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great blog post by Scandinavian Posted by ingvihrannar | February 26, 2014 on obsolete practices including 13. One-Professional development-workshop-fits-all A school that just sends the entire staff to a workshop once a month where everyone get the same are obsolete. Professional development is usually top down instead of the ground up where everyone get what they want and need. This is because giving everyone (including students) what they need and want takes time & money. With things like Twitter, Pinterest, articles online, books, videos, co-operation & conversations employees can personalize their professional development. (Read about my article on Personalized Professional Development here)

"We're all personal brands. Our agendas may differ, but we seek the same things: recognition, respect, influence and success. Personal branding is no trend. It's social media, publishing, marketing, sales, work, play, passion and everything you read about all rolled into one. With that in mind, I submit to you personal branding is something you need to understand. It's something you need to develop deliberately - even if what you've been doing and saying to this day has been largely accidental."

article by Joseph Folkman, March 31, 2016, Forbes, on why IDP plans fail: because they are not driven by the individual. 

This excerpt from an interview with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, PLP founder, captures critical points for PD online. "Will and I agreed that we would only work with teams of school-based educators because the research made it clear that it was collaborative teams within in a school, working together, that really brought about sustainable improvement. That would give us what we needed to anchor the virtual experience in a local context. We also wanted participants to experience a global community of practice-to be able to have conversations with people very different than themselves, with fresh perspectives. Our thinking was that if we put teams of educators who had different ideologies, different geography, different purposes and challenges, all together in the same space, then they could each bring what they did well to the table and people could learn from that. Ultimately that would mean public, private, Catholic, and other kinds of schools; educators teaching well-to-do, middle-class, and poor kids; educators in different states and nations, at different grade levels, and in different content areas and roles. What ultimately grew out of our brainstorming was a three-pronged model of professional development that emphasizes (1) local learning communities at the school/district level; (2) an online community of practice that's both global and deep; and (3) a third prong that is more personal-the idea of a personal learning network that each educator develops as a mega-resource for ideas and information about their particular interests and areas of practice. (These three prongs are described in depth in a new book, The Connected Educator, where PLP community leader Lani Ritter Hall and I tell the story of the evolution of our model and the very solid research base behind it.)

Blog post by Deborah Shane "According to a CareerBuilder survey "hiring managers are using social media to get a glimpse at the candidate's behavior and personality outside of the interview, and are most interested in professional presentation and how the candidate would fit with the company culture. Here are five strategies anyone can use to 'advance and own their professional development'." First three of five strategies are online: 1) Use Facebook in a hybrid way. Facebook can be one of the most effective and diverse self marketing, branding and networking assets of all of the social platforms. Posting professional questions, article linking, Facebook chats and using the Notes Feature are all great ways to brand yourself on Facebook. 2) Brand your LinkedIn and Twitter pages content and information. Having a content rich, branded landing page on LinkedIn and Twitter can make a strong first impression. Complete your profiles and tell your story in your job history. This makes you more personable and shows people you are serious, professional and you want to be remembered. 3) Launch your own blog or guest blog for other strategic sites. This is one of the best ways to share how you think and show your knowledge and expertise, as well as highlight others in your field that you admire or want to emulate. Some of the free sites you can use are WordPress, Weebly and Wix.

"take our professional and personal development into our own hands" Jacob Morgan Forbes August 2015

Blog post on flipping PD into a process starting with coaching to help the educator/learner plan and document goals. by Kristin Daniels in EdSurge, April 18, 2014. subtitle is How to use 'Flipped PD' to build personal learning plans STEPS: "Planning and Documentation "--learner and coach talk about learning goals and create a learning plan Personalized digital content--coach provides just-in-time resources to motivate, inform, engage learner Regularly scheduled PD--ongoing embedded PD Personalization through coaching Communities of learning Could this be adapted as a learning concierge pathway service?

article by Robert Elsenpeter, Star Tribune, 2008. Expand Your Network Many admins are already members of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). And while that is a group worth joining, there are other organizations - like Toastmasters - that can help your professional life. "Attend community groups and industry association meetings," says Kathy Northamer, vice president of OfficeTeam in the Twin Cities. "Make presentations on your area of expertise. Volunteer with a nonprofit. You'll not only gain new contacts, but acquire experience and work samples you can use to build your career." Different organizations can offer different opportunities. But there is one thing they all have in common and it's something beneficial for the admin. "Networking, networking, networking!" says Northamer. "The more contacts in your network who know you, the more likely you will secure leads, interviews and interesting job offers." Reasons to Join a Professional Organization: Personal and professional development resources. Networking opportunities. Professional certification that can help your career. Service and support from the national organization. Opportunities to develop one's leadership skills. Discounts on related products and services. Regular organization conferences. Member publications.

Blog by Kevin O'Keefe, "Real Lawyers Have Blogs," on the topic of the law, firm marketing, social media, and baseball, February 23, 2014. O'Keefe reviews a study by Gerry Moran on using social media to teach, not to sell. Other key points that O'Keefe makes: Build a large social network of people modeled after your customers and their influencers. 75% of B2B decision makers use social media to learn. (wonder where this stat comes from?) Pass on valuable information. Don't use your social media and networking channels to promote yourself. You want to be known for handing out knowledge and not brochures. Use social so that people will want to visit with you in person. 73% of customers are willing to engage with you on social media, so the opportunity is there. Use social media to teach, not sell. Selling is best done face-to-face. However, Social Media Today reports B2B buyers look at an average of over 10 digital resources before ever making a purchase. Since customers need to learn before they buy, use this opportunity on social media to connect. Teach and connect with today's technology. Connect and get on the radar of your customers and potential networks by retweeting, sharing, commenting and favoriting others' content. Develop Insights. Before you teach and connect with your customers, you need to listen to the customer and their customers. Social is an excellent listening tool. Be a publisher. In addition to curating and passing on the great content to your network, create your own assets on a blog. Organizations who blog get clients. Later Excerpt: Over the years LexBlog as been all about helping lawyers understand how to use the Internet in a real and effective fashion so as to grow their practices. By sharing information from third parties along our own insight via blogs and other social media we established a reputation as trusted advisors. Even when I reach out to meet with lawyers and law firms I have never met f

