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April 23rd, 2008 — informl2, unworkshops
Today I’ll be heading across the Bay to attend Web 2.0 Expo. I don’t have a ticket. I don’t attend to buy one. It’s not that I’m cheap (although I generally am) so much as I don’t have three days for this. My plan is to suck as much knowledge from the event as I can in six hours.
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February 15th, 2007 — results, tools, unworkshops
Review of Informal Learning in this month’s T+D magazine. (pdf)
As someone who makes a living out of designing formal learning systems for large corporations, I was an unlikely candidate to buy into Jay Cross’s theory that formal learning is largely ineffective. But my curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself totally engrossed in his out-of-the-ordinary thinking on learning.
January 16th, 2007 — unworkshops
Informal Learning, You Tube, 10 minutes
If you somehow have not seen me telling the informal learning story, here’s a mercifully short video I just slapped up on YouTube.
December 6th, 2006 — general, unworkshops
Here’s a question that is popping hither and yon:
Informal learning will face a classical paradox: if it starts gaining ground as a formal discipline, will it still be informal?
Answer: yes, informal learning can survive formalization. Informal learning has been going on since humans first walked the earth. It’s how you learned to speak, to interact with other people, and to understand the world about you. Time hasn’t hardened informal learning’s arteries.
Formal learning is formal because it has a curriculum. Generally that curriculum is rigid. It is handed down from superior (=teacher, instructor) to subordinate (=student, learner). Informal learning does not have a set curriculum; it occurs as needed, or incidentally.
November 9th, 2006 — general, unworkshops
Thursday, 9 November 2006
Web22 is our tag for photos and podcasts. Note that this announcement came before telling us where the bathrooms are.
This is a do-it-yourself conference, a pure unconference.
Social Media Club Chris Heuer: We believe in people coming together informally. Goal is help people connect with others around the world to make it a better world. Social Media is here to provide a little push. It takes more understanding, so we are focusing on media literacy. We want to smash the barriers. For everyone. Schools. Also looking at trust. Disclosure. The social media release in lieu of the press release. Sharing best practices with everyone. We’re looking at the balance between structure and unstructured. We invite everyone to be our co-creators. Howard Greenstien: Started first user group in web space, which led to Razorfish, etc. Social Media Club meetings in 10 cities right now. Chris: When we say co-creation, we mean co-creation. We need help to figure this out. Initially member-funded. $100/person. $250/corporate. Etc.
November 1st, 2006 — tools, unworkshops
Vyew is the free web-based collaboration tool we use in Unworkshops
Features include:
October 31st, 2006 — time, tools, unworkshops
The Social Media Club. Cool idea. I’ll be jabbering about Informal Learning at their upcoming unconference:
Web 2point2 – San Francisco: November 9th and 10th
July 3rd, 2006 — general, unworkshops
In opening Gnomedex6, Chris Pirillo challenged participants to challenge their belief structure. “You’ll find more opportunities here than sitting in front of your computer. Ask yourself what you are here to learn.”
The meta-message of Gnomedex is that the users are in charge. Control is an illusion; the user is not. (Chris) Now you can run your own network. This software is built so we can change the world. (Marc Cantor) It’s easier for a user to become a manufacturer than for a manufacturer to become a user. We live in the age of the individual. We’re coming from an age where only the best folk were allowed to create. Bill Gates is a user who became a manufacturer. (Dave Winer) Open software, open standards, and now open hardware. (Phil Torrone)
This echoes John Hagel and JSB, telling us the world is converting from push to pull.
Training is push; informal learning is pull. The learning revolution is not yet over but the learners are winning.
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June 19th, 2006 — tools, unworkshops
Participants in our Unworkshops learn about using the web to support learning by jumping in and trying things. Our current group includes participants in Italy, Austria, Denmark, Australia, and across North America. Since we want to demonstrate technology that our alumni can use to prototype applications with their clients, we’re always on the prowl for free or nearly-free software and services.
June 18th, 2006 — general, tools, unworkshops
Patterns in the Clouds: Some Thoughts on Not Being Completely Wrong about PLEs is a charming position paper by Mike Malloc about personal learning environments, the wrong-headed notions about Learning Objects, and the importance of small pieces, loosely joined:
Respect the web2.0 way
In any work on PLEs, let’s be very careful to learn from the simplicity, clarity, user-centricity, restraint and attention to detail that characterise web2.0. The good systems-effects only emerge when usage becomes rich and plentiful - and that depends on an ecology in which the individual parts are simple, focused and easy to get along with, and in which the interoperability architecture makes very lightweight demands on its citizens. Small pieces, loosely joined. Small APIs. Small steps. And remember to make it shiny :o)
