Over the past several years, I've heard many people in the Learning and Development industry use jargon and technology terms in ways that aren't quite correct. At the very least this can cause momentary confusion, but at its worst it can seriously mislead, waste time, and even reflect badly on the person or organization employing the mistaken usage.
One term that I think is often used quite loosely, and at times incorrectly, is the concept of Community of Practice (CoP). Wikipedia puts it simply and succinctly: a CoP is a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. You can have many CoPs within an organization -- say the instructional designers, or the project managers, or the loan officers, or the web developers. Traditionally, they might meet regularly to share ideas or discuss issues of common concern, or they might have an email group list for the same purpose. And of course there are broader CoPs in society that span across workplaces. A recent column in Chief Learning Officer magazine by Jay Cross, "The Case for Communities of Practice," I think does a very good job of giving examples and capturing the essence of CoPs.
On the other hand, the mistaken usage of "community of practice" that I see most often is to imply that it is some sort of new technology, one of the many so-called "Web 2.0" or "social learning" technologies, on the same level as say wikis, blogs, forums, and so on. This confuses things, because a "community of practice" is not a technology per se, but a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. Such a group can be better enabled by the use of some of the latest social technologies. For instance, a CoP can have a shared wiki as an organic knowledge base, use a forum for asking questions and learning from each others' responses, and a group blog or micromessaging platform for sharing best practices, lessons learned, and so on. Typically, a CoP in an organization that is technology-enabled in this way might use several of these or other technologies -- but the CoP itself is not a kind of technology as such. Supporting the CoP, this group of people, is rather one of many strong use-cases for the social technologies in question.
A few of the technology terms I just mentioned also often get misused in our industry. Simply put, a wiki is a type of website, or at the very least a set of web pages at a broader website, where people can easily edit, add, or delete content, track changes over time, and so on. Individual pages in the wiki are just that: "wiki pages." Unfortunately, sometimes people confuse the overall wiki with the individual pages in a wiki, and say things like "Create a wiki for that topic" when what they mean is "Create a page in our [existing] wiki for that topic" -- and there is a big difference in terms of what you are asking the person to do!
I find a similar issue arises for blogs. A blog is website or section of a website where one or more authors can write essays that typically then get displayed in reverse chronological order (newest at the top), with the ability for readers to add comments to each essay. A blog is composed of blog postings, the individual entries or essays that make up the blog. This is fairly straightforward, and yet at times, I hear people confusingly say "You should write a blog about that," when what they mean is either "You should blog about that" (using "blog" as a verb) or "You should write a blog posting about that." Again, a big difference in what the person is asking -- do they want an entirely new blog to be created, or just a single posting at an existing blog?
A third technology term that often gets misused is podcast. Here, the problem arises when people provide standalone audio files available for download, perhaps even in the most common format used in podcasting (MP3), and then for marketing or other reasons, want to call what they have created a "podcast." Unfortunately, a true podcast is more than just a set of downloadable audio files: it is a series of such files that a person can subscribe to, and therefore get updates pushed to them as they become available. This is what provides the "cast" in "podcast" -- the ability to subscribe to the content in the ongoing series.
Are all of these subtle differences? Am I the only one who gets confused at some of these word usage cases? If so, then perhaps I'm becoming a cranky old man well before my biological clock would suggest I should. If not, then I hope this blog posting was a helpful one!
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.
“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.
I'm writing this blog posting while sitting at a New York City airport, on my way back home from giving a presentation on the use of Web 2.0 technologies for social learning in enterprises. As I mentioned in a posting last year (The When and What of M-Learning), one of the things I do a lot of when I travel is listen to educational content. This can be audio versions of magazine articles, but it also includes several podcasts from the Learning and Development industry.
A podcast is essentially audio content that is updated regularly, that you subscribe to via a "feed" for the podcast, using iTunes or a similar application. Video versions of a podcast go by several names -- vodcast, v-cast, vidcast -- but are essentially the same idea, just with video in addition to audio content. In either case, once subscribed, you will receive the new content in the podcast sent to you automatically, and you can listen to the content either on your computer, or perhaps more commonly, on your iPod, smartphone, or other mobile device. Podcasts are a great way to keep up with particular topics, subject matter experts, your favorite news sources, and so on.
