a fresh start in May

I’m cleared to gradually return to work.

For those who don’t know, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer last summer and went through daily radiation and weekly chemo from mid-November to the end of the year. I didn’t want to talk about it so much when I wasn’t sure how things were going to go. But as of now it looks like the treatment has done the job – I feel basically fine (better than I ever expected I would) and have had good follow-up scans. The Canadian health system is fantastic and I have highest praise for every one of the many many healthcare professionals I encountered.

It’s a bit crazy that it wasn’t detected sooner when treatment would have been much simpler. But I’m just one of those ones who must have been getting false negatives on PAP tests so the tumour got to be 5cm before it was noticed. They tell me it was in a hard to detect spot. That’s a very rare way for it to happen, so be sure to tell all women you know to get their checkups because usually an early diagnosis leads to fairly minor and very effective treatment.

And although my treatment was not minor and I was initially quite horrified at the description of what was involved, I would go through it all over again if I had to, knowing what I know now. It *is* possible to get past the low points and I am extremely grateful to be one of the lucky ones. I’m fully aware that there is a five-year window, but I’m feeling fantastically optimistic.

Technology, especially my son’s iPod, helped me from time to time and in various ways (I spent more than a few hours playing iPod ‘Boggle’ and ‘Plants versus Zombies’, watching TED talks and listening to music). Also, there are wonderful support groups online with tons of information.

Finally, and most wonderful of all… my family, friends and colleagues deserve a ton of recognition for their awesomeness! Thanks everyone — Love you lots!

Artsurge – social media for exchange between artists and donors

Artsurge (on twitter as @artsurge) describes itself as “promoting philanthropic & creative exchange between artists and donors”. It’s an example of how social media can create productive connections between people who might never have found each other. In this case, those-in-the-arts-with-ideas-that-need-funding can make a presentation to be seen by those-who-have-resources-and-want-to-support-ideas-they-believe-in. It looks like some very fruitful alliances could emerge from this.

The concept has some elements of microlending http://wp.me/ptZn3-7L and there’s a directness that is very appealing. I’m sure many donors would prefer to support a specific project rather than a vague “arts organization”. And artists almost certainly prefer to know that a bureaucratic layer has been eliminated in making decisions about how donor dollars are spent.

Here’s the link:
http://www.artsurge.org/

If you know of similar projects, please share them with me.

Measuring Informal Learning and how much is “scrap”?

Via Twitter and the #LRNCHAT hashtag, I’m seeing some recent postings addressing informal learning and the concept of “scrap learning”. The term “scrap learning” refers to learning that is not applied.

It seems that previously, scrap learning was seen as mainly a training issue and it has been analyzed in terms of formal training programs where specific learning outcomes are taught but not put to use after the training. The statistics indicate that up to 80% of such training ends up as scrap learning. http://www.knowledgeadvisors.com/archives/the-current-state-of-scrap-learning-and-manager-engagement/

How might this apply to an academic curriculum (which isn’t necessarily designed to be applied, at least not in the same way that corporate training is)?

And now the conversation is turning to informal learning and how it relates to scrap learning. It’s going to be the topic of a session in Atlanta next week:

http://greateratlantaastd.cloverpad.org/Events?eventId=263908&EventViewMode=EventDetails

It’s an interesting juxtapositioning of ideas and I hope to find out more about where this leads.

It seems to me that measuring informal learning is one of the most important things we can do (in both academic and training environments) if we want to truly reform education and optimize, for instance, how learning takes place via social media. Adding the notion of “what’s being learned but not used” could be quite a challenging — but also very informative — line of research.

More on Microlending

I’ve written about microlending before:
http://elizabethtweets.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/everybody-can-contribute-and-everybody-will-benefit-part-2/
http://elizabethtweets.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/its-a-distribution-problem/

because I believe it is a tremendously empowering concept.

That’s why a story like the one in yesterday’s Globe and Mail is particularly upsetting to me. “Nobel laureate loses final appeal to keep job at Grameen microlending bank.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/nobel-laureate-loses-final-appeal-to-keep-job-at-grameen-microlending-bank/article1971130/

Here’s a quote from the article which describes Muhammad Yunus as a pioneer of the concept of microlending, now dismissed from his role as managing director:
“Mr. Yunus has said the dismissal was illegal and alleged that the government was trying to take control of his bank, which pioneered the practice of giving tiny loans to alleviate poverty. His work spurred a boom in such lending across the developing world, earning him and the bank the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize..”

Note that other publications are writing about this as well “US and France lament exit of Grameen’s Muhammad Yunus”:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12984497

One has to wonder why the Bangladeshi government would want to take this position. Some reasons are given in the articles, but if those reasons are not valid, then the consolation is that hopefully, in this era where, through transparency and the flow of information, more and more people will up find ways to get to the truth and navigate around this kind of centralized control.

After all, decentralization is what microlending (and social media) is all about.

One more post about the exhibition

Click on the image to see a slide show of work on display at Qualicum for the month of April 2011. The set up went very well

All That Heaven Allows (detail)

This glass-on-glass mosaic work incorporates recycled, slumped glass objects and will be on display at The Old School House in Qualicum BC (Canada) for the rest of April 2011.

The opening reception is April 6 starting at 7:00 pm.

http://www.theoldschoolhouse.org/

I’m part of an exhibition

Sunset Boulevard

My hobby is playing with recycled glass and although I’ve had a bit of a “time away” from this over the past few months, I am happy to say that I’ve been able to fulfill a commitment I made about a year ago. Thank goodness I got started on some pieces immediately upon learning that a show was forthcoming. Life got in the way and if I hadn’t had a good start I would have had to cancel.

So…. my glass-on-glass mosaic work incorporating recycled, slumped glass objects will be on display at The Old School House in Qualicum BC (Canada) for most of April 2011. The opening reception is April 6 starting at 7:00 pm.

http://www.theoldschoolhouse.org/
http://glass-on-glass.ning.com/

The pieces for this show have recycled titles related to movies, as the concept of recycling doesn’t have to end with the physical materials used in the work. Some examples: “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Send me no Flowers”, “April in Paris” and “Made for Each Other”.