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.”

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.

I think we all struggle with how can give something back?

Some of us struggle with the inability to donate financially, some of us cannot find the time, while others don’t because they lack  information that clearly outlines what they can do and where help is needed. Well, if you fall into the last category, this is your lucky day!

Helping People Find Jobs

“Job Angels mission is to help bring people together in a community setting where each person commits to a single goal: to help just one person find gainful employment.” --  Job Angels mission statement

We will be discussing a new non-profit, called Job Angels, who are not only helping those out of work find jobs, but has also devised a way for people to help each other, one person at a time. I love the way Job Angels covers both sides of the spectrum with a strategy that allows anyone to help. Job Angels is a using social media in a new way, to help people find jobs!

In The Press

Fortunately, Job Angels has been able to get some great press lately which has drawn even more job seekers and angels to the cause.

CNN video – Unemployed ‘tweet’ for work

Wall Street Journal – For the Jobless Web Sites Offer More Options
Wall Street Journal – Strangers Lend a Hand to Job Seekers
New York Times -  Putting Yourself on a Shelf Out There to Buy

In this article, we want to familiarize you with how people seeking jobs can use this service effectively and how people who are employed can become an Angel for someone else (usually someone they don’t know).

How Can You Connect With Job Angels?

There are many ways you can help with the cause;  list your mini-resume for help finding a job, post an available job, become an angel for someone out of work, become a volunteer w/ job angels, or help us spread the word.

Steps for each of these subcategories has been listed below.

Get Help Finding a Job

Twitter
1.  Create a Twitter id    (Takes less than 2 minutes)
2.  Follow @JobAngels on Twitter    (type:  follow jobangels)
3.  Send @JobAngels a mini-resume tweet    (ie.  @JobAngels Boston MA 15 years exper. in pr and marketing seeks management pos. @JohnDoe #jobangels) include the hashtag #jobangels
4.  Use twitter search to search through jobs already posted (ie. criteria:   boston pr jobangels)
5.  Connect on twitter with others in the same city, twitter local application
6.  Connect on twitter with others in your same area of expertise using twitter search (ie. criteria:  pr)
7.  Put your mini-resume in your twitter bio

Linked-In
1.  Join Linked-In
2.  Join the group JobAngels
3.  Find local groups, many times jobs are posted

Facebook

1.  Join Facebook
2.  Join the group JobAngels
3.  Find local groups, many times jobs are posted

Email
1.  Send Job Angels an email

Web
1.  Visit the Job Angels website

I would recommend joining all three social media areas, but the two must have’s would be Linked-In and Twitter.  They don’t have as large of an overlap of the same people as Facebook and Twitter has.

Post A Job

Twitter
1.  Create a Twitter id    (Takes less than 2 minutes)
2.  Follow @JobAngels on Twitter    (type:  follow jobangels)
3.  Send @JobAngels a mini-job posting tweet    (ie.  @JobAngels Milwaukee WI  Retail sales person needed for southeastern wi location , contact @JohnDoe #jobangels) include the hashtag #jobangels or email Job Angels

Linked-In
1.  Join the group JobAngels
2.  Start a new discussion, add job posting to the “Discussions” or the “Jobs” board

Facebook
1.  Join the group JobAngels
2.  Start a new discussion, add job posting to the “Discussion Board”

Become An Angel

Each job seeker will have different needs from their Angel.

The following areas are a few where you may be asked for help; preparing their resume, job relocation, interview skills, possible contacts you may have in the area of expertise, or just someone helpful to listen to them.

Twitter
1.  Create a Twitter id    (Takes less than 2 minutes)
2.  Follow @JobAngels on Twitter    (type:  follow jobangels)
3.  Use twitter search to search through the job seekers in your area of expertise, possibly your own city or state. (ie. criteria:   ny marketing jobangels)

Linked-In
1.  Join the group JobAngels
2.  Look for a job seeker to help in your area of expertise

Facebook
1.  Join the group JobAngels
2.  Look for a job seeker to help in your area of expertise

Become A Volunteer

Job Angels is currently looking for volunteers.  Help is needed on twitter/social media, the web site, answering email, and other areas.  Contact Job Angels via email.

Get The Word Out

Another way you can help with Job Angels is to write a blog post, an article, tweet, or otherwise tell others about Job Angels.

The more people that get involved, the more people that can be helped.

What are you willing to do?

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