Online self assessment and course review #23thingsmci

The last ‘thing’ suggested by the mci’s 23 things course was a renewed online self-assessment. I followed this recommendation and

completed a second online self-assessment tool. Overall, I did well but my weakest points remained online safety and digital content and creation.

In order to work on my problem areas, I have started to learn to code python. I had used R in the past a little bit but figured that python is more versatile and also easier to learn. As to online safety, I will go over Thing 4 again and take it from there.

My online safety and security, however, was helped by this course overall. I have learned many things I had not known before and was able to improve on many others.

I am still so surprised at how much more efficient my online searches have become since working through the information contained in ‘Thing 6 – search like a pro’.

I am very grateful for the myriad of tools and links provided in this course, including where to find free pictures and software of all sorts. It was also great to have to try out various online and downloadable tools and use them to create meaningful content.

I very much enjoyed this course and look forward to continuing to applying the newly gained skills and knowledge in my personal as well as professional life.

LinkedIn #23thingsmci

Thing 20 was about Professional Social Networks. The task was to either start or review one’s own LinkedIn account. I already had an account, so I used the Ultimate Linkedin Cheat Sheet offered within the course to review my profile.

The cheat sheet offered a number of helpful tips. The main change I made was adding a banner foto and working on my headline.

I also started to ask for recommendations from people I have been collaborating with. I would have like to activate the career interest, career advice, and salary insights options but they did not appear to be available to me on my free account.

Over the past three years, LinkedIn has replaced Facebook for me. The professional social network provides me with more useful information than Facebook and it is interesting and helpful to see what colleagues are doing or connecting to other professionals interested in my postings.

I started a new account three years ago and let it lie dormant for the past two. I think I will use this renewed focus on my account to become more active on it again. In particular, I will work on meaningfully increasing my network and also post my own contributions more frequently.

Let’s see what will do to my career! 😉

Digital learning tool #23thingsmci

Lifelong learning has always been a hobby of mine. Next to work-based learning, I have pursued various postgraduate qualifications as well as participated in numerous MOOCs. Studying Business Administration online at the mci has so far been my best educational decision.

At the mci, I also signed up for two online badges, one of which contained this 23 things course. “Thing 17” focused on online learning apps.

Digital learning straddles my personal and professional interests. Personal because of my own as well as my daughters’ studies and learning and professionally as I am charged with introducing digital learning opportunities for staff and customers at work.

Ace your Self-Study was the first evidence-based app introduced. This is a gem, particularly for supporting my daughters in setting, sticking to and recording their study times. After trying the time management, goal setting, self-reflection tools, and learning challenges on offer, I decided that the tool is not just for the apples but also the tree.

I had tried the AnkiApp before, which provides Flash Cards on all kinds of topics. My daughters started using it to tackle those blasted German irregular verbs. Their feedback was encouraging. The App offers a plethora of different stacks of cards, it provides sufficient flexibility to adjust the number of flashcards per session, it is easy to use and tracks the learner’s progress.

I also checked out StudyStack flashcards but was less enamored with this tool. I also checked out the stacks on irregular verbs in German and did not find a set of cards that was of comparable quality to the AnkiApp versions.

Thing 17 was a small revelation and has the potential to influence my family’s learning journey for the foreseeable future!

Evernote #mci23things

According to the welcome post on my Evernote account, I have been using this tool since the 29th of October 2008.

It has been a constant companion to my professional and personal life ever since.

I love the fact that I can access it from anywhere at anytime as long as I have access to the internet and/or:

• • a computer
  • a notebook
  • my phone
  • my tablet
  • my smart watch

I can take audio, visual  or textbased notes. With help of the webclipper, I can save entire or parts of webpages and articles. The many templates make it easy to write and organise all kinds of notes.

I have recently come across the template to take Cornell-style learning notes, which is an excellent learning aid.

Evernote makes it easy to manage my notes, giving me the options to cluster them in notebooks, to simply tag them and create shortcuts between them.

On occasion, I have also used the work chat option when I shared notes to collaborate with others.

Although, I have been a premium user for many years, almost all features of Endnote are free to use. I like the premium version as it allows me to access content offline and even search the archive for deleted items.

Finally, I like the two-factor authorisation, which makes it safer to keep notes and thoughts online.

If at first you don’t succeed…#mci23things

Over the past weeks, I have come across a number of encouraging articles, podcasts and quotes about the relationship between failure and success.

I have had my share of failures and success and I have continuously been working on my approach to minimising failures and maximising success.

 

My recent learning journey has culminated in a package of advice that I would like to share.

Serendipitously, I came across Educreations in my #mci23things course. Educreations is a homepage and app that allows you to quickly and easily create digital presentations.

