Monday 2 June 2008

Suggested Uses of Online Formats

These were the suggested uses I came up with and fed back to the delegates after each of the formats were discussed:

Company website or Intranet

Sorts of Content
Company Information and strategy
Training Strategy
Department Structure
Trainer Profiles
Training Courses Outline
How to Book
Course Dates

Advantages
Can raise the profile of your training department
Learners can access content easily

Disadvantages
May need training in using a content management software
Top down – People cannot contribute content


Discussion Forum
Sort of Content
Anything goes! Depends on how the forum is promoted
Whatever users want to discuss or ask questions about
Mostly all User generated content

Advantages
Social dimension for networking and building relationships
Specific answers to specific problems
Very Interactive
Sharing Knowledge

Disadvantages
Requires moderation to delete spam or inappropriate content
Answers may not be correct
Not always easy to find specific content

Blog
Sort of content
Journal entries (opinion & comment)
Maybe some training materials, if indexed correctly with tags

Advantages
Very easy to set up and Publish to
Interesting – personal emotional content
Flexible either Individual or set up as a Network so many users can post
Interactive – Readers can comment,

Disadvantages
Content is published chronologically on a journal format. Older content not so accessible
Cannot upload documents, can Copy & Paste content

Wiki
Sort of content
Documents in any format eg Word, pdf
Anyone with an account can contribute or edit content eg Wikipedia

Advantages
Saves emailing large attachments, just send the link
Democratic, anyone can contribute knowledge
Enables sharing of best practice
Central resource for Information
Documents and content to support face to face training

Disadvantages
Relies on regular contributions and updates

Group Feedback from Exercise

The group were asked to think about using the following online resources.

The 4 formats were divided between the groups.
They were asked to consider how they could use:
- Their company website
- Discussion Forum
- Blog
- Wiki









Having been provided with definition and examples of all the above and the group confirming that they understood groups were asked to consider each format and come up with some ideas on:

• Uses for the Trainer
• Advantages for the Learner
• Benefits for the organisation

Consider ease of use, access, skills required and type of content you could publish

Results from the Post It exercise by format.


All Information below was from the delegates:

Company Website
Uses for a trainer
Trusted information source
Factual information
Free
Quotes

Benefits for a Learner
Ease of use
Easy access, free
Reliable information
Can do in own time
Wide range

Benefits to the Organisation
Cheap
Reliable
Flexible



Discussion Forum
Uses for a trainer
Get ideas
Problem solving
Knowledge sharing
Specific searches

Benefits for a Learner
Share information, problems, solutions
Get ideas
Ask questions
Subject specific

Benefits to the Organisation
Cheap
Flexible
Subject specific


Blog
Uses for a trainer
(NONE)

Issues
Some technical knowledge required
Veracity of information
Copyright
Confidentiality DPA


Benefits for a Learner
Flexibility
Language Informal/ vernacular
Ownership buy in

Benefits to the Organisation
(NONE)

Wiki
Uses for a trainer
Time and effort saving
Veracity of info

Benefits for a Learner
Acessibility
Suits some learning styles
Is the information correct?
Interest
Reading on screen

Benefits to the Organisation
(NONE)



Wednesday 21 May 2008

Online Learning Tools - Definitions

1. Website (Company website or Intranet)

A collection of 'pages' consisting of text and images. The pages link to each other using hypertext links.
For Providing information on organisations and what they do, often static, structured with limited interactivity.

2. Discussion Forum
A web application for holding discussions and posting user-generated content.
Will require moderation.

3. Blog
A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.

4. Wiki
A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone to contribute or modify content, Wikis are often used to create. Wikis are used in businesses to provide affordable and effective intranets and for Knowledge Management.

Friday 16 May 2008

CTP Notes 15th May

Working on the Appropriateness exercise – HR manager, etc.

When do we feedback to learners?

Before assessment, after tasks, all the time, in reviews, appraisals, etc.

PP What is the purpose of this feedback?
Praise sandwich
· Praise
· Highlight areas for development
· Gain agreement on how to improve
· Praise
Specific
Actionable

CTP Notes 8th May

“How do we communicate?”

Professionally – correct terminology, no swearing
Body Language – open and accessible
Verbally – speech
With props / tools – appropriate and arranged before the session
Written – if on flip chart readable
Questions – should be answerable
Tactfully – if the delegates don’t really get it
Visually – should be clear
Timely – Too late is no good
Priming – nudging the delegates to come up with their own answers

What “noise” prevents messages being acted upon?
Methodology / Questioning technique
Not clear instructions
Personality clashes
Distractions / environment
Resources
Interaction of the delegates with each other
Contradictory beliefs
Language
Equality and diversity.

We watched the video from the previous week and commented on each other’s body language and ability to engage with their delegates.

CTP Notes 1st May

“Why do we ask questions in a training session?”

a) to enable the delegates to demonstrate evidence of understanding
b) to retain control
c) to engage the delegates
d) to create discussion
e) clarification / elaboration for others
f) fun
g) to encourage sharing of experience
h) to signpost the end of a subject
i) to challenge the delegates
j) to keep delegates awake
k) to buy yourself some time

Notes from seminar at the HRD session. This speaker promised he would ensure that we would never again ask a question that had a tumbleweed response (ie no response). The trick is the
O_ _ T_ _ F _ _ _ _ method – up on the flipchart. One two free

First, give delegates 30 seconds to work out what might be missing from the words. Then 30 seconds discussing it with the person next to them. After this when the answer is requested by the trainer there will always be something shouted out. This encapsulates stages 6 and 7 listed below.

He talked about the 7 stages of learning intelligence Gardner (1983) identified different types of learning,

particularly those characterised as ‘know-how’ and ‘know that’. From that he defined ‘multiple intelligences’, to describe the different ways (and combinations of ways) in which individuals learn. Learning can be seen as ‘playing’
different capabilities:
1. the verbal/linguistic; literally how the message is delivered verbally or written
2. logical/mathematical; making the message relevant to the learner (purpose)
3. visual/spatial; colour, charts, games, information delivered visually arrestingly
4. musical/rhythmic; music can help learners concentrate / forget themselves
5. bodily/kinesthetic; literally get the delegates off their feet and moving around
6. social/interpersonal discuss messages with the group / partner
7. personal/intrapersonal. Think about it oneself, mull it over

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are:
bullet Linguistic intelligence ("word smart"):
bullet Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
bullet Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
bullet Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
bullet Musical intelligence ("music smart")
bullet Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
bullet Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
bullet Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")
http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm


What does this tell us?. Questioning is usually designed to gather information. Not for a trainer, who should be far more like a barrister. If the trainer asks a question that could have an unhelpful response, or to which he / she does not know the answer, don’t ask it.

Groups were allocated and each had to design either a case study or a discussion session to assess how well we asked questions and dealt with the responses. This was videoed!!




Group 1 – CB, DM, SG & LR did an environmental Q & A session.

CB started off by saying that everyone in the room could have an impact on saving the world. Then passed on to Dimple who discussed re-cycling, who passed onto CB who talked about transport (immediately proving Jane P’s point about asking daft questions and then persuing poor Liz for a response to a point she had no opinion or knowledge of), who then passed on to Sonia who talked about energy saving and finally Laura who talked about plastic bags. Finally CB rounded up with a question for each delegate.

The other 2 groups did something similar – one with contemporary versus older music and one about telephone skills.