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It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
Elliott Masie on Facetime for Learning
Elliott Masie recently posted an interesting video on the "Facetime" feature of the new iPhone 4 device. As many others have done, he provides a simple demonstration of the two-way video feature. But he does so in the context of learning and development, giving examples such as leadership programs that are blended programs including traditional e-Learning and then a conversation with a mentor or coach. Masie notes the current limitations of Facetime, but predicts that those limitations will be short-lived. For instance, he suggests that the future will bring a combination of high-quality telepresence suites combined with Facetime-like two-way video conversations. He also notes that in learning and development contexts, you could record the conversations and then use them as on-demand support content. There clearly is a lot of potential with this kind of technology!
How Long Does it Take to Create Content?
Bryan Chapman, in association with Brandon Hall, has long provided some data about "How long does it take to create content?" This has included ILT content, PowerPoint-to-eLearning conversions, standard e-Learning, and robust simulations. He is now (from Aug. 4 - Aug. 31) updating his data with a new industry survey. You can participate in this survey, which he indicates should only take 5-10 minutes.
On the Potential Value of Avatars
The eLearning Guild's Learning Solutions Magazine recently included "Animated Characters in E-Learning: The Benefits and Social Roles," by Audrey Dalton and Brian Friedlander. Read this short but excellent article to learn more about how animated characters (such as so-called "avatars"), when used properly, can enhance e-Learning by "providing a social context that motivates learners, thereby improving cognition and recall."
Tips on Getting Management Support for Training
As Jane Bozarth puts it, "A thousand things stand between a learner and performance; among the biggest of these is the learner's manager." In one of her recent “Nuts and Bolts” columns at Learning Solutions Magazine provides lots of tips on this common challenge for L&D professionals: How can you get better management support for training? After all, you are working to improve their most important asset -- their people. So involving them in a team effort is natural and will produce the best results.
On 10 Lenses in Learning and Development
Clark Aldrich wrote a very useful blog posting titled “The 10 Lenses to Overcome Blind Spots and See Opportunities in Organizational Learning.” He summarizes ten perspectives on learning and development needs and programs that any learning leader should consider when planning a new initiative or responding to a request for a new training solution.
On Evaluating Non-formal Learning Programs
As I noted in my previous L&D Roundup, Michael Hanley of the E-Learning Curve Blog has been writing on the thorny issue of how to evaluate non-formal learning programs. He concludes this amazing series of 19 postings with a helpful table of contents with links to each.
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.
- “Facilitating Learning with Social Media” -- From ASTD's Learning Circuits, by Michele B. Medved and Terrence Wing. Includes a helpful list of ten key considerations.
- “Looking Ahead at Social Learning: 10 Predictions” -- From the July issue of T+D magazine, by Jeanne Meister and Karie Willyerd, authors of the new book The 2020 Workplace. An interesting list of 10 predictions, although not all are focused on what is usually meant by "social learning."
- “Collaboration and Social Networking in Today's Enterprises" - An article from Elearning!, and Government Elearning! magazines, summarizing the results of their Enterprise Social Collaboration Research conducted in May 2010. There are some interesting numbers, but this summary seems to mix the critical distinction between consumer tools and internal tools.
- “Is There a Better Way to Social Learning?” -- By Dawn Poulos of Xyleme. An excellent post that in some ways continues the industry discussion I referred to in my June posting on "The Great LMS Debate."
- “The Human Factor: Creating Opportunities to Participate in Social Learning” -- by Mary Arnold, at Learning Solutions Magazine. A short but helpful article that gives warnings on why some organizations struggle or fail when implementing technology-enabled social learning, with insights on what you can do to be successful.
- “Why Focus on Informal and Social Learning” -- Insights from Charles Jennings at the Internet Time Alliance blog, providing eight key reasons to focus on informal and social learning in your organization.
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: May, June, July, and August.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
Top Tools for Learning 2010
I'll start by again noting that Jane Hart's annual "Top Tools for Learning" survey is well underway. For this survey, Hart asks industry experts and practitioners to list their top 10 tools for learning (broadly defined). Back in December, I wrote about her final survey results for 2009. I've participated in this survey since 2007, and have already updated my personal list in her index for this year. Read her recent blog entry on the subject and then join in the survey yourself!
On Cognitive Overload and Finding Your 20%
Jane Bozarth's latest column at Learning Solutions Magazine is titled "Find Your 20%" and it hits on a critical subject for any instructional designer or learning professional: cognitive overload and the need to, as Bozarth puts it, "cull the must-know from the nice-to-know." After noting all of the common stakeholders and people who typically have input on a learning program, she advises "Before you begin designing, identify the two or three points most critical to successful performance on the job. What must the learner know? I call this 'finding your 20%'… Design starts here. Rather than take everything there is to know and try to capture it all in the course, start in the center – with the critical content – and work your way out. Once you have found the critical content, add on only what truly supports understanding of it." Read the rest of the column for Bozarth's specific pieces of advice on how to tackle this common challenge.