So, I used this tool to summarise and present my take on failing to succeed:

 

Review of the tool

The free version of the educreations whiteboard tool has only a handful of features. On the one hand, this is makes it very easy to use but on the other hand it limits the user’s options severely. In particular, it does not appear to be possible to change the ordering of pages once they are established and the recording function only offers record and pause.

Given these features, using PowerPoint is the more versatile – if not quite so easy to use – option.

Accounting for the uninitiated #mci23things

Accounting can be frustrating, daunting and boring to the uninitiated. Particularly, the initial definitions and framing of the topic are less interesting than, say …., just about anything else.

And still, it has to be learned and likely reproduced in some kind of exam. This may be in school, at University or elsewhere.

Here, pictures can definitely be worth thousands of words (if you stick with accounting you can also learn how to count, document and book words and pictures properly ;).

So, here is a little guide to recognising and checking receipts and invoices!!

My daughter’s mother tongue is English but she has to learn accounting in German. Hence, the following flowchart is a mixture of both languages.

I have found the two images on Pixabay. If you click on the image, a link will take you there. The flowchart was created using Inkscape. I added the various colourful nodes, and worked on the pictures using two “Image Effects” filters – film grain and soft focus lens. Finally, I added text to all nodes and pictures and handed the finished product to my daughter. Just in time for her accounting exam on Monday.

I used Inkscape for the first time. It is great to make colourful nodes and edit images. However, you will not find any connectors or arrows in the picture and for good reason. I could not figure out within a reasonable timeframe how to use them for my purposes and therefore I omitted them. I had consulted the tutorials within Inkscape and also watched three tutorials on Youtube. The takeaway message was that it is counter-intuitive to use this function and a trial and error process. Not for me it was. I chose the omission approach which at the same time indicates correctly that there is no required order or sequence to the recognition and checking of invoices and receipts.

 

 

 

Finding stuff online for boomers #23thingsmci

Have you come across the “OK, Boomer!” memes? Well, that’s a hype you should not miss. I suppose it is a generational slur from the very, very young to the baby boomers as well as the not-quite-so-old! As a member of generation X, I fall into the latter category.

The under 25s feel that old fogeys, starting with my generation, just do not get them anymore. We are not digital natives and therefore must look to them as the last hunter-gatherers among the up-and-coming farmers; or like Neanderthals among homo sapiens.

Well, I am a Neanderthal who thought he was quite savvy with making tools. In today’s parlance, I am quite confident that I know my way around electronic devices and the worldwide web.

However, we are living through a digital revolution and things are moving fast. High time, I thought, to put my digital skills to test and join the mci’s 23Things course. And, no, TikTokers, I do not mean mild cognitive impairment.

The course provided tips for smarter Google searches, which I put to the test.

 

First things first: I am using DuckDuckGo and the tips worked on this platform as well.

Secondly,  I am currently investigating standards of documentation. I therefore started an online search on this topic.

I started very broad using the following search terms: standards of documentation social. No Boolean operators, quotation marks, stars…nothing.

The results were already quite promising. Lots of hits and sufficient pdfs to get a feel for the field.

Next, I tried a slightly more sophisticated approach and added one Boolean and quotations marks at the appropriate places: “standards of documentation” and social.

 

The quotation marks definitely helped in making the search more specific, which was reflected in the content of the hits returned. And yet, in many cases the results turned out to be almost too specific. This may be because the phrase “standards of documentation” seems to be an HR favourite and returned quite a few job offers.

My subsequent attempt used the “intitle:” prefix, which I had not been aware of prior to this course. Wow, now we were talking! The results were fantastic. Just about every single link returned was helpful.

However, my search interests were more or less limited to the field of psychosocial care. Therefore, I added “and social” to my search string, resulting in: intitle:standards of documentation AND social.

 

BINGO! Every returned result (at least as far down the list as I checked) was relevant.

I could also have used the prefix “author:”, set a filter like “country code” or file format, or used the * as a wildcard. However, I did not need those additional parameters. The “intitle” was the most effective search strategy.

Well, children, it appears that this boomer is still able to learn! As a matter of fact, that many humans still carry Neanderthal genes, which have helped us to supercharge our genetic defenses.

Us boomers might still come in handy.

Just saying.

 

 

 

 

How do you spell ‘digital security and safety’ again?

The next “thing” to explore as part of my #23thingsMCI – building digital skills course is digital security and safety.

The digital spelling bee

As part of this course I have already completed a digital competencies self-assessment grid produced by the EU. The results showed clearly that I am not yet proficient when it comes to digital security and safety. High time to do something about that!

In particular, I did not know how to encrypt my files and emails and I felt out of date with respect to checking security settings on my digital devices.

Digital safety tutoring

The Get Safe Online website provided ample information and good starting point for upskilling myself in this important area.

