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Mental Pictures, Telling Stories & Lessons Learned

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I’m nearly complete with a Graduate Certificate Program I’ve been enrolled in since Jan 2010.  I so enjoy learning and learning online…..well, I’ve been doing this since 1994. The current course is all about Project Management and we’ve been discussing Project Management [PM] Roles.

Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne

Speaking of PM Roles I am reminded of an old book, written in 1939, called ‘Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Mary Anne.’ For those too young to remember, the story goes:

Mike and Mary Anne are a team and after many years of working successfully together, Mike and Mary Anne face competition from modern, diesel-powered shovels. Seeking an area of the country where his less modern steam shovel can still find work, Mike finds a small town that is about to build a new town hall. The authorities react with disbelief when Mike makes the claim that he and his steam shovel Mary Anne can dig the cellar in a single day; they protest that it would take a hundred men a week. Mike insists that Mary Anne can indeed finish the job in one day, though he has some private doubts.

At sun-up the next day, Mike and Mary Anne begin work and just manage to complete the task by sundown. However, they have neglected to dig themselves a ramp so they can drive out. A child who had been watching makes the suggestion that Mike take the job of janitor for the town hall, and that Mary Anne should become the boiler for the town hall’s heating system.  Wikipedia

It just goes to show how our roles change during a project and how powerful stories can be when helping to solidify learning.  Check out Mike and Mary Anne.

Even More Free Tools for the Virtual Instructor

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The learning curves have been steep, over the past couple of weeks.  I have been introduced to a few more free tools I wanted to share.

  • Zoho.com is an autoresponder and so much more. While this autoresponder is secure, I have to admit the back end of this system can get ‘geeky’ so be prepared and you do not always have the ‘pretty’ options to make forms look swanky.  Function and form.
  • Text’em allows you to text from the comfort of your own computer. This learning curve is quite simple and you can have an account up, running and be texting within moments. The wonder of this process is that you do not have to reveal your phone number, within your texts.  These is an inbox-email-type system to read responses to your text and create further responses.  This is perfect for a Virtual Instructor who does not want to have their contact information out there.  A couple of slight drawbacks: the system in not instantaneous [it took about 15 minutes to process an outgoing text & nearly as long to receive a reply to that text-during testing phase].  And you have to collect your contacts’ providers.

All and all, these freebies are worth a look.  Let me know what you think.

Drive: What Motivates Us?

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Last fall I heard Daniel Pink speak at Westfield State College, Westfield, MA[who BTW have a wonderful Speakers Series, if you are ever in the area during the school year on a given Monday night].  For years, I’ve been a big fan of Mr. Pink’s work and was thrilled to hear him in person.  He was promoting his newest book Drive.  Here is a fabulous video illustrating Daniel’s point.   Enjoy!

Vintage Crafting

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For the past few June Tuesday’s I’ve been spending my nights, with some crafty, fun women at the Reclaimed Crafts class.

Wiseman's Wine Coaster

Wiseman's Wine Coaster

It’s been a fabulous time to just get away from the computer screen and get my hands dirty.  It helps me remember ‘The Journey is the Destination’.   To see more images and projects we’ve been up to check out The Reclaimed Crafts Blogspot

Social Media in a Digital Nation

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If anyone ever asks you why you use Social Media, have them watch this video.

Another something-something I was watching last night is

All about the Digital Natives, in their Digital Nation…..where we all live.

More FREE Tools

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Three big concepts will be pushing e-learning:

  • Clouds
  • Mobile
  • Wireless

Then there are open source applications and FREE tools to create with.  Audacity, Jing, Screencast are a few that come to mind.  Today, I learned about:

  • Podbean: An ultra simple podcast publishing solution.
  • Voki: See sample below.
  • Voicethread–Transforming media into collaborative spaces with video, voice, and text commentingwhich actually has a free version as well as a pay version.  Check out what it can do here.  Think threaded discussion, with images, interaction, audio, video….it’s amazing!

Here’s what Voki can do.  Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages.  Watch how I follow your cursor……wild.  Think of the fun you and your students can have.

Get a Voki now!