Should I change the name of this blog?

Back when I started this blog about 3 years ago I was coming from an instructor led training background and transitioning into the world of eLearning. I was working on a variety of instructional design projects involving instructor led (face to face) training and beginning to implement eLearning within my organization. I was hot on "Blended" training solutions involving both ILT and eLearning so I thought "Blender - Training Solutions" was a decent name since I was blogging about instructional design projects involving "blended" training solutions but I've never been very happy with the name.

Fast forward to today and you could say eLearning has reached the tipping point within the organization and is now dominating my "To Do" list. I still work on and blog about instructor led projects from time to time but the majority of my work and blog posts are focused on eLearning. The change of focus and dislike of the current name has pushed me to consider changing the name of this blog. Before making any changes I wanted to tap into the wealth of knowledge out there in the blogosphere to make sure I have a complete understanding of the pros and cons involved in changing the name of a blog. Below I have a list of some name possibilities, the pros and cons, and a few questions I have about making this change. I would love your input on whether I should go forward with this and if you have any ideas for what I should call this blog if I do decide to make the change. I'm looking for feedback from a variety of perspectives so you don't have to be a blog or SEO guru to chime in and let me know what you think. Thanks in advance for commenting.

Blog Name Ideas:

• eLearning Blender - This is the one I am leaning towards since it is a similar name but more focused on eLearning. I blog about a variety of topics related to eLearning so I feel blender is still fitting in the name.
• eLearning in Practice
• eLearning in Action
  
• eLearning Insider
  
• eLearning Dude - This is what I am called within my organization. It sure stuck at work so maybe it will stick as a blog title.
  
• Something focused on eLearning in the corporate sector? - Should I narrow the focus even further to "Corporate eLearning."
  
• Your Ideas?
  

Pros and Cons:
Here are just a few of the pros and cons that have crossed my mind. I'm sure there are many more issues to take into consideration before making this change.

Pros	Cons
A Better Name - I don't feel the current name is memorable or very fitting of the content.	Established - This blog has had this name for around 3 years now so it's somewhat established although I'm not sure if many readers remember the name.
Improved SEO - I don't know a lot about SEO but I would imagine having the word "eLearning" in the title would improve search engine rankings.	Mess up feeds - I have some concerns about messing up feeds that are addressed in the questions below.

Questions:

• Will I mess up my RSS feed? - I'm concerned that I may have to set up a new RSS feed for the new name which would put me at risk of losing current subscribers. I haven't done any research on this yet so it may not be an issue.
• Will I mess up my "eLearning Learning" feed? - This may be a question I need to ask Tony Karrer but I am hoping changing the name won't mess anything up on the eLearning Learning site.
• Is there anything else I am not taking into consideration? I haven't done much research on this yet so I am sure there are many more issues I need to consider. If you can think of any of those issues please let me know by posting a comment.
  

Early Tweeting Experience

I reluctantly jumped on the Twitter bandwagon about 3 weeks ago and while I am experiencing a little information overload, it has been fantastic. I was reluctant to start using Twitter because of the amount of information I am already consuming through Google Reader and on LinkedIn. Although I am already taking in a lot of information I was looking for a better format for discussing this information with other corporate training professionals. Turns out that Twitter is a great format for discussions and I am also finding other benefits that I was not expecting.

Twitter is known as being great for engaging in discussions but I am also finding it works as a great filter for the overwhelming amount of information I am taking in through Google Reader. I spend a lot of time skimming through blog posts in my Reader and only read the posts that catch my attention. I have noticed that with Twitter people in your network help reduce the amount of skimming needed by posting links to the great posts they have already found. Because of this I am spending less time skimming through my Google Reader and more time on Twitter looking at links passed on from people I am following. It will be interesting to see how my time spent reading blogs from my Reader is affected by finding all the juicy information without the skimming on Twitter.

While Twitter is helping me find great information easier, the downside is that there is a constant stream of information flowing down my Twitter page. To deal with this I am using Tony Karrer's "Skim Dive Skim" approach. When I first started with social media I felt the need to read every post and RSS feed as if they were all an important email. In my short experience I have learned that you really shouldn't try to read everything and you'll get more from the experience if you scan through and find what is important to you. While skimming can be a dangerous habit I am finding that I am able to find a lot more valuable information and waste less time reading information that is not important to me.

