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Article by Pamela Mitchell for the New York Times Opinion Pages, 2.10.13 on creating employment and career growth opportunities for young and older workers. Excerpt below speaks to what older workers need to do to be more greatly valued. I do not think most middle to late career workers can afford to let go of the golden handcuffs (HI coverage) to take side trips into entrepreneurial ventures though. Nevertheless, the argument supports the need for WLStudio assisted learning online by women. Excerpt: "Conversely, older workers often need to develop the enhanced technology and communications skills necessary in today's marketplace. But the most important skill an older worker can learn from someone younger is that of continuous, conscious reinvention. Rather than fruitlessly searching for a "safe" job in a "safe" industry (neither of which exist), older workers must embrace the younger generation's flexible perspective. This means structuring their remaining working years as a latticework of skill-development opportunities with multiple employers, along with occasional side trips into entrepreneurship. "

Excellent video on why 20s are critical adult forming period--brain is fully formed for adulthood; "Plan and not quite enough time to do great things"--Leonard Bernstein Musical chair relationships and fear of not being able to sit down at age 30 with partner for life can cause bad decision making Post millennial crisis is not having the career that you want, or family that you want Story of Emma--at age 25--"having an identity crisis". Thought she might want to work in art or entertainment. Lived with boyfriend who displayed temper more than ambition. Head in lap, and sobbed for hour. In case of emergency, please call. who will be there for me? Told her three things that all 20 somethings need to hear: 1. Get identity capital--investment in who you might want to be next. Identity capital begets identity capital. Discounting exploration is not supposed to count when it is procrastination. 2. New piece of capital or person to date comes from weak ties--half of 20 somethings are underemployed, and half of them are not--reaching out to weak ties is how you connect; 3. You can't pick your family but you can pick your friends. You can pick your family and the time is now. The best time to work on your marriage is before you are married. Consciously choosing what you want. Found an old roommate's cousin who helped her get a job; married and has plenty of emergency contacts. One good conversation, one good Ted Talk can have an enormous impact. "Thirty is not the new 20, claim your adulthood, get your identity capital, reach out to weak ties to make your family.

Fast Company article on how female voices are perceived differently (downgraded) from male voices, when they are offered in the same conversation and the same message is being conveyed. Women CAN improve the way they express themselves but there is a clear bias in how they will be perceived.

good article by Sam Polk, July 2016, on how sexist talk by men about women catapults even worse behavior by men

Good definition of social media vs. social networking from Huffpost Books by Fauzia Burke, 10/2/2013. Defines social media as the content you upload, and a one-to-many communication method. You own the content you share and have to produce it yourself. Social Networking, on the other hand, is engaging your audience with sites like Facebook and Twitter. Social Networking is about creating relationships, communicating with your readers, building a following. It is important to listen as much as talk with social networking so it becomes a sharing, and conversation-rich communication.

****This post by Derek J. Keenan explains his Social Professional Learning Model that served as his Masters Capstone paper at Alberta University, April 23, 2012. Its core is an action research approach to learning enriched by and anchored in social media. Substitute teacher with "other named professional" and it works for people in all types of work/interests. There is also a short (s cultivating connections with the people who have the same self-directed learning quest as you. The next step is reciprocating by publishing and sharing what you know or believe to be true. Throughout it is your experience that informs your participation and your participation informs your level of understanding--you are constantly learning and eventually building your personal learning network relationships to be there for you.

Post by Katie Salen, July 26, 2012, Leveling Up project at Connected Learning Research Network. I like this emphasis on individual and collective gains in connected learning networks. And how connected learning is "value additive." Excerpts: "Further, because connected learning, as a model, advocates for experiences that offer low barriers to entry and information, social supports for learning, and diverse opportunities for the development of interest and expertise, it must also advocate for outcomes that are both individual and collective in nature. It is no longer enough to develop metrics and pathways for individual outcomes; we must also find ways to recognize outcomes produced by groups or communities and provide pathways for collective participation. Or so our hypothesis goes." As a community, the members of Ravelry produce knowledge and expertise, projects and products with academic, civic, and peer value. The welcoming nature of the site and the mere existence of the thousands of groups it hosts are mechanisms inviting participation and the development of shared knowledge. Conversely, the environment provides individuals with opportunities to acquire social, economic, and cultural capital, to learn domain-specific content and skills, and develop metacognitive skills and learning dispositions. Unlike models of learning that center solely on individual outcomes and competition for zero-sum resources and rewards, like those seen in most schools, Ravelry exemplifies how connected learning is value-additive, elevating individuals and collectives in an integrated way. High-functioning connected learning environments are characterized not only by engaged learning at an individual level, but by high quality content and standards and collective purpose that is shared by all participants.

A nicely organized record of Sheryl's interviews over several years, published in May 2012

Very interesting interviews with six global leaders on leading in the 21st century "But the common themes that emerged from these conversations-what it means to lead in an age of upheaval, to master personal challenges, to be in the limelight continually, to make decisions under extreme uncertainty-offer a useful starting point for understanding today's leadership landscape."

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.)

"Yet I can also appreciate that, with so much being written out there by so many in so many places, and so little time for reading it all, the opportunity to have one's blog be a place for important conversations has diminished. But I think blogs are still the premier means and place for documenting 'unedited' substantive original thought - new ideas, analysis, synthesis, models, and new perspectives. It's sad that much of this important thinking is now lost in the deluge of glib quotes and trivia and news of the moment, and not read because of our frantic pace of life and our endemic attention deficit disorder. But it will still be there when it's ready to be discovered. And as you say in the meantime it will continue to help us formulate and learn and articulate our knowledge and beliefs and ideas, and so equip us to be of more use to the world."

