On May 27th, the iSchool Institute, Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto hosted Harold Jarche for a day long workshop.

The iSchool gave me the green light to video record the presentation. The video recordings (or portions) will be accessible via the iSchool web site once I complete the editing.

At the end of the day Harold and Mark Shepphard, a workshop participant had a lively discussion, which for me captures the flavour, excitement and energy of traveling and participating in a network learning landscape.

Harold’s workshop was titled Network Learning – Working Smarter. Here are a few excerpts from the iSchool’s description of Harold’s one day course.

Network Learning (also called Personal Knowledge Management or personal learning networks)is an individual, disciplined process by which we make sense of information, observations and ideas. In the past it may have been keeping a journal, writing letters or having conversations. These are still valid, but with digital media we can add context by categorizing, commenting or even remixing it. We can also store digital media for easy retrieval.

The Web has given us more ways to connect with others in our learning but many people only see the information overload aspect of our digital society. Engaging others can actually make it easier to learn and not become overwhelmed. Effective networked learning is the difference between surfing the waves or being drowned by them. It also helps us to work smarter.

Harold has posted all the resources he used in the workshop. You can visit his site and download the slide presentation.

Harold is a partner in the Internet Time Alliance (ITA), a multidisciplinary, international think tank. The Internet Time Alliance helps organizations work smarter, by developing next practices on how to embed learning in our work. The partners are Jay Cross, Jane Hart, Clark Quinn and Charles Jennings.

The ITA is a group of insightful and inspiring network learning practitioners that I follow closely. These folks are helping me learn to learn and to develop my own network learning environment, for which I’m most grateful.

Brent Uncategorized ITA, learning, networks, workshops

I decided early in life that I wasn’t a sales person. I couldn’t get excited about getting people to buy things and I had very little interest in making scads of money. I chose to develop my career in social work with a major focus on youth work and community development. I love my work as a change agent with organizations and young people however this past year, I’ve being taken over by a strong desire to work on my own as an independent consultant.  Well we all know that consulting requires sales skills so here I was, looking at my biased attitudes that would surely make me the poorest consultant this side of the 49th parallel.  Fortunately I was  rescued from myself, when out of the blue, my very good friend Emma, knowing I was entering into a new career territory, suggested that I attend a unique sales training workshop, hosted by her father, a very high caliber training consultant in the sales industry.

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Brent Uncategorized consulting, marketing, sales, workshops