In the past few days, I've found a number of new portals online. I'm starting to wonder if we can't learn a thing or two from what's happening. First, via Eisenblog, came Open Learn University's portal, created by Stuart Brown in Netvibes to support OU students and instructors. Then I find Crimson Connect, the student-run Harvard University portal, developed in the wake of student dissatisfaction with Harvard's "Official" website. (Take... Read more →

Robin Good has another great article today on Educating the Net Generation. Ironic, given my previous post on the digital divide. I completely agree that many in this new generation of kids are a different breed, with different approaches to learning and that schools need to learn to adapt their teaching protocols accordingly. But I also think that characterizing all learners as being this net savvy obscures the very real... Read more →

A few weeks ago I mentioned the idea of doing a 23 Things Remix for Learning Web 2.0 in Nonprofits. Well, in my "spare time," (ha!) I've started building a 23 Things Remixed Wiki to do this and I think I'm ready to "go public." A couple of comments: The primary audience would be nonprofit staff who have little or no exposure to Web 2.0 tools. Like the original 23... Read more →

I don't know Caroline, but I wish she worked for me. She's a great example of a lifelong learner. Apparently she just attended the Computers in Libraries Conference and returned home to blog about three categories that I think are pretty cool: "Possible projects inspired by the conference." Like all good learners, she's already moving into application thinking about how she can apply what she learned. And I love that... Read more →

I spent yesterday with my college freshman daughter who revealed to me the extent to which FaceBook has taken over the social lives of teens and twenty-somethings (with the "older folk" coming on fast). Let's just say that if it's not happening through FaceBook, then it's not happening. By sheer coincidence, I'd used the train ride into NYC to read (among other things) Fast Company's profile of 22-year old (!)... Read more →

I'm in the process of looking into putting together a few webinars for some clients and I'm wondering what recommendations, if any, people have for hosting. I see that N-Ten uses ReadyTalk and that there's a special pricing deal for nonprofits, which is nice. Any other recommendations? I'm looking for something that's inexpensive, reliable, easy-to-use and offers basic web conferencing capabilities (audio, PowerPoint, shared screens, etc.) If you have any... Read more →

Earlier I wrote about creating a climate of learning within your nonprofit and mentioned 23 Things, a series of mini lessons designed to help staff get comfortable with Web 2.0 and social media. This morning I noticed this article on 101 Great Blog Posting Ideas to Make Your Blog Sizzle in the nptech del.ico.us feed and it occurred to me that many of them would make great mini exercises for... Read more →

The other day I was musing on strategies for encouraging an organizational climate of learning. Here are two more: Help staff create learning plans. Use ePortfolios Creating Learning Plans Steven Forth has a great article on learning plans, which he defines as: . . . a set of learning objectives (that) identifies the resources needed to achieve these objectives, indicates what constitutes evidence that the learning objective has actually been... Read more →

Awhile ago, Allan Benamer of the Nonprofit Tech Blog talked about nonprofit staff as knowledge workers and how technology and work processes need to support staff whose value comes primarily from their ability to make effective use of knowledge and information in working with customers. If we're to fully capitalize on the promise of a knowledge network, then staff need to have the tools, resources and supports necessary to truly... Read more →

In my recent Web travels I came across an interesting draft paper from 2003 that's still very relevant today. It talks about "the other 80%"of learning. That is, 20% of learning in organizations is a result of formal training, while 80% occurs through informal learning. Yet organizations put more resources toward developing formal training options. One piece that struck me in this paper was the notion that "people love to... Read more →