Traveling to Saudi Arabia

I am traveling to Saudi Arabia from November 1st through November 8th to teach a graduate course in online instruction to faculty members of Saudi Electronic University. This is a new university that was recently established by royal decree in 2011. It is reportedly the first online university in Saudi Arabia, and I and several other faculty members at Franklin University will assist in training the newly established Saudi faculty members.

Image Source: Saudi Electronic University Website

This will be my first time traveling to the Middle East, and over the next several days I plan to write about my experiences in traveling to Saudi Arabia, interacting with the people, and teaching the course. I look forward to the opportunity to interact with Franklin University's international partners and my fellow-educators at this excellent institution of higher education.

How to Become an Expert at Anything

There are lots of experts out there. From brain surgeons to master carpenters, experts have highly refined, authoritative knowledge and skill in a given area. But how did these experts become experts? And perhaps more importantly, how can you become an expert? In this post, I will describe how you can very quickly become an expert at anything.

What Does It Mean To Be An Expert?
When you are an expert, you have authoritative knowledge and skills in a given area. This knowledge and skill often comes from extensive experience and education in that specific area. Expertise is usually refined and focused in a given field, though some people can become genuinely expert in multiple fields.

Related Article: How to Achieve Success in Life

How To Become an Expert
In this post, I will share some of the fastest ways you can become an expert in any area. You may be surprised at how easy it is to start gaining vast amounts of knowledge and skill. It can sometimes seem overwhelming, but all you have to do is just start learning and building experience and you will already be moving closer to becoming an expert.

If you want to become become an expert at something, here are the best strategies:

1. Set your goal.  
1. What do you want to be expert at? Before you can really become an expert, you must clearly articulate what you want to be expert at. Do you want to be an expert teacher or writer? Do you want to develop expertise in sewing or organ playing? Perhaps you want to become a motivational speaker? Be totally clear about what expertise you want to gain. 
2. Why do you want to become an expert? Do you want to make a while bunch of money? Do you want to use the expertise to benefit others? Are you planning on giving a presentation on the topic, or do you plan on starting a small business in the area? Whatever your reason, it must be compelling or you may not have the drive to sustain the effort required. 
3. What are the milestones? Sometimes you must achieve certifications or degrees of some kind to gain the expertise that you are working toward. If you want to be a doctor, you must earn several degrees, do a residency, and pass many exams. Be sure to find out what milestones are required and make them a part of your plan.
2. Find a model. Whatever your goal is, someone else has probably already done something similar to what you are working to do. This approach will move you toward your goal very quickly. Find someone that you can model your work after and do the following:
1. Use them for advice. Ask them questions whenever you need additional help or support.
2. Watch them! See how they do their work. Volunteer to work with them for free if you need to, just do what you can to spend time with them and learn by observation.
3. Mimic them. Use the same patterns of action, speech, body gestures, and attitude that your model uses. Adopt their strategies until you make them your own and can adapt them to your own style. 
3. Start learning! Find books, videos, movies, and CDs on the subject you want to learn about and simply start learning. Personally, I became very interested in how people learn and how to help them learn. Early on I started taking classes on communication, training design, presentation skills. I checked out and bought books on training and training design. Eventually I earned an MS degree and a PhD in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences. But I have not stopped learning - I continually build my knowledge through consistent study. Here are some ways you can start learning:
1.  Read. Libraries are incredible resources of knowledge. I check out a couple of audio books a week and am continually listening to books that will expand my knowledge and give me greater expertise.
2. Online groups and communities. There are many communities online that can provide you with support in your learning. Join LinkedIn groups, discussion groups, and listservs to read about what people are talking about in the field and to ask questions. Get involved with the community.
3. Ask people. If you have a burning question about your chosen field, ask! There are many people out there that will be willing and happy to share their knowledge.
4. Take local community classes. There are all kinds of community classes out there - from cooking to technology you can build your expertise and really extend your practical knowledge and skills.
5. Google. Just start searching and you will likely be surprised at what you can find. I have a friend in an MBA program who wanted to learn about microeconomics and wasn't getting his professor's explanations. He eventually searched out and found a series of excellent YouTube videos that taught the materials very clearly and helped him become more expert.
6. Get a formal education. Very few things can give you expertise like going to college or university. You can start by taking a course or two. Earn a degree. If you want to become an expert at finances or educational design, start taking classes. Start working toward gaining more formal knowledge.
4. Start doing. Begin doing whatever it is that you want to learn about. If you want to learn how to build a log cabin, start by building a deck or a shed. Or perhaps just start building the cabin! The point is to start doing what you want to learn about so that you can learn from your mistakes and keep improving.
5. Keep moving forward. As long as you keep moving toward your goal, you will eventually reach it! Just keep building your knowledge one day at a time, and in time you will have greater expertise than you ever imagined possible.

So, what do you want to become an expert at?

Podcast: Creativity in Instructional Design

Instructional design is an inherently creative endeavor. But what is creativity? I recently recorded a conversation for the EdTech Dojo with my friend and Franklin University colleague Dr. David Ni about creativity in instructional design. We discussed what creativity is, how it applies to instructional design, and give several tips and tricks for applying creativity in your own design work.


You can access the podcast discussion here.

Related Post: The Creative Spirit of Design

A Challenge to the Slacker: Live Your Potential

I am often amazed and saddened by the number of people that go through life living far beneath their God-given potential. I have learned through many years working with students and coworkers that everyone has the ability to achieve incredible success in their own lives and profoundly impact the people around them. And yet so rarely do people achieve what is within their potential.

In fact, I sometimes get tired of seeing people floating through life, consuming without contributing, failing to see and do the many incredible things that are available. What wasted potential! What a sad thing to watch people of such potential wallowing in their own apathy, falling short of their incredible potential to live a full life and share their rich blessings with the people around them.

What do You Want?
I write this blog post as a sort of challenge to everyone that reads it. What do you want out of life? Is there something that you wish you could do, something that you've wanted to achieve in life but haven't yet done it? Is there something you would like to see, some place you would like to go? What do you want out of life? How do you want to bless and help the people around you? How can you more fully fulfill your own destiny and divinity? When you die, how do you want to be remembered by the people you love?

I am sure that you do have answers to these questions, I believe everyone does. Everyone has the desire for something better. If you do want something different in your life, keep reading. However, if you don't want to accept these challenges, don't waste your time by reading the questions below.

What it Takes to Set and Reach Goals

• Figure out what you want! Discover what you really want to change in your life. Read and answer the questions at the beginning of this post. Think deeply and seriously about where you want your life to head so that you find true clarity on what you really want in life.
• Do it. If you want something meaningful in life, then go for it. Do what it takes to make it happen. Don't spend your entire life thinking about it, worrying about it, and discussing how things aren't quite ideal for you to be able to do it. Get out there and start doing!
• Focus. Minimize and eliminate distractions from your life. Cleanse yourself of mindless television and internet surfing. Consistently increase activities that contribute to personal growth, health, learning, and success. Be sure that you do not get distracted by what you can't do in your own circumstances. Focus on what you can do and do it!
• Plan. Figure out exactly what you need to do to reach your goal. Research what it takes. Talk to people who have done it. Figure out what you need to do. If you can't figure out all of the steps right now, that is totally fine. Just do what you know you can do right now. If you step toward the thing which you desire, you will find yourself closer with the pathway clearer.
• Learn. To succeed, you must fill your mind with positive, true knowledge. If you want to change who you are, you have to drastically change what you allow others to teach you about life. You must acquire and trust knowledge that gives you personal power. Read scripture to heighten your understanding of your divine nature. Listen constantly to motivational speeches and talks to build confidence in yourself and in your abilities. You must flood your mind with good, pure, motivating, useful knowledge so that you have the power to sustain success. And you must eliminate that which lowers your view of yourself and your destiny.
• Get used to discomfort. Working toward new goals and dreams is difficult because it takes you out of your routine. Humans naturally like things to be comfortable and even predictable. Human beings like safety. But if you want to change and improve your life, you have to become friends with the pain of learning, action, and setbacks. After a time, however, you will learn to enjoy these difficulties as personal challenges and will welcome them as a way to improve yourself.
• Get help. If you do not have the knowledge, skills, or resources you need to reach your goals, get help from the people around you. Your spouse, friends, children, clergy members, teachers, managers, and even strangers are very often willing to give you support and guidance in your goals. Seek out the people who will teach you everything you need to do be successful.
• Persist. Keep working toward your goal. If you do not give up, then you cannot fail at reaching your goal. Think about it - as long as you continue to move forward toward your goals, you will succeed! I have seen many of my students overcome incredible obstacles to complete their studies because they kept moving forward and reached their goals. Be persistent - get back up when you fall down. Learn from your mistakes and adjust your approach. Just keep moving toward your ideal life and you will quickly find yourself living it.
• Find joy in the struggle. Working toward a goal is often as satisfying as reaching the goal. Training to run a race can be as exhilarating and beautiful as running the race. Learning so that you can pass as class or earn a degree can be as enriching as earning the degree. Consciously and consistently placing yourself on the path to success is success itself, so learn to love the process and path of success.
• Celebrate success. Set short-term goals for yourself and when you reach them, rejoice! If you run 3 miles for the first time, celebrate! If you complete a difficult course, or lose X number of pounds, celebrate! You are moving along the path to a more fulfilling, successful life.

So, what are you going to do? If you are not satisfied with your life, will you get up and begin to shape and create the life you desire? Or will you continue to meander through life living below your potential for happiness and success? Are you willing to accept the responsibility to make the changes you wish to see in your life? Are you willing to sacrifice the comfort of the apathetic slacker? It is never too early or late to learn, grow, change and achieve.

Are you willing to pay the price?