Making Connections

Joanne Egner News & Announcements

Welcome to the isee systems blog, “Making Connections”.  We hope you find it a practical resource for learning more about Systems Thinking, applying it to real-world situations, and using our software and training materials.

While we don’t have a set schedule, we post to the blog often. You can automatically get the updates by subscribing  via email  or using a news reader such as Google Reader, NewsGator or FeedDemon.

Most importantly, we want to hear from you. Please give us your feedback, post your comments, and keep us in the loop on what you’re doing and thinking!

Jeremy Merritt News & Announcements

I will be presenting a session along with Mark Clemente next week (February 23rd, 2009) at the VSTE 2009 Conference.  The session is called “Practical Applications of Systems Dynamics and STELLA in the High School Setting“.  If you are attending the conference, you can come by Meeting Suite 5A on Monday at 8:30AM to check out the presentation.  We’ll be camped out in the suite for the day chatting with folks and demonstrating STELLA as well.

Last September, Joanne and I attended the Modsim 2008 Conference in Virginia Beach and met Mark.  Mark is a high school chemistry teacher and is currently an Educator-in-Residence at the National Institute of Aerospace.  He is a big part of the Hampton Roads Modeling and Simulation Initiative, which is a group of folks from the education system, government, local businesses and industry that are promoting the use of Modeling and Simulation to create a workforce for the 21st Century.

We’ve been happy to support Mark and the MODSIM initiative this year in their use of STELLA in High School. The presentation will cover how Systems Thinking, STELLA and dynamic modeling can be applied to High School curriculum.  We’ll be handing out a CD with tons of sample models, cirriculum and a 30-day workshop version of STELLA

conferences, Education

Joanne Egner News & Announcements

isee’s consulting and training partner, the Whole Systems Partnership, recently launched the WSP systems modelling learning network . Developed for modelers in health and social care systems, this online network supports folks interested in learning how to use system dynamics modeling in their work.

• Access to models that address issues that may reflect your own
• Ability to share your iThink or STELLA models and get feedback from a wide range of people
• Training modules and online tutorials in specific areas of modeling such as communicating your models, linking model inputs and outputs to an Excel spreadsheet, creating modules and using array features
• A dedicated Network Manager who will respond to SD modeling questions and facilitate discussion between members
• Regular updates relevant to network activity and to support your development

The learning network is a great example of how isee NetSim software can be used to support online learning and sharing of iThink and STELLA models over the web.

To learn more or to register, visit http://www.wspnetsims.com/sd_home.asp or contact Peter Lacey at peter.lacey@thewholesystem.co.uk

healthcare, learning network, netsim