How Many Ways Can You Effectively Use Tables in E-Learning Courses?
Tom Kuhlmann of the Rapid E-Learning blog wrote another wonderful, examples-filled blog posting, this time providing "10 tips on using tables in your e-learning courses." Any of us could think of several approaches to the use of tables, but 10? Given the amount of e-Learning that Element K has produced over the years -- both as catalog courses and as custom development -- I suspect our army of instructional designers and media developers have collectively used all 10 of Kuhlmann's techniques (and then some!) But I've never seen someone describe so many techniques in one place before, and do so as well as Kuhlmann has here. A great read!
When Mobile Learning is the Entire Show
Determining when we'll see an inflection point in the uptick of mobile learning solutions by L&D departments continues to be hard to predict: where are we on the industry-wide adoption curve exactly? That said, there continues to be significant -- and clearly increasing -- interest in the possibilities for mobile learning. The eLearning Guild recognized this and so decided to hold a conference dedicated solely to mobile learning: mLearnCon, held June 15-17 in San Diego. If you missed the event, and didn't follow tweets that emerged from it either, you can still get a sense for the goings-on by reading the following excellent blog postings from the industry leaders who were heavily involved:
More on Mobile Learning
The eLearning Guild didn't only hold a conference dedicated to mobile learning, their online Learning Solutions Magazine also ran a series of excellent articles on mobile learning as well. These have included:
The Latest 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. The first two are from Talent Management magazine's June issue:
- Just Read the Wiki - by Elaine Lees and Elissa Gavette. Includes two sidebars on the use of Web 2.0 tools at Swiss Re and Intel.
- Taking Talent Inventory - by Grant Ricketts and Rob Pannoni. Considers both the benefits and range of use of social media tools in an organization, and also the role that metadata -- through social networking analytics -- can play in talent management.
- Transforming the Learning Organization (PDF) - in the June issue of ASTD's LX Briefing newsletter, there is an interview with ASTD President Tony Bingham and social media expert Marcia Conner, specifically in regard to their upcoming book The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations Through Social Media.
- Try Yammer, Maybe You'll Learn Something - Mike Petersell briefly explains how Pitney Bowes uses the micro-blogging/micro-messaging tool Yammer for learning purposes.
- Michael Hanley on Evaluating Non-Formal Learning - a series of blog postings on this timely topic:
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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: April, May, June, and July.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
Jane Bozarth Introduces TrainingBookReview.com
Industry veteran and expert author Jane Bozarth has started a new website called TrainingBookReview.com. This is a new blog, sponsored by HRDQ. Bozarth was for some 10 years a book review writer for Training magazine, and describes that at this new blog she will be reviewing "a few new books," but also have a focus, at least to start, "on some classics in the L&D literature." She has kicked things off with a review of Figuring Things Out: A Trainer’s Guide to Needs and Task Analysis (Zemke & Kramlinger, 1982). For fans of Jane's book reviews, know that she continues to also review books focused on e-Learning at her new column with Learning Solutions magazine, the latest of which is a review of Clark Aldrich's new book The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games. Keep up the great work Jane!
Ten Myths About Video in E-Learning
And speaking of the online Learning Solutions magazine, it recently had a two-part article by Stephen Haskin titled "Ten Myths About Video in E-Learning." In part 1, he takes on what he considers to be myths such as the issue of Mac versus PC for creating videos, the software available, whether you need a streaming server to play your videos, and the issue of mobile devices. In part 2, he covers topics including HD, internal networks, frame rates, and importantly, the cost and skills required for video production. Although the topics covered are broader than the use of video in e-Learning contexts alone, Haskin has done e-Learning developers a service by sharing insights on so many issues of video production in one place.
What Will Workplace Learning Technology Look Like in 2015?
That was the "big" question posed for the month of May at ASTD's Learning Circuits blog. Responses to this provocative question came pouring in, and by now include postings from Tony Karrer, Clark Quinn, Clive Shepherd, and many others. Note to self: check back in five years to see who was correct!
Better Design Doesn't Take Longer
And speaking of Clark Quinn, in a recent article at eLearn magazine, "Better Design Doesn't Take Longer!", he argues in favor of better design in the development of learning content. He makes his case on the grounds that it really doesn't take any longer to produce well-designed content and learning experiences, and obviously (almost by definition) good designs will yield better outcomes. He admits the one caveat to his position about it not taking any longer: "after an initial transition period." That is, he is arguing for a long-range perspective, by noting that an investment in some time up front can be more than justified by the benefits you will reap in the future.
