Transferable skills

skillsyouneed has a list of transferable skills which are essential to surviving in our current world. What better way for me to verify them than to see if they apply to my current situation of skills transfer? It is essential to have transferable skills and a concept of lifelong learning or you are not able to easily change as life and the world requires. Adapting means you need to have some understanding of what it takes to adapt and then put yourself in situations where you test out your skills transfer.

I have joined a group so I can learn their skills and expertise. In exchange I have been running a blog and social media for them. We are all on new learning ground and we have all had to have those connected conversations so we can progress and lift our skills. It has been one of the best learning experiences of my life and technology has made that possible. So how do these portable skills work?

Team Work

We have had to share ideas and approaches and we have had to discuss what we think, what we want, what we need to achieve. They have looked at me and worked out what I need to learn and how. I have looked at the group and worked out how I can showcase the skills and talent but none of that is done without open and constant conversations.

Leadership

The group has taken on new members and each week they talk about the things which can be learned. They show and tell. They invite others in with skills. They occasionally offer opportunities for excursions to learn and grow. I have had to use that and work out how to make that live and come alive on the internet. I have been able to show them that their knowledge is valued by the world. I have had to work out how we get followers on Instagram, and then, the biggest challenge, Twitter. We have had to lead each other and all of that is done by example and talk.

Personal Motivation, Organisation and Time Management

We encourage each other. There is always something to know and learn. We motivate each other by showing the good things which can be achieved. We look at what people are doing and share their successes and trouble shoot the difficulties. There has to be a lot of good will and there have to be ideas. You have to be prepared to pull things together for a show and tell so people can see what you are achieving and how it works. You have to have examples and so you have to organise yourself to find the tools and tricks which work. We do not over commit ourselves. We acknowledge what we are doing is a part of life and living. It isn’t life and living. My blog posts usually come out every day and from those the rest of the group can see what they have achieved and how others are reacting.

Listening

When you listen you know where the learning gaps are. If you are trying to create change then you have to listen without prejudice. You have to accept what you are hearing and move that person on. By listening I worked out the group had some good mobile skills which could be improved and that I needed to focus more on mobile skills to help them grow. Some of them just want to use a computer so then I had to accommodate that as well. In terms of teaching me,  they worked out I just needed to be filled with information and pointed in the right direction with some tips, magazines, books and then left to work it out until I had questions.

Written Communication

We use email to communicate primarily. That is how they feel most comfortable. The blog, though, and Instagram , have had high appeal for them. They don’t understand Twitter so much and I have explained they don’t need to. I interpret the data for them in blog posts so they understand exactly how what we are doing is impacting the internet. The blog has been helpful since there are members who are not always there and they now feel a better sense of connection to the group when they have to be away.

Verbal Communication

We never stop talking and the other preferred method of communication is to pick up the phone. These people are not fond of texting. They would rather talk to you. In our group meetings we just talk as we work. We share our ideas, thoughts, plans. We plot and plan creativity. We discuss how you do things and what you can do. We look at events and whether we want to participate and how we want to do things. We sit next to someone and help them. I have run mini tech sessions on Facebook and how to access the blog on a phone. I have explained what some of the icons are. There is a lot of one on one  verbal communication to further knowledge.

Research and Analytical Skills

I am blogging and running social media accounts in an area I am not familiar with. I am learning the skills. I have really had to listen and follow up on names and places. I have really had to look things up on the net, especially You Tube to find out what I am talking about. I have had to find the global leaders in the things we are doing and the global responses to what we are doing. I have had to analyse blog data because we were very successful very quickly. I have had to look at stats, work out SEO tactics and then work out who to connect to on the net to further us . Instagram was an instant success so I have had to run hard with that to ensure we keep up the momentum and interest.  With Twitter I have had to look at what has been popular and address the gaps to ensure that account is more solid. The net gives you a lot of data feedback. You can use it to improve yourself and position on the net. The group gives me things to pursue and find out about so we keep that feedback loop going because I show them what the world is reacting to and that really motivates them to grow and respond.

Numeracy Skills

We need them to run the financial side of the group. We also need numeracy skills to make alterations and changes. I need them to analyse data.

Personal Development

When you have a focus you can then have opportunities for personal development. No one in this group is pushed to change. What we do is bring along ideas which people can run with or not. Putting myself in the situation where I am doing technology representation about something I am concurrently learning has helped me learn very effectively and efficiently. All of this is education because we are bringing each other out. We are all showing each other there are things to know and what things to know. The choice then is up to the individual whether they wish to pursue that or not. We constantly offer the opportunities and by being on the net we have also helped others learn.

Information Technology

“Many jobs will require that you use word processing, spreadsheet and web-based software on a daily basis. However, think beyond these basic IT skills. Are you confident using a computer? Can you learn how to use new software and new technology quickly? Can you troubleshoot basic computer problems and do you understand the importance of data security and privacy?”

I have made the group far more confident with technology and they have made me confident with what I wanted to learn. This has been of mutual benefit. I can freely ask them what I want to know and they can sit down next to me and ask me something about technology that they want to know. The ideas and expertise exchange is the thing which makes this so successful and in the process we are all better for it.  Technology enables lifelong learning. They can get out their phones and tablets to show me things and I can get my phone and take pictures of what they take for granted and show them they know a lot and have specific skills which are valued. It then comes down to trust. We trust each other to be helpful and positive.

Never turn a page again

This video is only 1 minute 25 seconds and yet, by the end of it I had forgotten what it was meant to be about. Lost in learning! Lost in intrigue. Lost in the wonder of all that was occurring. It’s all physics. It’s a video which makes people want to know and find things out. On top of that, it is funny. It’s a carefully planned, well thought out , high impact lesson. It would have taken brainstorming, discussion, trial runs. There would have been a feedback loop and collaboration. It’s a video which arouses a lot of curiosity and engages the audience. A one minute video can do a lot!

