WK 4 Reading - Comment to Classmates Post 2 of 2

I loved Zander's words in Chapter 9 about us having the "infinite capacity to light a spark of possibility" right at our fingertips and that "passion, rather than fear, is the igniting force."  Oh how true those words ring.  That not only should we ignite a spark in others, but be willing to catch any sparks they may throw at us as well.  I must say that reading Chapter 11: Creating Frameworks for Possibility was right up my creative alley so to speak.  I know that I am the happiest whenever I am creating new things or even watching that creative spark in both of my daughters.  My 15 year old is able to do things with video that I only wish I had been able to do at her age or to have even had the opportunity to learn with the tools and technology she has available to her.  

I loved the story of the teacher who shaved her head because of the student who underwent chemotherapy and the other students were making fun of her baldness.  What a great way to take charge of a situation instead of letting it get out of hand and head into that downward spiral Zander speaks of.  I have a dream to teach and believe that dream is well within my "arena of possibility."  Zander made a really good point about how a vision does not require one to win, but merely to play into the possibility.  His words on how a personal crisis can lead to the creation of a vision that turns a life of possibility sang out to me about the past year or so of my life and how I have taken the my job loss and divorce not as a sign of failure, but rather as a sign to have a new beginning full of possibilities and dreams.  This book has helped me to realize that all the negativity about not having a job and never even being called for a job interview to teach does not define who I am.  My thinking either positive or negative is what defines me and my actions allowing me to choose to explore my own world of possibilities in order to move forward in my life and ignite that spark in others around me.

WK 4 Reading - Comment to Classmates Post 1 of 2

Wk4 Art of Possiblity - WE are The World Post by Tiffany Jones

"Individually we are one drop, together we are an Ocean." - Ryunosuke Satore

Clip Art from Microsoft

This week the reading was again very powerful!  The author  discusses the subject of WE and how different this is  from ME.  It is so refreshing to take the spotlight off ourselves and focus on working together. Many times teamwork or collaborations are phrases that many throw around, with only a few actually having true collaboration.  With each of us focused on the future and working with our individual talents to perform their best, allows the group to do likewise, with each participant performing at their peak. When each group member in WE is performing at their top level, the group as a whole is Exceeding Standards. Another visualization I have is because each person of the WE team is able to hyperfocus on their part, they have become a star, with all the stars shining together, optimum brightness is achieved.  I found this to be so true with my group work here in the EMDT program, working with my group allowed me to put my best foot forward and with everyone's strengths, talents and hard work, our projects far outshone what I could have accomplished on my own.  Developing a group synergy where tasks are shared makes the overall "job" more manageable, fun and ultimately, Successful!      

 

Photo and poster created by Laurie Kish

Laurie M. Kish said...
I really liked your comments about the teamwork within the projects across the EMDT program and how you related this experience to Zanders chapter on Telling the We Story. It is so true what was clearly stated in this chapter that "we" is "you-plus-I," and the questions I am sure that your EMDT teams asked like mine was "What shall we do?" or "What will work for us?" it was always a compromise between what we all wanted individually and what we ended with as a collaborative effort. And to think that at the time we did not even know that we were applying one of the Art of Possibility principles. We all had a place in the dialogue and in the final outcome.
May 28, 2011 6:06 PM                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

WK 4 Reading The Art of Possibility

The chapter Lighting the Spark in Zanders book, Art of Possibility states that passion rather than fear is the igniting force of possibility.  He discussed how the practice of enrollment is about giving yourself as a possibility to others and being ready, in turn, to catch their spark.  You become partners in a field of light.  I have experienced this many times through use of enrollment, getting others to see the light, through my passion verses using manipulative means to engage them.  Allowing them to see your passion gives them different perspectives thus unleashing possibilities that they would not otherwise have seen.  I am passionate about incorporating what I call the fun factor into my corporate training courses where my French colleagues culturally oppose this.