Now that I am sold on the benefit of Twitter I am working on creating a larger following so that I can get even more value from the experience. It is obvious that by having a larger number of followers, it is easier to engage in discussion and create a larger network. But, it is also as important to have a quality following of professionals with common interests and challenges. I'm starting to get annoyed with the spammers who follow me in hopes that I will automatically follow them back and I am only following people when there is a potential for us to engage in conversation and learn from each other.

I'm looking forward to seeing the value of Twitter increase as I connect with a larger network of people. If you're on Twitter, let's follow each other. If you're not on Twitter, jump on the bandwagon because you're missing out. You can find me on Twitter @joe_deegan

Related Posts:

• Jumping on the Twitter Bandwagon
• Establishing Connections on LinkedIn
• Exploring Second Life
  

Jumping on the Twitter Bandwagon

Okay fine, I'll check out Twitter and see what everyone is talking about! Until now I have held out from jumping on the Twitter bandwagon because of the overwhelming amount of information I am already taking in through Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogging and my RSS feeds in Google Reader. However, it is all of these resources that are encouraging me to start using Twitter. The final tipping point is that my Summer school course, "Technologies for Teaching" covers Twitter and it looks like some class activities may take place using Twitter. So, I finally set up an account @joe_deegan.

I am hoping that Twitter provides what Facebook and LinkedIn do not, a running conversation with other professionals in the Training and Development industry. It's easy to get conversations going on Facebook, but I like many other people use Facebook for family and close friends who would be bored to death if I started tweeting about eLearning or corporate training in general. I use LinkedIn for professional networking but it is more difficult to get conversations started on LinkedIn. Most of my use of LinkedIn involves using discussion boards or starting email conversations with connections and very rarely do I receive responses to status updates. From all I hear about Twitter, it sounds like it is much more conducive to starting these "live" ongoing conversations about training and development.

So far, so good! It's a much quicker setup than Facebook or LinkedIn. I was impressed with all of the tweeters it pulled out of my Gmail account for me to start following. I am getting up to speed on Twitterisms with Michelle Martins blog post "Your guide to Job Search, and Personal Branding on Twitter." She has quite a few links to articles that will get me up to speed quick. One thing I am unsure of is whether I should "protect my updates?" I am thinking no so that I can be found in Google searches etc.

I'm excited to see what Twitter brings to the social networking table and I hope I get a lot out of it. If you are tweeting, help me get some conversations started by following me @joe_deegan.

Promoting Social Learning

You've got the cool new informal or social learning tool up and ready to go now you're ready for the masses to arrive and start using it. Then comes the harsh reality that it is hard work promoting the use of informal or social media tools within an organization. Not everyone is as quick to jump on the bandwagon as many tech savvy instructional designers are. So, what are some ways to encourage the use of social media tools that are obviously beneficial to the workforce?

I come across so much information conveying how effective social media/web 2.0/informal learning is the wave of the future in instructional design. Well, I am having a hard time riding that wave. I recently implemented a Wiki and discussion forums for different uses. The Wiki is used to retrieve process and procedural information while the discussion forums are used to share best practices much like LinkedIn forums. Now that I have these resources implemented I am attempting to get past the more challenging hurdle of getting the workforce to use them.

Solutions:
While I still have a long way to go, I have had marginal success promoting these social media resources by providing Formal Learning opportunities where the workforce is directed to use these resources for a specific activity. The end goal is to create Informal Learning opportunities where the workforce is seeking out these resources and pulling out information on their own but I have come to learn that this does not just happen, at first learners need to be directed and guided through social media resources. Here is what I have tried so far in my pursuit to reach the tipping point.

• Formal Training - Including social learning tools in formal training courses early in the employees career helps to ingrain the use of the tools into the organizations culture. For example, if you are rolling out new software and these social media tools contain instructions for the software, it is crucial that the social media resources are covered in the formal training for the software rollout. The learner is going to see more benefits in the resource while they are still struggling to learn the software. If they experience a few "wins" by solving issues using these resources then they are likely to continue to use the resources in the future.
• Assignments - One of the most difficult challenges in promoting social learning is providing opportunities for the learner to have a positive experience with the resource. A great way to do this is to design a formal learning assignment or activity that helps the learner to experience the benefits of the resource. This goes against the end goal of having the learners pull the information on their own rather than being directed but I have found that a formal learning solution can help jump start informal learning. Once the user has become familiar with the resource and seen the benefits through an assignment such as a scavenger hunt, or a structured online discussion, they are more likely to go back on their own.
• Contests - Another form of a formal learning activity that can help promote the use of social learning tools is to create some kind of a contest. This can be a little more difficult to design but adding a little competition into the activity adds motivation for the learners. Examples for contests could be the greatest contribution made to a wiki or something like the most questions answered in a discussion forum.

