My Learning Blog

I created the job aid as part of my job application with one of the Fortune 10 companies. Check it out here .  This was one of the steps in the selection process. I moved to the next level. I must say, I am quite proud of this job aid because I think it creatively blends various management and leadership theories to create a useful tool for the managers. This is four days of stimulating work. I loved it! I even worked through my birthday for this document.  I did not get the job though. I lost my nerve during my interview with the hiring manager's manager. The sixth and the final round of selection. I guess I tried too hard and balanced too many things that day for a 15 minute call. I honestly believe the decision was unfair, but then who's listening?

Last month, I read with deep interest Time cover story on How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live. In an example, the writer described how twitter's platform lent itself successfully for an open conversation during a conference. This got me thinking how twitter can be used for learning. Here are some raw ideas at a tactical level: Reminders to complete preassessments. The tweet should have link to the preassessment/prework. It does not matter if the link is behind the firewall. Only authorized users in your organization/clients will be able to access the link. Reminders to complete evaluation questionnaire. Again, the tweet has the survey url. Tip/tool/shortcut of the day. At a strategic level, twitter can be used to create web2.0 learning, in real terms Attendees define the course content L&D* creates twitter space for a particular learning program with access restricted to learners Instructor sends a welcome tweet with a wiki** link to a draft course content T

Well, so it happened to me as well. Bad global markets, poor financial results, deep budgets cuts, my position ethered (just coined this word. I like the sound of it)! Anyway, so here I am looking for work. While I want the wait to end, the wait has been pretty good...really! A gorgeous son, California spring/summer, camera, and MacBook with its photo and video editing capabilities, need to take their rightful place in this feel good feeling. Stuff I do these days: I catch up on the latest trends in performance consulting, organizational learning and development, and instructional design. I try out new tools for learning solution development. I enjoy blue sky thinking on the merits and application of each tool in an overall learning intervention. Over time, I now recognize learning leaders as people. One leader I admire tremendously follows me on Twitter!! Cool! I sit back, review, and analyze my professional life, and think about the next steps. I hone my selling skills as I get more

I have finally uploaded the competency development formats for everyone's access. Click here to access the files. Click here for the related blogpost .

We have used mobile learning as just in time learning for our sales team i.e. prior to the ILT on a new product. The learning level was basic i.e. Knowledge in the Bloom's taxonomy. The important design criteria we considered while creating mlearning modules were: 1. Decide the family of devices you will use it for - the platform and technologies for various devices (even within the same brand) are different. So one needs to be very specific about the devices for which the solution is being designed. This turns out to be the biggest challenge for mobile learning solutions. 2. Identify the precise learning objective. What do you want to achieve from the solution? No really, what? considering both elearning and ILT would be more detailed and thorough for the learners. 3. Ensure the images and content elements are light. Obviously! Imagine having to wait for 15 seconds for an interaction download on a small screen! 4. Plan on short learning modules. Maybe 10-12 screens at the most. I