Fun training materials - Photo taken by Laurie Kish

Photo taken by Laurie Kish with permission

I prepared a training course on Project Management that I intended to release world wide to all our global sites that involved an interactive team building pirate adventure where they were required to dress up as pirates and journey across the open seas with the mission to find the treasure within a specified time-line, specified cost, and with a certain performance measure.  I presented this to my French colleagues just prior to launch and the mere idea of this seemed childish and they closed their minds immediately.  Of course fear ran through my soul and I felt attacked, and defeated after spending many weeks developing this module.  I decided to show them how passionate I was about learning effectiveness when hands on fun activities are integrated into the modules by convincing them to participate in a session to experience it first hand.  They agreed and in the end I opened up my module for their critique and comment and asked them to help me improve it so it was culturally acceptable to the French.  By doing this, I could see the light in their eyes as they engaged in helping me add more fun factors.  They were sold and to this day they often contact me to help them incorporate other fun examples into some of their training sessions.  The sparks of possibility are living within all of us; we just need to imagine that all people and situations can be an invitation for enrollment.  

WK4-2 DB Quickies: My dream teaching environment

Explore the open sea in search of fine treasures wherever they may be...

Photo taken by Laurie Kish

My dream job environment is being a teacher outside the constraints of my employer, perhaps a consultant.  Today I teach adults and I work for someone else who controls the budget and all the decisions.  In my dream job, I would be the captain of my ship, navigating where I want to go and how I would get there.  In this way, my limitations for creativity, engagement, and activities would be within my treasure chest and no one else’s.  I would be the one responsible for the business and agendas, which would allow me to make a bigger impact on a life, be it a child or an adult.  What is standing in between me, and my dream job right now is myself.  I tend to play it safe too often and not take many risks.  I could walk the plank and take a risk that when I jump, I will land in a sea of opportunity and not sink with the anchor that is tied to my ankles today.  I now have twelve months worth of new tools that I have learned in EMDT that will forever stay with me.  I just need to believe in myself!  

WK4-1 DB Quickies: My dream teaching environment

ENGAGEMENT, ENGAGEMENT, ENGAGEMENT!

Photo from http://www.corporateexplorertraining.com/projectmanagement.php

My Perfect Teaching Environment

As a corporate trainer my dream teaching environment would be a large air-conditioned meeting room at a five star hotel across the hall from the hotels large pool.  The room would have large ceilings, round tables seating up to 12 people each with built in power connection ports.  Video projection screens built in to each of the 4 walls and audio sound capabilities that would almost make you feel like you were attending a concert as you arrived.  What you would see would be blue ocean surrounding you with sounds of waves, wind, and seagulls.  My environment needs to be very colorful with lots of space for interaction and activities.  No podiums!  Cordless microphones so the trainees and instructor could be heard from anywhere in the room during the training.  It would have a pile of large flat cardboard sheets in one corner, large rolls of heavy clear plastic tarps, and large sand buckets containing colorful rolls of duck tape and scissors, cutting blades.  Aisles with post-it writing pads would be next to each round table.  A large treasure chest filled with fabulous merchandise would be visible from the center of the room.  You see, the beginning of every training would have a very interactive team exercise where each table works together to build a boat out of cardboard.   One lucky sailor on the team would be asked to get in the boat and navigate it with oars they would hopefully build to from one end of the pool to the other and back without sinking.  Talk about team engagement and getting the audience engaged! 

Wk 4 Publishing Leadership Project

"To Infinity and Beyond"

Photo taken by Laurie Kish

Taking my Action Research Project to a whole new level...

My Action Research project and Literature Review focused on the impact that corporate sponsorship and the integration of technology had on High School student’s motivation to learn mathematics and their ability to apply what they had learned.  Working in the corporate Medical Device world and having a son in High school I realized that perhaps I might be able to connect the two and make a difference in the life of the students as well as show Corporate America that giving time and dollars to a local school might help them to secure future Engineers, Biomathematicians and Scientist.

