Search Results for: plain language

You Can’t Read This!

You can’t read this! You can’t even understand the words that are coming out of my mouth! Because I speak English – and you don’t. Actually, I had that a bit backwards. You and I understand this post just fine because we speak and read in English, but if you don’t speak English then you’reRead… Read more »

A Socratic Method Learning Experience

by Peter Berking (ADL) Peter has an M.A. in Education from UC Berkeley and has led Instructional Design efforts for over 15 years. Peter has designed and developed a wide range of training products ranging from technology-driven courseware and human performance design systems to instructor-led courses. He teaches classes in computer graphics at Northern VirginiaRead… Read more »

Project of the Week: USAID Student Intern Programs – 4 January 2011

USAID (United States Agency for International Development) Most of us on GovLoop are a) employed and b) educated, but we all have children or know children who can benefit from the USAID’s Intern Program. Applications for “paid” programs preclude a security clearance – check with the USAID to determine if the window of opportunity isRead… Read more »

Innovation Leaders: What Makes Manor Tick?

With a population of less than 5,000 and a median household income of around $50,000, Manor, Texas, is an unlikely place to find the cutting edge of government e-participation technologies. But thanks to a young and enterprising Assistant City Manager (Dustin Haisler, now of Spigit), Manor has attracted significant investment from a variety of firmsRead… Read more »

CB2: Simplicity for City Council

About 3 times per month my City Council in St. Petersburg meets to discuss and vote on local issues. Aside from knowing the name of my district representative, I generally have no idea what he’s voting on or if I should re-elect him. That’s a shame because (forgive the web-speak) he’s dealing with hyper-local issues:Read… Read more »

What’s the risk for government agencies of NOT engaging via social media?

If you do not embrace social media soon, the digital divide in your country will be dwarfed by the divide between your country and the rest of the world.Chris Moore, the CIO of Edmonton Canada, as reported in FutureGov Magazine. When people ask me to consider the risks of government agencies engaging with audiences viaRead… Read more »

TSA Supervisor to Staffer: Speak English

Last month, President Obama signed into law a bill that tells Uncle Sam to speak and write plainly. The bill echoed Obama’s executive order in May instructing agencies to write job announcements in clear language. Unfortunately, one smart-ass TSAer at BWI airport didn’t get the memos. Happily, her supervisor did. The New York Times reports:Read… Read more »

Gratitude….Practicing Thanks This Thanksgiving!

I know that we are all inundated with news events that have placed so much stress on us! Our questionable economy, foreclosures, rising health care cost, military family away from home, and continued job loss has overwhelmed many. You may have read a similar article I wrote last year regarding showing gratitude but I thinkRead… Read more »

CB2: What TSA Can Learn From the Simpsons

Chris Bennett’s Crisis Blog (CB2) Part 1 of 2 on the TSA Debate The TSA pat-down situation is making national and GovLoop headlines this week as images of naked body scans and videos of screaming children being frisked circulate through millions of travelers and non-travelers alike. In today’s CB2 I’ll propose a partial solution toRead… Read more »

A Shift in Thinking on Enterprise Wikis

Whenever I explain why someone should use a wiki I usually come back to this graphic created by NASA: Wikis, according to NASA, are designed (or at least deployed) to help mitigate the problems associated with document coordination via email. Whenever I show people this image, they immediately identify with the problems associated with documentRead… Read more »