a wonderful blog post by Jim McGee, April 1, 2002, on the importance of keeping a knowledge-log--k-log--for being able to retrace one's steps when the final conclusion/work product falls short and one has to start over and for engaging with others about how the thought line developed. Justifies paper printouts and variously named file versions to show stages of idea exploration and development. Our electronic work flow replaces how we used to work with handwritten drafts with all the erasures and column notes, then send them to a graphics person for placing into a graphics format, then circulating for reaction from involved stakeholders, some of them junior staff, then incorporating feedback, final edits, and voila! a product for the client.

Online template for developing a personal learning plan. Although k-12 focused, it is a good template for creating a PLP

Harold Jarche blog, 11.16.12 Excerpt: summary by participant of keynote that Harold delivered in Denmark "Moving from local to global We live in a less barriered world: self-publication, group forming across the world, unlimited information. In the past we linked up with people with similar interests locally, due to simply physical realities… now we can link up with people from around the world. So from a learning perspective our learning group grows (personal addition: this also means that the group that lives inside the personal zone of proximal development grows, as more people can potentially be in this). Groupforming is now becoming networks. This has an effect on mentorship: per mentor you can only have so many learners, but with the growing group more mentors can stand up and the learners themselves can become mentors."

Video by Off Book/PBS on how YouTube has broadened what we think of as entertaining, valuable, educational, etc. Fast Feedback loop on content. June 6, 2013 Unlike TV, can comment on it and affect directly what is being made, importance of subscription for those who want to watch it. "Just so cool that people all over the world can build a community and drive development." Very intimate and close up framing of videos on YouTube. That comes across, makes it feel personal. "Has to feel like one person is in charge of everything, otherwise it doesn't feel like YouTube." Using feedback mechanisms and viewer interactivity to make new stuff Even TimeWarners of world are reallocating resources to YouTube production "Will be as comfortable going to YouTube as turning on TV"

Best short article on mixing it up in networks and forums to innovate, expand one's thinking, etc. that I have seen. By Grant McCracken, HBR, 1.4.13. Believe this short article has value for personal learning plan/network development. Excerpt: Only the person with several addresses in the conceptual world can hope for serendipity, that extraordinary moment when vexing problems vanish before the approach of deeply unexpected understanding.

blog post by Quentin Hardy, NYT, on how new companies developing algorithms are using them to loan money to people who are better risks than their financial circumstances might suggest, track high performers in sales jobs to find the indicators of their success for export and use by other employees, etc. July 26, 2015

Stephen Downes's keynote to the World Congress on Continuing Professional Development, San Diego, CA from May 19, 2016 He begins with the assertion that learning is personal - based on personal practice - then put into practice in a learning network. Progress and evaluation through practice is based on performance in authentic communities. Contains slides, audio, and video

Eight trends that medium and large sized multinationals recognize but are not necessarily investing in--such as mobile or individualized personal learning or self-directed learning, Consultancy.uk, August 12, 2015

Newsletter by Ann Mehl, a life coach, 1.26.13. Justifies Studio's raison d'etre. Excerpts: "The workplace has changed enormously in recent years. Gone are the days when some benevolent company would direct and manage your career for you, while you dozed off at the wheel. Now more than ever, it is incumbent upon every employee to proactively manage his own career. We have become in essence, a nation of free agents. A company of one. And all successful "companies" must identify and set their priorities in such a way that our goals can be achieved. In the humdrum of work, it's often easy to find yourself adrift, floating aimlessly downstream without clear intent or destination. The days blur into each other, until you have no idea where you are going, or what it was you hoped to achieve. But ask yourself this question: if you're not steering the ship, then who is?" ..."Are there any personal development classes that would make certain parts of my job easier? Should I be speaking with other industry peers in my field so that I remain current? Is there anybody I can identify who might be willing to mentor me while I navigate this tricky next phase of my career?"

blog by Harold Jarche on the Connected Workplace, 4.15.2013 Excerpts: "Implicit knowledge is best developed through conversations and social relationships. It requires trust before people willingly share their know-how. Social networks can enable better and faster knowledge feedback for people who trust each and share their knowledge. But hierarchies and work control structures constrain conversations. Few people want to share their ignorance with the boss who controls their paycheck. But if we agree that complex and creative work are where long-term business value lies, then learning amongst ourselves is the real work in organizations today. In this emerging network era, social learning is how work gets done." ..."Personal knowledge management (PKM) skills can help to make sense of, and learn from, the constant stream of information that workers encounter from social channels both inside and outside the organization." ..."Collaboration skills can help workers to share knowledge so that people work and learn cooperatively in teams, communities of practice, and social networks." ..."Leaders need to understand the importance of organizational architecture. Working smarter in the future workplace starts by organizing to embrace networks, manage complexity, and build trust."

Blog post by Carol Ross, May 21, 2012, Next Avenue PBS, on how to present your "unique promise of value" (William Arruda) on your calling card. Showcase your brand on LinkedIn. Tips: Post a (good) photo with your profile Put the summary section to optimum use --brand story--compelling statement of your distinctive value, a backstory that explains how you go to be so good at what you do, and an aspirational statement. Make your Specialties Section special Align your experience section with your summary section Be choosy about your recommendations Guidelines to develop your brand story--be introspective, gather feedback, identify a theme, describe formative moments in your life.