The FPG Notepad

Yesterday was a fortunate day as I attended a workshop sponsored by our local ASTD chapter (Cincinnati) on Learning 2.0 tools lead by Dr. Tony Karrer. Not only does his knowledgeable insight open doors for those seeking personal professional growth, he also challenges us to examine our view of learning within an organization. Below are some of my random thoughts.

• Thanks for inspiring me to reenergize my blog entries and my own professional growth.
• Although the lack of knowledge and awareness by many participants caught me through me for a loop, their willingness to learn and listen made me smile.
• Yes I use tools as blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, and LinkedIn, yet there is still plenty I can learn about those tools … let alone the tools I don’t know - so think beyond the basics.
• All of us have our own paradigms that limit how we look at a situation. No matter how open one’s mind is, I’m continually amazed how even one small phrase can open my mind even further.
• Everyone should think about if they are training centric or learning centric.
  The card catalog image says a lot.

Not only a thanks to the GCASTD team for the workshop, but also to the (about 60) attendees for sharing. From a personal standpoint, since I’ve electronically communicated with Tony in the past, it was great to meet Tony. Not only is his knowledge and passion for the topic obvious, he’s also personable. For the readers outside of Cincinnati looking for a speaker, he’s worth considering.

Thanks Tony for coming to Cincinnati and sharing!

In late December during my study about informal learning, I read an interesting post by Tony Karrer about using Web 2.0 tools for informal learning. Shortly after, a fellow learning professional and I were talking about informal learning. He painted a wonderful mental picture of two college professors discussing and debating a topic over a cup of coffee, out in the hall, or around the water cooler. At the conversation’s end, each professor continues to think and even seek additional information on their own.

The two of us decided to form a short-term study group using the tenants of Karrer’s post - then found 3 others willing to participate (a story in itself.) Below are some conclusions I discovered from our short study.

• Finding willing participants wasn’t easy. With access to 60-75 names involved in training, we received only a few inquiries. I still wonder why so few learning professionals were interested.
• We planned a face-to-face meeting as a reflective, wrap-up. In retrospect, meeting as a group at the beginning would have served as a kickoff, allowed each of us to link names and faces, and clarified the process and expectations.
• As one would expect, each of us had different level of self motivation and commitment. Again, having the initial kickoff meeting may have reduced the gap.
• Each of us had different formats to post our information. Interestingly, this is something we didn’t anticipate, but may be one future groups may want to discuss.
• Wikis are a simple-to-use tool for collaborating. Having a person familiar with basic code is helpful, but not required.
• Receiving feedback and questions from other team members is paramount. As a whole, our team stumbled here; our team provided limited feedback to other researchers. Again, a kickoff event may have helped.
• Similar endeavors would be great for members of a local professional group.
• In the end, I found our experiment to be practical, useful, and a positive learning experience. Thanks to all!