With all this talk of ‘Show My Work’, I decided to go on another tangent (as I normally do) and show another’s work! Shock, horror! Rest assured, with full attribution and with a profusion of thanks and gratitude to my good friend and colleague Paul Batfay (@freefacilitator) who has kindly agreed for me to show HIS […]
My Reflections of the Australian Institute of Training Development National Conference
Last week I travelled north up to Sydney to attend the Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) National Conference at the Australian Technology Park. I hadn’t planned to attend the conference but when an invitation from eLearning Provocateur Ryan Tracey landed in my inbox asking me to be a member of one of the panel sessions, […]
What Does the Future of Work Look Like? It Will Look Weird.
[View the story “Future of Work Conference Melbourne” on Storify]
Learning a New Skill – What Not To Do When Learning To Play the Ukulele from the Internet
Many of you know that I recently been teaching myself how to play the ukulele. For someone who has never learned to play an instrument, learned how to read and write music or even dared sing in public, this is a big deal for me. You can read how I got started with this instrument […]
From Contractor to Consultant
Three weeks into my reduced hour work week (3 days) and all I can exclaim is, “What just happened?!” I now work in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays on my current contract until it ends in June. Meanwhile Wednesdays and Thursdays are at home reserved for my consulting work with Activate Learning Solutions. […]
How Aligned is Learning and Development to Business – an #OzLearn Tweet Chat Tues 8pm AEST
On Tuesday night I will be moderating a live Tweet chat for @OzLearn and hope anyone in learning can join us on Tuesday 11 March at 8:00pm AEST on Twitter. Simply go to Twitter, search on @Ozlearn at that time and join in on the conversation by adding #ozlearn to all your tweets. This month, we will […]
Make Sure Yammer Doesn’t Turn Into a Ghost Town
Last week I wrote about a post about how I coached a colleague to use Yammer and explain its benefits on how it could increase her productivity and engagement in the workplace. This week the theme continued to be all about Yammer. I had many people asking me to learn more about it in particularly, […]
How Do You Explain Yammer?
Last week I was put through my paces at work. A colleague who I had worked with a couple of years ago to create Role Based Proficiency Pathways for the retail arm of her business came back from maternity leave and she sat next to me at work. We caught up with the “goss” and […]
Embracing Uncertainty…Awkward!
If I ever had a dollar every time I heard those two words. “We must embrace uncertainty!” “Embrace uncertainty – if there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s change!” “We must accept that this is the future – embrace uncertainty to survive!” “Helen, you don’t embrace uncertainty well do you?” *Yawn* I’m slightly behind the […]
How Do We Enforce Independence in Workplace Learning?
I am in the second week of Dave Cormier’s Rhizomatic Learning cMOOC and admittedly, I was struggling there for a while. The subject matter of week one ‘Cheating as Learning‘ became an academic, intellectual and conceptual discussion between participants. I grappled how we could apply cheating as learning within the context of the corporate work environment […]
Are You Doing the MOOC or Focussing on the Platform?
I admit it. I’m the type of person who likes doing MOOCs. I didn’t say that I finish all of them however. The idea of enrolling into an online course, view the content, network with some people then decide whether you’re going to stick it out for its duration – or not is actually quite […]
How to Build Your Peer Learning Network When You “Don’t Have Time”
I had a coffee with my friend Rebekah yesterday. Rebekah is an e-learning designer for veterinary educators and we met through Twitter. On the few occasions we caught up at a local cafe, our passions for social media for learning and development were evident. Our ideas tumbled out of us as we grappled with possibilities on how […]
What Did I Learn in 2013?
It’s that time of year when many of the bloggers write their “Reflection of the Year” pieces and make new year resolutions and plans. Of course, I’m no different although my Reflections vs Resolutions usually look something like this: I started 2013 off as I always do with dreams and plans of great ambitions and […]
Books, Books and More Books
Ever since I was a young girl, I loved to read. My parents used to say that I carried a book everywhere. This hasn’t changed but rather than carry a book, I carry a library. Having all your books on one device is both a blessing and a nightmare. Confronted with so many choices to read, […]
Hanging Out in Google…As You Do…
This morning at work, I grabbed my laptop and dashed downstairs to the ground floor. To others, it’s an escape out of the building. For me, it’s where the free WiFi is so that’s where you’ll find me. We have a bank branch downstairs that has free wifi around its direct vicinity. I’m sure they’ve […]
The Quiet Before the Storm
Such a dramatic title for my blog post but alas, there’s no storm. Christmas yes, but that’s not a storm…more like a tornado when we realise we haven’t done the Christmas shopping. What Have I Been Working On? These last few weeks have been quite busy for me. As well as working on the development […]
Learn@Work Conference
Rather than write a blog post I’m being lazy), I thought I’d Storify the tweets and include my reflections within them…. Day 1: Monday 11 November 2013 Day 2: Tuesday 12 November 2013
Reflections of Exploring Personal Learning Networks MOOC
Five weeks ago, I started the Exploring Personal Learning Networks cMOOC with enthusiasm and expectation. Jeff Merrell (@JeffMerrell) and I had organised to meet via Google Hangout to have a chat about this but of course, our firewall prevented that from happening as it was during work hours. Instead, we talked via teleconference and I […]
How To Pitch The Value of Personal Learning Networks to a CEO – Wise or Folly?
After four weeks of participating in the Exploring Personal Learning Networks cMOOC, it has come to this. Our pitch to the CEO on the value of personal learning networks. In fact, through the various readings, discussion and activities of the previous three weeks, we have been building up to this point to undertake the following […]
Community Learning Programs in Melbourne
Two nights ago after work, I wandered over to the State Library of Victoria, a place I hadn’t visited for some years. It was looking a bit worse for wear in my opinion or maybe I was just becoming a grumpy old woman for noticing the dirt and rubbish that side of town. It was […]