Where else do you tinker?

I have been using milSuite, which is touted as social media behind the Department of Defense firewall. Great place to connect with other professionals while feeling the parallelisms in public and the military education systems.

*To access milSuite, one needs a CAC or AKO/DKO credentials. The milSuite team has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr.

As I transitioned back to Georgia I have not been lounging around like stagnated swamp water. I have a fantastic opportunity to work with some terrific officers in the U.S. Army as a Course Manager in one level of an officer's professional military education (PME), in addition to my own educational pursuits, and giving scholarship and Google product workshops at the local library.

One of the pilots I am working on is to implement electives. I facilitate the Social Media elective. Many people assume that the military only does training, when in fact we have some well known colleges such as U.S. Military Academy aka West Point, Naval War College, Army War College, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Air War College...which make up one part of Professional Military Education (PME). I do not participate in the education versus training argument as I leave that to the great debaters because I move forward with people who are focused on the learning.

When you Google PME or Professional Miltary Education the results are varied. The U.S. Code: Title 10 contains the links to the chapters on Armed Forces, the U.S. Naval War College has a page with a description and resources about Joint Professional Military Education, Cornell University Law School has links with descriptions for the U.S. Code, which includes Title 10 Subtitle A > Part III > Chapter 107 Professional Military Education, and Wikipedia has an article on Joint Professional Military Education.

There are a few of us who are active on milBook who still blog publicly, just not necessarily about information that may violate the Department of Defense and service specific social media policies. Working with the military has its own set of unique challenges just as the local public school system (RCSS) does, but the parallelisms exist. You are reminded that we are all human beings and the power of sharing knowledge, skills, and abilities goes beyond any walled learning environment, or whether your career field involves a two way rifle range or crossing busy streets.

We are also in the process of implementing a milWiki portal to encourage and empower learners to share information whether they are attending the residential course, future students, or alumni. Little by little we are making a difference, whether through milBook, milTube, milWiki, or milBlog. As we embark on round two of the electives option, I look forward to sharing concrete experiences, lessons learned, and connecting with people who are knowledge sharers, lurk and learners, virtual mentors, and/or the next best thing since sliced bread. 

So where have you been tinkering?

Comments, recommendations, and/or check the block of the Reaction boxes are always welcome.