Are they ready for PLEs in workplace learning?

Sep 19 2010 Published by under PLE

This is week 2 of the MOOC (massive open online course), Personal Learning Environments, Networks and Knowledge. The theme is, Contrasting personal learning with institutional learning. One of the readings is a transcript of a panel discussion, Open complementing closed – PLE and LMS – why, what for and how? A point is made that not all learners will be ready and able to participate in the self-direction of a personal learning environment (PLE). They may lack the skills, may want to be lead, or may be learners that learn by “seeing and doing,” such as the latter referring to vocational studies.

The same concerns arise regarding workplace learning and professional development. I suspect there are only segments whom would respond well to PLEs, while others want or need to be taught directly. However, there are occupations and individuals for which a PLE might be quite suitable. It is in these area that I hope to identify existing research or articulate questions for future study.

I will be revisiting Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model, as it addressed readiness and willingness to perform and may have applicability. I note there is a new program, Situational Leadership®II that obviously needs to be referenced.

Having just completed an educational program for a designation, I will later write about the experience and make PLE related recommendations for others taking such programs.

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Immersive language teaching in elementary schools

Sep 19 2010 Published by under workplace learning

Something just clicked! I’m reading blog posts relating to our PLENK2010 course, and I landed on Skupiktalk. There is a picture of children apparently outside a school, with the caption, “Here is Acwsalcta (Place of Learning) outside.” It caused me to reflect on my child’s education in grade 1 to 5 French immersion where many courses were taught with the intent of developing the French language. Yes, he learned, but it did not get to any level of mastery, and he did not continue. Something I recall is that they typically spoke in English outside of the classroom. Had they conversed in French, on a required basis or otherwise, I have no doubt that stronger language skills would have developed. Relating this to the PLE/PLN, greater success may have been achieved if students were encouraged to look at the community of students and outside the classroom activities as part of their learning environment in this program. As I consider my interest in workplace learning and professional development, I wonder how to best encourage adults to adopt the view of a PLE for their informal learning opportunities, and I certainly need to understand the adult level of interest in adopting such a concept.

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The Start of PLENK2010

Sep 11 2010 Published by under PLE

#PLENK2010 is the tag for the massive open online course (MOOC), Personal Learning Environments, Networks and Knowledge. Sponsored and organized by the The Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute (TEKRI) of Athabasca Unviersity, it is facilitated by George Siemens, Stephen Downes, Dave Cormier, and Rita Kop. In advance of the September 13, 2010, start, a discussion forum has been opened for participant introductions, and a live online introductory session was held September 10 for those anxious to see what a MOOC is all about, and others.

There are over 800 registered so far, and a previous MOOC had about 2300. Experience shows that the number of active participants will drop quite considerably. The nice thing about this free and open course is that people may take (and give) as little or much as they want from it. There is no penalty for not participating, while others may be using the work toward academic studies. Either way, the size will be overwhelming and presents an early challenge.

During the introductory session, it was clarified that it will be difficult to read every mesage and publication as well as take part in all discussions. Side groups will form, such as the one I have joined in Second Life. The advice given is not to worry about trying to take in everything. Each individual can be involved to his or own level of comfort. We were reminded that the important ideas in a network will continue to grow, so we will see them again.

So why am I in the course? I’ve been considering doctoral studies over the past year and seeking determining the research direction. Personal Learning Environments (PLE) dovetail nicely. I’m planning to build on my Master of Distance Education, and many of my areas of interest would apply if I choose to pursue PLEs as a significant part of the research. Not only would I research PLEs, but I need to explore mine in greater depth. As I maintain a strong interest in workplace learning and professional development, I have some things to say and ideas about how PLEs should be incorporated. These comments will be presented and developed over time.

It is now early Saturday morning in western Canada. I look forward to reading more introductions over the weekend, receiving an outline for the week’s readings and activities on Sunday, and commencing an active course on Monday.

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Nordic Virtual Worlds Network

Jun 07 2010 Published by under research

I’ve been attending meetings of Train for Success in Second Life, coordinated weekly by Anders Grönstedt of the Gronstedt Group. This past Thursday, June 3, the presenter was Robin Teigland of the Stockholm School of Economics and the Nordic Virtual Worlds Network Project. It was a presentation and brainstorming session relating to entrepreneurship and innovation in virtual worlds.

Robin invited participants to get involved in the research project, and I’ve put my name forward. My interest in workplace elearning and professional development should fit here nicely, and I look forward to another opportunity to developing further research skills as I contribute toward the endeavour.

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Start of VLE-1

May 26 2010 Published by under Vitual Immersive Environments

As previously mentioned, this week is the start of Virtual Learning Experience 1, an 8 week course exploring the learning and training potential of Second Life and, by extension, other virtual worlds. Second Life is not new to me, but I have not immersed myself to the point of learning how to build, script, and truly make it a learning arena. In fact, I have to admit that I have seen the limitations, particularly due to past bandwidth and equipment requirements, as well as a steep learning curve, that may  lessen the appeal. However, it is time to get beyond this now. We still have a long way to go before virtual immersive environments become more common, but they are being used and there are terrific application and research opportunities for organizations willing to take the lead.

The course starts this week, but our first meeting is not until Friday. After that, I hope to share more as the weeks progress. Watch for me to write about the application to workplace learning and professional development, and ideas I hope to glean for further research.