Riverside High School

bioMerieux Inc. The Odyssey Bus National Tour - Lab in Motion http://microsite.biomerieux-usa.com/odyssey/

My plan for publishing my Action Research project involves presenting it at two national conferences, one focused at Human Resource professionals and employee educators within corporations and the other focused on school educators.  If I could get my message out to these two audiences then perhaps they could find mutual benefits in building lasting partnership where the sky could be the limit.  My project focused only on mathematics but I see this application in all areas of high school education: science, engineering, economics, and beyond.  

http://www.astd.org/

I selected The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) which is an association dedicated to workplace learning and performance professionals.  Members work in many industries and organizations with a goal to link learning and performance to individual and organizational results.  They have a voice on critical public policy issues and legislation concerning advancements in workplace education so why not explore the possibility of them assisting or partnering with school educators on policies that can benefit both of them like tax credits for corporations that help educate students? They have an annual international meeting that attracts thousands of corporations from many industries. This is a perfect setting to introduce the concept and advantages of corporate sponsorship with local community schools and the benefits to them. 

Screen shot from http://www.iste.org/conference.aspx

The improvements to educational outcome and our future labor force are so closely tied together that it becomes very important to select a venue that targets both key audiences, K-12 and undergraduate institutions as well as corporate sponsors.  So I selected The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) for my K-12 and Undergraduate target audience because they strongly believe that corporations are major stakeholders in education and that we need to collaborate with them to successfully transforming education.  Each year at their international conferences they have nearly 20,000 educational technology professionals and corporate representatives from 60 countries that come together over five days to learn, collaborate, and share information all of which leads to unlocking students’ potential.  I feel this is a perfect opportunity to share my vision and results with the K-12 and undergraduate educators to encourage them to allow corporations to sponsor their classrooms.

• Publishing/Leadership Thinking Outload Blog #1 
  http://childrenrfuture.blogspot.com/2011/05/wk1-publishingleadership-project-part-1.html 
• Publishing/Leadership Thinking Outload Blog #2                    http://childrenrfuture.blogspot.com/2011/05/wk3-publishingleadership-project-post-2.html
  
  
• Publishing/Leadership Project                                               
  https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Ad-ipdqLGbJyZHZkc3NucF8xOGdqaDY1emRm&hl=en_US&authkey=CLGmzooN
                                                         

 

Wk3 Publishing/Leadership Project Post 2 of 3

Screen shot from http://www.astd.org

My Action Research project involved examining the literature to see if High School student’s motivation to learn mathematics is increased through the integration of technology and corporate sponsorship.  In conducting my Action Research project around these aspects, I was able to confirm the validity of the research that stated that a student’s motivation to learn is increased through the integration of technology and corporate sponsorship.  It was also noted that there are benefits for corporations as well.  

I prefer that my message reach as many people as possible who are gathered at a meeting with dedicated time to devote to the topic of their interest. Networking is so valuable in getting the message out that corporations should be contributing to the education of our future workforce.

Within my first think out loud project post, I mentioned  targeting two to three different audiences:  (1) educational institutions (K-12 and undergraduate), (2) corporations, and (3) National Legislation.  Given this, I have identified two possible conferences in which I could present and why.  One of the conferences could lead to possibilities for National Legislation when more data is available so it would be an excellent first step in a the longer journey.

The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) is an association dedicated to workplace learning and performance professionals.  Members work in many industries and organizations of all sizes with a goal to link learning and performance to individual and organizational results.  They have a voice on critical public policy issues and legislation concerning advancements in workplace education.  Their mission is to empower professionals to develop knowledge and skills to succeed.  They have an annual international meeting that attracts thousands of corporations from many industries. This is a perfect setting to introduce the concept and advantages of corporate sponsorship with local community schools and the benefits to them.  It could be a way to bridge the gap between what corporations need, future skilled workforces, and what students need, state of the art technology and hands on experiences and the opportunity to see what could be out there for them related to future careers.

Screen shot from http://www.iste.org/conference.aspx

The improvements to educational outcome and our future labor force are so closely tied together that it becomes very important to select a venue that targets both key audiences, K-12 and undergraduate institutions as well as corporate sponsors.  The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) strongly believes that corporations are major stakeholders in education and that we need to collaborate with them to successfully transforming education. ISTE has a 30-year history of working with corporations to help achieve their mission of advancing excellence in learning and teaching through innovative and effective uses of technology.  Each year at their international conferences they have nearly 20,000 educational technology professionals and corporate representatives from 60 countries that come together over five days to learn, collaborate, and share information all of which leads to unlocking students’ potential.  I feel this is a perfect opportunity to share my vision and results with the K-12 and undergraduate educators to encourage them to allow corporations to sponsor their classrooms.

