My first entry

So how does one start a blog, anyway?  It feels like I’ll be jumping into a conversation in cyberspace without any preamble.  Hopefully, over time, my musings in this forum will make sense.  For this post, let me just explain a little about this blog.

I’ve been in training and development for my entire career.  I’ve been lucky enough to participate in academic programs, seminars, and conferences over the years that have certainly helped to shape my thinking and improve my practice.  My doctoral work and subsequent involvement with the Academy of HRD opened up a whole new world of theory and research that supports my intuition and experience (and sometimes makes me rethink it). 

But every once in a while, I come across something truly transformative.  My most recent “oh, my gosh” experience was at this year’s E-Learning Guild Management Colloquium.  In those few days, I was confronted with the realization that the internet really does change everything.  (Duh!)  Everything we know about how people learn needs to be re-examined in light of the new technologies referred to as Web 2.0 and Web 3D.  I don’t know what it all means yet in terms of how we best support learning in organizations.  But I know we need to figure it out.

The idea of a Personal Learning Environment really captured my imagination, and I’ve been working on upgrading and better organizing my own.  I’m experimenting with wikis and RSS feeds, reading other people’s blogs, and learning more about what’s possible. 

An important part of learning is putting ideas out there for others to comment on and build upon – so here I am.  I hope you’ll find what I have to say thought-provoking.