An Interesting Take on the iPad from a Usability Guru
And speaking of design, Jakob Nielsen is a very well-known usability expert. So when he publishes a 93-page report on the usability of the latest technology wonder device, it is worth your time to pause and at least hear what he has to say. You can download this report for free, or if time is short at the moment, start by simply reading this article from the Guardian, "Jakob Nielsen critiques the iPad's usability failings." Lots of food for thought, as the Learning and Development industry begins to consider the use cases for the iPad, and future competing tablet devices too.
On the Forgetting Curve and Ways to Improve Retention
Although I recently wrote a post that linked to these two items, I wanted to again draw attention to them. On May 28, both Charles Jennings and Donald Clark wrote about a similar topic, both invoking what is known as "the Forgetting Curve." These postings are both worth reading, so here again are the links:
On Mobile Learning
Are you up to speed on the current state, and the possibilities for the future, of mobile learning? If not, then I encourage you to read Ellen Wagner's article "When Mobility Meets Learning" from the April/May issue of Elearning! magazine. After setting the stage with a typical run down of the explosive growth of mobile devices, Wagner provides several reasons why mobile learning hasn't taken off equally as quickly. She then describes several attributes that a rich mobile learning experience will involve: ubiquity, access, richness, efficiency, flexibility, security, reliability, and interactivity. She then shares nine critical questions to ask when you are planning a mobile learning initiative -- a good list!
The Latest on Social Learning
As I noted in my reflections on the recent ASTD ICE 2010 conference, social learning is one of the hottest topics in the L&D industry today. There continues to be a great flow of good articles, postings, and resources on this important subject, so I will again list a few from recent weeks here. See also the many links in my blog posting "The Great LMS Debate," in which social learning plays a central role.
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: March, April, May, and June.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
ASTD ICE Program Guide Now Available!
The 2010 American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) International Conference and Exposition is almost here! This event is the largest U.S. event in the training, learning, and development industry, and this year it is being held in Chicago, IL from May 16-19. In recent weeks ASTD released the online Program Guide, which includes both the schedule of conference sessions and a map and details regarding the massive expo hall. Element K will be in Booth 233, which is near the cyber center, in the second row on the left as you enter the expo hall. If you will be attending this conference, be sure to stop by our booth and say hello!
Jane Bozarth's New Column: Nuts and Bolts
My friend Jane Bozarth has a new column at Learning Solutions Magazine, called "Nuts and Bolts." In her first two columns, she takes on ADDIE in "When Training Works" and "Principles of Multimedia Learning". Jane writes clearly, sometimes provocatively, but always on topics of great interest to those in the L&D industry. So keep up the good work Jane, I look forward to your next columns!
On Virtual Worlds for One or Many
Clark Aldrich, an industry expert on simulations and the use of games for learning, wrote a brief but helpful blog posting titled "How should virtual worlds that are designed for one person differ than those designed for one thousand?" In this posting he makes clear some key design distinctions for several virtual world scenarios: to be used by one person, one person with a coach, a small group of people (say 3-8 people), or a large or very large group.
The New iPhone OS and Mobile Learning
Bill Brandon of Learning Solutions Magazine wrote an excellent article that considers the impacts for mobile learning scenarios of Apple's recently announced upcoming 4.0 operating system for its popular iPhone and iPod Touch mobile devices. The mobile learning landscape continues to evolve, and even if your organization isn't doing much in this space at present, you are wise to stay on top of the latest developments.
On Micro-Messaging, Micro-Blogging, Social-Messaging, Micro-Sharing
It goes by various names, but so-called "micro-messaging," "micro-blogging," and "social-messaging" is an increasingly popular topic for organizations looking for the latest way to increase internal communications and workforce productivity. Led by Yammer and similar providers, many enterprise organizations are moving beyond the "testing" stage, having found significant value from these "internal Twitter-like" tools. A couple of good articles on this subject recently include:
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 several round-ups, I'll provide some of the latest "gems" for you here.
- “5 Tips for Knowledge Gardeners: How to Grow a Collaborative Learning Community," by Josh Little at Learning Solutions Magazine, provides valuable tips for those embarking on social learning and the use of Web 2.0 tools in their organization. See also what I wrote on this subject a few days earlier in “On the Garden Metaphor."
- ”Plato's Cave 2.0 A New Myth for Adoption," by Rob Paterson, tells a story as a powerful analogy to an organization "going 2.0."
- “Rethinking e-Learning," by Clark Quinn, which makes important points about social learning and more.
- “Difference Between Personal and Professional Uses of Social Media: It's All in Your Head," by Kevin Jones, which provides a brief but excellent description of a problem that I know both he and I face often when presenting on social media, social learning, and Web 2.0 technologies. Simply stated, this is the confusion between personal use of public social media tools and how that differs from business uses of the same types of technology (wikis, blogs, forums, social networking profiles, micro-messaging, etc.) but in an internal-to-the-enterprise context.
