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Technology Coach

Coaching has made its way into areas of business. Coaching is a resource that many professionals have been using for quite sometime. Actors have coaches. Athletes have coaches. Dancers have coaches? Speakers have coaches. The idea of coaching is for the individual being coached to become better at some activity or skill. What you consider learning or using technology an activity or skill? I would.

Coaching is a better option for some to learning than receiving classroom instruction. Recently a friend of mine contacted me about learning to use new technologies on his job. If he takes the time to learn the skills needed there is no limit to how far he can advance with his organization. He has the so-called soft skills and he has the education level needed to reach the top. But technology has permeated his space. As it will for all of us. He can no longer avoid mastering these skills.

I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to introduce my idea of a technology coach. And I have done just that. We have agreed to have our first session after the Labor Day holiday. I am certain with a little time he will gain the confidence he needs to master the technology necessary to become much more proficient in his work. At that point he will no longer need a coach. So, if you like the idea of a technology coach I will soon be available.

You can reach me at kaidupe@gmail.com

Mobile Learning

3 Ways I Use My iPhone for Learning
by
Kai Ajala Dupe



I would like to suggest to you today that using an iPhone or some compatible mobile device can you give you great flexibility and allow you to adopt a mode that I use frequently to prepare for my toastmasters speeches. Mobile Learning also known as on-demand Learning is becoming increasingly more popular as busy business executives and young millennials start to take advantage of the capabilities of devices such as Apple's iPhone. I was reading an article just the other day in Success magazine. The article entailed 27 resources that successful people use to get ahead. Guess what? Of the 27 resources that were listed, 14 of them were technology based. And even further, 8 of those were really tied to the abilities of a portable or mobile device. I am an avid iPhone user. Today I would like to share with you three of the ways I use my iPhone for learning: Audiobooks, Podcasts, and Videos.

First lets talk about audiobooks. Audiobooks are a great device for those who have to keep up with changing information and who do not always have opportunities to read. Many popular books are now also on Audiobook. You can download these audiobooks from iTunes or audible.com and listen to them on your iPhone. Just last month I listened to the very popular The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. How does this work. It is very simple. I downloaded the audiobook using iTunes and it is automatically incorporated into my audiobook library. I plug my iPhone into my macbook and press the sync button and voila I now have the audiobook on my iPhone for my listening pleasure. This gives me the ability to listen to my audiobook anywhere I have my phone. Which of course is everywhere. I listen at work. I listen while jogging. I listen while driving. It is a wonderful way to receive the information I need and I do so repeatedly. It has been a great way to learn on the move.

The same can be said for Podcasts. The idea behind podcasts is the same as for audiobooks. It is recorded content. The difference is usually a podcast is shorter in length and usually they are free and available via the web for download. I use podcasts to listen to lectures from my professors at Pepperdine. There are also some great niche podcasts that I used to gain knowledge on a variety of subjects. For example, there is a podcast called The Apple Phone Show. I use this podcast to keep up with information and techniques for keeping up with and getting the most of my iPhone. The Apple Phone Show has a new podcast each week. You only need to subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or the website and anytime there is a new content it is automatically downloaded to your computer when you start iTunes and synced to your phone the next time you connect it. Recently, Oprah Winfrey used podcasting technology to distribute a recording of her world wide class on spirituality that she hosted on Eckhart Tolle's new book, A New Earth.

If that is not enough the iPhone also plays video. You can use it to view custom videos or videos that are on YouTube. How does playing a video help me learn. Well let me tell you. Since I am an aspiring speaker one of the first things I was advised to do to improve myself was to record my talks. I have been following that advice for everyone one of my toastmasters speeches. My phone does not record video, not yet anyway. So, I use my flip video to record my talks and then I load them onto my phone and review my performance. Sometimes to save space on my phone I upload the video to YouTube and view it from my phone. This has worked tremendously well for me. And of course I can view other videos to learn such as movies, documentaries, discovery channel content, and video demonstrations or how-to videos. Using my iPhone for video viewing is another one of the great ways I use my phone for learning.

And finally I use my iPhone to browse the Internet. The phone is equipped with the Safari browser. Many phones claim to allow web surfing. I have had many of these phones that make this claim. Most of them are useless. The iPhone actually allows you to surf the web and be able to actually read the content. Most phones don't. Also, there are many sites that are customized for the iPhone. So there is an iPhone version of Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Which brings me to my next point on distributed learning. With my trusty iPhone in my pocket I am only a click away from a google search that answers any question on any topic I may need. Sometimes, I am listening to an audio book and in the book there is mention of another good book or perhaps a website that I need to research. I immediately pause the audio book and do a google search and bookmark the information. Sometimes I may even head over to amazon.com and purchase the book. I can also access my gmail account. If someone sends me information in an attachment I can view the information right there on my iPhone. All right there in real time. Google has an entire suite of applications known as Google Mobile that are designed for mobile devices such as the iPhone.

