del.icio.us Tidbits: Barriers

Here is the periodic sampling from my del.icio.us favorites list. This time I chose the tag "Barriers."

Program Completion Barriers Faced by Adult Learners in Higher Education:

From the abstract - "This article identifies characteristics of the adult learner and briefly reviews literature on the attrition and retention of adult learners in higher education programs. A summary of that research shows that adult learners focus on their roles as learners, their ability to balance school with outside responsibilities, and their flexibility in attaining personal goals within the context of educational and institutional goals. Programs aimed at improving the retention of adult learners and lessening attrition rates must take into account these factors."

Why Group Norms Kill Creativity:

From the Introduction - "Unfortunately groups only rarely foment great ideas because people in them are powerfully shaped by group norms: the unwritten rules which describe how individuals in a group 'are' and how they 'ought' to behave. Norms influence what people believe is right and wrong just as surely as real laws, but with none of the permanence or transparency of written regulations."

The Real Reasons We Don't Evaluate:

An article on how to overcome the perceived and real barriers to performing learning evaluations.

Ten Common Objections to Social Media Adoption and How You Can Respond:

A List of Objections, Replies and Concessions Regarding Social Media and Tools.

Williams Instructional Design's Approach to Performance Improvement

Instructional Design and training are one part of a healthy program to support peak performance. Here is WID's model for building realistic and sustainable performance improvement.

Finds: The 4 ways sound affects us: Julian Treasure on TED.com

With so much focus these days on visual learning, the point of this brief presentation by Julian Treasure is well taken: Don't lose sight of sound.

There is not much detail in Julian's talk, but more can be found on his blog, Sound Business. His focus is business applications, but his information can be leveraged for learning and performance improvement as well.

del.icio.us Tidbits: Job Analysis

Here is the periodic sampling from my del.icio.us favorites list. This time I chose the tag "JobAnalysis." Here's what I have:

Job Analysis Overview: From HR Guide, a brief description of job analysis including its purpose, process and elements.

MUD Questionnaire: This .pdf from Designing for Learning is a questionnaire to use in a job analysis project. From the authors:

MUD Analysis is an interview-based method of job analysis. It is used to accurately
identify ‘job learning needs’, as opposed to individual learning needs or training
needs, in order to ensure training is relevant.

The MUD Analysis describes jobs not in terms of job outputs, but rather in terms of
different learning strategies (or learning processes) that the incumbent needs to use in order to learn to perform the job. Both what is to be learned, as well as how it should be learned, are identified.

MUD Analysis Guidelines: A partner document for the one above, this describes the process guidelines.

Employee Evaluation and Selection: From ACCEL Team Development, this document outlines a job analysis strategy to be used as a tool for recruitment and performance review.

del.icio.us Tidbits: Mobile learning tools

Here is the periodic sampling from my del.icio.us favorites list. This time I chose the tags "MobileLearning" and "tool."

The Mobile Learning Dilemma (and a few cool tools): From Mr. Robbo blog, a list of his favorite mobile learning tools.

Nimbuzz: The Nimbuzz application enables people to enjoy free & low cost mobile calls, free instant messaging, social networking and other rich communication features, using the internet capabilities of the their mobile device.

My Top 10 Mobile Tools for Learning: From Ignatia Web, one of my favorite go-to spots for low-resource distance learning ideas.

Mofuse: A tool for "mobilizing" websites, such as blogs. Looks to be free for small blog sites.