Introduction to Graphic Design

I  have just completed the free Introduction to Graphic Design on Udemy course by Sean Berg. Amongst other things he works on custom templates for WordPress in Brazil. His course was different from the other ones I have done in that it was 100% focused on delivering the content. It was a lesson in methodology as much as anything else. This doesn’t mean the other courses did not concentrate on content. They did , but they did it differently. Sean Berg’s shining moment was the squares. The way he was manipulating the squares to illustrate the points he was talking about was very clever. His command of visual literacy to illustrate his spoken content is expert. As he is talking about graphic design he is showing you. There were no exercises as in the other courses but this course really was about concentrated focus on content. It is an excellent example of how to utilise teaching very effectively. Sometimes you just need to master delivering the message so that you are time efficient. I really enjoyed learning this way because there were no distractions at all. No swamping. Just the things he was trying to teach me. His course was a good practical use of using design elements to ensure learners were in control all of the way.

WYSIATI

I receive email updates from Barry Ritzholz who runs the Masters in Business Podcasts on the  Bloomberg site. I like to listen to podcasts, choose my own and have access to a wealth of  expert input from all over the world. You can find Barry Ritzholz on Twitter @ritholz at and you can find his webpage at The Big Picture. The latest podcast is an interview with Danny Kahneman, a professor of behavioral & cognitive psychology, and winner of the Nobel Prize for economics in 2002. He talks about WYSIATI – what you see is all there is – in the way we operate and how it blinkers us to more and better knowledge. It creates over optimism and over confidence and makes us think that what we know and what is currently available to us is all there is. Business start ups flop because of it but businesses get started because of it. It is a double edged sword. You plan a lesson , the best lesson on the planet, and wonder why your students do not see you as the most marvellous teacher ever. Then again, it might go wonderfully well and then you blinker yourself to change because what you have been doing works. You do not notice the generational, cultural or work place evolution and inevitably you become stuck in a loop which you find hard to break out of. As a student you opt for the easy out, the easy subjects, the easy classes, the easy approaches because why would you want to work hard, right? Then it all becomes too hard because the goal posts move and life requires a lot more than you thought. WYSIATI is a very good concept for us to know and understand because it gives us a way of introducing conversations which will move us forward and allow us to be both more prudent and hungrier for all the information and experience we can have.

Project Based Learning

This video has been made by a teacher. It is good to see teachers give insight into how they manage , initiate and sustain different ways of teaching and learning. He gives a link to his website at the end of the video. Not too many teachers bang on like the teacher at the beginning of this video. Not any more. I have been in a position of privilege where I have been able to go into other teachers’ classrooms and the thing which has always amazed and impressed me is the number of different ways in which teachers interact with students. The sage on the stage noun phrase has done much to damage being there at the front of your class in a good way . It tends to hark back to  what was the chalk and talk and endless copying. That  is how I was taught. The teacher stood out the front and banged on incessantly and then we had copious notes to take , exercises to do and homework on exactly the same thing. I learned a lot. When you are not allowed to say and do then you are in your own headspace and a good teacher would get you thinking and that headspace would create all sorts of connections and ideas because there was nothing to distract you. Much of it was mind numbing, though. Different era. The student faces at the beginning of this video are classic. I have seen that. The blank almost comatose look. I have never taught for more than 10 minutes at a time and that is of value. I am a teacher. I know a lot. In 10 minutes I can clarify, intrigue, contextualise, ideate, stimulate and set the scene for learning. Most teachers do that these days. They create a rationale or narrative and create their lessons around that.

So where does the project based learning fit in? The notion of it can confuse. Is it actually doing a practical project or is it doing a research and analysis project? This article by TeachThought explains it well. Learning projects come down to challenge based, place based or activity based. You could do a challenge based project on finding out about Shakespeare and his plays. You could do a place based project by going to Stratford on Avon and finding out about where he lived and his cultural heritage. You could put on a Shakespearean play and learn about Shakespeare as an activity based project. Virtual reality will give us other options. Technology gives us yet others. It will always be about the students and the sorts of projects which help them learn best. You then have to balance that against time allocation for the subject , personal teaching load and expectations and then ease of access to resources.

The aitsl professional standards also easily enable you to take project based learning into account :

1.1 Select from a flexible and effective repertoire of teaching strategies to suit the physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students.
1.3 Design and implement teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.
1.4 Design and implement effective teaching strategies that are responsive to the local community and cultural setting, linguistic background and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
1.5 Develop teaching activities that incorporate differentiated strategies to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.
1.6 Design and implement teaching activities that support the participation and learning of students with disability and address relevant policy and legislative requirements.
2.2 Exhibit innovative practice in the selection and organisation of content and delivery of learning and teaching programs.
2.4 Provide opportunities for students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages.
2.5 Apply knowledge and understanding of effective teaching strategies to support students’ literacy and numeracy achievement.
2.6 Use effective teaching strategies to integrate ICT into learning and teaching programs to make selected content relevant and meaningful.
3.1 Develop a culture of high expectations for all students by modelling and setting challenging learning goals.
3.2 Plan and implement well-structured learning and teaching programs or lesson sequences that engage students and promote learning.
3.3 Select and use relevant teaching strategies to develop knowledge, skills, problem solving and critical and creative thinking.
3.4 Select and/or create and use a range of resources, including ICT, to engage students in their learning.

3.3 goes to the heart of project based learning but the other professional standards apply. There are others too which you would meet if you were engaging with colleagues to develop big projects or if you were involving yourself with community organisations and /or parents as part of the project based learning.