Monthly Archives: June 2011

MSN messenger. Unsung hero of the revolution? How we took our first steps into real time collaboration.

Posted on June 30, 2011 by

Messenger is like your favourite pen. It sits on your desktop for months on end, taking up very little space. you don’t really even notice it’s there, until you need it. Then, you pick it up for a moment, make … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Community of Practice, Instant Messaging, Synchronous Communication | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Team Coaching: learning how one plus one may equal three.

Posted on June 29, 2011 by

I enjoyed breakfast yesterday in good company at an inspiring seminar by Professor Peter Hawkins (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-hawkins/0/177/b27), talking about Team Coaching. Now, i’m not going to attempt to explain the detail of what he talked about, as i can come nowhere … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Team Coaching, Teams | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Getting to grips with the Blackberry Playbook. First impressions

Posted on June 28, 2011 by

It’s been few days since the Blackberry Playbook landed on my desk, eagerly awaited and much anticipated, but i have a guilty confession. I’ve barely touched it. And the reason is simple; i don’t know what to do with it. … Continue reading →

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Designing e-learning solutions. Questions of cost and quality and preconceptions.

Posted on June 27, 2011 by

Lots of people assume that e-learning is expensive to produce, that it’s not as effective as classroom based training, or that it’s good for knowledge training, but not for skills training. None of these things are true if the e-learning … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, E-Learning, Effectiveness | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The state of the London Underground and the importance of usability testing.

Posted on June 24, 2011 by

I am lost. Hopelessly lost, with little prospect of getting home. And i’ll tell you why. It’s because London Underground don’t know the importance of usability and testing. People who travel regularly with this blog will know that I try … Continue reading →

Posted in Testing, User Experience Testing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Bean bags and caffeine. Environment and learning.

Posted on June 23, 2011 by

Yesterday, i spent the day in an innovation centre. It was great, sweeping modern architecture, curved glass aplenty, primary coloured comfy seats, open decking with views of the pastures, good coffee, a gaggle of nerds and more Macs than you … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative, Environment, Learning | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Collaborative learning habits. Examining how and why we collaborate and strategies for encouraging this in learning contexts.

Posted on June 22, 2011 by

By nature, we are collaborative learners. True, this might just mean we try to get a glimpse at someone else’s exam paper, but overall, we like the reassurance that comes from feeling that we are on the right track. The … Continue reading →

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Out with the old, in with the new. Issues and ownership of change in large organisations.

Posted on June 21, 2011 by

The only constant is change, or so it feels. it’s safe to say that organisations are rarely in a state of stability, but rather, exist in constant flux. The only certainty is uncertainty. Change is understood to be something that … Continue reading →

Posted in Adaptability, Change, Learning, Ownership | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Disability and communication: adapting our model of communication to changing circumstances.

Posted on June 20, 2011 by

Recently i met someone brave. A teenager who had been profoundly affected by cancer, losing first her sight, then her hearing, all over the space of around three years. Within that time, instead of despair, she seemed to have found … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Disability, Sign Language, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How big is a ‘community’? Questions of size and scale in online communities of practice and collaborative learning environments.

Posted on June 17, 2011 by

When we set out to create an online community, we often seek to attract people to join in, to generate engagement. One of the features of online communities is that you need a certain critical mass to make it all … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Community of Practice, Engagement, Group Dynamics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments