Hiring a Nonfiction Writer
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: not all writing assignments require the same skill sets. With that said, there are definitely overlaps such as the ability to compose a sentence, assemble paragraphs, and organize the flow of content. So, what do you need to consider when hiring a nonfiction writer? Two most influencingContinue reading “Hiring a Nonfiction Writer”
My Move to WordPress.com
You might have noticed that most of my published works center on the open source content management system called Drupal. I created my first Drupal 4.5 site in 2006. I have worked on numerous Drupal sites. I have provided training for Drupal 6, 7, and 8, and have written three Drupal books. So, why theContinue reading “My Move to WordPress.com”
Web Accessibility Blogs
My Website Accessibility blog posts on prometsource. WCAG 2.1 in 7 Perspectives Top 12 Accessibility Issues Web Accessibility Overlays: True Fix or False Pretense? 4 Key Success Factors for Driving Change Does Your Website Need an Accessibility Report Card? Creating Accessible Documents Accessibility Remediation is a Must What’s New in WCAG 2.1 Does an AccessibilityContinue reading “Web Accessibility Blogs”
Project Management Blogs
My Project Management blog posts on prometsource. Invent Your Own Development Methodology The Path to Migration Should I Fix my Existing Site or Build a New from Scratch
Drupal Blog Posts
My Drupal blog posts on prometsource. Better Instructions for Your Drupal Content Types Drupal Strategies for Landing Pages Create a Plan and Still be Agile Drupal Best Practices Drupal Don’ts: Pitfalls to Avoid Site Success Empower the Content Author in Drupal Drupal 8 Makes it Easier
Training versus Education
The difference between training and education has been discussed for countless years. If you consult a dictionary, you might see that training is the process of teaching or learning a skill or job. And you might see that the process of educating is the imparting and acquiring of knowledge through teaching and learning, especially atContinue reading “Training versus Education”
Introduction to Change Management
Change, a process to become different, occurs as a result of many processes. Processes commonly known to create change include: training or education, new systems or tool implementation, and process improvement or re-engineering. Change can affect people, processes, and systems and without appropriate management consideration and facilitation, change can be more challenging than necessary. ChangeContinue reading “Introduction to Change Management”
Instruction and Change
Instruction is often a success factor in the process of change management. When an organization changes, the change often affects how people work, how they complete their tasks. It is these changes in operation that often create change management issues. One way to help people accept change is to limit that which they have toContinue reading “Instruction and Change”
A View of Business Process Redesign
Process redesign is about change. There are countless methods and techniques used to describe the various processes and tools used to identify and implement change, similar to Facilitation and Instructional Design. Process change occurs in many forms: From no process to an initial process From incremental improvements to an existing process to significant improvements FromContinue reading “A View of Business Process Redesign”
A View of Meeting Facilitation
The Facilitation Process Highlights chart illustrates the various phases of facilitation which I support. I use various methods, tools, and strategies aimed at making the facilitation process work smoothly and productively while ensuring involvement and ownership by the participants. The goals for facilitated sessions can include, but is not limited to: problem-solving, incremental process improvement,Continue reading “A View of Meeting Facilitation”
A View of Training and Education Delivery
I believe that a successful training event depends on several success factors. Three primary success factors include: The design of the instructional materials and activities. The procedures and techniques used during the delivery of the training. The delivery skills of the instructor. Assuming the instructional materials and activities are at their best, the delivery proceduresContinue reading “A View of Training and Education Delivery”
Success Factors: Instructional D3 Projects
What does the instructional development project need in order to be successful? The answer from anyone who has studied project management might include such items as: an appropriately sized budget; a schedule with enough time; human resources with the applicable skill sets; a development plan that considers risk; and a communication plan. If you wereContinue reading “Success Factors: Instructional D3 Projects”
Requirements and Change Requests
“Bring me a rock, please.” Ever get the feeling that you are being asked to deliver a product or work that has not been completely defined? You assume you know what a rock looks like based on basic information provided. You find it and paint it, only to find the client wanted a small roundContinue reading “Requirements and Change Requests”
