Finding ready made content for education and training courses in business is not as easy as a Google search. Sometimes you need to know exactly where to look. This weeks lesson took us to many sites I personally had not even heard of. For instance, I found a fantastic site for my HR management students that will be a perfect source for international HRM issues. You see they have to research a country and compare three HR policies, laws or customs to same in the US. Some may choose hours while others chose minimum wage. The site was found on a site called Merlot which stands for Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning & Online Training. The site of interest to my class looking for recent International HR information is the HRM Guide. I plan to go back to this site at a later time to explore in more detail and perhaps join. The benefits looked intriguing:

As a Member you can:

  • Contribute learning materials
  • Create a personal collection
  • Develop a personal profile
  • Share your online expertise
  • Receive peer recognition
Another fantastic find for all of my classes is the following embedded video:


I found this video to be educational, lively, and down right funny. How many of you have sat through a dry totally loaded PowerPoint presentation. Heck, in a past life I might have been one of those PowerPoint hungry presentation mongers myself. However, about four years ago I really stopped (almost) using them on a regular basis. I say almost because some clients do expect them. The reason I minimize the use now is I prefer to carry on a dialogue with my audience. That is the only way you can truly get down to the nitty gritty of why they came to see you speak in the first place. Now I must say the larger the audience the trickier this gets but it really should be tried by those who do like to hide behind their PowerPoint like a crutch.

Going back to why I found this to be a great discovery (which happened to come from a fellow student and not the professor)...all of my students are required to do a presentation in every class. Typically as part of a group project. Some students have never used a PowerPoint so it is good experience. This video can show them the do's and don'ts in a fun and enjoyable way.

I could go on and on about all the cool stuff I discovered this week but won't bore you. Instead I invite you to follow me on twitter @DonnaRogersHR. As soon as I find anything interesting in this class or otherwise HR, I share.