U-Blog 5

This section has been pretty interesting. It focuses on learning in the classroom. I have to say, one thing I hate most is being stuck in a classroom for hours on end. Having to sit there, listening to a mono toned teacher go on and on about something that could be interesting, but you instead fight back the yawns and kick yourself for not getting that well need cup of coffee. This describes about 90% of the professors here at USC. I spoke about one of my most memorable teachers of my life, Mrs. King. On thing I liked about her was her willingness to get us up and moving around to learn. She was a firm believer in a visual, hands on approach. I just wish more teachers would do this.

U-Blog 4

Since my new promotion, I've found quit a few people who don't respond well to authority and who don't fully understand and appreciate rules and guild lines in order to achieve a well ran business. I have my first mandatory staff meeting as manager and look forward to leading my employees to strive to be the best. I'm finding myself having to basically retrain the staff to insure we share the saw views. Now that I have that off my chest, I really want to talk about how interesting Chapter 5 was. I've studied a bit about the theories mentioned in the book in my psychology classes, but really understanding how it affects learning in a job setting is something I never thought about.

U-Blog 3

I've recently received a promotion at my job, and let me tell you how stressful it is trying to juggle school, work, and now a lot more responsibility. As a manager now of a restaurant, and having from anywhere around 35 employees that I'm in charge of, has really opened my eyes on how I was trained for my original position, as a bartender, and my new position as manager. It really means a great deal to me that all my employees are properly trained an know they're full responsibilities. I'm finding that properly training your employees saves a whole hell of a lot of headaches in the long run.

U-Blog 2

I found that in the Kert Luwin's research on groups, experiential learning and action research to be quit interesting. I'm a big believer in making a group work the best with each other. He did research on the "T" groups, facilitation and experience. While at the Connecticut State Interracial Commission, he, along with others, developed and designed and implemented and 2 week training program that encouraged groups to discuss and make decisions. In this meeting they wanted everyone involved, including the staff, to sit down and talk as peers. The trainer and researchers collected details and found that most people are able to learn and bounce ideas off each other when this type of training occurred. This research Kert Luwin did was very interesting. The link to this material is http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-lewin.htm.

U-Blog 1

This course has proven to be a lot more interesting than I had expected. Throughout the first two models we've done, we've had to examine the ideas of on the job training and the need for higher education. We also read an article about the the airplane company JetBlue. We looked at an approach they're doing in which they changed the name of their training program to university, JetBlue U. In this new type of training, they allowed the people being trained to speak openly and for more interaction to occur. I think this hands-on, up out your seat, open communication is a great way to get people to participate and fully understand their training. We also had to read a few articles about what corporate America needs and expects from people in the future. This was really an eye opener. It tells us what we really need to focus on today so that we don't keep doing the wrong things. One thing I think is just as important now than ever is the need for better communication and a more positive interaction among employees.

Workplace Learning

The one thing I noticed in reading about the trends in workplace learning and the need for corporate training and education to maintain our competitive edge is they go hand in hand. One cant be brought up or mentioned with bringing up the other. One factor I found in the trends in workplace learning is the need to have a general basic concept of what you're doing before you start any hands-on learning. No one wants to teach you how to use the company's new accounting software if you don't know how to turn the computer on. American businesses are competing on a global level as never before. Low-skill jobs largely have moved overseas and available jobs are becoming more technology-dependent. Sixty percent of U.S. jobs are held by workers with at least some post-secondary education or training. 63 percent of the 18.9 million jobs that will be created by 2014 will require some post-secondary education. Its now more important than every to push yourself and to stay well educated and also up to date on trends affecting whatever you do in your careers. Its becoming so competitive out there.