Abbreviation in Curriculum

In my shop we have a process where one of the other instructional designers will review our course package before sending it to our Learning Standards Office for final approval.  The reference material for current course I am working on uses dozens of abbreviations and acronyms, which, when I sat through the course, confused the heck out of me.  If it confused me, what does it do to our learners?  If a learner has to stop and look up an abbreviation in the glossary during a class, they then miss one to two minutes of presentation.
When I revised the course, I eliminated nearly all of the abbreviations.  But when other developers now review the material, they constantly comment that items could abbreviated.  So I have been forced to clarify my method.

• Abbreviations should be avoided in learner material unless it is commonly understood by the entire learner audience.  Examples would be ID instead if identification, or IED for improvised explosive device.

• Abbreviations can be used in material that is addressed to the instructor such as laboratory or exercise guides, instructor related activity in the lesson plan, or testing instructions.

• Abbreviations are not used in the portion of the lesson plan that instructor would read, to encourage instructors to not use the abbreviations.  Those abbreviations are common in their language as subject matter experts, but too much use simply can leave the learners behind.

• All terms with abbreviations or acronyms will have the abbreviation or acronym introduced when the term is introduced, and it will be included in the glossary.

• Defining abbreviations is not a valid test question because we do not use level 1 (knowledge) questions.  The abbreviation may be used in a higher level question as long as the use of the abbreviation is consistent with it's use in operational situations such as scenario questions.

Simulator Training for Fire Battalion Chief

One of my passions is fire strategy from the incident command view.  Two of my class projects have dealt with training and communication for incident command.  I realize that most of my classmates relate more to classroom learning, but my field is much more hands-on, developing skills and critical thinking in life-threatening situations  So I would like to share this video from South Metro Fire that shows their incident command training simulator.  Then they show some actual scenario time, and the post-session debrief.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQMMbDSfjT4

One item they do not explain well is that the other fire companies (Eng 1, Ladder 1, etc.) are role played by other battalion chief students while one student is acting as the chief.  Since only one chief can be training at a time, it creates a "bottleneck" that limits training throughput.  By using other learners as role players, they are still engaged and learning, frequently by the mistakes of the student chief.

We do similar things in tactical training, having other trainees act as aggressors, victims, or crowds.  The worst thing is to have learners sitting around without being engaged during a bottleneck.  Idle hands will find trouble to get into.

Isolation

Word of warning - this may be emotional for both of us.

One of the unspoken principles of this course is that we are social beings.  Most of us thrive in a social environment.  And social media has been working to keep some of us socialized because we cannot socialize in person.  My pastor has called it physically distance but spiritually close.  But what is the cost of this enforce isolation on those who cannot use social media to fulfill their need to socialize? I present two cases:

My father suffered from Parkinson's for the last four years, a degenerative disease that normally is a slow progression of loss of both physical and cognitive abilities.  In his case, I visited with him three times a week, taking him for a long walk, then sitting with him and either talking or simply asking him trivia questions that push him to use both recall and logic.  During that time, there was a very slow progression of the disease, but not too bad.  Then the quarantine hit and his living facility shut down all visits from family.  In about 100 days, he went from walking with a walker and minimal daily assistance to multiple falls, restriction to a wheel chair, and needing help with nearly all routine daily activities.  When he actually caught the virus and went to the hospital, they thought he also had dementia.  Although the cause of death was technically pneumonia cause by Covid, I atribute it as much to the isolation.

A man I work with served in the United States Marine Corp for 30 years, then retired to work for the Navy training sailors to use small arms, then developing and directing such training efforts.  He is what I would call computer functional; he can use some technology but learning new skills or applications is difficult.  With the quarantine protocols in place, we are working from our homes using whatever connection we have to our servers and email.  Well, his connection and computer is not able to constantly see connect to the servers and the normal applications we use to conduct daily work functions.  He can connect to our email through the external connection.  His response has been to drink...and last week he had to be taken to the hospital by one of our team.  His blood pressure was way high and he was incoherent.  After getting his BP under control, he has been moved to the psychiatric area for further treatment.  Without socialization and daily interaction, he has taken a different route.

As we discuss letting our schools reopen, we need to consider what the isolation is doing to younger children who do not have the option to socialize via media as teen and adults.  What is the impact of that on their mental development.  I have no answers but it is a major factor that must be considered.

