A Survey of Survey Monkey

 

This week I tried the tool from the class e-book called SurveyMonkey. What initially drew me to this tool was that SurveyMonkey can be used to generate data from training.  Specifically, what I learned was that SurveyMonkey can be used for generating level 1 evaluations, which are instrumental in assessing learners’ reactions to training.  Not only do they provide immediate feedback to instructors, but they also offer insights into how training could be improved to enhance learner’s training experience.

Using SurveyMonkey was a straightforward process.  Following the steps in the class e-book, I created an account, opting to link my Google account from Idaho State University.  Then, I proceeded to create a couple of surveys that I would use in a classroom setting.  The first survey I used was a generic survey where I created the questions for the survey based on very general objectives.  What I liked about creating the survey on my own was the different types of data you could retrieve from SurveyMonkey.  Essentially the survey tool can generate all kinds of data and goes beyond the typical Likert scale.

Next, after reading through the class e-book on this tool, I decided to try out the artificial intelligence portion of SurveyMonkey.  Using AI has never failed to amaze me when I've used it and, in this application, it was no different.  Specifically, I asked the AI in SurveyMonkey to create very specific surveys with a little information from the prompt.  The surveys that the AI generated were very good.  I was impressed by the surveys that the AI had generated and the variety of data that could be gathered using this tool.

Unfortunately, based on the nature of classified information with my job, I don't think that I would be able to use SurveyMonkey where I work. However, I think that if I were to use very generic information, SurveyMonkey could help me generate level 1 evaluations for some of the training that I perform.  Considering, that the AI could generate some of the surveys for you I see this tool as a huge time savings for me even if I don't get to fully utilize it.

Artificial Intelligence Sampler

This week, I delved into the realm of artificial intelligence applications, exploring their potential in various domains. The first one I experimented with was an intriguing tool called Upscale Media. This application specializes in enlarging images while enhancing their clarity. I decided to test it with a photo of a purple rose captured by my wife a few years ago. Despite its initial fuzziness, the application not only magnified the image but also sharpened it, significantly improving its clarity. I immediately recognized the value of such technology, particularly in educational settings where clear visuals are crucial for effective communication, especially in training materials.

Next on my list was Suno.AI, a song generator that quickly became my favorite among the applications I tried. As someone with a liking for music but lacking formal training in instruments, Suno.AI appealed to my creative side. I often enjoy composing songs for my loved ones, and this tool offered an exciting avenue for musical expression. Using ChatGPT to craft a lyrical prompt about "Mike the submarine sailor on a quest for his coveted black coffee cup," I fed the generated text into Suno.AI. In a matter of moments, it produced a delightful song, complete with lyrics and melody. What impressed me most was its versatility—it allowed me to choose different musical styles, enhancing the overall experience. I envision this tool as a valuable resource for educators, providing a fun and engaging method for students to explore and express concepts through music.

Lastly, I explored Craiyon, an image generator application. Prompting it to create an image of "Mike the submarine sailor's coveted black coffee cup," I encountered some amusing results. While the generated images were intriguing, they didn't quite match my expectations. However, upon refining the prompt to a "coveted coffee grail," I was met with even more humorous outcomes. Despite its whimsical nature, I see potential in Craiyon for training developers and educators to generate visual aids for presentations, adding a touch of creativity to their materials.

Reflecting on my experience with these AI applications, I believe they hold promise in streamlining the work of training developers and educators. From enhancing visual clarity to fostering creativity through music, these tools offer innovative solutions to common challenges in the field. As someone who often grapples with finding the perfect image or crafting engaging content, I appreciate the time-saving potential and the element of fun these applications bring to the training process.

My Experience in the Dawn of Artificial Intelligence

 

This week I started to dive into the realm of artificial intelligence, and the experience has been nothing short of impressive. What struck me most was the sheer power of AI.  AI transcends mere search engine capabilities, offering a depth that surpasses conventional search results. Unlike the curated outcomes of search engines, AI can sift through the noise to find precisely what you seek.

Exploring the capabilities of AI proved to be an entertaining voyage for me. From crafting stories to composing songs, poems, and even haikus, the results were shockingly intriguing. I set parameters for the AI, specifying the subject matter, like the tale of a submarine sailor named Mike on a quest for his coveted black coffee cup, and AI took the wheel to generate an entertaining story. What the AI's wrote left me impressed, showcasing the vast potential of this technology.

