Looking at Blogs to Share About Blogs (which do you use?)

I'm currently preparing for a presentation on learning how to blog and learning from other's blogs and so that is exactly what I'm doing. I'm surfing around looking at blogs that I've only been reading in the past to dive a little deeper into some of the tools/widgets that seem most common. Looking to see if there is a standard length of a post....doesn't appear so. Looking at the use of colour and fonts. Has the blogger modified the standard template to their own or are they content with the format offered?

Another big thing I'm trying out is to see how different Blogger is from WordPress. To me they seem quite similar in what they offer. Each has it's merits though and I can see quite easily why someone might choose one over the other. Blogger seems a little more streamline to me and I haven't yet been dissatisfied with it as a tool. However, I can see how someone that prefers more of a standard webpage feel might like WordPress with its tabs and embedded pages.

I'm curious to know, if anyone would like to share, why they may have changed from one tool to another. If so where you happy with the change? Did you stick with the change or go back? I'm very curious about this last question as I have tried setting up a mirror blog on WordPress and it's okay, but I think I'm going to stick to my Blogger version.

Back to the grind stone, almost!

Well my first day back from vacation did not disappoint. I tried extremely hard while away to never think of work; I think I succeeded about 98% of the trip. I had planned to come back and even had blocked off 3 solid days to just click through every single screen of my LMS.

I'm now at the MAKE IT HAPPEN OR ELSE stage of the implementation project. Now realizing I have little choice (economically) for any change to a new system and now need to focus in on every detailed aspect of the system from both a user perspective and an administrative perspective. My goal is to create a list of everything I want to change and prioritize the changes needed with respect to being able to launch the LMS. Is the change a must have, nice to have, can make do with out if necessary? This list of changes will then be presented to the vendor along with my posse (the initial project lead, representative from purchasing - we're still in RPF, and perhaps my director) for discussion on whether any of the requests are possible.

At first I was getting responses from my vendor rep. "yes we can look into that", then it turned to "I'll see what the IT guy suggests", to finally "no". I didn't like the no's and so the new strategy of a list and meeting with the CEO of the company will be our next step. I believe most of my ideas won't require too much change, but I know this is the way every end user thinks.

So my first day back, as I said, was to be the launch of the great little new plan. Of course the "work gods" had different ideas for me and of course our Organization Chart needed to be produced instead. I'm not sure why suddenly so many people want this particular document. I'm also not sure why I'm the one creating it....oh yes, let's thank my former boss for that one (she's lucky I like her so much or I would track her down). One full day of work was all it took me to produce half of the chart. Yes one full day = half an org. chart. I'm hoping a have system down now and the second half will come more quickly so that I can move forward with my LMS must haves.

Great to be back.

Vacation time and I'm still drawn to looking at this screen

I'm happily on vacation. Loving the warm air. Falling head over heels in the waves. Seen puffer fish, 2 eels, a sea snake, urchins, coral, tons of fish, pelicans feeding, an iguana, seagulls (why are they everywhere!?!), I think I might have had a minor sting by a jelly-fish, 3 sting rays, and far too many people wearing bikinis that shouldn't and speedos (no one should wear these).

We upgraded to a fancier room. Love the king bed and the view is spectacularñ oh the plasma tv´s not bad either. Learning many phrases via HBO and subtitling. The upgrade came with unlimited internet. Which brings me here.....Hubby's checking the Leafs' score to see if they are losing (not yet!?! - how are we going to get better picks - don't they get it). Spent the afternoon on Saturday reading play-by-plays of the latest UFC results. But also, try as I might, I've been trying very hard not to think of work and of elearning, or blogging, or anything electronic, but I admit it.....Hello, My Name is Tracy and I'm Addicted to the Computer.

So there we go....a brief check in....no I haven't completely broken my resolution of blogging, it's just really hard to pay attention to it while on vacation. I hope I'll be excused. Just when I figure out this crazy mexican key board I'll be ready to leave.

Cheers everyone!!!!

Potential Questions to Ask When Having an LMS Demo'd

I've been having other LMS vendors contact me wanting me to see demonstrations of their systems several times over the last year. A situation arose recently that made my department seriously question the system we had in place and should we switch to another vendor. I made arrangements to visit a colleague at another hospital to see their system first hand from a user's perspective rather than the sales pitch that provided by vendor demos.

I can not begin to tell you how invaluable this visit turned out to be for my learning. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I actually had some features that she didn't have offered on her system. I was able to ask what the best features were from her perspective and which ones she never bothered to use. This was such a great comparison and was quite relevant as we both work in health care, I with 2700 employees, her with 10,000 employees and 4 sites.