Over the years, the L&D industry has been blessed with several good podcasts to choose from. Some of these have come and gone (their archives of past content are often still available). However, there are several podcasts that are still going strong, including but not limited to:
ASTD T+D -- Selected articles from ASTD's T+D magazine are available as audio recordings, and you can subscribe to these as a podcast.
ASTD LX Briefing -- A podcast of the feature items from LX Briefing, an ASTD newsletter for senior learning executives.
ASTD Chapter podcasts - Over the years, some of the local ASTD chapters have done podcasts. Here are two that I'm aware of that are current:
Xyleme Voices -- LCMS vendor Xyleme has long had an outstanding podcast in which they interview industry experts.
The Rapid E-Learning Blog podcasts -- Using the Hear a Blog service, Tom Kuhlmann provides audio versions of his popular Rapid E-Learning Blog, which "shares practical tips and tricks to help you become a rapid elearning pro."
There also appears to be many podcasts about e-Learning and other learning and development topics provided by the academic sector -- whether from academic consortia or other groups, or from individual colleges and universities. Do a search on "e-learning" or similar keywords in iTunes and see what you find!
If you are like me and run out of time to read everything you'd like to, but have some time (commuting, travelling, waiting in lines at the post office, etc.) to listen to professionally relevant content, then give some of the above podcasts a try! I've still got an hour wait for my flight…which of the above will I listen to next?
It is rare for a blog in the Learning and Development industry to reference a story from a sports magazine, but that is what I'm about to do. There was a fascinating update piece, in the "Where Are They Now?" section of the August 2 edition of Sports Illustrated. The subject was Jason McElwain. Don't recognize the name? You might actually recognize the story once I remind you of the details.
Element K is headquartered in Rochester, New York. Not a huge city by any means, but several times a year a local news story from Rochester will make the national news, and that happened back on February 13, 2006. The YouTube video embedded below nicely tells the story:
The recent Sports Illustrated article updates "J-Mac" fans on what he is doing now as a 21-year old: he assists with coaching various sports programs at Greece Athena High School, works four days a week at one of the many Wegmans Food Markets in the area, and works at an Italian restaurant on Saturdays. The article notes the celebrity McElwain has achieved over the past several years: winning an ESPY award, appearing on Oprah, and greeting Air Force One. In 2008 he published a memoir with writer Daniel Paisner, The Game of My Life: A True Story of Challenge, Triumph, and Growing up Autistic. And the list goes on.
All of this I already knew. What struck me about the article was the end of the story, which spoke to McElwain's clear and enduring passion for learning:
At Athena, McElwain is never afraid to approach [basketball coach] Johnson for instruction and advice. "He's really gotten a better understanding of the X's and O's," says Johnson. "He's always throwing ideas at me."
McElwain gets his ideas from watching college and NBA games on television, breaking down game film and working at basketball camps. "There's a lot more about basketball that I have to learn," he says. Spoken like a true student of the game.
McElwain is both a passionate learner and someone who cares about teaching others: whether formally coaching or just sharing his ideas and opinions based on what he has learned. When I started to think about this in the context of organizational learning and development, I wondered: how can organizations best make use of their most passionate learners? Such people are not necessarily the smartest or most talented individuals in the organization. But your most passionate learners might be useful in the following roles:
I think most L&D leaders think of their key people resources as being their instructors/trainers, subject matter experts, instructional designers, and so on. While all of these folks can also be ideal candidates for the roles listed above (in addition to their primary responsibilities), the question here is whether your most passionate learners might also be good candidates to tap? Greece Athena High School, Wegmans, and others are finding a way to tap into Jason McElwain's strengths -- what are you doing to let your passionate learners shine and provide the organization with the most value that they can?
As it has been over a year now since I wrote about “The Not So Common Virtues of the Common Craft Videos," I think that a follow-up posting is in order. For one thing, the good folks at Common Craft continue to produce outstanding videos that clearly and simply explain sometimes complicated technology subjects. In the past year, some of their additions in this area include:
Many of the above videos are also available in multiple languages, such as French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. See their main videos page for a complete list of all of their standard, public videos.
