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Mesmerized by Thiagi

July 23, 2008 By

If you are a regular reader of the CLENExchange, you may remember the book review of Card Games by Thiagi, written by then CLENE President, Pat Taviss for the September 2007 issue. Pat described Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan as “an international game master with a reputation for creating engaging games that enhance and support learning.” As the CLENExchange editor, I added an editor’s note to her review about my memories both of seeing Thiagi at an American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) conference in 1988 and attending his 2-day workshop in 1990.

As I frequently tell trainers I meet about the impact Thiagi’s training made on me, I was delighted to receive an email today with a link to a wonderful YouTube video titled Rapid Instructional Design with Thiagi. The April 2008 program was sponsored by the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Training Forum. The email came from Gail Griffith, Deputy Director of the Carroll County (MD) Public Library, responsible for public services and staff development and a CLENE member. I wrote about connecting with Gail as a part of my research for a December 2005 CLENExchange article on Elliot Masie’s Learning 2005 global conference; there is also a profile of Gail in that issue.

Back to the video …the description reads, “Learn how Thiagi and his team undertake complex instructional design projects without the use of time-consuming, low value added traditional ISD models. Thiagi has created, tested and successfully applied his own model that produces rapid prototypes tomorrow.” I urge you not to miss this opportunity to learn and be mesmerized by a master. For more information, tips and tricks from Thiagi, visit his website too.

 

Come play with Thiagi

Come play with Thiagi

Gail McGovern

Filed Under: E-Learning, Presentation Tips Tagged With: , ,

Mind Mapping Tools: From Pencils to Web 2.0

March 7, 2008 By

If you haven’t ever tried mind mapping tools, you may be surprised at how valuable they are in helping people learn.

My first introduction to the technique was over 20 years ago at a presentation by David Thornburg, author of Unlocking Personal Creativity: A Course in Idea Mapping. In those days we used paper and color pencils to be creative.

One of the exercises I currently use in teaching Effective Time Management for Library Staff online for Infopeople involves mind mapping. The goal of the exercise is to create a life map, i.e. a visual recap of the roles one plays in life. Below is my most recent life map. I designed it using Inspiration software. There is a free 30 day trial download available for both Macintosh and Window users.

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Here’s another mind map I also did using Inspiration for one of my courses; I loved having such a wide variety of shapes, colors and graphics. This map recaps a concept from Many Moons by James Thurber—that each of us has a unique perception of what exists. If you missed the book when you were young, be sure to look for it at your local library.

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If this quick look didn’t give you enough of a flavor of the technique, I suggest you look at the Mindmapping in 8 Easy Steps tutorial by Joyce Wycoff, author of Mindmapping: Your Personal Guide to Exploring Creativity and Problem-Solving.

And for those of you willing to try a free web 2.o mind mapping tool, there is Bubbl. Below is a simple example I did as a very simple introduction to Bubbl for my time management course participants.

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Gail McGovern

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With:

Key Steps to Being More Creative

September 27, 2007 By

Whether you need to jump-start staff meetings, establish a more creative organizational environment or just mobilize your own creative juices, do become acquainted with Chic Thompson’s What A Great Idea! 2.0 book and website.

At the website, be sure to watch Chic TV to find “creative strategies that will keep your brain alive.” Chic provides four great short videos (Mind Stretching, Shower Ideas, Guide Lines and Brain Exercise) you will enjoy and even download to use in your presentations.

I have used his brain plasticity idea to help participants realize that their brains stretch to capture new concepts much the same same way a stretched balloon never returns to its original smaller size.

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For those of you who already use Post-it® Notes to help you be more creative, you will love David Straker’s book, Rapid Problem Solving with Post-it® Notes.

I hope that those of you who read this blog will add comments to this entry with details about your favorite sources.

Gail McGovern

Filed Under: Presentation Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,

Applying Show Biz Techniques to Training

September 6, 2007 By

If you are looking for some different types of tricks and tips to liven up your training sessions, take a look at what Lenn Millbower offers. I first found out about him when I was looking for ways to use music at key times during training sessions. I found his book, Training With a Beat: The Teaching Power of Music to be very helpful.

Lenn also has a website, Offbeat Training and blog, Offbeat Online.

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You can sign up for his free monthly newsletter “dedicated to furthering Learnertainment® techniques.”

The newsletter articles focus on his eight Learnertainment® principles and their associated action steps.

The eight are:
• Emotion creates memory – Evoke Emotion
• Laughter produces positive energy – Harness Humor
• Visuals aid retention – Present with Props
• Suggestions guide outcomes – Make it Magical
• Auditory signals trump visuals – Mix in Music
• Multiple perspectives deepen meaning – Layer Learning
• The performance sends a message – Stage the Surroundings
• The performer sends a message – Perfect the Performance

Gail McGovern

Filed Under: Free Stuff, Presentation Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Diffusion of Innovation

June 21, 2007 By

As a trainer and consultant, I have long been fascinated with what I now call the tipping point (thanks to Malcolm Gladwell’s book) for adoption of new ideas and trends within libraries.

Whether you already share my interest in trendwatching and helping to diffuse innovation or are just ready to test the waters, take a look at these two sources:

Trend Unit: Why we all can and should be trend watchers.
It provides an invaluable how-to source for both aspiring and experienced trend watchers with coverage ranging from why you should watch trends to setting up an inhouse Trend Unit in your organization.
Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing, by Peter Gloor and Scott Cooper.
For those of you who have the CLENE American Management Association (AMA) “Members Only” website access information, you can read a sample chapter of this AMA Book of the Month. Here’s an excerpt from the AMA blurb, The art of “coolhunting” involves identifying emerging and cutting-edge trends—whether it’s the next hot band or the next MySpace. The authors explain how to coolhunt and explore how the most innovative companies use coolhunting to their advantage.

If you are a CLENE member and do not have the AMA website access information, email me.

Gail McGovern

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: