991 - A Personal Note: Heading to Germany with New Passport & Father's Legacy

Elliott Masie’s Learning TRENDS - February 9, 2018.
#991 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology Since 1997.
57,917 Readers - www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host: ChatBots for Learning LAB - Feb 21 to 23, Saratoga Springs, NY. 

1. A Personal Note: Journey to Germany Tonight - New Passport & Father’s Legacy!
2. Meeting with Online Educa in Berlin!
3. Reminder: ChatBots for Learning LAB in 2 Weeks - 6 Spaces Left! 

1. A Personal Note: Journey to Germany Tonight - New Passport & Father’s Legacy!:  In the twenty years that I have been writing Learning TRENDS there are some personal moments that I have shared. 

Tonight, I fly to Germany for 2 Unique Experiences.  First, I will enter Germany with my new German Passport.  My father was forced to flee Nazi Germany in 1938 and come to the United States.  At the end of the war, a law was passed to allow people who had to flee in WWII and their children to apply for a “2nd” passport from Germany.

I submitted the application and in September was Naturalized as a German Citizen - honoring the pain and disruption caused by the Nazi era.  We lost almost 20 relatives in the Camps.  And, it was a powerful moment to go the German Consulate in NY and receive my passport. 

I am proud to be an American Citizen and will use that passport for most of my travels.  But, I will enter Frankfurt tomorrow morning and use my new German Passport.  It will be a time to reflect and honor my father and the millions of people who were not able to leave.  Our family never had hate towards Germany - it was a horrible time and there were horrible people who did unthinkable things in the war.  My father always called himself an American who was born and raised in Germany.  

And, spirits work in a wonderful way.  Just one month ago, two people from Germany discovered letters that their grandfather had received and written to my father - who was a Mineral Engineer - and we will get together in Berlin to share more memories.  

My last time to Berlin was as the Wall was coming down between East and West Germany.  Tomorrow, a personal wall will come down as I think of Hans Heinrich Masie as I use my German Passport. 

2. Meeting with Online Educa in Berlin:  The other great thing that will happen this week is a meeting that I will have with one of the real leaders in the Global Learning World. 

Rebecca Stromeyer is  the head of Online Educa Berlin - a major learning event in Europe.  And, she is the organizer of learning innovation efforts in Africa and around the world. 

We will meet on Monday to share our perceptions of the ever changing world of Learning and Technologies.  I am excited to connect with Rebecca and learn from her unique and wide experiences.  Learning is ever more global and we must connect with new peers and mentors across boarders - as our learners are increasingly boundary free.  Here is the Online Educa site: https://oeb.global/ 

3. ChatBots for Learning Expanding! In two weeks I will host our first ChatBots for Learning LAB - also featuring a focus on Smart Speakers (e.g. Alexa or Google Assistant for Work). 

The research that my team has being doing on the potential for leveraging ChatBots for Learning - as active performance support and workflow support tools - is mind boggling.  The ability to leverage structured and machine-learning-aided ChatBots for employees (and customers) who need to perform a task or learn a readiness is very exciting. 

We have 5 spots remaining in our ChatBots for Learning Lab from Feb 21 to 23.  Go to http://www.masie.com for complete info and online registration.  Each participant will also receive 2 Smart Speakers and loads of take-home resources. 

Yours in Learning, 

Elliott Masie.
Email: emasie@masie.com .
Twitter: @emasie  . 

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services: 

- ChatBots for Learning LAB - Feb 21 to 23- Saratoga Springs, NY
- Curation & Learning LAB - Mar 21 to 23 - Saratoga Springs, NY
- Diversity & Inclusion LAB for Learning - April 10 to 12, Saratoga Springs, NY
- Learning 2018 - Nov 4 to 7 - Orlando (Very Early Registration Now Open)
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM 

Details and Online Registration: http://www.masie.com 

Learning TRENDS is produced by The MASIE Center.  95 Washington Street, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

990 - Messaging Apps and Learning, From Slides to Wikis, ChatBots Expanded

Elliott Masie’s Learning TRENDS - February 7, 2018.
#990 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology Since 1997.
57,915 Readers - www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host: ChatBots for Learning LAB - Feb 21 to 23, Saratoga Springs, NY. 

1. What’s App: Messaging Apps and Learning?
2. From Slides to Wikis: No Elliott PowerPoints In LABS!
3. ChatBots for Learning Expanding! 

1. What’s App: Messaging Apps and Learning? Keep your workplace learning eyes focused on the rise of Messaging Apps.  Think about the number of your employees that have been shifting in their communication, collaboration, task management and personal scheduling.  Here are a few trends: 

* Rapid Decrease in Workers Sending eMail.
* Steady Decrease in Workers Checking eMail Continually.
* Decreased Use of Posted Social Media Internal Sites.
* Mixed Use of Twitter for Corporate Employee Connections.
* Radical Increase in Corporate Messaging Platforms - What’s App, Slack, Jive, WeChat (China).
* Growth of Enterprise Messaging Apps: Facebook, Google, Skype, Zoom.

It is fascinating to watch how “learning and performance” are evolving around these Messaging Apps. 

Some are incorporating ChatBots to allow a worker to ask a question or knowledge-need-query and get an immediate reply or escalation.  In fact, the convergence of Messaging and ChatBots could have a deep impact on curriculum development - as we stack knowledge to be just a message away vs. delivered in a class setting. 

Messaging Apps will also play a key role in Curation as workers are prompted with key content or context through their App vs. a visit to the Portal Site. 

We will also see ways of building our content flow into Messaging App-Ready formats.  (See item #3 Below) 

2. From Slides to Wikis: No Elliott PowerPoints In LABS!  I took a big move as a classroom teacher, running my first LAB last week without any PowerPoint.  Instead of giving out a Deck of Slides the first day (and more each subsequent day), I announced we were in a “No Slide Setting”. 

Instead, we used a real-time curated Wiki for the 46 members of our LAB. 

All graphics and charts were added to the Wiki as we used them.  I had two MASIE Center team members in the LAB who captured real-time notes from the sessions.  They were posted on the Wiki within 30 minutes.  And, we added the video capture of our Guest Expert Interviews to the Wiki. 

I loved being Beyond Slides.  Try it! 

3. ChatBots for Learning Expanding! In two weeks I will host our first ChatBots for Learning LAB - also featuring a focus on Smart Speakers (e.g. Alexa or Google Assistant for Work). 

The research that my team has being doing on the potential for leveraging ChatBots for Learning - as active performance support and workflow support tools - is mind boggling.  The ability to leverage structured and machine-learning-aided ChatBots for employees (and customers) who need to perform a task or learn a readiness is very exciting. 

We have 6 spots remaining in our ChatBots for Learning Lab from Feb 21 to 23.  Go to http://www.masie.com for complete info and online registration.  Each participant will also receive 2 Smart Speakers and loads of take-home resources. 

Yours in Learning, 

Elliott Masie.
Email: emasie@masie.com .
Twitter: @emasie  .

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services: 

- Curation & Learning LAB - Mar 21 to 23 t - Saratoga Springs, NY
- ChatBots for Learning LAB - Feb 21 to 23- Saratoga Springs, NY
- Diversity & Inclusion LAB for Learning - April 10 to 12, Saratoga Springs, NY
- Learning 2018 - Nov 4 to 7 - Orlando (Very Early Registration Now Open)
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM 

Details and Online Registration: http://www.masie.com 

Learning TRENDS is produced by The MASIE Center.  95 Washington Street, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866