Story of My Car Ended; Items from April 1 from 2004 and Forward

Each year, on April 1, I have the fun task of writing a NOTE or Learning TRENDS that brings some humor and perspectives. This year, with so many overwhelming changes in our world/lives, I decided to, instead, share two elements in my April 1 note.

• Story of My Car Ended!

• April 1 Items from Elliott’s Notes and Trends from 2004!

How the Story of My Car Ended Yesterday: I wish I could come up with some fun and almost believable items for April 1, 2025. But the intensity of change in our worlds, from politics to technology to behavior shifts makes that almost impossible.

I will share a true story of how a Car’s Story Changed … Resulting in a Sale!

As many of your know, we have owned Teslas for over 12 years. When I bought the first Model S, it was new and exciting. I was invited to go to the Tesla factory in California and actually see my can being manufactured. The spirit with the staff was amazing - excited about creating the next generation of cars and energy - and collaboration and trust was high.

We had the thrill of taking the Tesla on a 7,000 mile trip across the United States a few years ago, sharing pictures and experiences during a 32 day adventure. I met and dialogued with a wide range of people, from all political sides, who were intrigued and/or opinionated about the Tesla.

The story of my Tesla fit my life goal of exploring new technologies and sharing the experiences openly.

However, in the past year, the Story of Tesla shifted from technology innovation to the behaviors and attitudes of Elon Musk. His lack of empathy for making HR changes at Tesla and later in the Federal Government was shocking. And, the idea that a person’s influence on politics is directly linked to their wealth is not what my sense of democracy is about. Watching him give $1,000,000 checks to people who vote his way kills the story of Tesla that I treasured.

So, yesterday, our Tesla was sold to CarMax in Albany. I assume someone who wants a Tesla or values the Musk approach will buy it and it will have a new story. But, in life, YOUR STORIES about people, tasks, jobs, adventures, investments must align with your values. So, at mile 53,006, My Story about Teslas ended. May the car have a caring owner. And, may we recognize that governance by wealth is Not Our Stories.

Previous April 1st Notes from 2004:

TRENDS by Elliott Masie - April 1, 2004

1. e-Learning Tax Considered by Congress
2. Pretzels Seen to Increase Learning Rate

1. e-Learning Tax Considered by Congress: The MASIE Center has learned that several members of the U.S. Congress are considering a proposal to add an e-Learning Tax. As the use of on-line learning grows, this is seen as a ripe area for "revenue enhancement". The tax would be based on the level of interactivity and learning involvement. Some members of Congress have been taking a wide range of e-Learning courses themselves to better understand the revenue potential. A sticky issue might be the impact of a non-completion of a course on obligated taxes. LMS vendors are starting to prepare special modules aimed at tracking and paying this "learning
tax".

2. Pretzels Seen to Increase Learning Rate: Researchers at Bachman
University have discovered that eating pretzels has a direct impact on the rate and effectiveness of learning. This seems to apply to both on-line and classroom based learning. One study does reveal that stick pretzels are slightly more effective than round ones pretzels (updated research from 2019)~

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Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - April 1, 2008

1. Giggle Launched by Google: Humor in Searching.
2. e-Learning for Super Delegates: Coping with Pressure.
3. Level 9 Evaluation: Kirkpatrick and and MRI.
4. Speed Presenting: More Words Per Minute.
5. Surrogate Students: Outsourcing Class Attendance.

1. Giggle Launched by Google (Humor in Searching): We have been briefed on a new service that will soon be launched by Google, called Giggle. Sometimes you want to do a search and don’t want serious results. In fact, you are looking for the funny or ridiculous. Giggle will use a new search algorithm to determine truly funny answers to search responses. Users of Giggle will also be able to turn on the speakers on their computers to hear a range of laughter based on the Giggle rating of each response. Launch date has not be announced.

2. e-Learning for Super Delegates “Coping with Pressure”: The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard is building a special e-Learning program for Super Delegates in the Democratic Presidential Campaign. Modules will focus on key issues such as “What to do when Bill Clinton calls you at 3 a.m. to get your vote?” and “Selling Your Vote on e-Bay - Is it Legal, Is it Wrong, How Much Could I Get?” Faculty will include Stress Specialists and Professors of Negotiation. Stephen M.R. Covey will teach a special module based on “Speed of Trust - Making Up Your Mind in Just 4 Months”.

3. Level 9 Evaluation (Kirkpatrick and and MRI): Evaluation of training results are taking a leap forward with the announcement of Level 9 Assessment from Kirkpatrick. While this requires the learner taking an extensive MRI, to see actual changes in brain structure, it should be extremely helpful in moving the ROI conversation forward. There are concerns about using this form of assessment too often with a single learner, in fields such as financial services. But, no pain, no gain!