Process versus System
In today’s world of do it better, do it faster, we often look to technology to save the day. There isn’t anything wrong with looking to technology for opportunities to improve. The challenge arises when the technology is chosen before the process that needs to be improved is analyzed. This happens for many reasons. SomeContinue reading “Process versus System”
Facilitation Tricks of the Trade
There are a lot books out there on facilitation. They all say basically the same thing. They tell you a well planned event is better than one you do off the cuff. This is true. However, the best made facilitation plans have unknown factors that can prevent the plan from being successfully executed. I startedContinue reading “Facilitation Tricks of the Trade”
Understanding Measures, Metrics, and Measurements
I like to distinguish between measure, metric, and measurement because when it comes to process improvement, design, benchmarking, and re-engineering, there is a difference between what you want to know (measure) what it is that can be collected (metric) when that information is available (interval) what the measurement is against (process or product) what theContinue reading “Understanding Measures, Metrics, and Measurements”
A Drupal Life-cycle
The process of Drupal web design has moved to the front of my thoughts recently. I am not necessarily talking about the graphic design but instead the information architecture component of the design. I started thinking about how much has changed since I was creating basic HTML sites. What constituted planning back then seems aContinue reading “A Drupal Life-cycle”
Online Instructional Development in Higher Ed
In brick-and-mortar higher education institutions, where online learning is a grass roots effort, the quality of the course is dependent upon the professor/instructor. In other words, online environments quite often mirror classroom environments. A good classroom environment often translates to a reasonable online experience as well. The professors who put as much energy into theirContinue reading “Online Instructional Development in Higher Ed”
Instructional Design versus Building Online Courses
When we are given a tool that makes the development of online learning easier for the novice, we risk loosing the power of the design process. The temptation to open the course shell in Blackboard, for example, and start adding sections, items, folders, documents, etc. can be overwhelming. Add to this temptation the fact thatContinue reading “Instructional Design versus Building Online Courses”
Building a Dynamic Workplace with Cross-Training
What is cross-training? I use this term to describe a management approach I tried as a Project Control Manager for TRW. A project control manager is responsible for managing the financial books of a government contract. The number of staff in this type of office is often limited in order to keep total project costsContinue reading “Building a Dynamic Workplace with Cross-Training”
Building a Virtual Classroom (TM)
When I help instructors move from the classroom to online, I start with what they know (learning theory 101). It is easier to move forward one-step-at-a-time versus leaping. The following don’t have to be done in the order they are listed. Imagine I ask the instructors to close their eyes and imagine the first dayContinue reading “Building a Virtual Classroom (TM)”
Building a Certification Program
Most of us have either heard of someone being certified to do something or maybe we have been through a certification process ourselves. Depending on the certification, the process could be to simply take a test. Or, it could be more involved such as to include one or more of the following: multiple exams, training,Continue reading “Building a Certification Program”
Drupal Roles: Wearing Multiple Hats
If you do a search for Drupal jobs, the most common jobs listed are Drupal developer, Drupal themer, and Drupal designer. If you look at the skills required for each, they say basically the same thing: HTML, CSS, PHP, SQL, and Drupal experience. If the job is graphic, you might see additional requirements such asContinue reading “Drupal Roles: Wearing Multiple Hats”
What is Information Architecture?
Information architecture (IA) is an emerging practice being integrated into multiple disciplines so it is hard to find one definition that multiple disciplines share. Below are three definitions. What is consistent is the idea that IA is art and/or science and IA has to do with organizing information. Information Architecture Institute defines IA as: “The structuralContinue reading “What is Information Architecture?”
Paper Clip Dilemma
I was a lucky student at Virginia Tech from 1980-1984. I had a father who wrote me letters on a regular basis. They were always entertaining and thoughful. My father has been an inspiration and mentor my entire life. He passed away December 18th, 2009 and as I remembered back on the many talks weContinue reading “Paper Clip Dilemma”
