13:27:59 <kiener> also need training of ""managers"" to manage the resources and results
13:28:33 <kiener> Old-style managers used to count heads or listen to noise generated to indicate folks working
13:31:47 <sjohnson> In my technology transfer course we define technology as either the object, the process, the knowledge, or as human will or volition
13:32:07 <kiener> big difference between DATA and INFORMATION -- that is the challenge
13:32:38 <sjohnson> I think there is also a difference between information and knowledge
13:32:50 <pledger> I have found in my experience as a career & education adviser and as a health care manager, that many people with specializations, for instance IT people, may be superb at what they do technically but struggle as it relates to oral and verbal communication. In your experience are communication skills no longer as important for those in the field of technology or....are educators and employers ""settling""?
13:32:55 <kiener> Yes, Dr. Johnson!!!
13:34:37 <misher> I think communications skills are critical in all areas - at my company we just fired an IT person because although their IT skills were great - they could not communicate with their client group.
13:35:21 <kiener> All my teaching load in spring and summer semesters has been online -- no physical classroom -- but they were synchronous, teacher-led sessions.
13:35:45 <misher> We have also discussed communications skills for email...what is the appropriate protocol internally as well as externally
13:37:28 <kiener> data is ""raw"" data; information is meaningful arrangement of data
13:39:14 <shezlett> I see communication skills as critical for IT.
13:39:20 <kiener> IT folks deal with machines and hradware -- not interpersonal
13:39:40 <shezlett> They need to be able to express their priorities, as well as
13:39:46 <fein> yes, we had that issue at Quaker - IT unable to communicate with the clients
13:39:52 <shezlett> understand the needs of their users
13:40:10 <kstucki> I have been in IT for 5 years, and have seen what each of you are talking about.
13:40:26 <shezlett> One HRD intervention I was working on required managers
13:40:49 <shezlett> to complete on-line 360-degree feedback. To make the vendor-firm interface
13:40:50 <misher> At Glaxo - all of our IT folks have clients they must communicate with
13:41:06 <shezlett> work required the IT folks to ""open"" the firewall. They had to
13:41:24 <shezlett> communicate why this was a problem and understand why it was a needed.
13:41:25 <smcghee> I wonder though, does our use of tech communication stifle or cause atrophy of those social ""speaking "" skills.....
13:41:58 <shezlett> That is a great question. Thomas Jefferson was clearly an awesome writer
13:42:01 <smcghee> ..of those written skills...
13:42:15 <misher> My husband is COO of a company and he wants to start training people on appropriate interface on email...he feels that practices should mimic letter writing that too ofthen it is abrupt and inpersonal
13:42:36 <jclowry> Perhaps it's unique to my organization, but the ""culture"" of our IT staff does not recognize that they have customers ... they are more focused on the technology (especially the newest bells and whistles).
13:42:53 <shezlett> but saw himself as such a poor speaker the only speeches he delivered as President were his Inagural addresses.
13:43:17 <misher> jclowry - once we fired the first the IT staff suddenly learned they had cleints that they better learn to interface with - FAST
13:43:36 * shezlett MOTIONS/smile.gif
13:44:18 <jclowry> Misher, congratulations to your organization! This mind-set starts with our CIO.
13:44:23 <shezlett> Is it replacing? Will all ""traditional"" methods eventually go away? Or is it augmenting?
13:46:03 <misher> Glaxo does alot of etesting...they send out product training or refresher training manuals and then you must do an online test...
13:47:18 <shezlett> E-learning also is replacing methods outsides the classroom, such as ""self-study"" books.
13:48:06 <kiener> Are corporations evaluating the learning and employee satisfaction with 100%% e-learning?
13:48:17 <shezlett> I would conjecture that certain kinds of training may continue to be tradition because one implicit or explicit objective is networking
13:48:21 <sjohnson> But a lot of very large companies are struggling with how to implement e-learning and I see many of them doing it very poorly.