WK 3 Reading - Comment to Classmates Post 2 of 2

Week 3 Blog Post 1: Reading Art of Possibility, Chapter 5 - 8

By dave@dmwcreative.com at www.morguefile.com

As I continue reading the Art of Possibility, I'm finding that I’m really enjoying this book and have gotten more out of this book then all of the other books in the program combined.  What a difference it is compared to the likes of Creswell (Remember that one?)  As a musician and teacher I can really understand and relate to the stories Benjamin Zander tells in the book.  As a fellow music teacher and conductor, it’s been awesome to gather insights and lessons from one of the greats.  I especially appreciate his candor about making mistakes on the podium and being truly honest with his musicians.  We all make mistakes and as he stated in the 7^th chapter about the Way things Are, we must not be afraid to make mistakes and to strive to play to the lines of our limitations.  It is there where our true artfulness and passion will come through.  I think the adage, “Put the pedal to the medal is an appropriate analogy”.

Through the themes in chapters 5 – 8; Lead from any chair, Rule number 6, The Way Things Are and Giving Way to Passion, I can't help but see how closely related the lessons and concepts the Zanders illustrate are to spirituality.  As I think about it, their discussions on opening yourself up to Creativity, Possibility and Passion, really do connect with the same principles you would hear when speaking about spirituality.  Spirituality entails going beyond your self and thinking in a different manner.   It involves letting go barriers of control that inhibit spiritual realization and means putting trust outside of yourself.  In chapter 7, Zander describes how composers will often try to write music at the extreme level of ones instrumental ability.  When this happens the strain and anguish of playing that particular passage comes through in the music.  It is this strain where true art and expression occur and the connection between this and spirituality exists.  In order to become truly passionate and truly spiritual we have to be able to wholly commit and admonish ourselves to the task at hand.

Laurie M. Kish said...

I feel like you really understood and verbally captured well what I believe Zander was trying to tell us, go beyond what you ever imagined, push yourself to higher limits to achieve the greatness within yourself while not being afraid to make mistakes. Not many of us are risk takers and prefer the safe path, but those that venture down the unknown road often discover treasures that give their life new meaning. I can see from you excellent blog pages that you are a musician and that you can totally relate to many of the stories in the book. I really enjoyed reading your post and feeling your strong connection to spirituality, a special gift that artist like you have. Nicely done Thanh.

May 21, 2011 11:02 AM

WK 3 Reading - Comment to Classmates Post 1 of 2

 

MAC Week 3 reading post

The Art of Possibility got me once more.  I was thoroughly impressed with the story of the Kolisch Quartet and it truly shows how people can come together in their time of need to help out a friend or colleague.  This especially touched me because I played in various quartets and orchestras and I understand the pressure that they go though to ensure that they are perfect at every performance.  I could actually feel the heartache Lehner possibly felt when he had his moment of memory lapse. 

I think everyone should practice the rule number 6 and not take themselves so seriously.  There are so many people that think they deserve some type of entitlement because of who they are or where they come from without slowing down to accept the fact that when it comes down to it, they still have to obey the law  and follow the day to day rules of humanity.  I can completely understand the conflict between the two business partners and how it fully describes the difference between one’s calculating self and one’s central self. 

When I think of accepting the way things are and just let them be reminds me of a few years ago when we were hit by a hurricane (I don’t recall the name of the storm).  I was recently engaged and just moved into a new apartment. Refrigerator and Freezer fully stocked after a recent trip to BJ’s. After the hurricane hit, we were without power for 14 days! It was what we thought the worst experience of our life.  After a few hours of despair we figured we would make the best of it.  It is what it is and there was nothing we could do about it but wait it out.  We ended up getting some ice and storing a lot of our meats and frozen goods in there which we were able to keep for a few days, but everyday we were able to call friends, family and neighbors that did not have anything and join together for a barbecue on the patio.  If that is not a perfect example of just letting it be I don’t know what is!

