It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
Measuring the Impact of Learning and Development
Two recent items of note on the always challenging issue of measuring the impact of training, or learning and development activities more broadly. First, Josh Bersin's August column in the August issue of Chief Learning Officer magazine, "A Memorandum on Metrics," describes three trends found through his firm's ongoing research on training measurement. These describe the continuing challenge that good measurement continues to pose for most organizations, the fact that the tools available continue to change (forcing organizations to adopt a variety in an attempt to obtain a complete picture), and lastly, the need to expand measurement initiatives to include informal learning.
The second recent article is "ROE's Rising Star: Why Return on Expectations is Getting So Much Attention," by James D. Kirkpatrick and Wendy Kirkpatrick, in the August issue of T+D magazine. This is a deeper dive on the subject, walking through what ROE is and how it contrasts with the more traditional ROI. The authors detail several key principles, including why:
- The end is the beginning.
- ROE is the ultimate indicator of value.
- Business partnership is necessary to bring about positive ROE.
- Value must be created before it can be demonstrated.
- A compelling chain of evidence demonstrates your bottom line value.
How Long Does it Take to Create Learning?
As noted in my previous roundup, Bryan Chapman recently performed a survey of the Learning and Development industry, asking how long it takes to develop various kinds of learning content. This was an update to his earlier survey results from several years ago. The results are now in, and he has provided them in a presentation hosted at SlideShare. Included are separate results for the creation of content for ILT, three levels of e-Learning development, and blended learning. These are very interesting survey results, and very valuable information for all in the L&D field.
Formal vs. Informal, or a New Taxonomy for Learning?
Rob Pannoni and Grant Ricketts in the August issue of Chief Learning Officer magazine wrote an interesting article titled "A New Taxonomy for Learning." I can agree with the authors that terms like formal and informal learning are used inconsistently at times in the Learning and Development industry. But with my background in philosophy, I am a stickler for clearly defining my concepts, and so I don't personally struggle with the formal vs. informal distinction and the line between them. That said, I think Rob and Grant have done us a service by clearly laying out a "new taxonomy for learning," that maps both learning modalities and organizational needs onto a two-by-two grid created by crossing organization-driven vs. learner-driven with developed resources vs. ad hoc resources. This mapping and terminology is easy to understand and I think should be helpful for many L&D professionals.
Tips for Effective Online Conferences
The amazingly prolific Tony Karrer recently provided two blog posts to help you create better online conferences and learning webinars. The first was "19 Tips for Effective Online Conferences" and the other is a list of links to other resources, "Effective Web Conferences - 41 resources." If you have had inconsistent results with synchronous or so-called "virtual classroom" e-Learning, then these two resources should be very helpful!
The Pros and Cons of Podcasting
Have you been considering the use of podcasts for learning and development? I recently described some of the many podcasts available for learning professionals, but if you are considering the use of podcasts for your own organization's L&D needs, you might find value in Mike Petersell's recent blog post "The Pros and Cons of Podcasting." Not all of his listed pros and cons will be relevant for your organization, but he provides good lists to get you started.
Rossett's Ode to Mobile Performance Support
The eLearning Guild's Learning Solutions Magazine recently included Allison Rossett's article "Ode to Mobile Performance Support." In this excellent article, Rossett describes the important differences between mobile learning and mobile performance support. It is a must-read for anyone pursuing the use of mobile devices for learning and development purposes in their organization.
The Latest on Social Learning
There continues to be a great flow of good articles, blog postings, and resources on this important subject, so I will again list a few from recent weeks here.
- TheNewSocialLearning.com - The website for the new book of the same name, written by ASTD President Tony Bingham and consultant and social media expert Marcia Conner.
- Enterprise Microlearning - Marcia Conner on the enterprise use of both Twitter and similar internal microsharing platforms.
- The Evolving Social Organization - Harold Jarche gives an interesting history of enterprise evolution, describes the importance of social learning for modern organizations, and gives several examples of success stories.
- Social Networking: A Platform for Training New Managers Online? - Bill Brandon considers first some history of informal learning groups from several centuries ago, and then provides insights on what makes such groups successful -- including those that are further enabled today by social media technologies.
Updates from Element K
As usual, I'll end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched last year. 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: June, July, August, and September.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
Comments