So far, so good, so what?

I've been an Online Learning Consultant for just over a year now. It's taken me a while to get here, and I'm the first one to hold the role in my organisation. Come to think of it, I was the first one to hold the previous role (e-Learning Technician) I had before that on my way up from being a generic Administrator. I thought it would be good to stop and reflect, to get my bearings as I start to ask 'What's next?', but first of all perhaps I should ask 'How did I get here anyway?'.

How did I get here? Kind of by accident really, I just happened to be working in the right department where someone needed to master the technical tools to produce software demonstrations, and I showed a flair for it. After a few years of mastering first WebEx recorder, then Camtasia Studio, Adobe Captivate and Articulate, plus all the different software packages I was demonstrating, and converting briefing presentations to online materials, I finally got offered a development opportunity in doing a Masters degree, and attending the Learning Technologies Conference. Getting back to the world of academia seemed very strange, but after some initial struggles I got the hang of things. Going to the conference was another experience entirely, because here I found the meaning of the elusive 'community of practice'. I've learned the hard way that academic degrees are no sure way to success; you need to create your own identity and find relevant employment.

I've been very fortunate to have the opportunity to do all these things together, allowing me to get the most out of my course. The problem with traditional academic courses is that there's no access to real problems that you need to solve - the course just doesn't have enough doing for you to actually learn anything that will serve you well in the outside world.  Fortunately the part-time course I was taking had enough flexibility to mould around work projects, and I also took to heart the idea of the story-centred curriculum, always seeking ways to push my limits whilst working through the course and make things relevant. The course material became subservient to the narrative of me actually understanding challenges, seeking out alternative approaches, creating solutions and implementing them. Not everything worked so well, but in taking on the challenges I internalised a great deal more than I would have done without context, or without broadening my world-view by by seeking out the feedback of others, particularly through social media.

I've gradually progressed from an under-performing, depressed and frustrated individual to having an irrepressible drive to perform and innovate, and being recognised for having some real leadership qualities. My leadership is not in the traditional management sense, instead it's drawn from personal responsibility for my work, speaking my mind regardless of hierarchy and choosing my own approach. I get a lot more satisfaction from work, and my personal life has improved, with my better self esteem keeping depression in check. My Masters degree is coming near to the end, it's been a long journey with lots of ups and downs, but very worthwhile for getting to grips with the complex, even chaotic, field that we call learning. I still remember speaking to Clive Shepherd at a conference, and saying that I felt I was never sure if I really understood it, or if I was just going mad. Clive simply simply smiled and said 'Welcome to learning.'

So where do I go from here? When asking myself this question, I remembered reading Harold Jarche's blog post 'So you (still) want to be an elearning consultant?' some time ago and revisited this for ideas, along with with the original blog post and article it was based on, for some ideas about where I need to turn my focus. The helpful Venn diagram pretty much sums up my development needs - although I have plenty of cognitive and technology skills, I need to seek out ways of being more directly involved in the business. Most of my remaining frustrations stem from the feeling that most of the important decisions (and assumptions) have been made before I get involved with projects. I'm now actively seeking ways to get more directly involved in new projects from the outset, although I can be limited in choice because I'm already committed - perhaps I'm doing something right then.

Reflections on Phil Green's session (LSG13)

Although it's been almost a month since the Learning & Skills Group Conference, I'm still keen to get some of my thoughts about the sessions down to make sense of it all.  Going back over Phil Green's session on ensuring real interaction in online learning in the light of some recent experiences has been very helpful for me.

I was keen to attend Phil's session because I've been a lead user of web conferencing in my organisation for several years now, and I've used it to help colleagues learn from me on a number of occasions.  This has included teaching people to use the web conferencing tool itself and run their own sessions, preferably in a free-wheeling and humorous way, and also to get people started with their own e-learning projects.  I've always considered everything I've done to be firmly in the category of informal learning, so taking a serious look at how to use the medium as a classroom had a strong appeal.

What guiding principles do we need to stick to for a virtual classroom to work?  Phil gave us an opening quote of 'None of us is as smart as all of us', emphasising the need to draw on the knowledge of everyone present.  Really an effective virtual classroom shouldn't be too different from an effective physical classroom.  The problem is that most of us don't know how to really use a classroom in the first place, so we end up bringing all our bad habits with us, and being seduced by the tools, to the detriment of learning.

Key goals for learners in a classroom:

• Taking in new content and...
• Engaging in meaningful practice around it...
• Discussing it with their peers...
• Collaborating with their peers...
• Making sense of it...

How can the virtual classroom enhance (or interfere with) this?

• Using internet connections opens up limitless content to explore (but we need to provide the right guidance)
• Access interactive resources to aid meaningful practice
• Engage in more informal interaction with their peers
• Reflect on their participation using recording of the session

Whenever I have been teaching people within a web conference setting, the best learning occurs when I keep the prescribed content to a minimum, and act to give real tacit advice as people are exploring things for themselves.  Letting everyone see what is going on and take part really helps them to gain from observation and discussion - while I've recorded a huge number of training recordings in the past, nothing quite beats live learning for getting over the tips that boost a learner's confidence.
 

What should the tutor be doing in a classroom?

• Reacting and responding to the needs of learners - not just working from prescribed content
• Providing meaningful challenges and activities for learners

Best tips for moving to the online environment

• Don't assume that being a good face-to-face trainer will make you a good online facilitator
• Don't assume that all the learning has to take place on-screen - allow learners a pause for reflection (sometimes less is more)
• Activities that work well face-to-face may not translate well to the online environment
• Remember that our expectations for online interaction are constantly changing
• Don't get seduced by the technology

Whenever I've been training people to use web conferencing tools, the real value comes in helping people prepare for the situations that they will actually be facing - effectively working in collaboration to fill in the gaps around more standard guidance.  I've found it best to get the prescribed content out of the way before the live session anyway, by having guidance notes and videos permanently available on the LMS.  Phil's call for reflection is particularly insightful, as this is something that I haven't directly considered when running a session so far.

See also: Learning & Skills Conference 2013 curated backchannel resources.

Online communities - trying to walk the talk

Some more reflections from Learning Technologies 2013, this time thinking about Jane Hart's session. I've been involved with online learning for quite some time, steadily developing my ability to design effective e-learning materials in one form or another, but perhaps my most powerful experiences have been through online discussion with peers. I've been part of two communities in this respect: a formal community of enquiry for my Masters course, and of course Jane's own Social Learning Centre, although I must confess I've not had enough time to participate in all the activities that I'd like to!

After so many positive experiences of using informal tools for learning, I've been very keen to start bringing some of the benefits to my own colleagues, but progress has been quite slow, since it's not always seen as a priority. My quick wins here have been to bring in the social tools alongside traditional training events, which Jane identifies as being the 'social training' approach, as opposed to full social collaboration. Amongst my L&D colleagues, I've been able to get some engagement in longer term online communication, but this has been a little patchy without some clear goals to focus on. However, as Jane notes, communities don't have to last forever to be successful.

Where do I go from here? Well, my current module for my Masters module is Research Methods, so I thought that some kind of study of the online interactions we get at work would be a helpful next step, both to learn good research practice and consider ways to encourage and sustain communities, or at least to get the most out of social training initiatives. After several weeks of study and blog posts, I've learned a lot about research methods and online communities, but I still feel like I'm barely scratching the surface - as Jane said in her final step:

"Do not underestimate the time it takes to nurture a group or community"

 Link to my Research Methods blog: http://jimmyhob-el-researchmethods.blogspot.co.uk/