7 More Things You Don't Need to Know About Me...

I did the 8 Random Facts About Me Meme a ways back. Check it out. It's all still true.

Does this cover me for the 7 Things You Don't Need to Know About Me Meme that Sue Hickton just tagged me to do?

If not, here's 7 more tidbits:

1. I think I'm an inherently lazy person. To put a positive spin on this, I call it being extremely efficient. I try to get the best work done with the least amount of effort. I could also say that it's exhaustion -- a by-product of motherhood -- three kids ages 5 1/2 - 7 months will do that to a person.

2. My father always referred to me as his "eldest unmarried daughter" until I got married. Then I became his "eldest married daughter." My Dad had a few standard lines. I miss them.

3. I have two older brothers.

4. As a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a writer.

5. We just captured six mice in our house within the span of a few days. Unfortunately, there are still more of the little poopers running around.

6. I have been told that my 3 1/2 year old daughter looks exactly like I did at that age. I think she must be WAY cuter than I was.

7. I live at the end of dead-end road with a little stream running through the backyard and a forest of trees to look upon.

I'm supposed to tag seven other people, which I'm feeling really lazy about. So I'm just doing six.

Janet Clarey
Christy Tucker
Wendy Wickham
Michele Martin
Dave Ferguson
Rupa

New Product Announcement

Just in time for the holidays:

"socially-networked virtual game-based blended mobile cloudy-learning 4.0" delivered on a portal for your iPhone.

A collaborative enterprise-based, just-in-time learning solution created on Twitter with help from: @jzurovchak @bschlenker @moehlert @bjschone @Quinnovator with peanut gallery comments from @Dave_Ferguson.

Coming soon to a Target or WalMart near YOU!

Merry Christmas everyone! I'll be back next week.

Photocredit: Target, Checkout Line by The Consumerist

Best Practices for Software Training?

This has been the year of software training.  I've been involved in I don't know how many training modules, ranging from the overly long to the shorter chunked variety. 

(Remember, all I do is online, self-paced eLearning).

We've taken scenario-based approaches, so the learner can sit with an expert and watch how he does his job using the software. 

We've inserted pictures of these characters to give a course more life and interest.  

We've added thoughtful, process-based questions in the middle of the software demo to break things up.

Some of it's been cool stuff; some of it's gotta be grueling and not so much fun to sit through.  Sometimes there's just time to make it good enough.

The next project I'm about to take on is going to be more of a just-in-time performance support tool.  Short demos (some with practice) linked right from the software itself.

What have you been doing in the software training world of late?

What are your best practices? 

What's working best with today's crop of software learners?

Photo credit:  Hey guys, I captured the mouse! by Darwin Bell

Blog-o- the-Month at ISTE Island in Second Life

Imagine my surprise when Scott Merrick contacted me, letting me know that Learning Visions had been nominated as Blog-o-the-month on ISTE Island in Second Life.

Imagine my even greater surprise when Scott told me that I had "neatly edged out [my] competition to grab the title for the month of December 2008."

Thanks for voting! I feel most honored, and rather surprised given the other great bloggers that were also nominated in December:

• "HeyJude" -- Judy O'Connell
  
  
• "Bud the Teacher"--Bud Hunt
  
  
• "A Piece of My Mind"-- Scott S. Floyd
  
  

Take some time to visit Scott at his various blogs and learn what he's been up to in Second Life:

• http://scottmerrick.net
  
• http://scottsecondlife.blogspot.com

And be sure to check out the Blogger's Hut in Second Life, which has its own cat AND a skating rink!

• http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/6/129/22

I'm Bliss Yue (get it?) in Second Life, but I have to admit that it's been ages since I've been in-world.


How about you? Anyone have any interesting SL adventures to report on?

My Facebook has Tipped

Malcolm Gladwell says that everything has a Tipping Point, that point at which a virus goes epidemic, when the hip new thing goes mainstream. Think Uggs.

Well, my Facebook world has just tipped.

I'm not talking about the quantity of my friends, but rather the breadth and depth.

In the past month, I have friended or been friended by:

• my 73 year old mother (we like to play Scrabble)
• my 16 year old niece (she has WAY more friends than I do, which is not surprising)
• former students
• almost everyone I used to swim with in my high school swimming days
• long lost college roommates
• my oldest brother

What started over a year ago as a professional experiment in the name of eLearning has just gotten plain weird.

Has your Facebook tipped?

Meeting Face to Face

Yesterday I had the pleasure of working on-site with a client for the day.

This is a group I've been working very closely with for the past year. Although I talk to many of these people on an almost daily basis, I had never met most of them in person before. Nevertheless, their voices are deeply etched in my brain, and I could have picked any of them out of a lineup if we were going by voice and not visual.

When you don't meet someone in person, you still paint a picture of them in your mind.

So yesterday, I got to meet these people and see their real faces -- not my made up ones. The universe has shifted slightly as I've adjusted my images. It was a bit disconcerting at first. I had to keep staring at each of them hard as I replaced my old pictures. More hair. Younger. Older. Unexpected beards.

The bonus of so many of the social media tools we use is that our pictures are attached. It's nice to know who you're really talking to.

This is me, in case you were wondering:

I still haven't bothered trying to figure out how to change my blogger image from that damn apple!

Best Online Collaboration Tools with Robin Good

Live blogging this session from the Corporate Learning Trends & Innovation Conference with Robin Good.

The end of the content God. The teacher now serves as mentor to help us create the best thing together.

So now we're going to edit a mind map together using mindmeister.

Login issues -- Robin says, "when you're trying something new, we've all got to be patient..."

Everyone's adding tools to the different categories on the MindMap -- whoa. Lots happening all over the place.

This is my first mind mapping experience so I'm mostly learning how to use a mind mapping tool.

Together we're producing something new and unique -- 150 users adding tools and URLs to the mindmap at the same time.

Feeling like the exercise itself is the learning event -- not so much the listing of individual tools (although that's a bonus) -- but seeing how everyone's collaborating. Very cool.

Robin really goes with the flow when things aren't working well on the technical side. Very enthusiastic -- fun presenter...

Robin's Summary:

Learning collaboration is all about trying new things, making mistakes, experimenting. When we come together with such energy, we can really create fantastic work. When we catalyze about something we enjoy, it's really fantastic.

Check out the mind map we created here.

Whew! What a whirlwind.