I thought I'd share some of the questions I took with me on my visit as they might come in handy for you should you be on the LMS shopping journey. I highly recommend seeking out someone else in a similar industry to you and seeing first hand how the user is using the product. If you can do it with out the vendor's assistance I believe you'll get an even greater unbiased opinion from the user. The questions are in a particular order and some may seem like they have obvious answers, but I've learned that you can't be so sure of what is exactly included in a system.

1. How does the system import user ID information? (Active Directory, or what every system your HR team uses)


2. How responsive is the vendor to your inquiries, troubleshooting, etc.


3. Can users access the system from home? (Is this important to your organization? - probably)


4. Is there a yearly licence or a one time fee, per user or for the whole system?


5. How often are upgrades issued? Are they part of the fee?


6. How long did the user take to pilot the system? How did they run their pilot?


7. Does the system track external credits?


8. What kind of comments have you heard from learners using the system?


9. How intuitive is the system for learners and users(admin)?


10. Does the system allow for email notification to learners?


11. How many years has the person being using the system? How much longer do they plan to continue using the system?


12. Does it integrate with Outlook or what ever mail/calendar system you use?


13. Can you display course thumbnails or other images?


14. Can course due dates be assigned or does a learner have to manually adjust?


15. Is there space for News, Updates, Info text to be displayed on homepage of system?


16. Is it searchable? How so? Might you need to purchase a mini-search engine?


17. Can you administer practical, hands-on tests/assignments to users?


18. Are evaluations attached or part of courses?


19. Does it have discussion boards, wikis, etc? Are these important to your org.?


20. What kind of reporting does it allow? Can it be exported? In what kind of formats? Is it customizable - can you report on anything/everything?


21. Is it SCORM compliant? What version?


22. How robust is the support documentation for the user? For the learners?


23. Can you set up course/info that online one particular set of learners can access?

I'm sure there are a million other questions that could be asked, but I hope these at least arm you with the option to seek out greater knowledge of a system before you commit to purchasing. Please feel free to respond with additional questions someone buying a system might want to have answered.

Does it have to be timely to be relevant?

I saw a very interesting online conference come across my email the other day. It's for "Stepping into Virtual Worlds" which happens January 30th, completely virtually through Second Life. How incredibly neat is that?

I did see this posted last year, but I was too late to attend at when I found the conference. So when I saw this the other day I was excited that perhaps I could attend this year and experience some true learning through Second Life. I've sat in on some concerts, movies, and even a few comedy shows. I've visited some sandboxes where I could read text and learn how to perform some tasks. I haven't yet experienced a learning scenario.

I mentioned this to my boss and thought what a great opportunity to see some of the potential opportunities for this type of training. I can imagine how wonderfully it could possibly work with a hospital facility's training needs. Best yet, is I could use it as a work at home day and stay in my pajamas.

Unfortunately the feedback I received from my supervisor, who by the way is supportive about my elearning initiatives, question the relevancy of such a seminar at this point in "our" elearning journey. "If something like this is years down the road of time from where we (our organization and learner) then should I be wasting time exploring this option now."

My answer is yes. I think it's quite important to be exploring all learning/networking options out there within reason. When I say within reason I mean within money constraints and time constraints. I've found that you never know where the next great idea is going to come from that you can apply to your/work learning environment. Being on the forefront of many of these tips, tricks, and techniques is very much intriguing and exciting.

I'm curious if others have come across this "road block" within their personal learning initiatives. Do you believe that there is a proper time for seeking out new learning techniques or should one explore them as they present themselves?

Disneynature Earth to be Release Earth Day 2009

One of my favourite things about going to the movies is acutally watching the previews of movies yet to be released. This weekend I was pleasantly surprised to see the trailer for EARTH from Disneynature.

The movie is to be released this upcoming Earth Day, April 22, 2009. I'm a sucker for nature shows, but to combine it with Disney too....I'm there, get me my ticket. On a slightly more serious note the trailer looked fantastic. The cinematography looked as if we will get an extraordinary look into a year in the life of many creatures from around the globe.

If you go to Disneynature website there are actually several other movies listed to be coming out over the next several years. As per their website, "Disneynature it The Walt Disney Studios' label dedicated to working with leading filmmakers to produce one cutting-edge theatrical release each year celebrating the wonders of the world in which we live."

I look forward to this year's Earth Day and hope this film is yet another great way that we will all continue to be inspired and become increasing aware of the world that we share with so many others.

2 New Upgrades You May Want

Articulate has releases some great updates to for Studio '09. Along with some bug fixes there are 3 new interactions available for use. The new activities are Flipbook, Flashcards and Stairstep. More information including how to upgrade your version can be found at Articulate - Word of Mouth blog.

Also tomorrow Microsoft is offering the new Windows 7 beta and with that Internet Explorer 8. Rumour is to get in early to get this new upgrade. I'm not sure whether it is a good change or not, but many of the reviews I read seem to promote it as "exciting". More info on this can be found on Microsoft's website and all sorts of techy blogs. Give it a Google and you'll find it for sure.

