A nice reward

For the past two days, Angie and I have been working our way through two months worth of mail. Most of it was worthless - or, more precisely, less than worthless.

This - my diploma for my Masters in Adult Education - however, brought a smile to my face. It's funny how something that was such a big part of my life for 18 months can just disappear, almost unnoticed, replaced by other things.

Though it's completely illogical, I expected the completion of an advanced degree to change me in some small way.

Did I think I'd feel more mature? No.

More confident? No.

More intelligent? Professional? Literate? No. No. And no.

And yes...

But it doesn't work that way. Any gains I made in maturity, confidence, intelligence, professionalism, or literacy were incremental (and certainly arguable).

What was gained was gained one fraction of an inch at a time, like the growing of hair. There's almost no change from last night, until suddenly you need a trim.

Well, it isn't like I need a brain trim (what would that be like?). But... even if the destination is anticlimactic, the journey was great.

Masters Update - Is it worth it?

Since July, I've been working on my Masters Degree in Adult Education and Training from the University of Phoenix. It's an online degree, which was important to me, given my travel and work schedules.

Three months and three classes have passed, so here's a status report.

I'm going to use Edward de Bono's PMI tool (Plus, Minus, and Interesting) for this report.

Pluses

• Convenience - I don't have to drive to school. All participation is online. The schedule is extremely flexible. I can attend anywhere, anytime.
• Learning becomes a habit. You know the '21 days theory'? Do anything for 21 straight days and it will become a habit. I find online learning to be like that. Participation is required four days a week, but it's easier to log in for about 30 minutes everyday. It then becomes a habit.
• Course Content - The content has been extremely interesting. I'm reading books I would never read (Action Learning), learning concepts I would never learn (ontological humility) and having discussions (text messaging in the classroom) thatI would never have.
• Diversity - I'm getting to interface with a diverse audience of school teachers from all over the US. It's been very interesting to hear their challenges and passions.
• Virtual Teams - I'm learning how to work on a virtual team - a critical skill.
• Forums - I love answering questions in a forum. You have time to think, everyone participates, and you can go back to reread interesting questions and answers.
• Access - to the University online library.

Minuses

• Not Business Focused - While I enjoy the presence of so many school teachers, there are not enough corporate students for my taste. The discussions often end up focusing on school issues.
• Virtual Teams - It can be hard to work on the teams remotely. There have been a couple of frustrating moments when classmates dropped out or didn't do their work. But hey... that's just like 'real life'.

Interesting

• The Teaching Portfolio - We haven't used it yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it is applied.
• Adaptation -Seeing how I've adapted to an online environment.
• Presentations? Doing Power Points in an online environment. I'm very close to listing this as a negative, but I'll wait. It seems to be reinforcing the idea that Power Point is a suitable vehicle for emailing communication (hint: It's not!!).
  That idea isn't just wrong... it's dangerous... to business, anyway.

So, do I believe that spending time on this degree is worth it? So far... you bet!!

3 down... 11 to go...

I finished the third course in my Masters degree program for Adult Education yesterday.

And I'm still enjoying it!

Time for another happy dance...

Top Five Benefits of a Peer Review

Peer Review

This comic illustrates perfectly what a peer review shouldn't look like.

I'm doing a major redesign on one of our core classes, and it's a normal step for us to request a peer review when we've got something substantial to show.

As I just finished my draft of the 100+ page workbook, I asked the crew for a 1 hour review this morning.

For us, a peer review is informal - taking place in our sofa-furnished brainstorm lab, with post-it notes for everyone.

Here are my top five benefits of a peer review.

1. Everyone gets to know what you're working on - This kills any duplication of effort, consolidates resources, and makes sure you don't end up on anyone's project plan ("I didn't think you were busy").
2. You learn - I got six great suggestions from the team. Things I wouldn't have thought of on my own.
3. You build momentum - Seeing their enthusiasm re-doubled my enthusiasm. After all the work, I was a little burnt-out. Not any more!!
4. Talking brings clarity - I worked on this course in silence for too long. It's really helpful to get words out of your head and into the air, so you can hear how dumb they sound - and then improve them.
5. You get buy-in - No one can tell you later that it sucks, unless they're willing to assume some responsibility.

