245 - e-Learning Balloons

#245 - - - Sept 23, 2002 - - - 44,154 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. Your Questions for Peter Senge at TechLearn
2. Italian Gathering of TRENDS Readers and My On-Line Language Lessons
3. e-Learning Balloons

1. Your Questions for Peter Senge at TechLearn: I will be interviewing
Peter Senge, key advocate of Learning Organizations, by satellite at
TechLearn 2002 (end of October in Orlando). In preparing for my
interview, I would love to get some help from you. What are some key
questions about the evolution of Senge's models of Learning Organizations
as the world has picked up the capacities of digital learning and
collaboration. Send me your questions to elliott@masie.com Thanks!

2. Italian Gathering of TRENDS Readers and My On-Line Language Lessons:
In about seven days I am going to be heading to Italy to give a speech on
e-Learning. This is my first real trip to Italy. I speak not a word of
Italian, so guess where I am spending some time. You got it, on-line,
learning basic language for travelers. I am using a few different on-line
courses, my first e-Language experiences. There are some very impressive
offerings, including www.rosettastone.com

It is interesting to see how my ear is picking up some of the listening
side, but I am still quite challenged on the speaking side. But, I am
only a few hours into the process. I will keep you informed along the
way. (Note, my wife Cathy has lived and studied in Florence, so I have
some shoulder-to-shoulder tutoring going on at the same time.)

I would like to invite any TRENDS readers, who live in or near Rome, to
join me for a drink and chat on Wednesday, October 2nd, at 5 PM at the
lobby bar of the Grand Hotel De La Minerve, Piazza della Minerva, 69
tel: 06 695201.

3. e-Learning Balloons: One of our readers wrote in about their attempt
to help e-Learners with some privacy during real-time sessions. Their
company has made up a set of printed balloons, that say Learner At Work!
They blow them up and tie them to cubicles or chairs during longer on-line
sessions. They report it helps with both privacy and also publicizing the
growing rate of e-Learning in their area. Of course, some learners are
also inhaling a bit of the helium and changing their voice sound during
on-line chats.

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: http://www.masie.com
- TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27 to 30 - Orlando, Florida
- Skills for e-Trainers - Sept 25 - 27 - Saratoga Springs, NY

244 - Muscle Memory - Performance and Foul Shots; Tastes of Training - Marketing Ideas

#244 - - - Sept 16, 2002 - - - 44,101 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. Muscle Memory - Performance and Foul Shots
2. Tastes of Training - Marketing Ideas
3. Learning Quotation

1. Muscle Memory - Performance and Foul Shots: One of the most
interesting speakers that I have ever seen is Dave Hopple. He is a coach
for NBA and College Basketball Players who need to improve their foul line
shooting. I'm bringing Dave to TechLearn to talk about Muscle Memory -
Why Can't Basketball Players Make EVERY Foul Shot. Dave will demonstrate
with his own shooting and by coaching a random participant (with no
basketball experience) that you can train your muscles to make that shot
from the foul line to the basket. Why don't well paid NBA players
practice this until it is a no-brainer? His keynote will trigger some
very intriguing connections to how we approach core skill training in our
organizations. Info on TechLearn 2002 can be found at www.techlearn.com

2. Tastes of Training - Marketing Ideas: Here is an internal marketing
idea for Training offerings. It is based on the Tastes of Dallas event,
where restaurants offer a small taste of their food to the public. You
can try food from dozens of restaurants in a single afternoon. Change the
idea into Tastes of Training. Vendors and internal trainers gather for an
afternoon of small snipets of the types of training that is available to
the workforce. Managers can "taste" a quick 15 minute sample of a class
and can pick up information on the offerings. It is a cool way to market
the value and diversity of your learning offerings. The trick is to make
the trainers actually teach a small module rather than talk about it. Try
it!