1 comments:

Unlock your inner self - apply rule number 6!

Laurie M. Kish said...

J.J. I can totally relate to your excellent example of Rule Number 6 and the hurricane and how you and your soon to be husband got through it. It is hard to put into practice as our measuring inner self is always trying to dominate us with the clouds of doom and gloom while the real world also had the same dark clouds. I have lived through three earthquakes, two tornadoes, four ice storms and the recent volcanic ashes of Iceland and during all of these I too had to be strong and try to get over myself and lighten up to make the best of any bad situation. I can honestly say that all of these events brought me closer to myself and the strengths that we really do have to take control and not take things so seriously. Really nice post J.J. and thank you for sharing a dark moment that you were able to overcome.

May 21, 2011 1:10 PM Photos from Microsoft Clip Art

WK 3 Discussion Deeper: Video Use in Education Post

Screen shot of interactive Video from http://www.microbiologyonline.org

http://www.microbiologyonline.org.uk/students/microbe-passports-1?style=default - /Streptococcus_pyogenes

I use this microbiology online site to give my adult learners some basic knowledge on Microbiology as some of the project team members are hardware, mechanical, electrical, and software engineers working on developing a device to identify and treat microorganisms but they do not have the knowledge of what a microbe is.   They work along side our trained professional microbiologist, but videos, learning tool like these help them to understand some of the concepts to help in the design effort.  Microbes are everywhere, but we can’t see them. These mysterious microscopic organisms play a very important role in our lives. Some make us sick but many more are helpful.  Microbiologists study microbes: where they occur, their survival strategies, how they can affect us and how we can exploit them. 

Screen shot from http://www.biomerieux-usa.com

 

http://www.biomerieux-usa.com/servlet/srt/bio/usa/dynPage?node=VITEK_2

I embed links to informative videos created by my employer (bioMerieux) into my training plan and presentations for my adult learners to show them the range of products we offer and the basic functionality of the medical devices.  It is important for them to have this understanding especially if they will be working on the products labeling, testing the device, or making a design change or an improvement and are new to the organization.

Screen shot from http://www.fda.gov

 

http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/CDRH/CDRHInnovation/default.htm

I work in a highly regulated industry, Medical devices, where one mistake could kill a patient so as you can imagine it is necessary for me to train my adult learners on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations for safe products.  I often pull video podcast from the FDA’s website and incorporate them into my training plan and presentations, as it is important that they are aware of changes in regulations or trends and where the agency is heading, as we require FDA approval to market our products.

Screen shot from htpp://www.uwtv.org

http://www.uwtv.org/video/player.aspx?mediaid=1574727353

I subscribe to UW tv as a means to bring current topics to my adult learners in the world of Medical Devices and diagnostic solutions, which are aligned with our companies’ strategies.  This link is a video where Dr. Paul Yager, Professor and Acting Chair in the Department of Bioengineering, at University of Washington speaks about the importance of developing small portable and inexpensive high-tech diagnostics methods for detecting pathogens far from a centralized or hospital laboratory for developing countries which would have a positive impact on global health.  Videos like these support my trainings on innovation in research and development, customers needs, and impact to world health, which are all my employers guiding principles. 

 

WK 3-2 DB Quickies: Difficulties starting new programs...

Clip Art by Microsoft

I work in the corporate world where technology is required for survival, without it there would be no profits, and no company.  Business deals with technology changes as a normal practice with change agents, technology staff, funding, and education of employees on new and modified technology from software to hardware to major technology integrated processes like learning management systems and financial systems.  

I have also been fortunate now to say that I have worked over the past 11 months in a High school educational setting working with a high school math teacher to try to implement technology into the classroom as a part of my Action Research project.  What a big difference this was for me.  I can say first hand that the reason why at least this High School teacher resisted change related to technology was for what I feel are very valid reasons:  (1) Lack of school district wide technology integration strategies and plans, (2) Lack of technology budget to purchase and maintain technology, (3) lack of teacher training in technology and how to use it in the classroom, (4) No technology infrastructure and support when problems arise, (5) Educators fear of students knowing more then them about technology and lastly (6) change itself scares a lot of people as it takes them out of their comfort zone. 

