In both our business and personal lives we are learning to do more with less, but how do we know what’s working?

You will not be accomplishing more, if less of what you’re doing is working and we all have only 24 hours in a day and that’s not changing.

I Can Haz Attenshunz and Ingajmentz

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I wanted to share with you a Twitter chat that I will be hosting this Monday, April 4th from 12:30pm ET to 1:30pm ET that I think will be amazing.

The guest is George Siemens and my brief writeup of the scheduled chat is below and don’t forget to use the hashtag #SMCEDU.

I hope you can join us!

Learning and Analytics

George Siemens is at the forefront of defining the concept and promoting the discussion of the relatively recently coined term Learning Analytics.

Learning Analytics has been identified by the 2011 Horizon Report as one of six areas of emerging technology that will have significant impact on higher education over the next one to five years.

George is among the leaders in this emerging field and it’s not hard to see why.  So far this year, he has served as the Conference Chair for the 1st International Conference on Learning Analytics, co-facilitated the massive open courses “Learning and Knowledge Analytics†and “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge†which has drawn world-wide innovative educators to the same table to exchange ideas and knowledge, but most importantly to learn from each other.

The Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute (TEKRI) at Athabasca University which sponsored the 1st International Conference on Learning Analytics referenced their support explaining,

“The growth of data surpasses the ability of organizations to make sense of it. This concern is particularly pronounced in relation to knowledge, teaching, and learning. Learning institutions and corporations make little use of the data learners “throw off” in the process of accessing learning materials, interacting with educators and peers, and creating new content.

In an age where educational institutions are under growing pressure to reduce costs and increase efficiency, analytics promises to be an important lens through which to view and plan for change at course and institutions levels.â€

The acronym MOOC, first coined in 2008, is well known by any of his students, many of which are educators.  When George Siemens and Stephen Downes were preparing to begin the online course “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge” they were flooded with over 2000 people worldwide signing up for the free, open course. The massive number of participants prompted a new label for the super-sized course, a MOOC or Massive Online Open Course.  How is the course organized and conducted?  Interestingly, all course content was available through RSS feeds, and learners could participate with their choice of tools: threaded discussions in Moodle, blog posts, Second Life, shared bookmarks, and synchronous online meetings, but participants were invited to use the technology methods they were comfortable with. The participants took their notes, posts, discussions, and reference material to every Web 2.0 and social media technology most of us can imagine.

Most of us as we move toward deciding which social media elements are most helpful and engaging to learners will be interested in learning how to evaluate which measures are most effective. Learn how to look at your social media and teaching from the viewpoint of what the data can tell us.

George Siemens is a strategist and researcher at the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute at Athabasca University. Formerly, he was the Associate Director, R & D, Learning Technologies Centre at University of Manitoba. He is the founder Complexive Systems Inc., an research and learning lab focused on assisting organizations develop approaches to meet the needs of changing learners, employees, and global education and business environments. Siemens has keynoted and presented at national and international conferences. His publications and personal blogs can be accessed at www.elearnspace.org and www.connectivism.ca.

Desktop wallpaper http://www.GilmoreMemories.com

I was reading “Watching Your Teens Favorite TV Shows Is Important“  and it brought back a flood of great memories.

I remembered when Kay and I used to watch The Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) together every tuesday night for almost six years.

The Series

This series was not so far off of where we were at that time as a family.

Loreli is a single mother raising her 13 year old daughter Rory in a small town.  Loreli was fairly young when she had Rory so they some what ‘grow up together’ but when push comes to shove in their relationship, and parenting was needed, the series presented life lessons in a humorous but intelligent way.

The Casual Conversation

What was so great about this time together, was we could goof off, have fun, and have a casual conversation.   We talked about everything from college, to fashion, to money, to dating and beyond.  I learned so much about her from 6 years of this casual talk and I’m sure she learned a lot about me.

But the most important thing was we grew closer, we developed a closer relationship, we learned to share with each other, to agree as well as disagree (and if there is one thing you want to be able to do with your pre-teen, it’s learn how to thoughtfully disagree).

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by Sherry Martz

My gift to Renee was my time.

Her gift to me was being successful in her life and still calling me when she needs something.

No Bad Time To Change A Life

Mentoring doesn’t only take place when you’re young, making a difference in some one’s life can happen at anytime.

Couples
The Big Brothers & Big Sisters organization has a couples program.  Couples of any age, such as young couples before you have kids, couples trying to conceive, couples that currently have kids, and couples in their golden years, are all welcome

Just think a child would get double the love and attention from a couple, and possibly be bless with an example of a loving set of parents.

Pre-Retirement
A close friend of mine’s parents was interested in mentoring a child as a couple when they got to the empty nest stage.  Not only are they still be very active in their daughters lives, they continue to be a positive influence to another child even in their golden years.

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This poem is a continuation from the first poem, My Child.

The page that contains the initial poem,  explains my thoughts and why I felt inspired to write these two poems, which is a little odd, because I don’t write poems.

My Child… Your Gift

My Child…

Again I will show you, just how remarkable are thee

how much I love you and that I created you,  especially for me

All the gifts I have bestowed upon, each one of you

is completely individual you see

No two of you the same, an exquisite artwork made personally by me

my great  masterpiece, my best work, so beautifully perfect are thee

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And now for your gift, further proof  how valuable My Child must be

exists in your soul, the divine spark, to be a creator like me

If blessed with a soul mate who is  so devoted to thee

executing the plan to perfection, who loves you and who also loves me

Who will treat you like My Princess Child, but on earth can it be?

of course –  all is possible, My Children listen carefully to me

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The poem below was inspired by The Shadow Effect movie in combination with my own spiritual growth and self reflection.

One of my main takeaways from the movie was how important it is that for each of us to truly forgive ourselves in a very deep personal way.

Most of us do not ‘really‘ acknowledge our perceived negative parts of our personality, The Shadow Effect brings to our attention that this part of us, when discovered, acknowledged, and reflected upon can become some what of a positive piece of our personality.  It can and will add facets to our self understanding that we never considered.  And changing this negative to a partial positive, will help us find more happiness in our own lives.

When I thought deeply about my own self forgiveness, I was inspired to write the poem below.

My Child

My Child…

You’d never have allowed yourself, never forgiven yourself,

never have set yourself free.

Never have deemed yourself worthy, had I not prepared a path for you

to follow and held the light for you to see.

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Only within the light of my reflection, within the safety of my never ending,

never changing — love could you see.

Could you open your eyes wide enough, to contemplate your brightness/

ponder yourself being what I’ve always known you to be.

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You See My Children…

You are on a journey…. to eventually becoming…

eventually becoming just like me

An angel of Light in the Darkness…  that shines brightly…

so bright all will one day see

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This is my gift to you… You had been designed from the beginning

to be just like me.

Created in my image, crafted from my hands, my master work

my reflection  –  the way I created you to be.

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But our common attributes you could not see through the cloudy, dull

reflection you saw yourself to be…

Through me…  Only then… Would you gaze upon your own reflection, and

see the beauty that I see…

For I am perfection! — The highest reflection of God!

What you COULD and WILL ALWAYS be

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