Hi Everyone ~

I hope you are having a great start to 2009! It promises to be everything you make it to be. One of the goals I have set for myself this year is to make my "Ultimate Possibilities" seminar available to the public (which means you, your friends, your family and even those people you don't know are invited). Coming this March, this powerful seminar will assist you to break free from beliefs that are preventing you from moving forward. I guarantee the results you discover about yourself, from this seminar, will transform your life. Stay tuned for dates, times and locations.

Committed to helping people step out of the ordinary,

Barb Langlois

P.S. I have a request of you: When you register for Facebook, add me as a Friend (this will get you using Facebook). I only have 2 friends and my son thinks that's hilarious. He, of course, has 40 or 50 friends, but he also keeps rejecting me as a friend. Can you believe that? Seriously though, I need an increase in the number of friends with the understanding I have no time to socialize on Facebook. Thanks for helping me out.

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Article ~

"Do One Thing a Day that Scares You."
~ Lululemon advertising

Attention All Non-Facebook Users

by Barb Langlois

Do you really know the role Facebook plays in people’s lives?

Facebook is BIG. It is how many people, particularly Gen Y’s, though I’m not excluding Gen X’ers or even Baby Boomers, socialize with one another. If you’re not aware of Facebook or haven’t checked it out, you are lagging behind.

In one of my workshops, after my Generations role play, I was talking about how many Gen Y’s use Facebook as a social network. A comment came from a Baby Boomer, who couldn’t believe people actually communicate that way: “Whatever happened to phoning a friend and meeting them at Starbucks for a coffee?”

I responded, “Your choice might be to socialize that way, but many Gen Y’s (and Gen X’ers and some Baby Boomers) choose to socialize through Facebook. It is a social network. It’s not better, not worse, it just is.”

Well this person couldn’t believe it. They thought it was unhealthy, anti-social and just downright wrong. Unfortunately this is often how people from different generations judge one another. Each generation believes they do things the correct way; the generation before them is old-fashioned; and the one after them is just, well, ‘crazy.’

I hear of more and more nursing units that have a dedicated page on Facebook where staff can switch shifts with one another. I also know of some leaders who tap into Facebook and find it easier to book casual staff through it, then to try and contact them by telephone. Some forward thinking nursing units, have dedicated Facebook computers, for staff to use during their breaks. It’s just like checking your email, blackberry or phone for messages, only Facebook is a lot more fun.

Facebook isn’t bad or wrong, it is evidence of our evolving technological world. If you keep pretending things should be the way they were when you were that age, well I hate to say it, but you’re stuck in the 70’s (or 60’s, or even 50’s). Times are changing and as humans our job on earth is to keep evolving, to keep growing. As a mentor once said to me “if you are not growing, you are dying.” Facebook is just one example of how many nurses want to stay in their comfort zone and resist the change that is upon them.

Here is my suggestion, Facebook is growing and is a very popular way of communicating. It’s not going to go away, only get bigger. If you haven’t already done so, I invite you to take a tour of Facebook and see what it’s all about. Here is one tour link:

http://www.ehow.com/video_2201967_how-facebook-site-tour-beginner.html

You can also register for Facebook at:
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php

Some Interesting Facebook Facts:

Facebook was started in February 2004
Facebook has over 300 employees
The website has 100 Million active users
More than 100,000 new registrations per day since January 2007
The site receives over 15 billion page views per month
It currently hosts over 1.7 Billion photos
The average Canadian Facebook user spends over 30 minutes on the site per day
The average Facebook user visits 4 times per day

My belief is that we need to find ways to incorporate Facebook into aspects of our work. Start thinking how we can use it for the benefits it provides.

Step Out of the Ordinary!

Barb's Signature

Barb Langlois RN BSN MSN
Speaker and Seminar Leader
(1) 604.819.1888
www.BarbLanglois.com

e-Mail me at: barb@barblanglois.com

P.S. It appears nurses are not the only ones lagging behind in the technology revolution. Consider the following that was sent to me after I wrote this article. It is taken from a school newsletter, written by vice-principal, Mike Campbell:

“The exponential growth of the information superhighway in the past decade has been staggering. The rapid evolution of online learning, social networking, downloading, blogging, text messaging, and multimedia presentations have put parents and teachers a step (or several steps) behind a child’s vast knowledge base. Consider these stats/facts:

The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. We are currently preparing students for jobs that do not exist.
If Facebook was a country, it would be the 5th largest in the world. It did not even exist 5 years ago.
There are 31.6 Billion searches on Google every month. In 2006, there were 2.7 Billion.
The total # of text messages sent and received everyday exceeds the population of the planet.
The amount of technical information is doubling every year.
By 2013, a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capabilities of the human brain.
It is estimated that by 2049, a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capabilities of the entire human species.

comic What does this mean for our school? We must be aware of the constantly changing landscape of the world, merging our current teaching methods with new methods that engage and relate to our students. This can be a challenge. Most of our teachers attended school in the B.G. period (Before Google), while our students have grown up in the A.G. period (After Google). Professional development must focus on educating our teachers on how we can effectively teach our students, equipping them to be technologically savvy young disciples, ready to lead the next generation.

As educators, we can use Facebook, text messaging, instant messaging, Wikis (collaborative online projects), smart boards (whiteboards that operate as a touch computer screen), webquests, blogs, and online interactive presentations to effectively allow our students to connect their interests and experience with curriculum expectations. For many of our students, this connection will be the most effective way for them to learn and prepare for their future.

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