WK 3-1 DB Quickies: Difficulties starting new programs...

Photo taken by Laurie Kish

I was asked to train greater than 200 manufacturing workers on what Research and Development(R&D) teams do to design a new Medical Device and it had to include all regulatory requirements associated with it. As if this were not enough they then proceeded to inform me that it had to be done in one day through one-hour rotations of 40 employees’ in each session. My triumphs were many but the first and most critical was how to engage these manufacturing floor workers in such a complex topic in such a short amount of time. I interviewed some of the learners in advance to get a better understanding of what they knew about R&D so I could formulate my approach. It was simple; they saw R&D as Monsters that just tossed garbage through the double doors between the R&D labs and manufacturing and expected them to clean up the mess.

Photo taken by Laurie Kish

My mind immediately went to the Disney-Pixar movie Monster Inc. as my theme. I knew I had to make this session very interactive and hands on or I would lose them. I had created only 30 PowerPoint slides with little text and a lot of visuals to make them smile and have fun. This was a very new concept for my company as no training had ever been presented with only 30 slides with almost no text not to mention the hands on team exercises, dressing up, competition, music playing, and out right fun. There were 5 tables of 10 team members tasked with building a monster with blinking eyes according to the customers requirements following the development process in a specified amount of time and following all regulatory requirements. Lets just say that no two monsters looked the same and I had 100 new friends that stopped me for days after the training saying how much they had learned and it was the best training they ever had. Every time I think about it and all the hard work that went into it, I smile and consider this one of my best training experiences ever. I actually created a video of this experience in an early project in the EMDT program that I have posted here on my blog if you are interested to hear more.

WK 3 Reading - The Art of Possibility

Clip art from http://www.nist.gov  

It was the end of month 1 of a planned 6 month new medical device validation effort, the tensions were high amongst the 10 validation engineers as the product was full of bugs and was 3 months late getting to the last stage of the development process, validation.  An executive decision was made, the validation team had to reduce their timelines by 3 months in order to maintain the original launch date or heads would roll.  The Director of Validation was witnessing before her very eyes the release of 10 calculating selves lobbying for survival in a world of what might become scarce.  The anxiety of the situation was causing some unacceptable behaviors.  It was competitive, backstabbing and unproductive.  It was time to react or she would not have a team left.  The validation Director not knowing at the time pulled out the 6 ball, Rule number 6.   

From Microsoft Clip Art

The day after to decision was passed down; a chartered bus arrived outside the validation lab promptly at 11:00 a.m.  The Validation Director instructed the team to stop what they were doing and take the gift bags provided to the restrooms and change immediately.  Inside the bags were black long sleeved T-shirts and a note that read “Join me for a bug blasting good time!”  The Validation Director observed the eyes of her employees and listened to the sounds of laughter and delight as they piled into the bus not knowing what lied ahead.  Champaign, chocolate, and treats were making their rounds inside the bus as the bus came to a stop in front of LaserTag.  That’s right; the afternoon was filled with fun, laughter, and stress release as they were given permission to take out their frustrations (inner calculating self) on one another through several rounds of laser tag.   This team-building event released humor and laughter that allowed them to “get over themselves” and brought the team back together, relaxing them, empowering them to take control of their calculating self.  They lightened up and broke the hold of their competitive measurement world.  With these calculating selves revealed and humored, the good central selves were able to shine again.  As stated in Zanders’ book, when rule number 6 is followed, one lightens up and is transported into a remarkable universe, which is cooperative in nature.  The role of the facilitator, the Validation Director, was to promote human development and transformation rather than finding a solution that satisfied the demands of the ever-present calculating selves.   In the end the team was able work together to meet the aggressive 3-month schedule while zapping many bugs along the way and releasing a good product.  Not only did they have a successful validation, they established strong working relationships with teammates and their inner selves.  

Rule Number 6:  Don’t take yourself so goddamn seriously, lighten up!

