retailer and consider closing your stores for 90 minutes to engage every employee. And, of course it can always be offered via on-demand streaming afterward.

Something to consider. If there is a TRENDS organization that wants to try this, I will volunteer my time as a co-producer to help with the experiment. Write me at emasie@masie.com

3. Announcing: 3rd Learning Innovations LAB in May: Our Learning Innovations LAB (with a Learn-A-Thon) is one of our most popular courses. The LAB in March is almost filled, so we have just added the 3rd Learning Innovations LAB this year: May 17-19th in Saratoga Springs, NY, USA. Come join us if you want to do a deep immersion for 3 days in the changing world of learning technology and innovations.  Details and online registration at http://www.masie.com

4. Follow Elliott Masie on Twitter - @emasie: As many of our colleagues increase their use of Twitter as one of their social feeds, you can always follow me at @emasie. Random notes and resources posted occasionally.

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie
Host, Learning 2016
Email: emasie@masie.com
Twitter: emasie

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
- Learning Innovations LAB - March 14-16 or May 17-19, Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Learning Systems: LMS, LCMS, Social & More! - April 27 and 28, Chicago, IL.
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM.
- Learning 2016 - October 23 to 26 - Orlando, Florida.

Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com