It all comes down to motivating the workforce to make the effort to use the informal or social learning tool you have developed. Explaining the benefits is not enough, learners need to experience the benefits on their own. A great way to help them experience "wins" or positive experiences with informal or social learning tools is through formal learning activities such as assignments, fun activities, or contests.

I'm sure that I am not the only instructional designer struggling with social or informal learning tools. If you have experienced any "wins" or "losses" in promoting social learning please leave a comment and let us know what has and has not worked for you.

Continuous Learning Experience

Through experience I am learning that training should never be a one time event, it should be a continuous learning experience. As a corporate trainer it can be all too easy to facilitate the class (off or online), collect your smiley sheets, and check the class off the list as done forever. It feels great to mark the task off the list but it can also be a recipe for disaster. This raises the question, "What are the best "Continuous Learning" solutions?" This post highlights some of the wins and losses I have had in creating continuous learning experiences.

I have recently been working on a lot of technical training projects for a recent software implementation. The learners completed a series of eLearning tutorials and a day long instructor led training class but that was not enough to help learners retain the knowledge needed to use the software fluently. In an effort to provide a continuous learning experience I implemented a Wiki using MediaWiki. Myself and a few others filled the Wiki with detailed instructions covering every procedure the software is used for. It is now a great resource for quickly finding answers especially in the first couple of weeks after the software implementation. The instructions in the Wiki served as a great reminder of what they learned in the eLearning and instructor led courses to get them through the tough times.

However, the Wiki did not fulfill all of the learners needs. Many learners had a difficult time fully understanding the in's and outs of unique situations by reading instructions on the Wiki. They needed to interact with somebody who could answer their questions and provide perspective unique to the situation they are dealing with. The problem with this is that the technical support staff was too busy to provide the one on one coaching that many people needed. To address this issue I implemented a help forum on the organizations Moodle LMS where learners could go and post their non urgent questions. At first I thought it would mainly be the tech support staff answering questions in the forum but it turned out to be other tech savvy learners who caught on to the software quickly that were able to lend a helping hand to their colleagues by answering questions. The great thing about this is that the quick learners who were answering questions were learning more by answering questions. The forum turned out to not only be a great tool for reducing tech support calls, but it was also a great tool for both novices and experts to learn about the software.

The wiki and help forum turned out to be great resources but this was not until I could overcome the major hurdle of getting people to use these resources. In any organization, it can be difficult to attract participation for tools like this even if the information is valuable. I still don't have the participation I would like but as I continue to advertise within the organization, I'm gaining more and more visitors in each of these resources. The bullet points below highlight some of the advertising successes I have had:

• Cover Resources in Formal Training Courses - I made sure to include training on using the Wiki and help forum in the formal eLearning and Instructor Led courses as a form of advertising and to set expectations of when to use these resources. In the past, employees of the organization have had a tendency to quickly call the tech support staff when they didn't know how to do something so we needed to break this habit.
• Advertise anywhere and everywhere - The more chatter there is about the resources the better. I had success by advertising in the company newsletter and the internal company intranet. Employees refer to the newsletter and intranet for the latest news so these were ideal places to advertise the successes people were having using these resources.
• Get the power users involved - I mentioned that there was a tendency in the organization to rely on the tech support staff when you have a software question. To break this habit we needed to change the habits of both the employees and the tech support staff. Rather than firing off the answer to the question I encouraged the tech support staff to coach the employee on how to find the answer to their question using the Wiki and Forum. Once employees realized that if they call tech support, they are going to be coached on using the Wiki and Forum the calls start dwindling and participation in the resources increases.
  

After a lot of hard work the Wiki and Help Forum turned out to be great resources for creating a continuous learning experience. I am still learning more about Wikis and Forums and will be exploring other ways to continue the learning experience after the formal training is complete. What have you done that worked well? Please share your experience by posting a comment.

Exploring Second Life

This week in an Instructional Design class I am taking in the Ed Tech program at SDSU we will be discussing Second Life. I've been hearing so much about using it as an instructional design tool and now that it has come up on the class schedule my curiosity has reached it's tipping point. I decided to sign on and see what it's all about.