This is a true story and the Validation Director was myself in 2005.

WK 2 Discussion Deeper: Podcasts in Education Repsonse

Jana Claybrook says:

May 14, 2011 at 10:54 pm

Wk2 Discussion Deeper: Podcasts in Education
Here are some of the podcasts I have used in my math class.
http://brightstorm.com/math
This website has thousands of free math and science videos of great teachers explaining concepts and sample problems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHIZUE5iW-c
I have used this video to help teach multiplying integers.
http://www.mathgrad.com/foreducators.html
Podcasts intended to shed some insight into mathematics without boring your students.
http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/mathtrain-tv-podcast/id262010472
You can watch and listen to step-by-step explanations of math problems.

Reply

Laurie Kish says:

May 15, 2011 at 1:15 am

Jana, thank you for sharing the math podcast url’s. I have shared these with my sons teacher as I do not teach K-12, I am a corporate trainer. I found these very helpful and I am sure my son’s teacher will as well. These are a great tool to help capture the audience and keep them engaged.

WK 2 Discussion Deeper: Podcasts in Education Post

In my corporate training environment within the Medical Device Industry I often incorporate short podcasts as part of my training curriculum.  These podcasts come from a variety of well know Industry relevant sources and become the discussion points for some newly learned knowledge on a specific subject matter.  It allows my audience to hear my message through other reputable sources.  I have shared a few with you below. 

Podcast: Effective Corporate Training from COMPLIANCE WEEK, The leading information service on corporate governance, risk and compliance.  This podcast is a talk with Tom Yorton, CEO of Second City Communications, about how to make corporate training sessions more popular with employees and more effective.  It speaks about how to engage your learners by ensuring that the content is not wooden or artificial and how to win the audience and keep them captive.   http://www.complianceweek.com/podcast-effective-corporate-training/article/186750/

Podcast:  Quality Function Deployment presented by ASQ (American Society for Quality).  Quality Function Deployment describes a structured methodology for translating customers’ needs into appropriate technical design requirements. It describes the House of Quality and the seven-step QFD process.  This podcast can be used to help train project team members on how to gather and incorporate needs or requirements from clinical laboratories and physicians into design solutions for newly created medical devices.  http://asq.org/edu/0002C2/video/division-education/5ml-quality-function-deployment.html?shl=093335

Podcast:  Labeling Compliance for Medical Devices – Global Harmonization presented by PharmaIQ.  This podcast speaks to the needs for global harmonization of regulatory requirements for Medical devices with premarket design in order to launch products globally and gain approvers to import the devices into global countries.  There are many regulations created by different agencies, sometimes specific to countries of origin and this creates a lot of burden for Medical Device manufactures to comply to all these regulations.  http://www.pharma-iq.com/regulatory-legal/podcasts/labelling-compliance-for-medical-devices-wanted-gl/

Podcast:  Social Media for Project Managers presented by PMI (Project Management Institute) Social Media is one of the hot topics these days. As a project manager you are bombarded with articles and podcasts that talk about social media and how you as a project manager should embrace these tools. 

It ask the question, is social media just another way of communicating? Do Project Managers really need all this hoopla and hype?  Elizabeth Harrin who is the author of the book called "Social Media for Project Managers” discusses how social media is transforming project management these days, how we need to adapt, how social media will drive efficiencies in our work, the "7 C's of social media" and much more.

http://www.project-management-podcast.com/index.php/episodes/368-episode-162-social-media-for-project-managers

Podcast:  At Ciena Corporation, the link between learning and business strategy is not lip service; it’s a tangible dedication that starts from the top.  This is one of many podcasts provided by ASTD (American Society for Training and Development).  The podcast describes how Ciena Corporation utilizes technology as a learning tool and vehicle to ensure that all levels of an organization are continuously informed of company’s strategies and the expectations.  They train their employee’s using 21^st century technology regardless of their status, role and location within the organization. 

http://www.astd.org/NR/rdonlyres/F9A467AF-8399-491E-9C97-CDDAE2554EF1/0/LearningLinkedSuccessmp3.mp3