It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
Training Magazine, Goodbye Old Friend
A great many print publications are struggling financially these days, with some becoming online-only publications and others closing down entirely -- so each new announcement does not come as a complete surprise. But for many veterans in the training and development field, the recent news of Training magazine folding up shop came as sad news indeed. Over several decades, many have received significant education through its pages, while others were given a platform to share their knowledge or first spread their wings as industry experts.
Karl Kapp has done a good job of bringing together the reflections of a half-dozen people who have blogged at the news of the demise of Training magazine. His blog posting also provides a solid list of alternate resources that remain as outstanding sources of learning, training, and development articles and news. If you aren't subscribed to most or all of these, definitely check them out!
Learning Circuit's February Big Question: Instruction in an Information Snacking Culture?
At the ASTD Learning Circuit's Blog, Tony Karrer noted a trend that many of us are seeing lately: "we seem to be snacking on information, not consuming it in big chunks." As the February "Big Question," he then asks us all to reflect on this phenomenon: Are people really "snacking" more? Do we therefore need to think about instruction differently, and if so, in what ways? Is this shift a problem, and if it is, how so exactly? See the blog posting links to the blog responses so far.
Two Recent Articles on Mobile Learning
ASTD's T+D magazine has recently had two good articles about the growing trend of mobile learning. In my view, both are worth your time to read:
- "Smartphones Make IBM Smarter, But Not As Expected," by Nabeel Ahmad and Peter Orton. Appropriately enough, ASTD has made this article available as an audio podcast so that you can listen to it on your favorite mobile device!
- "Can You Hear Me Now?" (PDF), by mobile learning expert Judy Brown. She asks: "Is mobile access to learning and performance support a part of your learning architecture? If not, you may want to re-evaluate."
On Learning Styles
Will Thalheimer writes a good blog called Will at Work Learning, which he describes as being "Will Thalheimer's research-based commentary on learning, performance, and the industry thereof." He recently authored a post titled "Learning Styles Reviewed by Association for Psychological Science AND FOUND WANTING". In short, Will is reporting on a recent review of the evidence (commissioned by the Association of Psychological Science) for the benefits of using "learning styles" in creating instructional content. Interestingly, the review found that "there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice." Read his posting for more on the findings -- including the scope of what can be concluded from the review and what cannot -- as well as Will's thoughts as both a researcher and consultant.
The Latest Insights on Social Learning
I continue to find the flow of good articles, postings, and resources on social learning to be almost overwhelming. So as I did in the last two round-ups, I'll provide some of the latest "gems" for you here:
- "Where Social Learning Thrives" by Marcia Conner at Fast Company
- "Formalizing Informal Learning?" by Clark Quinn
- "A Framework for Social Learning in the Enterprise" by Harold Jarche
Updates from Element K
As usual, I'll end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched in 2009. Each newsletter includes several articles of relevance to the Learning and Development field, as well as updates about Element K events and our latest product releases. You can see the latest newsletters here: December, January, February, and March.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
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