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Relatively new journal for workplace e-learning

May 16 2010 Published by under workplace learning

For those interested in research pertaining to workplace e-learning, the inaugural issue of Impact: Journal of Applied Research in Workplace E-learning was launched in 2009. Two issues are planned for 2010. You will have to register, but access is free online. I will be diving into the content soon, being 13 articles and a case study.

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Question for security, investigations, and insurance professionals!

Apr 16 2010 Published by under workplace learning

I’ve stated before that my interest is in workplace learning. I hope to work toward a PhD relating to e-learning and learning technologies addressing the workplace and professional development. More specifically, I have become very interested in the potential for Virtual Immersive Environments, or Virtual Worlds. I’ve had some experience through Second Life, and I have been following the authors of Learning in 3D, Karl Kapp and Tony O’Driscoll.

My subject matter areas are in the fields of security management, investigations, and life/health insurance. I’m going to be making enquiries to determine what virtual world learning is taking place in workplace learning and in professional development within these fields, for now, and I will certainly write about it. If you are doing this, are aware of it occurring, or want to engage about the topic, I would appreciate hearing from you.

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Conversation about learning and performance

Mar 22 2010 Published by under workplace learning

If you are interested in informal workplace learning, you will want to watch this 4-part video series, In conversation with Jay Cross about Learning and Performance, each about 5 minutes, between Jay Cross of Internet Time Alliance and Peter Casebow of GoodPractice. Here’s some points to listen for:

  • How do you help people work smarter?
  • Good Practice research about the frequency and effectiveness of activities of managers when they have a challenge, with informal or social learning being prominant. (82% talk to colleagues and 62% use Google.)
  • Skills needed, such as analytical, research, and critical thinking.
  • On-the-Job Training is very effective.
  • How are managers supported and what work skills are being provided?
  • Who is charge of the learning?
  • Learning is often thought of as formal without consideration for other learning.
  • You learn through reflection and need to make time for it.
  • The problem with trying to formalize informal learning.
  • Perhaps refer to ‘formal learning’ as ‘traditional learning’ and refer to ‘informal learning’ as ‘independent learning’ or ‘interdependent learning’ (as learning is social).
  • Goal is to get people working smarter.
  • How to maximize informal learning and build in formal learning as necessary.
  • Words not to use with management.

If the topic interests you, it is certainly worth the time to take in what Peter and Jay have to say.

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Microblogging, learning, and reflective writing

Mar 18 2010 Published by under microblogging

This discussion started with an excellent blog post by Yogesh Agarwal on The Upside Learning Solutions Blog, How to Use Microblogging in Workplace Learning. I provided a comment that linked microblogging, reflective writing, and increased informal learning. Yogesh respectfully replied, “Microblogging doesn’t help in reflective learning as content is limited to a small number of characters. It does help get link to some great resources or blogs.”

I also received a request from a Twitter follower, @ShellTerrell (Shelly Terrell), for a guest post on the topic. She kindly published the post, Do We Learn More through Microblogging?

So far, I’ve seen follow up tweets that support microblogging for the learning that does occur, and I’ve received a couple of private messages that specifically address reflective writing. I’m going to watch with interest over the next few days for any further comments.

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Virtual Edge Summit, Day 1

Feb 23 2010 Published by under online conference

Yesterday was the first day of Virtual Edge Summit 2010. Live in Santa Clara, California, it was a hybrid event with virtual participation. My interest was from an e-learning conference perspective. While this conference covered vitual events in general, there was certainly representation from the education community. As reminded by one speaker, “an event is an event is an event” (Alex Sapiz, George P. Johnson Company), so this information to be gained was to be helpful for different types of vitual events. This summit is presented virtually in a 3D environment where you can attend as an avatar, interact with other virtual participants, and watch the live presentations on screens.

Big names in the industry represented the platform solutions and a wealth of delivery expertise. With an opportunity for everyone to attend at no charge after completion of a short questionnaire (I’m not sure that was even enforced), the bill was obviously paid by the sponsors. Of course they should get their recognition, but it was not a commercialized day. There were great speakers sharing their knowledge and experience, and I enjoyed listening to Byron Reeves of Media X Partners Program, Stanford University, speaking about the use of games such as World of Warcraft (WOW) in training, work, and event areas for engagement and collaborative experiences. As one whom has not got into WOW, it certainly gave me ideas to consider.

One of the takeaways is that virtual events can be very costly, and they require as much planning as others. It was noted by participants that the planning for this summit did not provide much integration of the physical and virtual audiences. In fact, kudos were sent to Paul Salinger of Oracle for his specific recognition of the virtual attendees late in the day.

For future events, plans do need to include a virtual component to such things as the networking with those on site and a virtual component to the end of day wine and cheese, along with integration of the virtual audience during question periods. For some sessions, all that could be seen was a feed from another room.

All in all, the day was a success and worth attending. The price was certainly right. It was interesting to have it pointed out that we are still pioneers in the virtual delivery. True, while I have attended online conferences, this is the first one in 3D that I recall, and it is a big commitment over a 2 day period. This is Day 2, commencing at 8:00 PST, and there is more than enough room for others to attend. On Twitter, the primary hashtag is #ve10.

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