I was hoping to get set up with my avatar and figure out how to "teleport" around in about an hour because that is all the time I had to play around. Well, I ended up spending that whole hour trying to perfect the look of my avatar. I left frustrated trying to use the options available in the default inventory. I decided to give up on my Avatar and try and explore all the great islands I have heard about it and could not get off of "Avatar Island" when my play around time expired.

I'll be spending more time learning the ropes of Second Life because I would like to use it for eLearning projects. Tom from the Rapid eLearning Blog sparked my interest with his post "Create eLearning scenarios by bringing the virtual word into the real world." The post covers how to use virtual worlds like second life to build realistic scenarios. Just create a few avatars and set them up in different environments to create snapshots for your eLearning scenario. So far I am not finding this as easy as it sounds considering it took me an hour to play around with the look of one avatar and I am stuck on avatar island.

I am sure there are some very basic elements that I haven't caught on to yet that will make my second life much more fulfilling. The key seems to be adding landmarks and avatars to my inventory but I haven't figured out how to do that. As time was running out I found the second life showcase tutorials which got me headed in the right direction but I'll need to spend more time with the tutorials to figure how to add to my inventory. I am sure with a little more research I'll be able to whip together those scenarios that Tom makes look so easy.

eLearning Learning Widget

In a previous post I mentioned a new eLearning community I am taking part in called eLearning Learning. If you haven't already, you really should check out this site. Dr. Tony Karrer has really done some amazing things with the keyword widget making it easy to dig deep into a research topic.

You can actually dive in right here from my blog. In my sidebar you will see the eLearning Learning keyword widget which lists common topics I talk about on my blog. If you click on one of those topics not only will you be brought to posts related to that topic but the keyword list available on the left side of the screen will re sort and display topics related to the previous selected topic. This is a great tool which helps do the research for you. Tony has a much better explanation of how the keyword widget functions in this post.

Diving into this widget I was surprised how often I talk about and research freeware. Guess that goes to show what matters to an instructional designer in this current economic climate. I look forward to spending more time diving into other topics and seeing how relationships emerge.

eLearning Learning

Tony Karrer of the eLearning Technology blog invited me to take part in a new site called eLearning Learning. This new site brings a collection of ed tech related blogs together making it very easy to research a variety of topics without jumping from blog to blog. Tony describes it best with this quote;

"This is the beginning of a community portal where the community will help to collect and organize the best content from blogs and web sites. The goal is to create a place where it's relatively easy to find current content and highly relevant content surrounding eLearning." - Tony Karrer

If you look on the lower right side of my blog you will see a handy new widget listing labels of common topics on my blog. If you click on one of the topics it will bring you to the learning eLearning site where you will see a listing of my posts related to that topic. From there you can dive deeper into more specific content from a growing number of blogs. But be careful, first time I tried this out I got stuck at my computer for hours reading blog post after blog post : )

I'm excited to be a part of the launch of this new site and just as excited to use it for my own research. Thanks to all who are taking part in learning eLearning.

Establishing Connections on LinkedIn

Everybody talks about how great LinkedIn is so a while back I set up an account to see what everybody was talking about. And that's about as far as I went, I set up an account then didn't really know what to do with it. I found that without connections it's hard to make any use out of it. So that raises the question; how do you establish connections on LinkedIn?

After initially setting up the account, I did not revisit LinkedIn until recently reading a couple of articles praising linkedIn on Tony Karrer's blog . This inspired me to give it another shot and see if I can establish some connections and take advantage of what Tony and others speak so highly of.

Here's what I did to start establishing connections whose expertise I might be able to tap into. First off, I connected with Tony. He has a ton of connections in the educational technology industry and by having him as a connection I am more likely to get a response from other people that he is connections with. The next thing I did to work on meeting more people to establish connections with was to join a few groups. I didn't know this when I first started my account but groups can establish pages with some great social networking features that make it easy to share your knowledge and establish connections with others in your industry. I started off by joining the ASTD, and CLO groups and I think I'll look into the eLearning Guilds group next. Now that I have joined the groups I need to dive into the forums and see what everybody is talking about.

With my newly established and potential LinkedIn connections I hope to learn through others experiences and discover opportunities to improve my career in instructional design and eLearning development. I am currently gainfully employed with a great company but I am always looking for opportunities to gain more experience and LinkedIn is a great tool for this. Please leave a comment if you have any LinkedIn tips and please don't be shy to connect with me on my profile on LinkedIn