- “Enterprise 2.0: Questions Answered, Part 1," again by Kevin Jones, where he launches a new series of blog postings, starting for now with his thoughts on the questions: “What is the big picture for social media in organizations (for E2.0 purposes)?” and “Is social media replacing something we have, or adding a new thing?”
- “Social Learning = New Toolset + New Mindset + New Skillset," by Jane Hart, where she briefly breaks down her previously outlined five types of social learning that occur in organizations by mapping these to what she calls the new toolset, new mindset, and new skillset that each involve. See also her regularly updated webpage on this topic.
- “Agility and Autonomy," by Harold Jarche, which follows Jane's thoughts with comments on one specific new mindset (agility) and one specific new skillset (autonomy) that are critical for social learning to flourish.
- “Social Learning Unleashed," by Jeanne Meister and Karie Willyerd, who share numerous examples of social learning in organizations, and provide 10 guidelines to consider in "creating, organizing and planning the rollout of an enterprise 2.0 initiative." See also the sidebar article "The Launch of Planet Blue," where Meister interviews Allison Anderson, manager of learning and development at Intel.
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: February, March, April, and May.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
The iPad Is Here!
The biggest tech-related news in recent weeks is of course the launch of Apple's latest device, the iPad tablet. Some prominent reviews include those from David Pogue of the The New York Times, Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal, and the popular website Engadget. For a convenient table comparing some aspects of these and other popular product reviewers, see the table at this posting to O’Reilly Answers. And although clearly created for marketing purposes, the Guided Tour videos from Apple are quite powerful and give you a glimpse of what is possible with this new device (and therefore worth watching even if you do not intend to use an iPad anytime soon).
Amongst the many L&D leaders diving right in, Elliott Masie has created an "iPad Learning Lab initiative" at the MASIE Center. As Masie describes: "We'll be doing immediate testing on the 'affordances' for learning that may be created by this new device. Jonathan Kayes (our CLO), Lauren Boughton (our Producer), Tom King (MASIE Fellow for ePubs), Erin Anderson (our recent college graduate editor) and Elliott Masie, will do a series of immediate experiments on the iPad." There are already many good postings at their iPad Learning Lab blog, so be sure to check it out soon and add it to your RSS feed reader.
David Mallon on 2010's Top Training Technology Trends
In previous editions of the L&D Roundup (see vol. 9 and vol. 10), I linked to many industry experts who were providing their new year's predictions, top-10 lists, and so on. One that I haven't yet included is quite worthy, and that is David Mallon's 2010 Top Training Technology Trends in the electronic magazine Training Industry Quarterly. Mallon directs research in enterprise learning for Bersin & Associates, and is a keen interpreter of industry trends.
New Blog: Instructional Design By Example
With her typical wit, Brandon Hall research associate Janet Clarey started her new blog with a posting titled "Corporate e-Learning needs another blog. Oh yes. It does." While it is true we are blessed with numerous expert blogs already, Clarey is quite focused with her new blog Instructional Design By Example. As she describes, in this new blog "you'll find examples of e-learning courses and details about the instructional design process used in creating them. You'll also find specifics about the logistics of the courses." She is already off and running with several interesting postings, so check it out and add it to your RSS feed reader.
Twitter Resources Galore!
Two prominent industry experts have recently put together some outstanding resources to help L&D professionals who are new to Twitter—or even those who use Twitter but want to know more about it.
- Twitter for Learning -- 55 Great Articles - Tony Karrer has done us all a service by bringing together links to 55 articles, and then categorizing them for us: Twitter and Teaching; Tips on Twitter Use; Twitter and Conferences, Webinars and Backchannel; Twitter and eLearning; People to Follow on Twitter; Using Twitter as a Learning Tool especially for Learning Professionals; Twitter Guides; Twitter Tools; Yammer; and More on Twitter for Learning.
- How to Use Twitter for Social Learning - Jane Hart also has done us all a service, by gradually creating a great set of resources on Twitter. Included are introductory pages, reading lists, and information on Twitter use in contexts such as presentations, events, classes, and training.
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 several round-ups, I'll provide some of the latest "gems" for you here. Since the March 2010 issue of Chief Learning Officer magazine focused on this subject, I'll include only those great articles this time around:
- Formalizing Informal Learning, by Lance Dublin, includes good examples from Toshiba, Genentech, and Google.
- Verifying Virtual Value, by Eric Davidove and Craig Mindrum, takes on the common but challenging question of how to measure the value of social learning.
- The Social LMS, by Bill Sherman, provides many insights on changes in the corporate LMS to support social learning. See also the sidebar Sales Training Gets Social at ASM, which provides a good example from Advantage Sales and Marketing, LLC.
- Taming the Network Beast, by James Sharpe Sr., includes a good example from Hilton Garden Inn.
Updates from Element K
As usual, I'll end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched earlier this 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: January, February, March, and April (coming soon).
