To Be a Mentor

I am a mentor in the ASTD San Diego Chapter’s Mentor Program. This is my second year. The amazing thing about this program is how good it can be when the right match is made.

My protégé, as she is called, is F A B U L O U S! Jessica is her name. She works for a running specialty store. I work for a large government contractor. And what do we have in common in the world of learning, you may wonder. Well, let me tell you a lot. And I hope she enjoys the relationship as much as I.

This is how it works. We meet once a month. We review the goals Jessica set the month before and assess how well she met them and what I did to help support those goals. We share examples and magical learning things happen. Informal learning if you like. Then, we evaluate how the accomplished goals lead to next month’s goals. Each of these monthly goals is a step toward one of her three Mentor Program goals. For example, a monthly goal can be to read Ruth Clark’s Developing Technical Training, which leads to her program goal of designing and developing a new e-learning course.

Big deal you might be thinking. But, it really is, for me, quite magical. I like to help. But to be able to transfer my knowledge and experience is moving. To see how these steps help Jessica not only reach her goals but to have an affect on what is happening in her workplace. Powerful stuff.

If you have the opportunity to offer your expertise to someone do it. You will not regret it, if it is a good match.

Does your ASTD chapter (or other organization) offer a mentor program? Why not start one.

Webinar Addicts

Colleen and I often discuss about our fear of becoming “outdated” after leaving grad school and ways to avoid this.

We joined organizations like ASTD, ISPI and eLearningGuild as our first step. We subscribed to communities of practices, one of those, our own SDSU EDTEC group. We listen to podcasts. We constantly share links to articles, blogs and tools that reflect new strategies and trends in the learning field. We are planning on attending conferences. We sign up for webinars.

Webinars have become one of our favorite strategies. There are weeks when we are signed up for several of them! When mentioning this to Dr. Allison Rossett, she named us “webinar addicts.”

Why webinars? Mainly because they are free, low-risk, more interactive than reading and more importantly, it is possible to get a good idea of the selected topic in 60 minutes. If you are interested in reading about our webinars adventures check the article: What Stinks About Webinars?

How about you? Mind sharing what do you do to keep updated? Tell us what has worked for you!

Hello learning enthusiast!

Welcome to Antonia and Colleen’s space for rambling about learning…

Every day we talk about our wild adventures and not so wild adventures in the world of learning. Some are triumphs and others are tragedies. We decided to share these with the world in hopes of sharing our experiences and learning from yours.

Let us introduce ourselves:

• We met as EDTEC grad students at San Diego State University.

• Antonia is from Panama City, Panama and digs her mobile learning adventures.

• Colleen is from Philadelphia, PA and is a lover of instructor-led instruction. Yes, it is true.

• We believe that these two approaches, as well as others, can live in harmony in the world of blended learning.