Produsage - Concept

My project is to provide a place where employees of Spartan Investigations can share their experience and learn from the experiences of others within the company.  Spartan Investigations currently operates in three dispersed states conducting investigations, asset collections, bail agency enforcement, and personal protection.

My concept is an internal company blog, where the Spartan operators can share the incidents that taught them how to take the precautions they take now.  Some are as simple as allowing a captured person to have a smoke before transport to de-stress.  Another learned recently was the value of having a body camera and when to turn it on. These lessons, shared, help build the corporate knowledge base and hopefully prevent others from having to learn a lesson the hard way.  Additionally, it will move the organization into a more community growth concept, where operators can see what is happening in other parts of the company and communicate ideas, concepts and experiences.

If you have and thoughts on how to improve the concept, please comment.  If you have had an interesting experience with a security officer or private investigator that could be used as a learning experience, please let me have it as part of my start-up on this.

6414 Blog Burn-out

I have been surprised at how few classmates have been blogging this week.  I'm feeling lonely because there is little new to read and very few comments out there.  Yeah...I'm struggling to stay engaged as well, but at the same time forcing myself to stay engaged stretches my mind.
I encourage all my classmates to try to keep up with this.  It is OUR community.

A Thread of Truth

Years ago, a good old Navy Chief taught me an excuse is a thin layer of reason wrapped around a lie.  It really stuck with me as it applied to telling the whole truth and doing your best work.  And this was before the Navy adopted the "Honor - Courage - Commitment" core value.
Some recent activity on Facebook seemed very similar to that same idea.  Two contacts from my Facebook community recently posted items on Facebook that others called out as being false stories.  In both cases, the story had that thread of truth but the totality was false.  One was the claim that Five Guys Burgers and Fries did not serve police officers.  The truth of the story was that a few employees at one franchise did refuse to serve the officers, but when contacted, the franchise owner closed the store, fire a couple employees and retrained all the rest.
The other story was that Weis supermarket employees were forbidden to wear or display the American flag at work as it was too controversial.  This was supposedly in response to the protests over the May 2020 killing of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis. They said the display of political logos, slogans, and symbols on clothing — including employees’ protective face masks worn during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — was even a fireable offense.  In reality, the company has had a uniform policy for associates that has not changed in 50 years:  Associates cannot wear logoed, messaged or symbolic items while working.
Lesson learned - if a story or post on Facebook makes you angry, it is very likely fake news with that small thread of truth.  So check your sources.

Social Media Content - Criminal Behaviors

First of all, let me state I am not lawyer or a law enforcement officer.  My background is writing curriculum for law enforcement and training as a security officer.  I serve as the director of ethics and professional development for an investigation and security firm.
This past weekend our security teams working on the oceanfront captured videos from two incidents.  The two incidents present very different issues to our security officers and the handling of the video reflects that.
The first incident was captured by the security officer's body camera.  The officer was standing outside between the front of the client's hotel and a walled-in outdoor pool.  Suddenly a young male came running around the corner and ran directly at the officer.  He threw a gun over the pool wall and ran right past the security officer so fast he left a basketball shoe behind.  There were no shots fired and no one was injured.  The gun actually sailed completely over the pool and landed in the street beyond, where one of our team secured it in place until the police arrived while the other stayed on property.
The video was made available to the police, then was shared within the company via the company's GroupMe two days later for training and awareness.  The question I would pose is what would be the ramifications if such a video was shared on normal social media?  Could it jeopardize due process in a court case or possibly prejudice a jury?  Would the person capturing the video be subject to criminal or civil consequences?
The second incident involved a fight where an woman used a word that got her beat up by another woman.  It occurred off the property our team was protecting, which under state law prevents us from interfering beyond observe and report.  The parties were separated by onlookers, and it seemed over, when the instigator used the same word to claim that she was beat down by five people.  The assaulter broke free and resumed the beat-down until they were again separated.  By the time police showed up, the assaulter and her friends were gone.  The instigator was still claiming there were five persons beating her but did not want to press charges.
Our officers were likely the best witnesses present and both spoke to the police.  One of our officers did record the incident on his phone but did not share it on social media.  I have seen it and it, like many others we have seen on social media, is really a case of the racially insensitive colliding with the racially over-sensitive.  But again, what are the liabilities if the video was shared on social media?  If either was further attacked as a result of the video content, would the person capturing and sharing the video have any liability?  And what would be the cost of defending yourself against such charges?
I definitely do not have the answers to these questions, but at the same time, do the people sharing videos like these even consider these questions?