I learned to my relief that my MacBook’s FireVault and Firewall were active, encrypting my file and providing security from online threats respectively. I had also erroneously believed that with a mac I would be reasonably safe. Now I am researching which anti-virus programme to install.

I also knew that disposing of old equipment is risky business. I never quite knew how to go about this and did not spend much time thinking about it. As a result, I have multiple old phone, tablets and notebooks at home. Now I know that this process is as simple as using proper disposal facilities. While I do not know of any such facility, I will simply ask the IT department at work. They will definitely be in the know.

The above site is full to the brim with helpful information and I was able to take various titbits from many of the sections offered.

Treat your phone as your wallet

It will not be surprising that the Smartphone Security section on the ICO website provides a plethora of tips and advice on the safe use of smartphones. One section also refers to using the phone as a payment card. However, I found that the idea of treating my phone as if it was my wallet goes far beyond payment options.  If I treat me phone like my wallet, I will be much more risk-averse in the future.

*#06# is my friend

The code *#06# unlocks a phone’s IMEI; this is a unique 15-digit serial number needed by phone operators to block a device.

Password crackers know about your strategies

Before having a go at the EU Cyber Security Quiz I thought I was up-to-date with my password strategies. Using three random words felt like cutting edge wisdom. It is not. On Schneier’s security site I learned that password crackers have learned about dictionaries and how to use them.

Fret not, Schneier provides a solution to keeping you safe. Here it is, in his own words:

“So if you want your password to be hard to guess, you should choose something that this process will miss. My advice is to take a sentence and turn it into a password. Something like “This little piggy went to market” might become “tlpWENT2m”. That nine-character password won’t be in anyone’s dictionary. Of course, don’t use this one, because I’ve written about it. Choose your own sentence — something personal.”

A good investment

I truly consider the time spent studying the above resources a good investment. I realised that my digital safety and security skills were less well established as I had thought. From now on, I’ll treat my phone, tablet, and notebook the same way I treat my wallet – with the utmost care and safety first. I’ll also start a new password strategy using Schneier’s advice. This may even turn a cumbersome task into a fun exercise.

Oh, and I have updated my cybersecurity skills and received an award to prove it.

23ThingsMCI

For the past 20 years, I have been fascinated by the digital transformation or, alas, revolution. However, digitalisation has only really started to significantly impact my work life over the past three years.
Since then, I have acquired various skills and gained diverse experience in data management and online matters.

The 23ThingsMCI course gives me the opportunity to gain a more systematic perspective on helpful online tools as well as the chances and risks of online working.

I am looking forward to broadening my horizon and to reflect on my learnings in this blog.

 

Source of Picture: Pixabay

Social enterprises and the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything

Popular lore has it that the answer to this question is 42. Popular lore also has it that 42 is code for something else. I propose that 42 is code for social enterprises.

By choosing 42, Douglas Adams has given definitive cues supporting this interpretation: 42 or “for two”; “for” refers to the act of producing or providing something to the benefit of someone or something and “two” is the smallest social unit. Thus, 42 stands for doing something for society.

Enter social enterprises. Rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners, a social enterprise is a for-profit organization whose primary purpose is serving specific social objectives.

Social enterprises are for-profit ventures; earning revenue is a key element of their business plan. Indeed, successful social enterprises are those that manage the tension between remaining true to their social mission and running a thriving and sustainable business. However, the creation of wealth is not the endgoal of a social enterprise but a means to an end. Profits are principally reinvested into their social or environmental mission.

While ethical businesses are also investing in social and environmental activities, their core business purpose remains the creation of profit. As such, they are essentially different from social entreprises. On this point, I even dare to contradict one of my role models, the great Seth Godin. He stated:

“All of us, whichever job or project we choose to take on, do something to change the culture. That social impact, positive or negative is our choice. It turns out that all of us are social entrepreneurs. It’s just that some people are choosing to make a bigger (and better) impact than others. It’s a spectrum, not a label.”

I do not believe that we are all social entrepreneurs. We may all be closer to one or the other pole on a spectrum of business ethics. Many entrepreneurial activities may have social impacts but not every entrepreneur has social betterment at the very core of his or her business strategy. Achieving wanted or unwanted effects for the good of the people is different from this being at the centre of every decision.

So, what if social enterprises were the norm? What if every company we know would trade with a distinct social or environmental goal at the core of their reason for being? What if profits were all reinvested in the pursuit of social betterment?

What if the competition between car manufacturers would be about creating the most environmentally and user friendly, efficient, universally accessible, and safe forms of transportation? What if the core aim of the financial sector shifts from growth to distribution? What if commercial banks stop focusing on creating money and instead make it their reason d’être to support people in being able to afford accommodation, education, and health care?

Social enterprises could be the cogs of an Embedded Economy and thus the key to the famed Good Life. Therefore, social enterprises may well hold the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything. We just have to figure out the question.