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
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:
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)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
More Predictions for 2010
In roundup vol. 9 I linked to several industry leaders providing predictions for 2010. I have found many more such articles and blog postings since then, and they are almost always a fascinating read. Here are some of the best that I didn't link to last time around:
- eLearn Magazine has again gathered predictions from a few dozen industry experts, including Stephen Downes, Jay Cross, Clark Quinn, Roger Schank, Jane Hart, Elliott Masie, Allison Rossett, Saul Carliner, Janet Clarey, Karl Kapp, Bryan Chapman, Mark Oehlert, Charles Jennings, and more. In addition, see the bottom right of this posting, where they provide links to their annual predictions from 2002-2009 -- it is fascinating to see how many were hits and misses from years past
- "Predictions and Plans for 2010" The January Big Question at ASTD's The Learning Circuits Blog is on the subject of predictions for the new year. There are over 20 response postings from folks like Jeanne Meister, Jay Cross, Clark Quinn, Bill Brandon, Clive Shepherd, and many more.
- TrainingIndustry.com provides their list of "10 Predictions for 2010."
- Tony Karrer, creator of eLearningLearning.com, and author of the eLearning Technology blog, has also posted his predictions for 2010. He writes this as a top-10 list, but with the tenth spot left undecided with a request for readers to chime in.
Mobile Learning in 2010
And speaking of predictions for 2010, with the exception of one of the experts from eLearn Magazine's gallery, many are predicting that mobile device use for learning will continue to grow in 2010, and possibly even (finally) burst out a bit. Mobile Learning guru Judy Brown does a good job bringing together the various mobile learning predictions in her post "2010 Forecasts." And Robert Gadd chimed in the first week of January at his new blog, mLearning Trends, with his mLearning predictions for 2010.
How Has the Internet Changed Your Learning?
The latest blog posting from Elliott Masie at LearningTown (login required) is titled "How Has the Internet Changed Your Learning?" Over 30 LearningTown members have chimed in with perspectives so far. If you aren't a member of LearningTown yet, now is a great time to sign up and join this discussion!
Learning in 3D
It doesn't get much more cutting edge than considering the various ways learning can occur in immersive 3D virtual worlds. And few if any are more expert in this subject than the duo of Karl Kapp and Tony O'Driscoll, authors of the new book Learning in 3D (Amazon link). They have also been quite innovative in how they are promoting their book, such as launching on a "blog tour" composed of interviews at various L&D experts' blogs. Further, they have created a useful website, www.learningin3d.info to both promote their book and provide visitors with helpful resources on the topic of "learning in 3D." Bookmark this one!
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 roundup, I'll provide some of the latest "gems" for you here:
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: November, December, January, and February.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
Videos from recent L&D Industry Conferences
Did you miss some or all of the major conferences in the Learning and Development industry in the month of November? Well, the good news is that a few of these have made some video content available for free:
- Elliott Masie's Learning 2009 - Provided are videos of many of the "keynote" sessions. Great stuff!
- The eLearning Guild's DevLearn - Provided are a summary video of the event, plus a recording of the webinar delivered on Dec. 18th that highlights five of the 30 demos from DevLearn's "DemoFest."
- LearnTrends - Provided are nearly 20 videos from this online "virtual conference."
Looking Back on 2009
The December "big question" from ASTD's Learning Circuits blog was "What Did You Learn About Learning in 2009?" This has by now generated over a dozen response postings, including items from top industry bloggers such as Tony Karrer, Karl Kapp, Michael Hanley, and others.
And over at Tony Karrer's eLearning Learning site, his list "Hot Topics for 2009" and the many links to articles from throughout the year make for an interesting read. The top eight areas are:
- Twitter
- Social Media, Social Networks, Social Learning, and Informal Learning
- Google Wave
- SharePoint
- Video
- Mobile, Mobile Learning, and iPhone
- Changes in Design and Instructional Design and our Roles
- Webinars and Virtual Classrooms
Tony also provides a review of his predictions for 2009, and grades himself A-F on how he did for each.
Looking Ahead to 2010
Bersin & Associates has released their annual report, "Corporate Learning and Talent Management Predictions for 2010" (free, registration required). This includes 12 predictions, which Mr. Bersin summarizes at their blog here.
Bersin also posted in December on "Discussions with our Research Members: Five Topics to Watch for 2010" in which he described five big issues that they see emerging in 2010.
Jeanne Meister has also provided us with a top five, with her posting at New Learning Playbook titled "Five Words To Describe Corporate Learning in 2010." The five words are not a surprise (Social, Mobile, Collaborative, Engaging, Fun), but read her post for her insightful explanations for why she chooses each.
And finally, Jay Cross shares some words of wisdom for 2010, nearly two dozen classic quotes that he describes as follows: "The following ideas help me get out of the daily rut to renew my commitment to make the world a better place. Perhaps they’ll move you, too." A quick but very motivational read!