But beyond all of that, in the past year I've also noticed some other videos that were clearly done by Common Craft -- more focused on specific products, and used for marketing purposes at the vendor's website. For instance, I recently started to use the Dropbox service to provide me with better file backup and file management across my various computers. They provide a video tour created by Common Craft that very effectively explains their service, and why you might be interested in it.
They've created many other such product or service "custom explanation" videos, including Microsoft® SharePoint®, Microsoft® Windows Live®, Google Reader, Google Docs, LinkedIn, and more. See their list of custom videos here.
My advice from last July remains the same today: take a few minutes each day to watch one of these videos to introduce yourself to, or increase your knowledge of, these important technologies and concepts. Doing so will also help drill home the point that, when it comes to multimedia treatment in learning content, fancy and advanced uses are not always required – being effective is what matters most.
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:
Mobile Learning: Obstacles and Solutions - by Joe Ganci, wherein he asks three questions of seven experts, including Judy Brown, David Metcalf, Clark Quinn, and others.
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:
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.
With more and more customers adopting KnowledgeHub as the technology platform for their learning and development needs, I started to wonder recently about what the most common keyword search terms were on the platform. So I inquired with our platform development group, and they were quick to provide me a report for a recent 10-day period. Here are the top results:
Excel
Oracle
SAP
*2010*
SQL
Excel 2007
Windows 7
Access
SharePoint
Business*
Java
CompTIA*
ITIL
Visio
Adobe
PMP
Word 2007
Cisco
PowerPoint
CEU
Project management
Linux
Time management
Project
A+
I found these results to be quite interesting, for a few reasons. First, they show the broad range of learning topics that people are using the platform for: office productivity (e.g., Excel, Access, PowerPoint); design and media (e.g., Adobe); IT training (e.g., Oracle, Java); certification areas (e.g., CompTIA*, ITIL, PMP); and business skills (e.g., business*, project management, time management).
I also can note the implicit interest we are seeing for training on the latest desktop software. For instance, "Windows 7" comes in seventh in this list (and no, I didn't rig it to get that odd result with "7" in seventh!) But also I think it is likely that learners searching on "*2010*" indicates an interest in the 2010 editions of Microsoft Office, for which we already have numerous e-Learning courses, with many more on the way (as well as additional resources to complement the e-Learning courses).
I'll admit that, given the significant increase in sales of our Business Skills e-Learning courses and blended learning programs, I was initially surprised to see IT and desktop software keywords dominating this list. There are a few reasons I can come up with to explain this, however. First, there are no doubt still a great many Element K content and KnowledgeHub customers who purchased, years ago, desktop software or IT training content only, and have not yet enhanced those initial purchases with our robust soft-skills offerings such as e-Learning courses with business simulations, strong blended learning assets, short leadership videos, and business book summaries. We have grown a lot over the years, but not all customers know this or have taken advantage of our new strengths yet.
But, I also think that another factor is that people are more likely to use consistent search keywords in the areas of desktop software or IT training than they are for soft-skills topics. For instance, if someone is interested in learning about Microsoft Excel, most often, they would simply search for "excel." But for many soft-skill topics, a range of possible search keywords could be used. I think that at least partially explains why, if you ignore the project management-related terms and the wildcard term "business*," the first real soft-skills term that appears in this ranking is "time management" in 23rd place. (For the record, several other soft-skills keywords and phrases appear in the 25-75 spots in the results I was provided.)
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.
"Implementing Social Learning" -- from the April/May issue of Elearning! magazine, this article includes descriptions of social learning from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and Telus Corporation. The latter's success with social learning was also recently described in a case-study from Microsoft here.
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.
For the past few months, a multi-faceted debate has been growing in the L&D industry, particularly amongst proponents of the hottest topic in our industry: social learning. Some of the debate concerns the definition of what a Learning Management System (LMS) is today, what it could be, what it should be, and where LMSes can and should fit into the broader architecture of enterprise systems. First there were some provocative blog postings, including but not limited to:
Then the topic of “LMS – Lessons Learned” was the subject of one of the weekly 90-minute "chats" on Twitter (these go by the name #lrnchat, pronounced "learn-chat.”) This involved a healthy but at times frustrating discussion, with many people sharing their negative experiences with current or past LMSes, but also including David Wilkins of Learn.com, myself, and a few others who provided some balance to the discussion.