Try a Different Thought Pattern, It Just Might Change Your Life

A dear friend of mine has been on a journey for quite a long time now going out there and inspiring the best in others, getting people to find the humour in their daily lives, and just overall lightening up. It's no wonder then that Jacquie Hermans has called her company Light'N UP (...Laugh and Be You).
In another life, a few moons ago, I learned from her and then performed with her improv. It was such a fabulous experience that I recommend it to anyone who wants or needs that little boost of confidence to go out there and "just be" in front of others. There were many of us in the class that were looking to be able to present, teach or speak better in front of crowds. This method of learning and performing improv was incredible. Not only did you learn to almost not care how you looked in front of other, most of us got up on stage and performed routinely some of the silliest skits you could ever imagine. (Some how I manifested a redneck mechanic, angry/bitter teenage girls, and a little old women with a bit of a Polish accent ....don't even ask.)

What I wanted to draw a little attention to today was Jacquie's inspirational short video blogs. Each is about 2-3 minutes long and touch on topics from Death to Self-Worthiness. Jacquie still runs her Light'NUp workshops, but she also wears many other hats as well. She's a laughter coach and a personal growth trainer and that is where her video blogs have begun, personal growth.

I love the whole concept of video blogs, but haven't gone there yet myself. So, when I saw Jacquie's and watched a few I once again was inspired by her down to earth nature. She is one of those people that was truly put here to make the world a better place.

Jacquie didn't ask me to write any of this and in fact doesn't know I have yet, but I did want to capture a bit here about what she means to me and how she's touched my life. I hope you'll take a moment to check her video blog out when you need a little boost of energy in your day.

Extra Learning Through the Web - Photography Lessons

Well exactly as I wanted, I learned something new tonight just by reading my feeds and looking deeper into various bits of content.

I came across Joe McNally's blog and a few of his video posts on YouTube about how to be a better photographer. (Joe McNally shoots assignments for magazines, ad agencies, & graphic design firms. Clients include Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, National Geographic, Life, Time, Fortune, New York Magazine, GEO, Golf Digest, Discover, Men's Journal, Business Week, Rolling Stone, New York Stock Exchange, Target, Sony, GE, Nikon, Lehman Brothers, & PNC Bank.) He presents simple tips and tricks that any average photo shooting lover can use the next time they are out snapping shots. What's great is he presents them in such a way that the learner/watcher knows that they too can use this techniques the very next time they pick up their camera. What's more it's very candid and includes a few moments of hilarity without being fancily edited; i.e. his wife in the kitchen whipping up a gourmet meal for their 19lb cat.

I hope you'll take a moment to watch at least this clip on steadying your shot and if so interested you might move on to some of his other points to ponder. Thanks for taking the time and effort to share these tips Joe!

2.009 - The Start of Another Great Year

I'm off to a great start for this new year. By now you've seen that this year for me has started on January 5th (Monday - back to work day). So far I've already blown the "getting up at 5:00am with hubby and start working out first thing," instead I opted for sleeping in 10 minutes too late and rushing to work. I've stuck to the "let's eat healthier", but then again it's only 3:10 in the afternoon so we'll have to see if this lasts the week.

I also have stuck to the 1 hour a day set aside for me to catch up on my RSS feeds and commit to writing a posting here. Again....it's only 3:10 in the afternoon and the boss isn't in the office to interrupt. Let's see if this lasts the week.

I had great comments from Dave Ferguson in regards to my post "A New Year, A Chance to Start Fresh." He really put improvement, regardless of the task, into great perspective:

As for the coming year, one of the quotes in my collection is, "There's always room for improvement. It's the biggest room in the house." I can get dismayed or discouraged by the improvement that's always lying around, waiting to happen, but this is a reminder that there ain't no time machines. You can't go back and do things differently.

From this I take away - do not get discouraged or afraid of improvement as it will always be there, and you may as well try to improve as best you can, any change however small is good in that it will either make the situation better or teach you that it was find from the start. Every attempt at improvement is another opportunity to learn and that's really what I'm striving for this year. A HUGE INCREASE IN LEARNING. 2007 was tremendous, 2008 was okay, 2009 will be GIANORMOUS.

I came across this great post today about the trends and changes seen for 2009 or 2.009 as it was labled. I really like that so 2.009 it is, seems so trendy. E-Learning 2.009, by Eva Kaplan-Leiserson. She speaks to the likes of Tony Karrer, Anders Gronstedt, Judy Brown, David Metcalf, Anne Derryberry, and Clark Quinn. Addressed are trends and obstacles we will all face in the coming year surrounding Web 2.0 learning, Mobile Learning, and Simulations and Games. I look forward to seeing where all these land over the next year.

Here's to a prosperous 2009 everyone. Keep up the great work; together we'll continue to learn, develop, and expand our minds together..