SBS Study Group Success

Congatulations to those who have passed the 70-282 exam as a result of the study group run by the WWITPRO IT Pro user group!

Our latest success is Peter Piluk, incoming President of WWITPRO. Peter passed his exam in January.

Congatulations Peter and good luck in your new position with WWITPRO.

Interesting Observations in eLearning Reading

I mentioned in a previous post I am reading a book called Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe.

An interesting item that I will quote here is the concept that most teachers think more about the process of teaching when preparing lessons then about the process of learning.

Wiggins states: "Too many teachers focus on the teaching and not the learning. They spend most of their time thinking, first, about what they will do, what material they will use, and what they will ask students to do rather than first considering what the learner will need in order to accomplish the learning goals."

I admit to having been one of "those" teachers, especially with the last course I taught at the local community college. We only had a short period of time in which to provide instruction and cover the material for various computer software applications, which did not leave any time to actually THINK about learning goals, let alone to adopt the course around the learning goals.

Wiggins goes on in this brief intro to discuss the following: "Answering the "why?" and "so what?" questions that older students always ask (or want to), and doing so in concrete terms as the focus of curriculum planning, is thus the essence of understanding by design."

This calls to mind one of the students in the aforementioned course. I have great admiration for this woman because she always wanted to know the "why" and "how come" of what we were learning. It not only challenged me to try to anticipate and address her questions before she even asked, but made me think about the material in a whole different way.

Now that I'm beginning to see the difference, I'm going to continue reading, learning, absorbing and discussing…. An no, I'm still not an expert!

What Makes an Expert - Expert?

I was listening to the “afternoon guy” on my local all news radio station one day back in October 2007.

He had a guest speaker on his show (can’t remember his name but he’s written a whole bunch of books on a whole bunch of topics) and the guest speaker was trying to encourage reading.

One thing he said during the interview was “read 5 books on a subject and you become an expert”. I thought that was quite amazing...as I’ve read WAY more than 5 books on technology and I’m no expert. I’ve read hundreds of mystery books, but I’m no mystery expert, and I’ve read tons of books on Italian cooking (and my lasagne still needs work)....but his comment really made me think.

I believe it could be possible to become a self-proclaimed expert after reading 5 books about a subject, however, I firmly believe the books have to be the “RIGHT” kind of books. Not just any book will do. And let’s not forgot the need to be able to apply what you read in a real-world environment...aka experience.

I also believe it to be important to read books that tackle the same topic but from many different viewpoints. As an example, let’s say you want to become an expert on giving presentations. Reading one book is not going to make you an expert. For that matter, reading FIVE books is not going to make you an expert.... ensuring that the five books you do read to become an expert on giving presentations tackles presentations from different avenues, the experience giving presentations, failing, learning from your mistakes, correcting those mistakes and trying again just might get you close to the expert status the speaker was discussing.

For example: read a book on PowerPoint (or any other presentation software). It won’t make you an expert with PowerPoint, but it will point you in the direction of understanding how PowerPoint or other presentation software assists a presenter or public speaker.

Another excellent book choice might be a book covering the “how to be” aspect...such as one of my personal favourites and a book I found to be very helpful in assisting me on my journey through public speaking, a book entitled “How to become a Motivational Speaker”. Do you see how different being a motivational speaker is to being a public speaker for a local charity, or giving sales presentations? No? Well then, read a book. While most presentations are designed to spur on action, such as a sales person giving a spiel about their latest and greatest product, or a local celebrity speaking about a charity near and dear to their heart, being a motivational speaker requires much more than just a name and the ability to be comfortable selling something to an audience. Give that some thought and perhaps you will understand what I mean.

Next you may want to cover the speech aspect – you’ve covered the software (tools) and background (sales/motivation) now is a great time to look at how to structure your “talk”. There are so many excellent books out there on how to write a speech or how to speak in public, that choosing one or two should not be a hard choice. That’s three...

How about reading about the design of a presentation? Not just the “this is PowerPoint and this is how you use it” but a book that actually discusses how the design of a visual presentation stimulates viewers so that you can get the best results with the least effort.

Now on to topic 5: Maybe you suffer from the fear of speaking in public because (like most people) you don’t want to look like an idiot when the wrong words come out – so you look at the library or your local Chpaters/Indigo store and while you sip on that Venti-skinny-half-calf-caramel latte, you find a few good resources for dealing with public speaking jitters and pick one.

Don’t sweat it! Take a deep breath, imagine the audience wearing polka-dot pajamas and don’t forget to apply every SINGLE tip those books you read provided for you. No Stress!

...are you feeling like an expert yet?

I didn’t think so – to be honest, neither am I, even having read ALL of those books and many more on presentations it all boils down to how well I am able to apply what I learned in the books to my real-life super secret identity as a public speaker. After years of practice writing, preparing and presenting, I am a public speaker – but do I consider myself to be an expert? Absolutely not. Why? Because I believe I still need more practice, more opportunity to learn and grow and develop skills that will allow me to be the very best presenter possible.