Then, a few days later, and after some side email exchanges by some of the lrnchat participants, Wilkins wrote a lengthy blog posting titled, "A Defense of the LMS (and a Case for the Future of Social Learning)." In this posting, Wilkins not only displays his deep understanding of the LMS market, but provides a compelling list of features that "current versions of industry-leading LMS solutions" provide -- including varied Web 2.0 / social learning features. Mentioned as examples in his short list of such LMSes were Learn.com, Saba, Cornerstone OnDemand, and Element K’s KnowledgeHub. His posting is a fun read, and should be very educational even for industry veterans.
Wilkins' blog post generated many great comments, both pro and con his viewpoint, and I chimed in a few times with some thoughts of my own. But the debate didn't end there, as the weeks that have followed have seen numerous responses to Wilkins and additional posts on this topic, including but not limited to:
And then David Mallon from Bersin & Associates further chimed in, linking as I am here to many of the posts in this ongoing debate, and providing some of his own perspectives along the way.
At Element K, our KnowledgeHub LMS has for nearly two years now provided customers with a set of Web 2.0 tools -- such as blogs, forums, and wikis -- integrated into the rest of the platform in some deep and compelling ways (e.g., search results span across both traditional formal learning content and the social learning components that the learner has access to.) For more on these features of our learning solution offerings, see our Collaboration information site. And see also the whitepaper I wrote on Blending Web 2.0 Technologies with Traditional Formal Learning.
In an industry as diverse and complicated as the L&D industry is, no one can predict with certainty what will happen in the future. Nor would anyone in this debate argue that one single solution is best for all organizations or all circumstances. What I can say with certainty is that I find the very fact that we, as an industry, are having this debate at all demonstrates the passion we all feel for providing the best learning and development solutions we can. I strongly encourage all learning leaders to read the above blog postings (fun beach reading this summer?), to stay current on this important topic. At the very least, I suggest that you read Wilkins' excellent posting and the comments and responses to it.
In a posting back in December 2008 I referenced one of my favorite L&D concepts: the Forgetting Curve. This is actually well-known enough to have its own entry at Wikipedia, but in essence, the Forgetting Curve illustrates that, generally speaking, unless you use a new skill immediately on the job, or have a good reinforcement event, information and skills "learned" from classes or other formal learning is mostly, and rather quickly, forgotten. This is a painful truth for all in the L&D space, but one that, if tackled head-on, can be managed in a way that leads to strong learning results.
Also referencing this concept were two outstanding posts on May 28 by a couple of industry veterans. First, Charles Jennings blogged on "ID -- Instructional Design or Interactivity Design in an interconnected world?" While I generally agree with Jennings' points and sage advice, I perhaps disagree with his claim that, "The vast majority of structured learning is content-rich and interaction-poor." I say this because I've seen a lot of well-design learning content in the past 10 years, from a wide variety of providers and also developed in-house by L&D teams. Likely Jennings has as well, so perhaps we disagree on the degree of the problem -- as of 2010 -- in our industry?
I can certainly say that Element K's design model includes exactly what Jennings is recommending: heavy doses of interactivity and experience-based learning that go beyond the instruction of concepts, facts, and guidelines. Picking just two examples: a typical software training course from Element K includes dozens of interactive exercises, and a typical soft-skills course from Element K includes a scenario-driven, branching-logic, media-rich business simulation -- not as a separate learning object, but actually as part of the e-Learning course itself. But perhaps my perspective on content development -- for both e-Learning and ILT courseware (since we use an XML-based single-source development model) -- has been through rose-colored glasses? After all, I've had the benefit of being with Element K for over 10 years now!
The other May 28 must-read posting was from Donald Clark, and was titled "Ten Techniques to Massively Increase Retention." He immediately describes the issue of the Forgetting Curve, and then notes: "The real solution, to this massive problem of forgetfulness, is spaced practice, little and often, the regular rehearsal and practice of the knowledge/skill over a period of time to elaborate and allow deep processing to fix long-term memories." He then provides a list of 10 techniques you can consider to increase learning retention, with some being approaches I hadn't yet considered. A great set of ideas!