On a more serious note, this week I experimented with using AI to refine my own writing. After submitting a rough draft of what I wrote, the AI revealed redundancies in my writing and offered suggestions for improvement. While I didn't blindly adopt its recommendations, integrating AI feedback helped to improve the quality of my writing, and I was able to learn how to write a little better.  Writing better is a valuable benefit for any writer striving to improve their work.

Furthermore, I utilized AI to research medical diagnoses and symptoms, despite the platform's caution against it. It is with this application that I learned that AI is a tool that is more useful than just search engine results.  The results that the AI gave me were concise, and weeded out the superfluous information overload that is common with all search engines.  Simply, the AI provided the information I was looking for quickly.  While AI can serve as a useful starting point for understanding medical symptoms, it's always important to verify results with a qualified medical doctor for accurate diagnosis and treatment.

As I think about the future applications of AI, the potential seems unlimited. From editing papers to generating creative ideas and providing entertainment, AI-powered chatbots could revolutionize the way we work, and the way we get information.  Just the small sampling that I had this week has proved to me that this is world changing technology.  For the first time since the dawn of the internet, I am excited to see what we will do with this technology, and how it will change the world.

My initial apprehensions about incorporating AI into my technology repertoire quickly melted away as I continued my Technology in HRD course. The efficiency of AI tools has not only inspired me but also underscored the role technology plays in optimizing our time and productivity. After all, isn't that the essence of technology, to be used as a tool that makes our work easier and saves time?

The Benefits of Using Video in Training

   

 

 Here is a video that I viewed that talks about the benefits of using video in training.  Videos have always engaged me in learning something new.  Specifically, the first real job that I had at McDonald's in 1990, had a series of training videos to show newly hired personnel how to perform certain tasks associated with working there.  Combined with a reward system, these series of videos led to specialization on the different equipment in the restaurant, and how to make the different food items on the menu.  Believe it or not, it was one of the best training experiences that I have had in my working life.  The largest reason for this positive experience is that the video showed from the beginning the right way to do whatever task the video was created for.  Then, you could go and perform the task under the guidance of another employee in the restaurant.

Below is a video of how to make a cheeseburger.  After watching the video, I think anyone would be ready to consistently create a McDonald's cheeseburger.

Moovly AI

    In this video, I show you how to make a video using Moovly AI.  What an amazing application!

Link to Moovly:  https://www.moovly.com/

Right Tool for The Right Job

 

            One of the most frustrating parts of my work as a training instructor is to measure the performance of employees on examinations.  The examinations take various forms.  For example, the group that I train must perform a certification exam periodically to maintain their qualification to perform their job.  The examination is based on training that they received when they first started in their position.  For some of these people, it has been decades since they have received their initial training.  Fortunately, there is a continuing training program that is supposed to keep their examination knowledge at a high enough level to pass the recertification exam.  Another type of exam that the group that I train must perform to maintain their qualification is what is called a practical abilities examination, or essentially a skill examination.              Regardless of the examination, there is data that is generated from everyone that participates in each examination event.  Making sense of this data is what frustrates me the most.

            Typically, I create an exam matrix using Microsoft Excel to manipulate the data.  It is not something that I particularly enjoy, and at times it can be quite cumbersome and tedious to enter the data and manipulate various formulas to get the information that I am looking for.  Fortunately, I can make this work through brute force.  In this way, analyzing examination data, for feedback into the initial and continuing training programs, is like using a stubby, oversized, flat-edge screwdriver on a smaller Phillips-head screw.  With some patience, and a few curse words, you can make it work, but you know deep down in your heart of hearts there has got to be a better way.  So, I started, in earnest, to begin to look for one.

            My journey looking for the right tool for this task began a couple of years ago.  I started with a simple google search for what I was looking for.  In my search, I found applications like Lattice, Gradebook, and PowerSchool.  All the applications that I investigated seemed to me to be more Human Resources, or school centric.  From what I could tell, these applications did not fit the bill that I needed to perform what I wanted to do with the data.   

            Before I go too much further, I think it would be prudent to let you know exactly what I am looking for.  Firstly, I want to be able to track exam performance for the group.  Next, I want to be able to track the exam performance for that iteration of the exam as there are different questions associated with each exam in a larger exam bank that they are drawn from.  Then, I want to be able to track every individual’s exam performance to see what they need help to improve their weak areas.  Also, each exam question that I write is based on a job analysis and has a specific objective that it is associated with, so I want to track the performance of the objectives.  If that were not enough, I want to track the Level 3 evaluations that are performed in the field and track their performance by objective.  If the world were my oyster, I would be able to find an application that fits all of these wants and move on with my happy life.