Look at it this way......I want to be an expert race car driver, but reading the
history of NASCAR, a bunch of bios on drivers and manuals about how a race car
works is not going to make ME an expert out on the oval.

That, my friends, requires EXPERIENCE – and I’m afraid you can’t learn that in a book.

Going back to my point about reading books from different viewpoints: reading 5 books on a topic that all focus on one viewpoint or opinion and not reading opposing books is not going to make you an expert, it is going to make you opinionated without the ability to see the big picture and argue your opinion in an educated way. What do I mean? Well if you read only books on how to create a presentation for a sales environment, and don’t read books about writing presentations, giving presentations to other audiences, or dealing with difficult public speaking situations, then all you will know how to do is create a sales presentation that someone else will give and most likely get credit for. If you want to be an expert on that, you still need to be able to argue for or against design principles, which you will learn in books and in practice using the software to design the presentations. I think it's called being well-rounded. And that aides in the professional persona we portray to those around us.

Now I'm off to attempt to apply this five book theory to Instructional Design.

I’ve started on my first two books – Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe and Mastering the Instructional Design Process by Rothwell and Kazanas. I will keep you posted on my progress toward my goal of being an “Expert”.

PowerPoint Me in the Right Direction

Recently I've had a few changes occur in my professional life. The most major was making the choice to leave behind a wonderful position at Conestoga College, and take on a new challenge as the E-Learning Trainer (read that as – we need someone to administer and design web based learning modules, plus since you know Office you can train our staff) for a major transportation company.

We had our employee conference not that long ago, and as a new employee it was very enlightening for me.

For one thing I got to meet all the key players in the company, and for another, I got to spend a weekend with some really fun people getting to know my work colleagues.

I have to admit how surprised I was to find that the company has not standardized the following:

• Servers
  
• Desktop and laptop operating systems (we have everything from Win 98 to Vista)
  
• Office Applications (again – everything from Office 98 to Office 2007 – which I practically demanded and was glad they acquiesced to my request – Does that sound piratty? Arrrr)
  

Many key staff members gave presentations on some of our new initiatives, going green, sales, service, training etc. And I admit to being just a little concerned when the presentations were missing key corporate branding opportunities.

What is a corporate brand you ask?

A corporate brand is the "theme" used in every day communications – everything from trucks and labels to letterhead, using a logo and a colour scheme to reinforce the company name. I'm sure that almost everyone knows the Nike logo because it is everywhere – it is consistent and it never changes (except the size and maybe colour depending what it is on). My point is, every presentation given missed the opportunity to enforce pride in our company by using a customized PowerPoint template for the presentations.

One presentation was orange, another blue with so much text I thought I was reading a book in the ocean, and yet another was green.

Lacking the standardized colour scheme and templates was something I think the company should have addressed prior to this meeting. But to my amazement, I WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT NOTICED!

Now, being new, that's one thing, but as a trainer I am a born observer. I have to be able to observe, read and respond before someone even knows they have a question formed in their brain. My observation skills were working overtime, and I actually left one presentation with a headache.

So upon returning to the office the following Monday, I called upon my trusty Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 and I created the same template in both the new POTX format and the old POT format so that all employees, regardless of their Microsoft Office version, could use these templates to go forth and take over the world!

Ok – not quite…but one day….

Las Vegas, We Have Lift Off

The good news - let me see if I can sing it loud.... LLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I received the approval for the Lectora User conference in Vegas - and am getting ready to pass all my information on to someone else to do the registering and paying and flight booking etc. etc.

This is very exciting and I am really looking forward to the learning opportunity and most important, the networking with other users.

Many of us may never have considered the value in networking at conferences like this because we may actually be in competition for jobs, clients, or just to keep one up on Jones over there...but me, I see this as a real opportunity to make some solid contacts of both designers and trainers already using a product so that if/when I get stuck and need help, I will have built a foundation upon which to call.

That's right - networking at this conference should net me contacts all over North America. I see it as a huge pool swimming with opportunity and I'm going fishing!

Look for me if you go!

She's Electric - I mean Lectora

Today I was introduced to the software I will use to create web based learning modules.

It's Lectora by Trivantis.

I've only had a little look and done just a little more research online, but overall it seems like this will be a fairly easy to use web based course creation tool and I'm really looking forward to what it has to offer from both the design and usability scopes.

As well it will be great to finally discover what learning management system we're going to use and how to administer it, but really Jac...slow down. Take it one step at a time. Stop rushing, things will come.

As my good friend Colleen tells me, I should really adopt Slow Movement. I perused Carl Honore's blog and was smiling at the article about email where he discusses how some companies are banning the use of email during personal time....now if only I could get my mind to shut off as easily as my Blackberry....