Trello

I tinkered with Trello a bit yesterday and saw some uses for it.  It is an easy way to make and share a collaborative task list.  I found the introduction helpful as a place to start.  I simply created a list of the things I need to do or have done in preparation for my trip to Florida.  It was easy to develop the list of tasks and sub-tasks. 
It is not  replacement for Microsoft Project or other such high end management tools.  Trello does not have all the scheduling tools and I do not believe it would interface with Microsoft Office tools the way Project does.  But neither does it take extensive time and effort to learn.  It would be very good tool for managing a collaborative group project in a class, where various learners can ensure all tasks are completed.

What are your Personal Networks

If you saw my last post, you know I was trying to decide if and how to post notice of my father's death because I was struggling with even being on Facebook in recent weeks.  Well, I decided to post before going to church on Sunday so I would not get a lot of questions about his condition. 

Well when I posted, I was again amazed at the different groups of connections I have and how they all seemed to connect through me.  In all these comments and reactions, there are only eight or ten connections that could be in more than one category.  The table below only accounts for the first 24 hours after the original post.  It does not account for a few texts, IMs, and e-mails.  I added when I physically left those communities, even though I stay connected through social media.

What does it all mean?  Well, obviously I am well connected through my church, where I have been a member for 29 years.  It is a very engaged and multi-cultural community that really cares.  Beyond that, maybe that I need to get to know my neighbors more?

Community	Start	End	Comment	Reaction
Hometown/High School	1976	2003	17	5
Navy	1984	2004	9	8
Neighbors	2000	2020	1
Church	2001	2020	29	40
Extended Family	2001	2020	6	11
Former Work (BW)	2006	2016	12	7
Living Waters Ministry	2015	2020	4	3
Current Work (CSF)	2016	2020	1	4
2nd Job (Spartan)	2018	2020	1
Totals			80	78

Social Media Obituaries?

If you read my last post, you will see that I am struggling with Facebook right now.  I am no longer comfortable reading all the opinions and issues that friends and family post.  It seems to be so full of opinions and anger that it is no longer fun to read.
At the same time, this is where we have been sharing our lives with our extending networks of past and present friends, coworkers, and family.  And when a significant event occurs,  shouldn't it be shared with as a major life event? 
So here I am...I got the call last night that my dad had passed.  It was not unexpected.  He had Parkinson's for years, then the Covid isolation accelerated the disease.  Two weeks ago he was admitted to the hospital as Covid positive.  Three days ago he was not eating, had high sodium, and fluid in the lungs.  His personal doctor, the hospital doctor, and I all agreed that it was time to just make him comfortable.  No feeding tube, no resuscitation. The loss is not as significant as some would think because the man I know as my dad had been gone a while.  And yes, there is relief at his passing...and guilt for feeling the relief.  But death is familiar to me...it is a well worn path that I have traveled before.
But now the struggle is how to share this with that extending community of family and friends.  If I share it on Facebook, I will get hundreds of comments that I will have to look at and respond to, even if it is only to "like" them.  But with that interaction I will get sucked into looking at other posts on Facebook.  Those posts that I am actively trying to avoid by not looking at Facebook as much as I used to.
It is strange to struggle with a decision, because I am known as a decisive person most of the time.  I have dealt with critical decisions frequently and have an instinctive way of choosing the correct path every time.  I have to consider this one for a few days. Since we are not doing a funeral or memorial service, I may wait until the burial and just publish a link to the obituary.

Stolen Facebook

As my Facebook family is mostly Christian, I recently posted a request that people think about what they post and post with love instead of trying to cause strife and anger.  I worded it very carefully to not push against any side on all of the various volatile issues running rampant on today's social media.  In return I ended up in a 'discussion' of my own because one Christian woman (friend of a friend) felt I was trying to silence her when she was trying to provide truth to illuminate issues.