3. Learning Quotation: It is important that students bring a certain
ragamuffin, barefoot, irreverence to their studies; they are not here to
worship what is known, but to question it.
- J Bronowski, The Ascent of Man

Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
- Skills for e-Trainers: Next Week in Saratoga Springs, NY www.masie.com
- TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27 - 30, Orlando, FL - www.techlearn.com

243 - Don't Forget Humor in Learning!

#243 - - - Sept 11, 2002 - - - 44,094 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

Don't Forget Humor in Learning!
A TechLearn Essay
By Elliott Masie

Every great classroom based class that I have attended has contained humor
and laughter. I remember taking a class on Structured Programming, one of
the least funny topics that I have ever encountered as a learner, yet the
laughter was intense in that class:

- The instructor told us some great war stories about failed projects
that made us laugh (and sometimes want to cry).
- When one of us made a mistake, humor helped us get through the confusion
and difficult content.
- During the breaks, laughter filled the hallways, as an indicator of both
our stress release and also of the fellowship that had been created in the
classroom.
- There was great teaching and awesome learning happening, on a tough
topic, and our humanity created the laughter.

When I think about the instructional design for the class, I bet there was
little mention of laughter in the designer's teacher notes. Yet, the
teacher "ALLOWED" learning and it made all the difference in the world.
The trick in the classroom is to make sure that you don't SHUT OFF humor
as a tool.

My colleague and friend, Joel Goodman, who directs The Humor Project,
states that the word HAHA has the latin root of AHA. In other words, when
things are true and we find common truths, we often laugh. A great
speaker doesn't have to tell funny stories, they just have to connect with
common truths that will bring out our humor response. Joel would also
tell you about the wonderful physical effects of humor, including deeper
breathing and stress reduction. So, the targeted use of humor in the
culture of a classroom can be deeply effective.

It can even work at large conferences. At TechLearn, I use humor in the
same vein. We tackle tough issues, wrap our arms around a crazy and
changing field and the halls of the hotel in Orlando are filled with
laughter. In fact, we even program humor into our schedule, from Dave
Barry to the jugglers Raspyni, to leverage humor as a tool for learning
and building community.

Yet, on-line, we often forget to the importance role of humor. I have
been on a few of the driest ever virtual classroom sessions and I have
slugged my way through on-line modules that are totally devoid of smiles,
no less laughter.

One of our challenges is how to keep our e-Learning human and natural and
not blocking the funny aspects of life. This is new stuff. We don't
have a lot of experience about how to make that happen in our world...

Here are a few ways to make sure that you are snuffing out the humor in
your e-Learning offerings:

- Maintain your humanity. Since the learner can't see you, it is even
more important that they feel your acceptance and that you not shut down
humor as it emerges. Being off task for a few minutes will not kill the
content or the process.
- Laugh at yourself as the e-Trainer. People don't want to learn from
experts. They want to learn from real people who have great expertise.
Laugh at yourself along the way.
- Sometimes e-Learning technology does not work the way we planned. Have
a plan B, but also allow yourself to see the humor in the process. I have
a picture that I often post when a video conference goes down that has me
holding an Einstein stuffed animal. It breaks the tension of the moment.
- Storytelling that is authentic will add natural humor the learning
process. Don't overly script your content captures. I would rather do an
interview of some experts, where I can bring the humor to the surface in a
story, rather than rely on a script to recapture the funny bits.

We need to add to this list. So, I would like to reach out to our
TechLearn TRENDS readers and ask for a few suggestions about how you are
(or would like to) use humor in the on-line and e-Learning offerings.

Send them to emasie@masie.com and I will post them for the use of our
Readers.

Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
- TechLearn 2002 - October 27-30 - Orlando, Florida www.techlearn.com
- Skills for e-Trainers - September 25 - 27 - Saratoga Springs, NY
www.masie.com

242 - A Smarter Child: Instant Messenger Robot Concept; Every Product SKU Will Have a Learning SKU

#242 - - - Sept 6, 2002 - - - 43,954 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. A Smarter Child: Instant Messenger Robot Concept
2. Every Product SKU Will Have a Learning SKU
3. Raspyini Brothers Headed to TechLearn

1. A Smarter Child: Instant Messenger Robot Concept. I have been playing
with this intriguing "automated agent/robot" that a TechLearn Trends
reader pointed me to last night. It is called Smarter Child. You can add
this "agent" to your Instant Messenger account or work through a Java
based web interface. In this demo, you can ask questions on a set of
topics and get answers conversationally. I found out stock quotes,
weather, books and movies locally, as well as other info. Imagine having
a series of IM addresses linked to diverse knowledge bases. Go to:

http://www.smarterchild.com/

2. Every Product SKU Will Have a Learning SKU: As Customer Learning
grows, we are starting conversations about the creation of Learning
Objects that would match each retail product in a store. Imagine if every
consumer product's bar code (often called a SKU) had a matching Learning
SKU that pointed to a web based learning or knowledge set of modules.
Suppliers would create these Learning SKU's for every item in their
inventory and retailers could compile or personalize them for either
employee or customer training.

3. Raspyini Brothers Headed to TechLearn: The Keynote List is almost
complete for TechLearn 2002. The Raspyini Brothers, one of the
funniest comedy and juggling and magic groups will be opening each of our
General Sessions, tickling us and integrating content from the
presentations into their short openers. Their website: www.raspyini.com
You can register for TechLearn 2002 (Oct 27 to 30 in Orlando) at
www.techlearn.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
- Skills for e-Trainers: Saratoga Springs, NY - Sept 25-27 www.masie.com
- TechLearn 2002: Orlando, FL - Oct 27 - 30 www.techlearn.com

241 - Learning & Knowledge Requests? (A TechLearn Essay)

#241 - - - Sept 3, 2002 - - - 43,924 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

Learning & Knowledge Requests?
A TechLearn Essay
By Elliott Masie

How does a worker within your organization indicate their need and desire
to learn something or to acquire knowledge? This dialogue may be more of
a knowledge management issue, but I would like to raise it with you, our
learning and training colleagues.

What are the actions that a worker takes when they discover that they have
a knowledge gap or a need to learn a new skill? We know that there is an
informal process, where people reach out to their peers, work neighbors or
supervisors for immediate information or knowledge. But, what if the
knowledge gap is larger than an informal conversation. Then, we know that
the learner might go “shopping” for a class or course, in the classroom or
on-line. But, what if the list of available courses does not contain the
right stuff for the learner. In those situations, how do learners “post”
or “declare” their learning or knowledge requests?

I have interviewed several dozen workers, in diverse organizations, and
found that almost all of them lack an official point of contact for a
learning or knowledge request. Some felt that they “didn’t want to
bother” their manager with this type of request and a few said they might
post a request on an internal bulletin board (with low hopes for helpful
responses). However, most felt as though there wasn’t a place to take
their learning or knowledge request.

The MASIE Center is investigating how the “economy” of learning is playing
out in organizations. We need to honor the “demand” side of learning,
focusing on emerging requirements of learners. Most of the action in
Learning Systems (LMS and LCMS) are focused on the “supply” side of the
learning equation. How do add learner requirements to the Learning
Systems.

I imagine a feature that might appear on people’s workstations that would
allow them to “submit” a learning or knowledge request or demand. This
could be categorized by the content area (eg. Manufacturing information),
the type of knowledge requested (eg. procedure, examples or opinions) and
even the level of urgency. These could either be received and acted on by
a learning desk, by an automated function or other process. But, what a
gift to workers it might be.

We have to reach across the line from e-Learning into Knowledge Management
to view ways in which we can leverage these two fields together for the
learning benefit of the workforce. To the learner, they just want to get
the knowledge or skills or information. It might take a course, but it
might not be anything like the courses offered in the catalogue or
on-line. Then what?

Thoughts from you? Send me a note to emasie@masie.com