Week 10 - Cultural competence

I will have to admit that my experience with cultural competence is very limited both in the real world and online. I have had more to do with mothers with disabilities (sight, hearing and learning) then I have had with different languages or cultures. I have particiated in my organisations cultural awareness program and learnt about cultural sensitivity in pregnancy and child birth but have really not had much opportunity to practice and improve my cultural competence. Even my experiences in teaching at university have seen the vast majority of my students fall into the white middle class anglo saxon group. I think the best I can do in relation to being a culturally competent facilitator is to learn as much as I can about the subject and then maybe go looking for opportunities to practice these skills because they are clearly not coming up in my current work environment.

I have a feeling of ' I won't know what I don't know' so I better start searching out information about this subject as I am unsure how I would ensure the resources, images and communication tools and activities were culturally appropriate if I don't know what is and isn't appropriate. Many issues to consider. The activities provided some good back ground reading and food for thought.
Just a thought - If you have say 3 or 4 different cultural backgrounds in your e-group and there are things within each culture that are not appropriate for the other culture to see, hear about or discuss, how do you cater for everyone or am I being too simplistic here? (eg: female circumcision????)

Week 9 - my experiences of Twitter so far

It annoys me when I don't get the opportunity to take part in the organised session for the week - that happened this week with the twitter session due to school holidays creeping up on me & a 7 year old birthday party etc. I find I don't get to practice with a group of people which them leaves me floundering and time wasting as I try and navigate my way around the new tool. I lose valuable play time and the chance to ask stupid questions - which I know is OK in this environment. I tried to follow the twitter session but found lots of short messages with lots of highlighted words and what appeared to be coded messages. I couldn't really follow any sort of conversation and things seemed to be repeated (eg: Sarah said 3 times that they were starting in 75 minutes) So I am unsure if I am doing it correctly. I would like to understand how to use twitter properly and can see the benefits, so will have to have a good play when time permits.

Week 8 - using new knowledge

What I am learning in this course is not only benefiting me in my work environment but also making my life easier and more productive in my personal life. For example: I am rewriting my local netball association's constitution and have decided to use google docs (has made my life so much easier to collaborate with the other girls who are helping me do it) and saved confusion with many different versions.

Learning about wiki's has given me another option in relation to using it as a platform for my online CoP within my health organisation. I have found a wiki set up by a previous FO 2008 student from NZ specifically for midwives. No point reinventing the wheel.

Although probably the best collaborative moment that occured this week was through networking. I came across a lady who has been given the project within QLD Health to set up 'Clinical Education QLD - Clin Ed Q". She has designed a portal based on Share Net to facilitate education, training, blogs, personalised - web pages, e-portfolio, create personalised teams etc all at the one site. What I liked about it was that it was more of a 'bringing together of all the resources and directed you to the links rather than having to keep all the information updated solely by QLD Health. It enabled the viewer to be as personalised as they wanted to or just browse. At the moment it only has the capacity to interact with QLD health employees but come December it is hoped that people from outside can be invited in to participate. It has been piloted at 3 sites and will be distributed to all QLD Health workers in the next few weeks. Very exciting news!!!!!

Week 8 - working collaboratively and use of Dim Dim

I had my first experience in Dim Dim. I went in with an open mind, prepared for things to not be as efficient as Elluminate. My experience was as expected but it has not deterred me from giving it another go based on a few reasons. Firstly, what I have read about Dim Dim and what Sarah has said about the platform did not match the experience (in terms of voice delay and drop outs) so I am willing to give it another go. Also the fact that it is free, gives cash strapped organisations the ability to at least have a forum in the virtual world - which would be a big consideration for many. Another positive point is that there is no downloading of programmes etc - benefit to less computer savy participants. So all in all - I will try again at another time, although not necessarily in a hurry.

As for working collaboratively, I have learnt about google docs, wiki's and continue to hone my skills in blogging. I sometimes find looking at and replying to other people's blogs a little cumbersome and a lengthy process but have discovered that this is because I go off on tangents. I see something of interest in their blog, follow the link and then maybe follow another link and find I forget where I'm up to. I am so interested in making sure I learn as much as possible that I get distracted easily. I find the same thing happens when I complete the weekly activities - never one to miss out on any opportunity to earn something new. So I will try a new method this week - complete the activity I am on and keep a note of new sites etc to visit on a 'to do list'. Will see if that improves my priorty management (as opposed to time management - another thing I learnt about this week on another tangent. lol!!!!).

All coming together

Through serendipitous moments and networking that have come about due to this course, I am meeting people I would never have had the opportunity to meet before. Not only am I learning about a whole new world that has opened up to me but there is a reciprocity vibe in the air that keeps surprising me everywhere I look.
2 years ago I took 12 months long service leave to rescue myself, my health and most of all my marriage and my family. Turning my life around, ment letting go of my passion / job - midwifery and by doing so, I was able to spend time caring for myself and my family. It was during those special but difficult months that I learned to be still, live in the moment and appreciate what I have. So here I am - living in the moment, happily married, healthy and enjoying where life is taking me. It is introducing me to people like Sarah Stewart and Malcolm Lewis who share the same passion for life and I am forever thankful that I have had the opportunity to join this course and re-ignite the passion I feel for life. I only hope that I can give back what has come my way.

My mini conference topic

My mini conference topic will be looking at the process, benefits and restrictions in trying to develop an online forum for multidisciplinary maternity health professionals in a large organisation (my large organisation is QLD Health). I have come across many road blocks and am undecided about which platform to use, whether to use an existing one, whether to use an intranet site (only accessible at work) or use a well known, already established platform that will provide immediate numbers. My research so far has shown that despite people thinking it is a good idea, most people are reluctant to engage or are appathetic which means only a few select do, which stifles the discussion. I am concerned about confidentialty issues if I keep it just within the hospital and also this prevents network building and new ideas flowing in because everyone knows what everyone knows. Also I feel people don't really have the time to go online at work and so can see the benefit for an offline site. I would like to hold a synchronous event in Elluminate or Dim Dim if I like it better (will wait and see after tommorrow) I would like to invite people who have: tried to set something like this up and running in a large organisation, people who have engaged in a discussion forum like this and people who have facilitated a discussion forum - time it took, pros & cons. I would appreciate everybodies feedback and thoughts on this topic.

Week 7 - Elluminate session on social networking

I really enjoyed the session in Elluminate this afternoon for 3 reasons. It was fun (we had a laugh - well I know Willie and I did), I learnt something new (how to do break out rooms and get a clean white board) and we got to mistakes / deal with no sound etc but it was OK and it felt safe, These are the best ways to learn and practice our skills and to do it with others who are learning just the same as I am makes me feel relaxed in this new learning environment. Thankyou to Sarah for re-jigging the course this year to include practice and play time through out the course before we have to do the mini conference. I can't think of a better way to learn.