13:49:29 <sldunbar> another issue is access. While we have 25,000 employees only about half have access to Lotus notes and internet training.. many are in plants or places where access is limited
13:49:42 <sjohnson> I agree with Sarah. We need to choose the delivery system (traditional vs. online) based on what helps us accomplish our goals.
13:49:56 <sldunbar> but you can sign up online for instructor led courses (both live and online)
13:49:59 <kstucki> sldunbar, do they have kiosks for those employees or access from home?
13:50:09 <sldunbar> kiosks in some places
13:51:10 <jclowry> There are issues with overtime / wage and hour regulations for non-exempt employees doing training from home
13:51:28 <sldunbar> also a logistical nightmare for IT support...
13:51:35 <kstucki> true
13:51:48 <misher> Access is an issue for the sales force that I am in, we are thonly ones without GSK computers, so they technically can not force resp to do elearning...to overcome that we pay for time at Kinko's...
13:52:04 <sjohnson> Many also don't approach design and development with a learning focus
13:52:10 <misher> also overtime is an issue
13:52:13 <githens> good point, Jean
13:52:34 <sldunbar> blackberries are the new tool of choice for our salesforce
13:52:53 <smcghee> If ""communication"" (AND education process) is not two way, there is no feedback, so then does communication ""happen"".... you know, like if a tree in the forest falls, and no one hears/sees it fall, does it fall? :-0
13:53:13 <sldunbar> chips in our brains
13:53:44 <misher> sldunbar - our IT dept would like to have blackberries but the company will not pay to support that
13:54:17 <sldunbar> they signed up for salesforce.com and so they want people to have access 24-7 to manage customers
13:54:45 <sldunbar> so they had to back it up with mobile devices... it ends up being cheaper than phone + computer (VPNs) etc
13:55:10 <misher> nice
13:55:54 <kstucki> is there an update article on Tim Wentlings study with that CS class (wireless classroom)? (I heard him present at the AHRD conference in 2003)
13:56:55 <pledger> When I worked at a level I trauma center/hospital in Chicago, we had to implement a risk management training for the entire staff to be compliant with an IDPH and JACHO standard. The fastest way to get this done was by using an interactive computer training. Many of the older hourly employees though were so intimidated by the computer that we took longer in breaking that fear than we did in actual training time. This was in 19 [msg
13:57:17 <pledger> 99 though and many employees experienced a double sense of success though in conquering their fear of technology AND completing the actual computer generated training program. [msg complete]
13:57:34 <sldunbar> we love to hear gail talk though! Made my last course fun and interesting!!!!!!!!
13:57:46 <sldunbar> (already got the A so don't have to butter her up)
14:00:33 <vmmuelle> thank you Gail, great presentation
14:01:17 <kiener> Thanks, Gail. Very interesting and thought-provoking.
14:01:24 <gdtaylor> Thank you everyone!
14:01:24 <pledger> Thank you Gail, enjoy your pizza:-)
14:01:37 * gdtaylor MOTIONS/smile.gif Yum.
14:02:13 <jclowry> Lots of great new information to reflect on... and explore applications. Thanks, Gail.
14:02:19 <misher> Thanks Gail
14:06:05 <misher> hey this is from Queen I hear it in London lat week in a new musical called ""We Will Rock You"" - see it if you can
14:06:17 <fein> great song
14:06:29 <fein> yes I made this mix especially for the symposium
14:06:48 <misher> I hope it makes it to Broadway it was really great
14:06:55 <fein> cool
14:07:25 <shezlett> Is it about the band?
14:08:00 <fein> sounds very interesting
14:08:09 <smcghee> Laverne.... howdy! :-) I remember during class using the ""double click"" message to get a ""whispering screen"".... but I'm not able to do that today, for some odd reason. Funny how we can so quickly forget in one year how to do something! :-( Got to keep the heat on continuously to keep a pot boiling.... and I've lost some of my ""online tech"" skills!
14:09:32 <sldunbar> there is a person to person button up on top to talk to individ
14:11:04 <smcghee> THANKS sldunbar. I found it! :-)
14:12:09 <sjohnson> http://www.hre.uiuc.edu/online/rp.htm