As another year closes I find myself reflecting on much of the writing I’ve done in 2014. I write in a few different places, with majority taking place here on my personal blog and also on TWIST: The eLearning Guild Blog. In total I posted over 180 different blog posts and articles in 2014, the most I’ve written by a wide margin. As I reflect on what I’ve learned via this writing, I always find it interesting to look at which posts resonated most with the community at large. Here are the top 14 posts that I wrote in 2014, accompanied by a short reflection on the post.
#1: Personal Social Media Strategy: What NOT To Do
This post emerged from some disturbing trends I was seeing in people’s online behavior. I often share tips on how to help build a personal brand using social media, so this post served as a cautionary tale to accompany that conversation.
#2: What is a Learning Ecosystem?
Training strategies have not kept pace with the changes in the workplace. Many learning and performance professionals feel the pressure to evolve their practices, and while there are common themes around how the scope of strategy should change, crystallizing those thoughts into a re-imagined path for strategy has been a challenge for our industry. This post examines a new way to look at strategy, and workplace learning and performance in general.
#3: The 2014 #DevLearn Conference Backchannel: Curated Resources
The curated backchannel resources that I post on my blog continue to be popular with readers, as evidenced by a few entries on this list. It’s no surprise that the most forward-leaning conference in the industry, DevLearn in October, was also the most popular backchannel post in 2014.
#4: TWIST Conversations: Neil deGrasse Tyson on Science Literacy and the Future of Work
I had the pleasure of interviewing renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson a few weeks before he keynoted the DevLearn Conference and Expo. This post includes highlights from the interview and an audio podcast of our conversation exploring STEM fields and the workplace.
#5: How to Recognize Snake Oil in Your Personal Learning Network
This is another cautionary tale, specifically exploring some of the risks associated to building your personal learning network. It was a post that touched a nerve with some readers, resulting in a lengthy comment stream and a rare “sequel” post that adds some additional clarity to the conversation.
#6: ASTD International Conference and Expo Backchannel: Curated Resources
The second most popular backchannel post curated the resources shared at the ASTD International Conference in May.
#7: #ASTD and #ATD – What’s in a Name? Plenty
One of the major events to take place in the Training industry last year was the branding change that took place with ASTD becoming ATD. This post shared my thoughts on the transition and what it means for ATD, individuals, and the industry as a whole.
#8: Learning Solutions / Ecosystem 2014 Backchannel: Curated Resources
eLearning Guild Conferences always have vibrant backchannels that expand on the conversations that take place at the conferences and extend the learning well after the event ends. The Learning Solutions and Ecosystem 2014 conferences were no exception.
#9: What Will Learning Look Like in the Year 2024?
As part of the celebration of ten years of DevLearn, the eLearning Guild asked community members to share what they think learning might look like 10 years from now, in the year 2024. This post shared my glimpse into that future.
In a way, this post criticized criticism. There’s a lot of criticism in our industry today regarding the quality of elearning programs. This post expresses my concerns about these criticisms, specifically the fact that people are judging projects without understanding the context in which the project was built.
#11: Interview: Neil deGrasse Tyson on Learning, Education, and Technology
After my recorded interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson ended, we continued to chat for a bit longer. This post, which appeared in both Learning Solutions Magazine and on the TWIST blog, shares a transcript and reflections on the additional conversation we had about learning, education, and technology.
#12: Why Technology Belongs in a Classroom
A few months ago Clay Shirky wrote an article about his decision to ban technology from the classroom. It was an interesting article that generated a lot of conversation. This post explores why I think technology does belong in a classroom.
#13: Performance Support: Three Tips for Getting Started
Performance support is gaining more attention in a world where traditional training methods do not move at the speed of the modern workplace. However, performance support is also very different for most trainers. This post shares three tips for getting started with performance support.
#14: Digital Curation: Definitions, Tools, and Strategies – Resources Shared at #CNYASTD
Whenever I speak at an event, I try to post my slides and additional resources people can use to learn about the topic. I do this for two reasons. First, it allows people that attended the session to revisit what we discussed and possibly take a deeper dive into the topic via the shared resources. Second, it allows people that were not in the session to explore the topic on their own.
Bring on 2015…
If you’ve read any post that I’ve written, on my blog, on TWIST, or on any other space – I thank you. I look forward to continuing to reflect and share throughout 2015 and beyond, and I look forward to having you as part of the conversation.