            Unfortunately, I was not able to find anything close to what I wanted in a training analysis software product.  So, naturally, I did what anyone would do in my situation, and I gave up; for a little while anyway.  They say necessity is the mother of invention, well I decided that I was going to create a software program of my own.  My medium of choice was Microsoft Access.  After watching some tutorials, and fumbling my way through some very basic programs, I decided that this was not the way.  If I wanted to get what I wanted out of this program, I would have to go to school to become a database engineer.  However, I am currently in school to get a degree in Workplace Training and Leadership, so my database engineer dreams will have to be put on hold until afterwards.

            If you have stuck with me for this long, I am sorry to say that this post does not have a happy ending.  I give up!!  I am going to continue to use my stubby, oversized, flat-edged screwdriver, on this tiny Phillips-head screw in absence of the right tool for the right job.  If you have any suggestions, please reply in the comments.

Play Games to Learn

 

            Games and gaming are favorite activities that consume the time of a lot of people.  Ever since I was a child, I have learned and played games.  Arguably, playing all kinds of games, whether it be mental or physical, provides learning opportunities that no other activity can offer.  Games teach us, and games make us better thinkers.  Combining elements of games in learning activities that traditionally do not have them, a concept called gamification, can be a very powerful learning opportunity.

            Games teach us that there are foundational rules that govern how things are supposed to work.  The rules, followed properly, can lead to a good time.  Sometimes, even when the rules aren’t followed, people can be entertained.  If we can learn the rules for a game to have a good time, then we can learn other things.  Overall, games increase motivation for entertainment.  If we can harness this type of motivation and make learning the goal of the game, learning could be as simple as playing.

            One blog I found this week describes the concepts of gamification.  The author, Yu-Kai Choi, has extensive experience in the field of gamification.  The octalysis framework dissects the different elements of games and applies these to human motivation.  Practically, the octalysis framework is useful for ideas to create engaging learning experiences that are valuable to learners based on the types of motivation that best fit the learning event.   If learning could come to us as naturally as playing games, imagine what we could learn.

https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/octalysis-complete-gamification-framework/

Better Together

 

            As I was reading the information for the copyrights and fair use assignment, my mind kept thinking about the poem that begins Ernest Hemingway’s novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls.  For those of you who are not familiar with this novel, Hemingway starts the novel with a poem by John Donne, written in an archaic form of English.  The part of the poem that resonates with me is the beginning where Donne writes, “No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine…”(Donne, 1940).  As this relates to creativity and original works, this means that no one who creates, creates alone, in a vacuum, devoid of the influence of other people.

            Practically, creativity is spawned by the people, culture, and ideas of those that we allow into our sphere of attention.  In this way, every person creates their own understanding of the unique experiences of the world that they live in.  These unique experiences would not be possible without the thoughts and experiences of others.  Original thoughts and ideas are born on the thoughts and ideas of others in a sort of human culture amalgam.

            However, ideas are where the law draws the line.  If you go beyond ideas and copy someone else’s work wholesale, and try to pass it off as your own, at the very least it is plagiarism, and at its worst is theft.  Not only is this practice theft, but it is also lying.  Regardless of the law, ethically it is wrong.

            Unfortunately, it is becoming more evident every day that the law is just words when it comes to this subject.  If those words are not enforced, then the words of the law are empty and do not amount to the value of the ink (or electrons) used to portray their meaning.  This seems to be where our culture is heading in the information revolution.  Now, anyone with a computer and mouse can clip, snag, screen capture, and crop any digital representation of anyone’s hard work with a few clicks and taps.

            For these reasons, I liked learning about how creative commons licenses can help keep the balance of protecting creator’s works, yet unleashing the potential tangential ideas that other creators can use to add to the amalgamation of culture.  Creative commons licenses keep creators in control of their works, so they can decide how and what works of theirs will be used.  Even though it is not a one stop fix to intellectual theft, it is a beginning to unleash creativity.  In this way, we are better together.  Again, “No man is an iland, intire of it selfe…” (Donne, 1940).

References

Donne, J. (1940). No Man is an Iland.  In E. Hemmingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls (p. 1). New York, NY:  Quality Paperback Book Club

Community Learning Through Discussion

     Today I was thinking about how people learn from others.  Specifically, in a classroom setting, the discussion on a topic can be a rich resource that contributes to learning.  I came to this realization through the many discussion board posts that I have made throughout my academic career.  Most of my academic career has been online, and I have been able to learn a lot by spending some time reflecting on a question prompt.  After reflecting on the question prompt, I have to formulate and grow the ideas that were planted by the prompt.  Discussion in this way. I believe, is more valuable than in person discussion.

