The learn tech blogs to watch - all in one handy place!

This takes a couple of minutes to load but I think you will find it worthwhile.  It’s a nifty way to thank someone for a favor. Watch it!

Naturally, you can make your own.

If you haven’t used the Street View in Google Maps lately, it’s worth checking out Google’s new Street View of Hong Kong.

Just go to http://maps.google.com, type in Hong Kong, then drag the little man on the left side onto the map of Hong Kong.

You’ll see most of the streets in Hong Kong turn blue — that means that Street View is available there.

Land anywhere and start walking virtually up the street.

Sort of performance support + virtual +2D-that-feels-like-3D…

Amazing… (TW)

Take a Virtual Walk through Hong Kong with Google Street View | 11 March 2010

Tim Sackett argues that adopting best practices from competitors, other industries, and from peers doesn’t make you better, it just makes you the same. Best practices, he says, “don’t make you a “leading organization”, they make you a “following” organization.”

Hold on there Tim. Innovation doesn’t always come out of the blue. Often, it comes from improving on the best ideas available. (RN)

HR’s Big Lie – Best Practices | Fistful of Talent | Tim Sackett | 10 March 2010

It used to be that buying anything by IBM was a safe choice for business executives. It became a metaphor for not taking risks. No longer. The new IBM is listed by MIT’s Technology Review magazine as one of the world’s 50 most innovative companies. The other companies listed in the Web category are:

• Adobe
• Akamai
• Amazon.com
• Google
• Hulu
• Obopay
• StreamBase
• Twitter
• Ushahidi
• Yelp
• Zynga

But IBM? That’s shows how far a company image can change.

The other categories are Energy, Computing, Biomedicine, and Materials. (GW)

• it seems like someone has "got our back" and is looking out for our interests as if we're on common ground
• it's evident that some gets our point of view, sees things through our eyes and shares some of our interpretations
• it feels like someone is saying "peek a boo I see you" to us by accurately reading our intentions, frustrations and connections
• it's a relief that someone has "de-escalated the adversarial tensions" by acknowledging conflicting interests, concerns and considerations
• it's apparent that someone is reaching out to better understand us, explore more of where we're coming from and what we have in mind
• it's heartwarming that someone is approaching us with respect, fascination and compassion
• it's informative that someone understands a beneficial facet about our own conduct and effect on others better than we do ourselves

Some of the things I learned on Twitter this past week.

@oscarberg “Most enterprise social software platforms actually separate internal communication from external communication while email & phone doesn’t.”

via @timkastelle Good #km post – Informal Information Management and Knowledge Management Are Not the Same Thing by @johnt

My thinking is that just the sharing aspect of informal stuff is “know-what”, this is what KM has been about, but we need to go further to the “know-how” ie. to learn and to be able to have the skills to come up with your own “know-what”. We can do this via conversations. We can now converse with people who shared their informal information, and not only know “what” but also “how”…the ultimate example is apprenticeship and mentoring.

via @VenessaMiemis  A fairly good source on Social Capital

In general, there is no one model for social capital formation or the creation or strengthening of local groups. Albee & Boyd (1997) argue that there is no single answer or model to promoting participation … there are only frameworks and guiding principles. Pantoja (1999) argues that instead of one particular model of local organisation, a wide variety of community organisations should be promoted. There needs to be an individual, participatory approach to each intervention.

@downes Social OS and Collective Construction of Knowledge

The development of a technological literacy, though, is uneven. In the divide between a world where we control technology and a world where we are controlled by technology lies what Henry Jenkins calls the “participation gap.” It is the divide between those who can create and have created using digital technologies and those who have not. This is not simply a digital divide, not simply a division between those who can access technology and those who cannot, but rather, a divide between those who have been empowered by technology and those who have not. And it is a gap we see not only at the base level of simple web constructs such as web pages or Twitter profiles, but even more so at the higher reaches of social engagement, in professional discourse and communities of practice. To begin to learn is to begin to participate at the periphery of a community of practice; to become learned is to reduce the participation gap between oneself and fully engaged members of that community.

The e-learning pioneer is a rabble-rouser.

A rabble-rouser is an agitator – a person who stirs up the passions of others.  Some people hold a negative view of agitators.  Should you be one? 

Desmond Tutu is proud to be called a “Rabble-rouser for Peace” – the title of his authorized biography.  This implies that one can rouse the rabble – the confused mob – in positive ways.

The e-pioneer should be a rabble-rouser for e-learning.

When the rabble are slow to respond to your gentle efforts to embrace technology as a teaching tool you may have to resort to other ways to rouse them to action.  This is when you must assume the role of an agitator.  Jump up and down, stomp, whoop, wave your fists, or do whatever is required to get their attention.  Get on your soap-box and agitate for the adoption of e-learning.  At times circumstances will dictate that you even do this in the principal’s office.

Rabble-rousing is effective only if you do it in small doses – when you over-do it, the force of the effort is lost.  Keep this card close to your chest and play it when all else fails.

Click here for more food for thought for e-pioneers.

The National Education Technology Plan (.pdf) reads like a somewhat random mix of concepts that have been discussed in various blogs and forums over the last decade: connected learning, 21st century skills, data-driven improvement, learning networks, life-wide learning, etc. Nothing new here. What is new, however, is the organization publishing the document: U.S. Department of Education. Many a school reformer, conference presenter, and consultant – not to mention tech companies – will be salivating over this report.
The drawback is the approach taken – if you proclaim connected, collaborative learning is the future, then why not demonstrate it in how you create the report? Why not collaborate rather than deliver it whole? The difficulty with connected learning is that it’s almost impossible to understand unless you directly experience it. And, it’s always easier to talk about it than it is to practice it.

Human Capital Institute is hosting a webinar by Dave Wilkins and Jay Cross entitled Put “Learning Demand” in the Drivers Seat.

Organizations that focus on the supply side of the training they provide are looking at the wrong side of the equation. By focusing on the demand side (what learners need) they can facilitate the biggest part of the learning experience-informal learning. While informal learning is spontaneous it is not as informal as it may initially appear. It means orchestrating informal tools to be available in the context of work as it needs to get done. Think of trainer turned into stage manager… their facilitation is more about making tools available than writing content; leaving the learners in charge to create and apply content. This webcast addresses the paradigm shift learning professionals must make to tap the enormous power of informal learning by the organization’s knowledge assets- their people. You’ll discover the advantages of learners taking over without going crazy!

Easter egg: Note the original title in the event URL.