Stuff I miss…

1. The ‘holiday’ office buffet – while I disliked the feeding troth at the office most of the year, I do miss it this time of year. After over-indulging at holiday parties, the ability to make breakfast was just out of reach so day-old cupcakes in the morning were much appreciated.
2. The fun holiday gifts – c’mon, who doesn’t like giving and getting presents like good wine, successories motivational posters or demotivational products (depending on your position on the org chart) from their twisted offspring at despair.com?
3. Holiday decor – rushing to finish up projects before the end of the year, it was always fun to watch others ditch work to decorate the cubes. It looked so purty…I can’t find my garland here at the home office so will have to settle for a festive screensaver. Maybe not though…I’m trying to finish my projects.
4. Christmas parties – I liked the small ones with just the group I worked with. Always nice to lunch with friends (who are really family) and reflect and laugh. Mostly laugh. Mostly laugh about the last LMS implementation and stuff no one else would laugh at. You had to be there, right?
5. My little, portable office heater – just toasty, and who doesn’t like to feel toasty? It’s cold in New York in December.
6. Attempting to use up the last of the yearly budget – dream office shopping…are you mclovin it or what?

Stuff I don’t miss…

1. December fat clothes – see #1 above.
2. No vacation time left- my current work arrangement gives me the flexibility to take care of things I would normally have had to take vacation days for. As a result, I’m left with some vacation days in December. Yay!
3. People with vacation time left – sandbaggers and people with a zillion years of service could take nearly the entire month off. Ah well, more old cupcakes for me then.
4. Inability to take a few moments and shop online. Darn blocking software!
5. Scraping the ice off the car in the early morning and making the commute in to work. Suckas!

Flickr photo by dotsara

<this isn’t learning related…just need to vent>

Isn’t it ironic that my US passport renewal, which was supposed to arrive 16-18 weeks ago, arrived “priority mail” yesterday? How appropriate that the Passport Backlog Reduction Act was also signed yesterday which facilitates the hiring of Foreign Service retirees to assist in the processing of passport and visa applications. Yesterday. Just in time! That fine piece of government efficiency is my number 10 reason for considering a move to Canada.

#9>> Canadians are more about making peace then war.

#8>> Canadians have a better education system. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation and standardized testing in the USA is a step backwards.

#7>> I am accustomed to four consecutive months of summer followed by eight consecutive months of “not summer.” (I’m a short 3-4 hour drive from the border depending on what vehicle I’m driving)

#6>> My children already know how to play hockey and lacrosse.

#5>> As I was recently reminded (I don’t like to think about it) by the movie Sicko, that I pay more for my health insurance than I do for the mortgage on my four-bedroom home. And *bonus* I might not get the coverage I need when sick. The Canadian health care system is much better than the privatized health care system in the US. And, the price is right.

#4>> There are a lot of cool people in Canada illustrated by my blogroll (don’t make me name names!).

#3>> National Hockey League (NHL) teams are not named after Disney characters. Quack. Quack.

#2>> The beer is better.

#1>> I know the first two words to the Canadian National Anthem (as illustrated in the title to this post).

I do love the US. I love my country, but hey…gimme a break already.
<end of rant>

It’s been just over 100 days since this blog was started. Below are my top 10 observations. I hope you’ll find them valuable.

1. It’s difficult to put yourself out there but easier to connect with others once you have.

2. Writing is easier than writing & formulating an opinion and both are difficult in the fast-paced environment of blogging.

3. Blogging makes me feel as if my clothes are too big and I’m trying to grow into them. This is a good thing. No one wants tight clothes : )

4. There is a palpable difference between reading/lurking and writing that I had not fully anticipated. The difference is in the learning experience. If I were to return to a corporate training job I would blog and get others blogging. Culture be damned!

5. More learning takes place when you blog (and respond) with sincerity and thick skin.

6. I use “I” too much. [Note to self: Use of first person – listen to MS Word & consider revising…unless post is about debriefing myself – good grief.

7. Managing the gray area of business and “just Janet” is always just under the surface when writing as an employee.

8. The good bloggers have a style and stick to it – some blog about personal experiences, some give opinions and ideas on things found, news bloggers aggregate for their niche; some are true experts in the space. There are many good bloggers in the education/training space. The connections among the corporate and K-12/higher education spaces offer tremendous potential for growth.

9. Blogging technology is easy to use. You can experiment and recover from mistakes easily. Even widget-itis. There is a widget for everything. If not, ask someone and they’ll make you one. There is probably an”I” widget.

10. Blogging is time-consuming; both reading and writing and is sometimes not viewed as real work.

Photo: Jon Helgason | Agency: Dreamstime.com

I found this link to an article by Dr. Daniel Amen through Learning Lights blog. 10 Ways to Exercise Your Brain Healthy. I originally read this and thought duh, and did you know that if you eat less and exercise more you’ll lose weight? However, there’s a good message here. The reason why Dr. Amen says we need effective training programs in the workplace if you’re trained to do something badly, you’ll do it badly. Don’t just train people we train brains by providing corrective feedback for mistakes. Your brain doesn’t care if you’re doing something well. “Teaching someone to do something well at the start prevents them from developing bad habits, which get solidified in the brain and are subsequently hard to retrain.” Do you get caught up in “remedial” or re-training? Maybe your learners didn’t get it right the first time or are learning from co-workers with established bad habits. Not everything is solved by training and sometimes the training itself is the problem.

A group of 65 learning professionals completed a new Brandon Hall Research survey on blended learning. At least 300 more responses are being collected to get a more accurate picture of blended learning but I did want to share some early results with you.

First, the background on the responding group: The respondent group is primarily corporate (66%) but also includes those working in government, non-profit, and education sectors. Respondents are evenly distributed among managers, designer/developers, and those responsible for delivering learning programs. Although the respondents are primarily US-based companies, there was a global mix of organizations responding along with several of the US-based organizations having an international presence. The size of respondent organizations varied greatly (900,000) as did the size of the department responsible for learning (1-5000).

Top 10 findings:

1. 74% of respondent organizations currently design/deliver blended learning programs
2. 68% of respondent organizations say blended learning is currently a high priority at their organization (71% increased BL in the past two years; 86% will increase BL in the next two years)
3. 55% of respondent organizations said it takes more time to create a blended learning solution vs. an e-learning solution alone
4. 83% of respondent organizations said it takes more time to create a blended learning solution than a face-to-face solution alone
5. 89% of respondent organizations said blended instruction has better outcomes than e-learning alone
6. 69% of respondent organizations said blended instruction has better outcomes than face-to-face instruction alone
7. 44% of respondent organizations said blended learning is more expensive to produce than e-learning alone
8. 69% of respondent organizations said blended learning is more expensive to produce than face-to-face instruction alone
9. 63% of respondent organizations use blended methods on less than 25% of their total course offering
10. 50% of respondent organizations use a model or rule-of-thumb for deciding on the blend

If you’re interested in participating in this survey please contact me. I’ll be glad to share the final results with you.

Because the research is not BS.

Because you need a break from your boring job.

Because you forgot what the heck you were supposed to be doing.

Because you can take a peak behind the curtain and see what BHR analysts are working on.

Because Brandon Hall is so cool and so are you and really cool people hang out.

Because our average age is 273 years old and we remember when cave drawings were used to teach.

Because we can create blogs, wiki, and podcasts,despite our advanced age : )

Because we’ll tell you like it is. Seriously, we will.

Because one more blog won’t kill or mame you. Seriously, it won’t,unless you use your computer as a weapon to kill or mame yourself in which case you should seek professional help ; )

Because passionate work is worth reading, sharing, and contributing to!

Enjoy and welcome!