As I have said before I love to learn. I consider myself a life-long learner. And I consider life-long learning a prerequisite for success. Today I have given you 3 of my favorite ways I use my iPhone for learning. We have talked about using the iPhone for audiobooks and podcasts. We have also discussed how I use video for learning. And finally I gave a brief example of using my iPhone as a means of distributed learning by searching the Internet and using Google Mobile. Mobile Learning is fast becoming the wave of the future so don't get left behind. Become familiar with these mobile devices and kick your learning up a notch.

Questions?

Technology Coach

Coaching has made its way into areas of business. Coaching is a resource that many professionals have been using for quite sometime. Actors have coaches. Athletes have coaches. Dancers have coaches? Speakers have coaches. The idea of coaching is for the individual being coached to become better at some activity or skill. What you consider learning or using technology an activity or skill? I would.

Coaching is a better option for some to learning than receiving classroom instruction. Recently a friend of mine contacted me about learning to use new technologies on his job. If he takes the time to learn the skills needed there is no limit to how far he can advance with his organization. He has the so-called soft skills and he has the education level needed to reach the top. But technology has permeated his space. As it will for all of us. He can no longer avoid mastering these skills.

I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to introduce my idea of a technology coach. And I have done just that. We have agreed to have our first session after the Labor Day holiday. I am certain with a little time he will gain the confidence he needs to master the technology necessary to become much more proficient in his work. At that point he will no longer need a coach. So, if you like the idea of a technology coach I will soon be available.

You can reach me at kaidupe@gmail.com

Technology in the Schools

I have noticed in conversations with several of my friends who are administrators in public schools that they are constantly restricted from using prominent learning technologies in their classrooms. They describe this regualtion by their district as if it is something that persists in all schools. One of my colleagues, who is a principal in San Antonio, Texas has mentioned his district has outlawed "Second Life", the virutal learning environment created by Linden Labs, in his school. He has also mentioned that iPod use has been outlawed. Is this two different philosophies regarding educational technology? Could this be the perpetuation of the achivement gap? Schools use technology I know this for a fact. So, when I hear stories from public school administrators mention that their schools outlaw technology I must wonder about the motives. Check out the article from Friday's Arizona Republic:

Arizona opens new technology academy.

The Arizona Republic (8/6, Gordon) reported that "one of the first K-5 technology academies" in Arizona "opened its doors to students" this week. "Scales Technology Academy (STA) in Tempe boasts a 1-1 ratio of students to laptop computers," and according to the school's principal "it is the first Arizona elementary school to do so." STA "is part of a growing trend within state districts to incorporate technology into classrooms," with a number of Arizona districts seeking to use technology they had previously banned, such as iPods, "as a way to educate students." In addition to laptops and Smart Boards, schools are using the "Nintendo Wii for fitness and education games," as well as "podcasts and Internet resources such as YouTube and Google Earth." Some parents and educators are concerned that technology is a "convenient curriculum," and may be overused. Educators at STA, however, stressed that technology is "an added resource" used "to enhance" rather than replace the standard curriculum.

Those who master technology in the 21st century will be the leaders and those who do not will be the proverbial hewers of wood. If you can not use technology in your school lets work to get that changed. If you can not change it, create programs to immerse our students in technology after school and on the weekends. Their competitive future lives depend ont it.

Email

Several times in the past couple of weeks I have had experiences that left me puzzled. One has to do with my wife’s search to find our new home in Houston. We were looking at homes in the cypress area of Houston. Our mortgage broker had recently provided us with a pre-approval letter that had since expired. We needed a new letter in order to make an offer on a home that my wife was absolutely interested in. My wife was becoming very nervous because we had not heard from our broker. A couple of days letter we received an email response from him. He apologized and mentioned that he had been out of the office and did not have access to email.

On a second occasion even more recent. In attempt to offer my services as an educator and a speaker to a Youth summit that was taking place this past weekend. Although I was late in offering my services, I was offering them for free and I am certain I could have made a very meaningful contribution to the affair. For a week I heard nothing from the principal organizer of the event. Today I received an email that stated:

Hi Kai,

Thank you for your interest in the removed for confidentially. Unfortunately, I was in removed for confidentiality and not able to respond to your interest. However, I would be grateful to have you participate and help plan next year's event.

Take care and I look forward to connecting with you soon.

Regards,


My question is this. Where are you unable to access email? Now I am sure there are some remote locations where this is the case. But in the examples given above the latter was on the campus of a university while the other was simply out of the office. I know we do not always wish to be tethered to technology but in business being connected is crucial and provides a competitive advantage.

Please understand. In today’s world it does not take much to stay connected to your email. If you are in business or a student you are daily receiving time-sensitive information that demands your attention. You may not need to act right away but you life and actions may change when you are armed with the latest information. And for the examples given above my wife and I were too late to bid on our new home before someone else made an offer and the event I wished to speak missed a golden opportunity for free services.

The moral of the story is at the very least arm yourself with some type of mobile device (phone, pda, blackberry) that allows you remote access to your email. If your phone calls are important enough to warrant a cell phone, why not the email?