Progressive Place

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Sustainability Resources in the Philadelphia area

This is a list-in-progress. You can add links to additional resources in a Comment, and I'll add them to the list if appropriate.
Note caveat at the end.

Sustainable Business Network of Phila- http://sbnphiladelphia.org/

B-Corp, pledge to use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems- http://www.bcorporation.net/

This blogger's Plastisaurus blog, where you can click the 2007 link to read the tale of the Plastisauri- http://plastisaurus.blogspot.com/

Delco Alliance for Environmental Justice - http://www.ejnet.org/chester/

Green For All, Van Jones' magic trick: stir in environmental justice with green jobs, and, Voila! One issue! And amazingly, it works. http://Greenforall.org

PennFuture, for Environmental Action in PA- http://PennFuture.org

Promoting alternative fuels and efficient fuel use in cities- http://www.phillycleancities.org/

Green Jobs Philly, a garden of hidden local treasures- http://greenjobsphilly.org/

PA Resources Council- http://www.prc.org/

For eco-entrepreneurs- http://www.greenbusiness.net/

Delaware Valley Green Building Council- http://www.dvgbc.org/

Clean Water Action- http://cleanwater.org/pa

Clean Air Council- http://cleanair.org/

We Can Solve the Climate and Energy Crises- http://www.wecansolveit.org/

The blogger and contributors to the list are not responsible for the accuracy, content, or existence of the websites linked to here. Anyone who follows these links is solely responsible for the results and outcomes of that use.

Monday, January 12, 2009

That's what I get for not looking it up online, like a normal person

This is good for a chuckle—

I had looked up the number of my local appliance parts dealer in the phone book, then set my cell phone down on the page while I wrote the number on a piece of paper. I then closed the phone book and put it away— with the cell phone in it. Not seeing my cell phone around, I used my desk phone to make the call. When I realized my cell phone was missing, I called it. Since I had the phone on vibrate, not ring, all that paper cushioned the vibration nicely.

Fortunately, I did eventually think to look in the phone book.

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Thursday, January 08, 2009

When SMEs create their own instructional materials, beware

Here are 2 caveats to observe, when letting Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) create their own learning materials. These rules equally apply to web content, user guides, comedy sketches, and anywhere else the quality of the writing may affect the outcome.

  1. Be sure to point out to management the likely differences in outcomes between "better than nothing" and actual designed instruction. The IDL (instructional design) literature is full of metrics for identifying desired learning outcomes, and how well various examples achieved them. Even if you're not responsible for creating the content, you are responsible for having gone along with the decision. And, if heaven forbid something goes drastically wrong because somebody didn't learn something they needed to know to do their job, you don't want to end up the goat.

  2. Exercise editorial control over all content, be sure it is included among your deliverables, and that your time is budgeted to do it. And, BTW, templates are only useful if their use requires instruction in how to use them. Otherwise they'll be applied ignorant of their purpose; or, worse, dismissed as bureaucratic nonsense.