After gracefully bowing out of the back and forth posts, I sat and wondered how my post could be taken that way after all my careful thought and wording.  I wondered where the Facebook I joined was.  The Facebook about connecting with friends, celebrating life's accomplishments, and occasionally sharing life's sorrows.  It has been high-jacked by political agendas, anger, and self-righteousness. To me, it seems like the original purpose of Facebook has been lost to all this aggravation.  I am reminded of Jesus throwing the moneychangers out of the temple.  To paraphrase Andrew Lloyd Webber in the temple scene from Jesus Christ, Superstar (Ted Neely in screech rock singing style): 

My Facebook should be a site of fun.
But you have made it site of strife.
Log-Off!  Log-OFF!

Leader for Exploration

Last night I was driving up into the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina.  The roads became very twisty as we got closer to our destination.  There were times I was following another car, and found it very easy to follow the tail lights and brake lights of someone else.  I could anticipate directions, braking needed, and amount of steering input.  But then that car would pull off and I had to be the lead, trying to see where the road would be taking us, not sure about the sharpness or banking on every turn.  Being the explorer with no one in front of me was very stressful, and I had to consciously relax myself so I was not too tense to drive effectively.  And of course the 450 pound black bear running across the road did not help.
This morning, I realized that it was not unlike the Web 2.0 explorations we are doing in this course.  Being a private person, I do not explore social media much, and that exploration make me uncomfortable.  The risks of leaving too much of my footprint on the web, or getting hooked into material that captures my interest and time (that I don't have).  But with someone to follow and guide the exploration, it does make it slightly less stressful.  And it is ironic that as I do research for this course and try to learn more about the relationship between online learning and Web 2.0, on name keeps popping up in published papers.  We are very fortunate to have Vanessa Dennen leading us through this exploration.

Network Knowledge Activity - Ancestry.com

After I had posted my example of an activity, I visited my Ancestry account to get some information.  As I got distracted and cleared a few hints, it occurred to me that this was a huge knowledge network.  Think about how the user works within the Ancestry site.
After setting up an account (membership), you name your family tree (or trees) and you start entering the data you know.  This usually involves collection of data from the family to start.  The data you have is entered into the web site in an organized fashion (curation) that provides data points where the data you have input can them link to other data within the archives.  Those data point come up as hints which you can add to your data or reject as irrelevant.  This repeats the the collection/curation cycle in a loop as your family tree grows.
Some of the hints will link to family trees that other users have built in the database.  You can choose to not link to those trees, but if you do, then your information on the data point has now shared with others linked to that person in your tree.  When you review their data, you can see the source of their data to judge its validity and compare it to your own.  In effect, you are brokering your own and their data when you accept to link you data to each of these others.  It becomes a joint data project, where, as you add data to the shared data point, the other users see that new data and hints they can add.  When data is questionable or confusing, you can contact the other users through the web site to negotiate what data points are trustworthy enough to save.
In my personal tree, I have traced my family back to Bridgewater, MA, when the land for the town was purchased from the local Indians.  And my family married Mayflower passengers, making me a son of the Mayflower.  The negotiation process became important as well when there are eight men named John within four generations of my family.

Cybersecurity

At this point in my life, I been involved in the security trade for many years.  I was a training sales coordinator for military and law enforcement training.  I am a registered security officer and personal protective specialist (think executive protection).  I write security force and law enforcement training for the military.  But am I secure enough in my online life?

I get training every year on cybersecurity and I know I am following most of the protocols.  I try to not let the internet see too much of me.  I have less on my Facebook than many people.  Yet I do worry about what I don’t see or know out there.

You see, with static security, the concern is what is coming in to your area.  In a bank or a store, you are watching the people for signs they may be a threat.  You may also be responsible for checking the perimeter to maintain locked doors, etc.  In the cyber world, this is would be checking incoming emails and files before opening them and maintaining your antivirus and other protective software.

But when you venture out into the world of the internet, it is more difficult.  During protective service, before we move the protectee, we do an advance survey to scout the routes, look for places that could difficult, and plan to mitigate all the risks we can.  In the cyber world, you cannot ‘test drive’ a site before you visit.  Yes there are certificates on site, but even government and military sites do not keep their certificates up to date.  And there are spoof sites that can mimic actual sites.

So I come to the point that I do the best that I can, and try not to worry about the rest.

Some links:

 

https://medium.com/@nickrosener/an-in-depth-guide-to-personal-cybersecurity-be98ba47c968

https://www.naic.org/documents/consumer_alert_cybersecurity_identity_thieves.htm

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/08/02/cybersecurity-101-practical-tips-to-protect-your-personal-data/#7f3fca49220d