August 2012
9 posts
2 tags
The Future of Presentations: Conversation with... →
One of my favorite passages was:
A well-designed presentation — like a well-designed book — is in a sense invisible, subsumed into the unfolding story told by the presenter. A well-designed presentation helps makes any competent speaker look good — thoughtful, considered and professional.
Badly designed slides confuse the audience and risk making the speaker appear muddled...
3 tags
10 Steps to Capture Learning ROI - Chief Learning... →
Some excellent suggestions for anyone who is tasked with justifying their training budget or even the training department’s existence. One of the key things to keep in mind is that like learning, calculating learning is an ongoing process that isn’t always formulaic or immediately obvious. But also like learning, if you keep at it, it will pay off in the long run.
Back to school means a fresh start
I used to love that feeling each year. Blank notebooks full of potential. Blank slates as far as scores and tests. Fresh chance to make a first impression with new and old classmates.
But just because you aren’t in school anymore doesn’t mean you can’t have a fresh start. When was the last time you updated your avatar photo or gave your website a fresh look? When did you last...
1 tag
Yikes, there are already hundreds of posts
Got the email saying I could access the MOOC about 8 hours ago, amid my snoozy time, lol, and when I just logged in to see the setup there were already hundreds of posts to the various discussion forums. It feels a bit like walking into the middle of a movie and trying to play catch up and things haven’t really even started yet. Decided to subscribe to a couple of the discussion subgroups as...
3 tags
Yes I agree to the honor code
Before I could access the course I’m starting today through Coursea I had to accept the honor code. Now for a course that is free and not for credit other than a certificate of completion (assuming you complete the requirements) there doesn’t seem as much need for confirming that the student is actually doing the work but it is a big question in the bigger online learning world. In...
2 tags
Jumping into the MOOC pool
Monday I’ll start my first MOOC (massive open online course). While I’m interested in the topic, I’m doing it mostly for the experience. I’ve participated in online courses before but in a class of about 20 at most. I picked one from Coursera and I have to say the lead up to the course is good.
At T minus 2 weeks I got an email setting the expectations for the course:
...
3 tags
Would you send your resume on perfume-scented...
I’m going to guess the answer is probably not. So why, do so many people use randomly colored, swirly, special effect laden, eye lasering graphics for their presentation slides? It’s funny how we treat PowerPoint (or Keynote or Prezi or whatever) as if it’s in its own little corner of the world and things we create with it don’t have to follow the same principles of good...
Supporting the Social Workplace Learning Continuum... →
We no longer teach in the one-room schoolhouse but we sometimes get stuck with old terminology that makes it sounds like we do. Jane Hart offers up some great suggestions for re-framing and re-naming some common phrases.
Think “learning spaces/places,” not “training rooms”
Think “social technologies” not “teaching/learning technologies”
Think “activities” not “courses”
Think “lite design”...
“Design should never say, ‘Look at me.’ It should always say,...”
– David Craib 