A New Journal
Late in 2009, a new and valuable resource joined the ranks of the many journals, magazines, and blogs available to L&D professionals. This new resource is a refereed journal named Impact: Journal of Applied Research in Workplace E-Learning, and it comes to you from ElNet, the E-learning Network of Australasia. All of the contents from the 200+ page inaugural issue are available for free download online, so take a look!
When Will 3D Virtual Worlds Really Take Off?
Koreen Olbrish shares some very sensible comments about 3D Virtual Worlds and when they will finally go mainstream for learning and other uses. Read her posting "Virtual Worlds 2.0…a few humble predictions."
The Latest Insights on Social Learning
Every day, more industry experts and bloggers speak and write about the importance of "social learning" and "enterprise 2.0" -- I've done so many times here at Element K Blog as well. Here are some of the recent highlights you don't want to miss:
- "Web 2.0 and Change Present Challenges to Many Learning Executives," by Rex Davenport. An interview with Jay Cross.
- "Come Together, Right Now" - Jay Cross' latest column in the December issue of Chief Learning Officer magazine.
- "Enterprise 2.0: A Parallel Meritocracy," by Venkatesh G. Rao and Janet Clarey in the Oct./Nov. issue of Elearning! magazine.
- "Using Social Media to Counter Budget Shortfalls," by David Coleman in the Oct./Nov. issue of Elearning! magazine.
- "Leverage Online Discussions," by Kendra Lee, on pg. 18 of the Oct./Nov. issue of Training magazine, where she provides six helpful tips.
- "Boomers 2.0," by Margery Weinstein, pgs. 48-50 of the Oct./Nov. issue of Training magazine.
- "Social Media and Networking Journey," a series of blog posts at Kevin Jones' Engaged Learning blog, where he covers a range of social learning tools.
Updates from Element K
As usual, I'll end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched earlier this 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: November, December, and January.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com, and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
ASTD Employee Learning Week is December 7 - 11
The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) is again celebrating employee learning in organizations with their Employee Learning Week (ELW) program December 7-11, 2009. As their website indicates, "Employee Learning Week is an awareness campaign highlighting the important connection between learning and achieving organizational results." Learning and training are more important now than ever before, as "the growing skills gap and the increased need to compete in today's economy require organizations to develop a knowledgeable and highly skilled workforce." See their list of ideas for how your organization can get involved and read about the ways that dozens of your peers celebrated ELW in 2007 and 2008.
Celebrating 50 Years of Four Levels
There is another celebration going on in our industry, a birthday of sorts for a key L&D industry model: Donald Kirkpatrick's Four Levels Model for evaluating the impact of workforce development initiatives. The November issue of Chief Learning Officer magazine focused on this, starting with the great article "The Kirkpatrick Model: Past, Present and Future" by Jim and Wendy Kirkpatrick. Additional articles in the same issue include "The Father of the Four Levels" by Daniel Margolis, "Simplified ROI: Measuring What Matters Most" by Howard Prager and Susan Vece, "Emerging Issues in Measurement" by Jeffrey Berk, "It's Time for Measurement Strategy" by Chris Moore, and finally a closing column by Donald Kirkpatrick himself "Same Model, New Challenges." For anyone who either wants to get up to speed with learning measurement and the history of the Kirkpatrick model, or is in the middle of implementing any sort of evaluation or ROI-measurement system, this issue is a goldmine.
Two Key Recent Industry Reports
The L&D industry has seen several new and important reports released in the past few months. ASTD recently announced their 2009 State of the Industry report, "a comprehensive look at the training and development investments, practices, and trends for 2008." This report for ASTD members provides data for from 301 organizations, including members of the ASTD Benchmarking Forum and ASTD BEST Award winners.
Also, industry analysts Ambient Insight have released their latest study, "The U.S. Market for Self-Paced E-Learning Products and Services: 2009-2014 Forecast and Analysis." Their press release notes that the U.S. E-Learning market will reach $16.7 billion in 2009, with demand growing by a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4%, with revenues reaching $23.8 billion by 2014. I highly recommend that you read their free executive overview.
2009 Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards Announced
Also announced recently were the 2009 edition of the Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards. Element K is proud to have garnered two of these coveted awards: Best Custom Content (Silver) for the course "The Green Grid Measures and Metrics" and Best Innovation in Learning Technology (Bronze) for our incorporation of Web 2.0 collaboration tools into the KnowledgeHub LMS to support informal learning. Selections for the Brandon Hall Awards are based on potential impact, applicability, ease of adoption, and overall value for learning professionals.
Learning Circuits Big Question: What is the Value of Social Media for Learning?