Now, depending on your team dynamics, all five of these could be potentially frightening.
Fortunately, my team is fairly functional (if you don't count me...), so these are productive sessions.

Do you do peer reviews? Tell us about them...

Five Key Concepts for Adult Education

On Monday, I finished my 2nd course in the Masters degree program for Adult Education and Training at University of Phoenix. The course was AET 505 - "Foundations of Adult Education and Training".

Though I've been a working as a corporate trainer for the past 3 years, my background is in engineering, so most of this content was new to me.

We explored a number of interesting topics.
Here are the top 5 things I learned from the course.

1. Types of Learners - there are three types of adult learners. Goal oriented learners have specific objectives to accomplish. Activity oriented learners attend for social interaction. Learning oriented learners are focused on learning for its' own sake. Knowing which type of learners you're working with will help you be a more effective trainer.
2. Learning Barriers - There are three types of learning barriers that adult learners face - Situational (barriers that take place at a given time - such as a lack of money or time), Dispositional (barriers in attitude or self-perception), and Institutional (barriers caused by the learning organization - such as: how often classes are offered, where they're offered, etc.).
3. Universal Design for Learning - Based on the idea that accessible design improves access for everyone, this method follows the approach started by architects. Here's an excellent graphic guide to UDL.
4. Teaching Portfolio's - This was a surprise to me. Teachers have recently taken a page from artists, photographers, and architects by building portfolios of their work. Recognizing that an interview cannot capture the complexity of what a teacher does, online portfolios that collect courseplans, student results, and videos are becoming common.
5. Use of Reflection in learning - There are three types of reflection in learning (why always three?) - Content, Process, and Premise reflection. Content Reflection asks 'what is really the problem here?'. Process Reflection asks about the problem solving strategy we're using. Premise Reflection asks us to question our basic premise.

I found the discussion of premise reflection to be of particular value.
Although it can be painful, I believe that the step of questioning the basic premise that underlies all subsequent desicions is necessary.

In innovation workshops, we call this the 'flat world' exercise. Someone had to question the premise of a flat world, before deciding to sail around the world.

Have you or your organization reflected on your premise recently?

Back to School...

On Tuesday, I'll be back to school.

I've spent the last three years 'cherry-picking' my learning from various seminars, books, and workshops; but that well has run a little dry.

This week I start my Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training at the University of Phoenix. It meets all my needs, because:
a) it's an online learning program (easier with my travel commitments)
b) the focus is very tight (every course revolves around training - no fat)

I'll be looking at this program from two perspectives.
First, from a content perspective, I hope to learn a lot about adult learning.
Second, from a delivery perspective, I hope to learn a lot about online learning.

Online learning has its' advantages and disadvantages.
I'm a very social creature, so I'm not sure that online learning is the best path for me.
On the other hand, I like to learn at my own pace, so online might be perfect.

This dichotomy is one I hope to explore here over the next year or so - starting Tuesday...

Learning at the Speed of Sound

I'm going to have plenty of learning opportunities over the foreseeable future.

Today, Angie and I are packing for a drive up to Sonoma - wine country.
I'm meeting two colleagues there for a 4 day training workshop.
We're getting certified in The Leadership Challenge.
I'll open another post on that...

Secondly, on July 1st, I start my pursuit of a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Learning from University of Phoenix.
I enjoy the learning world and want spend more time with folks outside my company and industry.
This program is perfect for me, because the online aspect supports my travel schedule.

My objectives from the program are:

1. Strengthen my knowledge of education theory
   
2. Strengthen my skill in instructional design and delivery
3. Immerse myself in an online learning experience to learn more about my own learning preferences.
4. Observe the online learning experience for more ideas on how to use it in my workplace.
5. Network and learn from folks outside my workspace...

I'll be posting through it all!