4. Speed Presenting (More Words Per Minute): Train the Trainer methods are being changed to include a new approach called Speed Presenting. This technique involves removing all of the pauses and spaces from the lecture portion of a trainer’s presentation (either in the classroom or on-line). Research indicates that teachers can double or even triple their speed of presenting. Bob Pike, world famous Train the Trainer expert, believes that the total cost of training can be reduced by 25% to 33% using Speed Presenting. Of course, upcoming advances in Speed Bathroom Breaks and Speed Lunches will help move this movement of Accelerated Learning along.

5. Surrogate Students (Outsourcing Class Attendance): I was shocked to hear about the emergence of a new trend of outsourcing class participation. In very busy organizations, learners can hire an unemployed or off-shore surrogate to attend a course and later get the “abbreviated” version. Retired employees are now offering their services as surrogate learners as a way of increasing their revenues and also staying involved in their fields. Surrogate Learning is also involving the relatives of work-at-home learners. Hmmm.

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Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - April 1, 2013.

1. Bring Your Parents to Work Day!
2. Big Data Expands: Maps of What Learners Aren’t Doing.
3. Right Handed Designer Bias in Usability.

1. Bring Your Parents to Work Day! After the success of “Bring Your Daughters to Work Day”, there is now a growing interest in “Bring Your Parents to Work Day”, pushed by both helicopter style parents and underutilized retired parents of workers.

“Bring Your Parents to Work Day” would allow highly involved and concerned parents to meet the colleagues and bosses of their kids. Just as they did in K to 12 school settings, parents are often able to advocate for higher performance ratings once they meet their children’s evaluators. Some parents might even help their children redecorate their work spaces or cubicles.

It will also be valuable for the older retired parents of some employees. These parents can come in and be deployed as meaningful one-day assistants, leveraging their skills and experiences of decades of work. In some instances, the retired parents can even be deployed while their children are on vacation, filling in for them on key assignments and committees.

Clearly, many organizations will find the “Bring Your Parents to Work Day” program challenging! But, in an attempt to bridge generational differences and reach for new levels of Work/Life balance, it is being embraced by some companies with a passion. Several underfunded Venture Startups have gone so far as experimenting with “Bring Your Parents to Work Week or Work Month”, in order to save compensation levels. While State Labor Departments are concerned about the legality of these practices, few want to take on the ire of the newly engaged parents on this issue.

2. Big Data Expands: Maps of What Learners Aren’t Doing: Increased interest in “Big Data” has pushed several LMS companies to expand reporting capabilities to display patterns of Learner Non-Activity. While traditional reports indicate which learners have met competency levels or participated in certain learning programs, the LMS was never pointed at massive and complex patterns of non-participation. Now, managers can see 3D displays indicating:

* What Books or Articles Are Not Read by Workers?
* For Each Learner, What Activities Do They Never Do?
* Which Video Titles Draw the Fewest Workers?
* Which Presenter Send the Most Webinar Participants to Early Departure?
* Whose Emails Are Most Often Not Read?

Many learning analysts believe that tracking what learners Don’t Do is even more important than tracking their active participation. One LMS company is experimenting with a gamification offering that would provide “points” to learners who most effectively skip the most content, while still meeting legal certification. These points can be traded in for a vacation day or lunchroom vouchers. Big Data can focus on what learners aren’t doing as great predictors of workforce participation patterns. We might even issue a “Didn’t Do Transcript” for each learner in the future.

3. Right Handed Designer Bias in Usability: University of Brazio recently published a study focusing on the difference in eLearning designs created by left vs. right handed designers. It seems that visual placement of content and buttons shifts dramatically based on the hand bias of the designer. They looked at “directionality distinctions” in screen design and the impact on learning effectiveness. Not surprisingly, they found that eLearning modules developed by left handed designers worked best with left handed learners. Eye movement, mouse movement and logical flow of content was optimized better for left handed learners when design was done by designers of the same hand dominance. But, the least effective designs for both left and right handed learners resulted in design teams that had 1 left handed and 1 right handed designer. “Collaboration in design often results in a mushy and fuzzy approach that underwhelms both types of users.” said Dr. Framer, head of their Hand Design Bias Lab. The next study will look at allowing the learner to indicate their left or right hand preference - yielding a distinctly different design. Even Google is considering moving their ads to the left side for users that more often place their mouse nearer to the Q, A or Z keys on their keyboards.

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We must find a way to use humor as one of our tools for the rate of change, stress and shifts in our society. I hope these former notes from Elliott Masie’s TRENDS are helpful. If you want to see more, go to http://trends.masie.com/display/Search?moduleId=1865197&searchQuery=%22April+1%22 and hit the Search Button after entering “April 1” or “April 2” and you will find some other fun items.

Remember, that Learning is one of the core parts of facing the future.

Yours in Learning,

Elliott Masie
MASIE Learning Foundation
www.masie.com
emasie@masie.com