But I digress...

I am really looking foward to working with Lectora. One thing that really peaked my interst about it was the fact that they have a user conference coming up in April and the conference could include THREE days of training and the two days of the conference.

I requested to go (already - I know I've hardly been here 48 hours and already I'm asking to go to a conference) and hope to hear some positive news soon. For now....I'm back to see what Lectora is going to offer me and the learners here at my company.

Tough Decisions

It's not often we are faced with really tough decisions, although many of us like to think that we do it on a daily basis.

I've had to face some really REALLY tough decisions the last two months.

The hardest decision I ever made was the decision to give up a private business I've worked hard at and been successful with for 7 years, to return to the corporate world.

The next hardest decision - seriously, has been the decision I made to step down as President of the Waterloo-Wellington IT Professionals user group.

And the last really hard decision I've made lately is one to move out of the region I've lived all my life and move to the GTA.

Many of you know that my spouse was recently disagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and it's been a tough year for us, and with all the medical appointments and other things, sometimes we have to put our loved ones first - and for a change, I put my family before my love of my IT community.

Giving my notice to the executive members of WWITPRO was a tear jerking moment for me.

But - while I say it was the hardest decision, it really was hard, it was easy just too because I know I will always choose to put my family first....I just didn't want to feel forced to actually DO the resigning.

I am certain that WWITPRO will continue to thrive in our very high-tech community. And I wish much success to the incoming President, Peter Piluk.

Something Old - Something New

Isn't that the familiar saying - you know the one used for brides?

I feel a little like a bride today. All the mixed emotions playing tricks on your mind...most brides can relate with feelings like: am I good enough? will we be happy? will this last? When will the honeymoon begin - then again, when will it end?

Those are many of the same questions I've asked myself today since I started my new job at 9 this morning.

Am I good enough to do this job? Did they choose the right person? Will they regret their decision?

• Will we be happy? Will they be happy with me, will I be happy working here?
• Will this last? Will it last long enough for me to collect my first paycheck - or last years of seeming bliss?
• When will the honeymoon begin? I know I've been here only one day, but I wonder, where is that euphoria I'm supposed to feel about starting a new position - especially one that I really REALLY wanted (like this one)?
• Once the honeymoon starts, when will it end? Will I become dissatisfied, or find that e-learning really isn't what I wanted it to be?

I was certainly feeling insecure as I rode up in the elevator, but as I was taken from department to department and introduced to all the staff, managers and partners, it became clear that they really want me here. They (all the staff) are looking forward to having a trainer on staff and they are anxious to be able to learn new things (HOOORAY!).

Now I'm feeling optimistic about my role here and I'm anxious to leave my mark!

Just to celebrate, I wore:

• something old --- dress pants
• something new --- sexy new black shoes
• something borrowed--- my daughters lipgloss (though technically I didn't ASK and I don't plan to give it back)
• something blue --- my new blue blouse which looks stunning with my dress pants and sexy black shoes

May this be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Just Because....

I was a trainer - doesn't mean I am an Instructional Designer. I have flaws, and this is one of them.



Over the last 12 years I've been instructing for major companies, government agencies, and retraining people who have been injured and need to be placed in new jobs.

In the not too distant past I created course curriculum for my clients and provided instruction on that material. When I didn't have time or the expertise I purchased manuals from one of two suppliers...and the materials happened to be the same manuals used by the local college for their one-day professional development workshops.

I expect I have a lot to learn about the psychology and science behind learning in order to make me the best I can be at my job.

It's time to buckle down - and now that I've admitted I lack some skills I feel may be required to do my new job, I'm off to upgrade and better myself!

I LOVE EDUCATION!

What the New Year Holds

Aahh - as the slurs of Hpe Nw Flear (also known as "Happy New Year") begin to slip away from my memory banks, looking back brings a sudden tear of joy mixed with apprehension to my eye as one chapter in my life closes and another opens.

It's an exciting beginning, 2008 is, after a seemingly disastrous 2007, I seem to be getting back to the point that I am now able to grow again and learn instead of "just" helping other people learn.

That's right! I'm transitioning from being a trainer to a role that will challenge me as I learn all about Instructional Design for adult e-learners. (Although some of my time will still be spent in front of a truly appreciative audience while I expound the virtues of various Microsoft Office productivity tools - thank goodness at least, that I know how to do that....)

While I embrace this new challenge, I realize I have my work cut out for me. Not only do I have to learn the ways of the company I am working for, but I also need to learn new software so that I can eventually publish e-learning courses, AND I have to work on building my skills in instructional design and technical writing.

My hope is that what I learn along the way I will be able to share through this new forum.

I'm looking forward to successfully completing my first few weeks at my new position and wish i could run through the open door into the sunshine and rainbows that I perceive to be on the other side.