Interesting article published 1/6/2014 on Second Acts for baby boomers. Quotes Marc Freedman, Elizabeth Isele (who lived in ME for a long time), and mentions Bevan Rogel. The Boomerworks online service for matching BBs with work opportunities is very interesting--wonder how they are doing? And whether we should try to ally with them? "In 1998, living in Maine, Isele created CyberSeniors, a multilingual nonprofit computer training company that eventually trained more than 28,000 seniors in 24 states. She's led numerous nonprofits over the decades and is now pushing public policy changes and forging connections between organizations to create an "entrepreneur ecosystem." That ecosystem is flourishing in Sarasota. Sarasota's Institute for the Ages, established in 2009 to change the conversation about aging as one of deficit and decline to one about enhancing lives, is a lab for companies and services that want to tap into the needs of older adults. In late 2013, the Institute launched Boomerswork.com, a web-based network to connect freelancers with companies seeking seasoned professionals for project-based work. The program started in Canada and the Institute is the first organization to bring it to the U.S. When the Institute convenes a national convention here in February, entrepreneurship and encore careers will be a large part of the agenda. In addition to a keynote address by Freedman, Isele is leading a workshop on entrepreneurship with Bevon Rogel, who runs a Freedman-related Encore Academy in St. Petersburg to help seniors find meaningful work. For Southwest Florida, which has one of the highest concentrations of seniors in the nation, the idea of an "encore" seems natural. As the rest of the country and world grays, branding this life stage as one that brings years, or potentially decades, more productivity and meaning to life has become an imperative."

Very nice blog post by Vicki Halsey on six ways to energize work relationships, February 20, 2014, Blanchard Forum to discuss leadership and management issues. SPRING stands for Smile, Personalize your conversations, Relate your commonalities, Inspire, Notify and Gratitude (express it to show others impact they have on people around them).

A great blog pot by Arnie Kuenn, May 7, 2013 on curating content using various tools. Suggests the rule of thirds for generating your own content, sharing external content, and engaging in conversations

Top 100 websites for women at end of 2012 Did a call in from Forbes groups to identify sites with "informative and compelling content, smart navigable design, engaged communities, and a voice that speaks to and for the female reader that's kept fresh, timely, and in-the-know by savvy staffers and impassioned writers. ... Does it have that amorphous and often indefinable quality that inspires us to share--with out social networks and in e-mails and conversations with our moms, sisters, friends and colleagues."

An interesting blog post by Ian Cleary, April 2014, Razor Social, to improve websites for conversions (among other related topics) Tools for driving traffic and converting viewers 1. Landing Page Tools--Lead Pages is a software 2. Analytics software 3. Marketing automation software 4. Competitor research tools 5. Content sharing tools

"Something successful entrepreneurs should aim to have: Conviction. Being an entrepreneur is not the easy road to success. Sure, you're your own boss-making the conversation in which you ask for a raise far less awkward-but the hours are long, the market always crowded, the naysayers plenty. There will be discouraging news. But the ability to stand behind your decisions is essential. No one else can tell you what you want for your company, and don't let them try. Drive. As an entrepreneur, time is not on your side. The best-laid plans are those that are executed as swiftly as possible. Don't sit on an idea or wait until you've had a chance to "sleep on it." Act now. Innovation. The original brainchild might have been the thing that got you excited enough to take the leap into entrepreneurship. But longevity will depend on continually coming up with new ideas, from products to ways to market them to which audiences to target. Not all of these ideas will be winners. But having them is not optional. Inspiration. You may be your only employee. Or you might have a team that looks to you to engage them, foster their talents, and involve them in the bigger picture. Those employees who feel excited about, and part of, the overall vision will be encouraged to grow alongside you, and work hard for you. Focus. Establish your daily, weekly, quarterly goals and go after them. Connect dots on a daily basis. Avoid distractions, and distracting people. Independence. It's a lonely road, entrepreneurship. Though your goal is to foster community within your company, there will be days when you wish everyone else would be willing to work as hard as you are, to want it as much as you do. But realize that your company's success does mean more to you than it does to anyone else. Be willing to go the road alone on those days when everyone else has seemingly pulled off for lunch. That's what'll make the difference."

Alice's wonderful blog, from September 30, 2013, commenting on DIY learning conversation in CPsquare. Excerpt: "Emilie Doolittle summarizes some related research in a blog post, showing that social networks can improve collaborative efforts, reduce costs, help people get just-in-time help, speed decision making, and retain employees. Does your organization treat knowledge as a thing and learning as a pre-planned and isolated activity? If so, you might experiment by thoughtfully connected some networks, and watch to see what happens."

"Content marketing is more than writing blogs. Way more. If you're just getting involved in content marketing, the first thing you need to do is launch your blog and start writing. Then, when your blog is established and purring along, try throwing in a new type of content. I predict that you'll immediately see a difference - fresh traffic, targeted visitors, higher conversion rates, and better SEO."

In June 2014, Jane Hart updated her social workplace learning chart with roles and activities, resulting in four social workplace learning models: Directed social learning model (what we did as facilitators to ensure that people participate and stay on track); Guided social learning model (guiding to encourage and support the conversation rather than enforce it) Continuous social learning model (championing the ongoing sharing of knowledge and expertise, encourage learning out loud, working out loud, collaborative working) Independent social learning model (advising individuals to develop the new skills to manage their own learning networks and bring insight/feedback into the organization)