The Contractor Chronicles - #1

Things have been pretty busy in my world as of late. I recently took a contractor position as a Training Facilitator in a large regional grocery chain (that's all they will allow me to say).

This whole contracting thing is a strange experience. I don't really think it's for people who are looking for a structured environment or do not have a strong sense of autonomy. I will be posting my (Internet scrubbed) experience here as the weeks go by, starting with:

Know your contracting agency: Make sure they are reputable and will have the time/resources to help you through your first experience. They will be the people who will help you if you have questions or need help after you start. The agency is the one who needs to keep the relationship strong, both with you and the companies they serve so if the experience is bad for you be sure to let them know.

Stand up for yourself: I'm pretty bad at this, I give all sorts of work away for free just so I can make people satisfied and happy. If the work falls even remotely outside what was specifically outlined in the contract, start to be concerned. If the job turns into something totally different, make sure to speak up.

Make sure the company you are contracted to gives you the resources and information you need to work for them: I was told I would have to wait two weeks for a stapler. Almost enough said there, but it could be worse. I'm still struggling with the fact that I cannot hook my smart phone up to my computer, so that I can save appointments and emails - basically be as productive as I can. So I make due and actually write my appointments down.

Gather your own resources shamelessly: I do not have time to wait for them to help me be successful in this position. They really don't either. So I write my own guides to help me through training, determine what I need and try to find it on my own, stop people and ask endless questions about their business so that I will be able to speak their vernacular as quickly as possible.

Your contract will end someday, be prepared: This goes both ways. If they tell you 3 months, then help/guide/make them stick to it. You are the one who needs to find further employment after the contract is done, so if they keep pushing your date out you cannot determine when to start looking for a job or tell your future employer when you can start.

There's more, but I'm too exhausted from my week of running around trying to find a stapler to think of it.

Microsoft is pretty sneaky - LCDS released!

I'm not quite sure how long ago this was released (I believe in the last month), but Microsoft has released a free xml learning content development system.

From the help files:

The LCDS, or Learning Content Development System, is a forms-based tool for creating e-learning content. The LCDS is designed for authors and trainers who need a quick and easy way to compose e-learning content with all of the re-use and flexibility of the XML format. Fortunately, no knowledge of XML is required in order to use the LCDS. This allows you to focus on creating rich, engaging content and keep pace with the industry evolution to XML, without having to learn any programming.

By using the LCDS, you can:

Author rich, interactive e-learning content without tagging.
Preview your course, exactly as students would see it, at any stage of development.
Set up a course structure that you can easily rearrange at any time.
Deliver SCORM-compliant e-learning content.
Create courses in 16 different languages.

Downloaded it and first impressions are a bit...well....stifled. It's not as intuitive as I would wish. Maybe I'm spoiled by Captivate, as I was up and running with that in a matter of 5 minutes. Like some other bloggers have commented, this product seems to have appeared out of nowhere with little fanfare. That impression, along with my first experiences with the product lead me to think LCMS may not be worth investigating until it undergoes some version updates.

It's currently installed on my XP box at work, but plan to download it at home on my Vista laptop, as I am brave and enjoy that sort of silliness like seeing if it will actually work. We'll see if I can post an example or two......

Top 100 Tools for Learning

Top 100 Tools List

Pretty cool list - I've found some new things on here I haven't heard of. Going to try to review a few as well after I start my next contract.