Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

Everyone has their methods for project or workflow management, and each method undoubtedly has their merits. Finding the best workflow for you can take a lot of trial or error, or you can stumble upon it within an existing corporate culture. This week I’m going to talk about one method for project management and how it can apply to learning design.

Agile?

Yes, I am. Why thank you! Wakka wakka! The general logic behind the concept of ‘agile’ is that your workflow or project is managed in such a way that it is organic and adaptive. But most importantly (from my perspective) is that the project management is efficient.

While this approach may not work for all clients or projects (I’m shouting out those clients who like to change their minds 32489234932 times and scope creep like a boss…unintentionally of course), it can be a very effective approach for many industries.

I was first introduced to agile project management from a software development and programming standpoint. At the time, it seemed like a very chaotic way of running a project, but if decisions are properly documented (or documented at all), it can prove incredibly efficient.

What elements are considered agile?

• Speed – with an agile workflow, projects tend to move more quickly and efficiently as milestones are not as bogged down by lengthy approval processes as other workflow approaches.
• Reduce, reuse, recycle – This concept works extremely well at making large projects more efficient. Especially those projects where materials are often reused. For example, a 3D model of an aircraft can be repurposed for almost any component being discussed during aircraft (the specific aircraft of course) training as opposed to having to create a new 3D model for each component.
• Rapid prototyping – Developing as the project goes instead of waiting on storyboard approval.

This week I wanted to chat a bit about something I aspire to participate in locally. Something I’ve wanted to create for some time now, but just haven’t found more hours in the day…User Groups!

User Groups?

A user group is a group of users of a particular software who meet regularly to share information related to the software, such as:

• How the software is being used
• Neat tips and tricks for using the software
• To talk troubleshooting
• Getting advice

User groups can help enhance your product knowledge and potentially streamline your development within the software. If you’re working in a silo, how can you reap the benefits of user tips and tricks when you aren’t interacting with these users?

Sharing truly is caring, and the main goal of a user group is to share information! Each individual user has a different perspective, and everyone can bring great ideas to the table! Not to mention, user groups give you a huge opportunity to network with like-minded professionals, which could benefit from an entrepreneurial perspective (e.g. if User 1 has too much work and needs to offload to another individual – the user group provides the opportunity to locate qualified sub-contractors).

I’ve been lusting over all of the Articulate User Groups, but have not found enough interest in an Articulate User Group within my demographic (Eastern Canada). I have the means of securing a location, but just need warm bodies…particularly warm bodies interested in participating in a regular Articulate User Group. If you’re one of those individuals, let me know!

I often think about the ways in which people are using technology, and how the emergence of the Internet has impacted things such as bullying, where when I was young, you used to be able to escape bullying by going home after school. For these reasons (and more), I wanted to chat a bit about the concept of Digital Citizenship.

What is digital citizenship?

Digital citizenship is relates to societal norms and responsible use of digital technology and the Internet.

Who is a digital citizen?

A digital citizen can be considered any individual who is using technology and the Internet to participate socially (e.g. reading and writing blogs/wikis, participating in social media, etc.).

What constitutes responsible use?

Responsible use as it relates to digital citizenship would involve using digital technologies in a manner that will not negatively impact other individuals or which are illegal. For example, cyber bullying negatively impacts those individuals on the receiving end of the bullying, plagiarizing someone’s work is unethical, and downloading pirated films/tv shows/software is illegal.

But there’s so much more!

Digital citizenship isn’t just about being a responsible user of digital technology, it also involves being responsible when it comes to how you use digital technology. For example, using ergonomic principles and best practices, you can set up your workstation so that it does not negatively impact your muscles and body.

Resources

Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship from digitalcitizenship.net

Digital Citizenship: Developing a Culture of Trust and Transparency by A. Marcinek

5-Minute Film Festival: Teaching Digital Citizenship by A. E. Borovoy

 

Piggybacking on last week’s discussion of digital literacy, I’m going to discuss digital natives…a topic somewhat inspired by the ‘free wifi’ at a resort my friends and I stayed at several years go.

Digital Natives

Marc Prensky originally coined the term Digital Natives when looking for a term for a new generation of students: the first generation of students to grow up with digital technology. My generation, Gen Y – commonly referred to as Millenials, grew up with the emergence of digital technology. We were there for enormous CRT monitors, 14.4k dial-up modems, shouting at our parents for picking up the telephone when we’re trying to use the Internet, and have experienced many of the technological hiccups that have helped shape digital technology today.

Today, this group of digital natives seem to innately understand how to use technology. Which brings me back to my Mexican resort experience in 2013 – the resort claimed to have ‘free wifi’ in the main lobby, but neither myself nor three of my other millennial pals, who work with technology every single day, could figure out how to get connected to this elusive wifi. Meanwhile, children between the ages of 2 and 8 surrounded us, as if we had entered some digital playground, successfully connected to the Internet and doing more than the least of which we wanted to do…I just wanted to check my damn email!

Why Do I Need to Know This?!

Understanding Digital Natives is important! Why? Because as Learning and Development professionals, we need to better understand how to effectively develop training for our target audiences. This is a fact that is important for anyone working in Education. In my day-to-day, I come across individuals who are very out of touch with how their students are learning, and refuse to adapt their traditional methods of instruction (e.g. stand up lectures/chalk and talk) to address the needs of these individuals. I do see movement to adapting these teaching methods, but there’s still a great amount of resistance and frustration.

Ultimately, it’s important to understand that digital natives seem to be more comfortable when working in the digital realm than they do in more traditional contexts. While this doesn’t mean that we need to trash traditional methods entirely, it certainly does mean that we need to make certain adaptations.

When you consider digital natives in tandem with online learning, making these adaptations may also stand to increase overall accessibility to high-quality education, so while digital natives may view these educational means as an environment in which they can thrive and are eager to enrol in, we will inadvertently address accessibility issues for other generations!

Resources:

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky

Born Digital Book Chapters from Harvard.edu

Dawn of the Digital Natives by S. Johnson