How do I communicate the value of social media as a learning tool to my organization? That is the question that ASTD's Learning Circuits asked the L&D blogging community for the month of November. As always, the "big question" generated plenty of interesting responses, including perspectives from folks such as Jay Cross, Jane Hart, Karl Kapp, Clive Shepherd, Clark Quinn, Tony Karrer, and many others. If you are trying to convince others in your organization (or yourself!) of the value of social media for learning, this series of blog postings is a great place to start.
Jane Hart on Five Categories of Learning
Most people recognize the high-level distinction between what is called Formal Learning vs. Informal Learning. In considering how social media can be used for learning in an organization, Jane Hart wasn't comfortable with just these two categories, so she set out to get a bit more precise in how we conceptualize the learning that occurs in our organizations. She arrived at five categories, which she named at her blog as follows:
- Intra-Organizational Learning (IOL)—Keeping the organization up to date and up to speed on strategic and other internal initiatives and activities.
- Formal Structured Learning (FSL)—Formal education and training like classes, courses, workshops, etc. (both synchronous and asynchronous).
- Group Directed Learning (GDL)—Groups of individuals working in teams, projects, study groups, etc. Even two people working together in a coaching and mentoring capacity.
- Personal Directed Learning (PDL)—Individuals organizing and managing their own personal or professional learning.
- Accidental & Serendipitous Learning (ASL)—Individuals learning without consciously realizing it (aka incidental or random learning).
While its not likely that this set of acronyms will catch on in our industry right away, I think Jane has done us all a great service in clarifying these five distinct concepts. Jane's colleague Harold Jarche then assisted by providing a useful visual of these five concepts, that clearly identifies each on a grid representing Individual, Group, Organization on one axis and Undirected, Self-Directed, Directed on the other axis. Then Jane took her analysis a step further and provided dozens of examples of how social media can be used for each learning approach. This mapping of examples to concepts is a great resource for you as you consider learning in your own organization, and how best to blend the use of social media tools.
Harold Jarche on Train Speeds and Bridging the Adoption Chasm
Harold Jarche's blog had several great postings this week, and I'd like to draw your attention to two of them. First he draws your attention to an analogy found in Alvin and Heidi Toffler’s book, Revolutionary Wealth, which compares various societal structures and institutions and their willingness to change. This is very instructive given the amazing pace of change facing L&D professionals today. He also wrote about the need to bridge the chasm between early adopters and the early majority, and provided an insightful table that suggests the average current stage for many of the Web 2.0 and other new technologies L&D professionals are integrating into their learning programs. Where is your organization in the practical adoption of some of these innovative learning approaches?
David Mallon on Back to Basics in 2010
And finally, at this time of year most magazines, bloggers, and others will set out to either give a wrap-up look back at the year that was, and/or make some predictions about what we might expect in learning and development in the year ahead. One of the first to do so this year is David Mallon of Bersin & Associates, in his blog posting Back to Basics in '10. After noting the tough year that was 2009, Mallon notes that "The learning industry as a whole seems to get that it has reached a point in its history where it must evolve or face rapid obsolescence." He then clarifies what he means by "back to basics" as "cutting through the distractions, asking ourselves hard questions about where and how we can add the most value to the organization, and optimizing our processes to leave no possible question of underutilization or inefficiency." He notes that L&D departments need to be focused on two key questions: "Are we truly working on the right things to help the business get where it needs to go? And, are we as good at the business of learning as we must be in order to succeed?" In discussing these two questions, Mallon argues that a focus on social learning is anything but a distraction, but rather a means to get "back to basics" by giving the L&D group a way to better enable informal learning. In other words, given that informal learning has always been around, isn't it high time you took the reins and started to better support and enable it?
Updates from Element K
As usual, I'll end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched earlier this 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, September, October, November, and December.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com, and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also volumes one, two, three, four, five, and six).
The Future of the Training Department
I'll start off with the most provocative item in this roundup, a blog posting from Harold Jarche titled "The Future of the Training Department." Jarche begins with a whirlwind tour of the history of training, why it developed as it did, why it made sense and worked well enough, and so on. But then along lines similar to columns and postings written by his colleague Jay Cross over the past year, Jarche notes that the world has changed and that people in organization's "training departments" had better change too, or potentially face extinction as such. Jarche's thoughts on this subject, like those of Cross and others, are provocative to say the least, and should be a wake-up call to any learning leaders who are changing very slowly or continuing to do basically the same things they have always done. While you're at Harold's blog, see also his many other excellent posts from this past month, especially his "Increased Complexity Needs Simplified Design," which makes several valuable points about informal learning.