    However, in person discussion has value also.  The organic nature of a discussion, carefully guided, can lead to new ideas or realization of concepts that are being taught.  Probably the most effective discussion is one where there is a natural organic discussion coupled with a period of reflection where ideas can be fully developed.  Once fully developed, the discussion should be revisited to put forth the fully developed ideas.  To me, this would be the ideal circumstance of community learning through discussion.

PLN or PLN??

Recently, I have been introduced to the concept of a Personal Learning Network, also known by the acronym PLN.  At first, just the acronym was introduced with this concept with the possibility of having a dual meaning.  The other meaning that this acronym may embody is that of a Professional Learning Network.  Whatever the acronym you want to use, at its core it is a network.  Like any network, it has different nodes where information intersects with other information.  The ultimate purpose of this network is to facilitate learning.  Essentially, the PLN is a tool used for learning.

            As I have tried to understand this concept, I have come to the realization that I already have a PLN.  However, my PLN is not formal, but rather a loose federation of news websites, search engines, and social networks that I use to gather information and learn.  In this way, my PLN is like a wildflower meadow where I pick and choose what information flowers catch my eye to enhance my way of knowing.  The best part of my PLN is that I choose what resources I want to use to learn what I want to know.

            On the other hand, all that information out there, which in no way is limited to the sources I listed before, can be overwhelming.  Just the resources that are included in search engine results can inundate you with superfluous and redundant information.  To combat this information overload, you need to curate trusted sources of information and seek people that can guide you in your pursuit of knowing.  Formally curating these sources can transform you’re a Personal Learning Network into a Professional Learning Network.

Interesting People Read My Blog!

            Are you an interesting person?  If you think that you are, and most people do, is what you have to share with others as interesting as you are?  Well, if you are like most people, interesting, then of course the answer is a resounding YES!!  The problem lies with converting your awesomeness to the written word in the form of a blog.

            First off, to make a good blog, you must have an interesting subject almost as interesting as you are.  Then, learn as much about that subject as you can.  Next, organize that information into a thoughtful, logical order.  Most interesting people use an outline to accomplish this task.

            With your outline completed, now it is time to move on to the next, and one of the most difficult tasks of blogging, crafting your interesting ideas with the written word.  Using your interesting outline as a guide, craft your ideas using plain language that quickly gets to the point.  Be brief but inform the reader about how interesting your ideas are.  Remember, when the reader is done reading your blog, you want them to understand the most important, interesting idea that you wrote about.  In other words, keep the main thing the main thing.

            Finally, all interesting people who write interesting blog posts need to have an interesting title.  From my own experience, if I am not interested in the title of the blog, I won’t read it.  The blog could have the very best information that was ever written for the subject that the blog was written about but if you cannot grab the reader’s attention right away to get them to read it, then your efforts will be lost.  Condensing the gist of your blog post to the essential information will guide your readers to whether your interesting ideas are worth their time.  With all of that in mind interesting people out there, let’s keep it interesting.

Introduction

Greetings!  Welcome to my blog.  I have started this blog for a class that I am taking at Idaho State University.  The class that I am taking that requires this blog is called Instructional Technology in Human Resource Development, OLP-4407.  During this class, I will be exploring different technology tools that HRD professionals can use in their work.  

Like many people in my generation, my understanding of technology has evolved with technology.  Although I was born before personal computers were common place, I am able to navigate most new technology with ease.  Unfortunately, as technology proliferates through almost every aspect of society and our daily lives, it is not easy to keep up will all of the nuance that these tools can provide.  As a professional training instructor, this is true in my work.  Essentially, I am of the opinion that before technology should be used in training, you should have a good idea of the value that the technology offers to the overall learning experience.  If the benefit of using technology outweighs the detractors of assimilating the skills necessary to use it, and it enhances the learning participants learning experience, then by all means use it.  However, if it doesn't, it may be best not to use it.

Practically, to understand whether or not to use technology in a training session, one needs exposure to different technology that can be used.  This is what I am hoping to get out of the class that I am taking.  I hope to have exposure to different types of technology used in the HRD profession, so I can make decisions on what will benefit a learner at what won't.  Additionally, through this class, with use of this blog, I hope to get over my fear of contribution to the HRD body of knowledge with my unique experiences versus only being a consumer and spectator of others ideas.