Low-Costs LMSs Do Exist
The August/September issue of Elearning! magazine included an article by Jerry Roche titled "LMSs for Less Than $20,000." In these tough economic times, where everyone is being asked to do more with less (or in some cases making the tough decisions to do less with less), understanding how to maximize value from your Learning Management System is critical for learning leaders. The article starts by noting the absolutely critical point: The trick is finding an LMS that meets your needs, while not buying more LMS than you need. In other words, hitting the sweet spot while spending as little as possible. With this as the context, the good news is that in some cases, a low price tag no longer equates to less functionality than you need. Some low-cost LMSs now include not only basic tracking of e-Learning, but also features such as ILT classroom management, advanced reporting, and even collaborative Web 2.0 features such as forums, blogs, wikis, and more. Element K's KnowledgeHub LMS is one such platform that provides all of these and more. While many in the industry know of Element K for our award-winning e-Learning and print ILT courseware content, in recent years we have spent a lot of effort into building out our KnowledgeHub LMS platform, so we are pleased to be included in this article's listing of low-cost LMSs you should be considering.
If you are in the market for an LMS, another good recent resource to share with you is Clive Shepherd's posting on "The 21st Century LMS," which includes a PDF of the results of a recent gathering of the eLearning Network, and in particular their activity to "identify what was required in an LMS that was fit for the 21st Century."
Don't be Scared to Evaluate
In the August/September issue of Elearning! magazine, Diane Valenti wrote on the importance of evaluation in "Scared to Evaluate? Return on Learning Is Your Lifeline." After introducing the subject and posing the normal difficult questions regarding training ROI, Valenti describes a good example of the role that accountability can play in driving ROI: it can be the extra push users need to apply what they learn from training to their actual jobs. She notes that ROI doesn't always need to be calculated, but does when training "is the solution, in whole or in part, to a specific business challenge. Such challenges could include an increase in customer complaints or employee turnover, a drop in sales or profit margin, or even a lack of leadership bench strength." She then walks the reader through the three high-level steps of determining ROI: determining the benefits of training, determining the costs of training, and finally calculating the value of the training. For each, step she gives useful examples to help anyone new to this process. A recommended read for both novices and veterans alike: you definitely don't need to be scared to evaluate!
Big Question: New Presenter and Learner Methods and Skills?
The latest "big question" at ASTD's Learning Circuits blog is "New Presenter and Learner Methods and Skills?" The list of more focused questions can be pretty well summed up with two concerns: multitasking and backchannel. That is, how can trainers and presenters best handle the inevitable multitasking and backchannel chatter that occurs during their classes and sessions? And what are the best practices for us on the other side, as learners and audience members? As a conference speaker myself, I've certainly been thinking about this a lot lately, especially as the phenomenon that is Twitter has made live-backchannel discussions a reality at almost every presentation at every conference. The response postings to this "big question" come from great industry bloggers including Tony Karrer, Clark Quinn, Clive Shepherd, and others. See also Karrer's additional posting highlighting some of the salient points raised by everyone else.
A Corporate Social Media Use Example: SabreTown
The September 2009 issue of T+D Magazine, in an article titled "Letting Go" (ASTD membership required), provided another good example of using social media technologies in a corporation, this time from Sabre Holdings. The center of their application, SabreTown, revolves around employee-completed profiles, complete with areas of expertise, and online discussion boards. When people ask questions, the system notifies the people it considers to have the most relevant expertise, an innovative way to drive conversation and knowledge exchange. The article details numerous best practices and lessons learned at Sabre, including the following and more:
- Maximize the value of the system by making sure it is used to the greatest extent. In particular, the advice given suggests keeping it simple, making the tool easy to use for all, not worrying about making it perfect technologically, building it to mimic how people already communicate (e.g., Q&A), and not letting it lose its meaning by building it into something larger
- Promote behavior that will increase trust in the system.
- Seed the system with questions and answers for the first month or two by selecting some people to "overuse it."
- In communications about the system, keep returning to its value.
The article notes that SabreTown is credited with substantial savings for the company, including $500,000 in direct savings in the first year. But, based on strong anecdotal evidence, that figure doesn't come close to representing the total savings they are seeing. A truly impressive case study!
New Whitepaper: Social Learning Introduction
Harold Jarche recently announced a new whitepaper, "Social Learning Introduction", from the new "idea lab" group Collaborative Enterprise. A group-authored whitepaper, each writer gave their unique perspective on the question: "How would you describe social learning and why is it important for today's enterprise?" Included are insights from Clark Quinn, Charles Jennings, George Siemens, Jay Cross, and eight others.
22 Power Laws
Dion Hinchcliffe wrote an outstanding article at ZDNet.com titled "Twenty-Two Power Laws of the Emerging Social Economy." Definitely a good read, possibly one of the most thought-provoking things you will read all year. Some of the "laws" he covers will be well-known to you, such as Moore's law, the Long Tail, the Pareto principle, or even Metcalfe's law. But many of the others will be new to you, so I strongly recommend you read this article and consider which of these "power laws" are a major driver for your organization. And for additional reflections, see also Tony Karrer's comments on Dion's article.
Updates from Element K
I'll again end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched in June. 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, September, October, and November.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com)
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