Engaged Learning

Exploring the Social Learning World

Friday’s Thoughts

End of another week - a short week. Got to love that.

EMAIL: I catch myself all the time!  I start an email and think: Doh!  And then I figure out another way - a better way overall - to do it.  More about that on Monday when I give a report of my progress to cut down on email.

TED: On the way home I ‘watched’ a couple TED videos this week.  Loved them both (as I usually do).  The first was Clay Shirky on Institutions vs. Collaboration.  Although I ‘watched’ it in the car, I highly suggest you wait until you are at your desk or in your living room.  Then, take a note pad and have the pause button ready.  Write down the thoughts that come to you.  Lots of great insights here.

The second was Kevin Kelly’s (which happens to be my and my wife’s names together) Predicting the next 5000 days of the web.  Take-away?  We take for granted what we already have.  “It is amazing!  And we’re not amazed!”  Great thoughts of where this might go.

BOOK: Beyond school books I received slide:ology last night.  I have to wait until Monday to start reading it, but I am excited to start.

SPEAKING: On September 19th I will be doing a webinar as part of the eLearning Guild’s Online Forum about social learning and would love to incorporate some of the things I learn from the book into that.

In November I am joining ELG’s DevLearn08 to present 15 objections to social learning and how to overcome them.  Also getting geared up for that.  I loved the Annual Gathering in April - best one I have been to so far and I can imagine that this is very similar.  I highly suggest that you get out to DevLearn.

NEXT WEEK: In Las Vegas for a company client conference I have put together.  LOTS of work leading up to it.  It will be great to actually do it.   I will be doing a lot of blogging, but specifically for the conference, and not so much here (as if I was prolific in the first place!)

UPDATE (One more thing…): A lot of people ask about tools.  Here is a great list of tools to use. I could add a few others.  Check out my (smaller) list at the Social Learning SIG site.

Eliminating Email? Not Quite, but I am Going to Try

Inspired by Luis Suarez and his “Giving up on email” quest, and the fact that I feel the need to more fully walk the talk, I am doing my part to eliminate the Outlook electrons.

Emails for this practise will only be counted from internal sources - I won’t be counting junk mail, vendor mail or outside non-work email that comes through my normal email (not that I would have any )  But if they come from another employee I will count them.  Those that I send will be counted as well.

Here is the break down (I always want to start beat boxing when I say “break down” for some reason).

I have never analyzed my emails before, but am happy to see that I receive less than I create.  You will notice that last week is not counted.  That is because I was experimenting to see if this would really work.  And I think it will!  Time will tell, but I am optimistic.

The first thing I did this morning was create a blog post and let everyone know what I am doing, and why.  One thing I have added in is that if someone want’s to get my attention with a particular discussion or wiki document, they should add my username to the tags.  My RSS feeds now pick up anything tagged with my username.

Below is a snippet of my post:

PROS:

• I don’t need to keep getting bombarded with emails every time someone replies. I can, if I want, see the culmination after a few people have chimed in. This cuts down on my viewing time and gives me back time I need.
• My days (and the tasks I do during the day) are not driven by my email. Rather, I spend longer times on one task and finish it, rather than being interrupted by many different tasks.
• I might be asking the wrong person a question and the right person (or someone who knows the answer) might see the information and give us the correct answer.
• I go to one place for all the information on the subject, not 10 different emails.
• Discussions / documents focus on one topic. Emails can branch out into other topics not related to the original. With all the emails, one can get lost and not quite find the information they are looking for later on.
• I can go back and actually find the conversation I had with someone else and remember why we decided what we did or the details of it rather than losing the email and guessing.
• If I ask a question, there is a good chance others have, or will have, the same question but now they will find the answer.
• If it is an announcement of some type, this elicits discussion - which is a big pro.
• Often what I do concerns projects. It is good to be able to go back and see what happened, when, what issues were worked through, what questions were asked, etc., for the next time.

CONS:

• I have never done this before. So it will be a change of how I do work. Assuming all goes well, this will turn into a pro.
• Those discussions will be out there. One may argue that it may ‘clog’ up GTSX (the name of our internal environment) with extra information that is not needed. But, again, if I have a question, someone, sometime will have the same question. So, again, it turns into a pro.

Now - why?  We can learn and share information more easily this way.  Natually, much of my offline communication has already gone this way.  In fact, I was commenting to my wife last night that I spend more time on my iPhone than I do our home computer.  A refreshing change!

Here is a SlideShare presentation on eliminating email.

If the Culture Doesn’t Support it, it WILL be a Fad.

Donald Clark puts up a post about the ‘fadness’ of Learning 2.0.  He feels that if it was all it was cracked up to be, we would see it mainstream.

“If informal learning was really all that dominant, then the adaptation and satisfaction rates of web 2.0 would be much higher as the learners would have been absolutely primed for this type of technology, no matter what flaws were in the implementation.”

As someone who has worked on implementing these technologies into an organization and a customer base, adoption of the technology does not depend upon previous use of technology nearly as much as the culture that surrounds it.  I have seen plenty of people not use it - even thought they use it frequently in their personal lives - because their culture does not support it.  To semi-quote many different people: when technology and culture clash, culture always wins.

This explains the quote he uses from McKinsey Global Survey Results,

“Companies are coming to understand the difficulty of realizing some of Web 2.0’s benefits. Only 21 percent of the respondents say they are satisfied overall with Web 2.0 tools, while 22 percent voice clear dissatisfaction. Further, some disappointed companies have stopped using certain technologies altogether”

“A higher level of usage is found at companies that encourage it by using tactics such as integrating the tools into existing workflows, launching Web 2.0 in conjunction with other strategic initiatives, and getting senior managers to act as role models for adoption.”

Look at paragraph #1 and think “Their culture doesn’t support it.”  Now read #2 and you get the opposite.  The higher levels of usage are because the culture DOES support it.

Through my research (although limited) the #1 correlation between using web2.0 tools and not - independent of previous knowledge or even willingness - was if they replaced current processes and tools with the new.  One culture won’t change, the other will.  One won’t integrate, the other will.

Very much a part of the culture is the willingness to change and do things differently.  Those who are better at adapting will be much more successful at adopting.

I can’t say this enough - the technology is the easy part.  The culture can be your best friend or your worst enemy (and often both).

A Reflection of Transitions

Yesterday was my first official day (this year) back in the school world.  We were asked to introduce ourselves.  I mentioned that I was first hired on as a Training Manager.

A lot has happened in this time.  My focus has changed dramatically.  My day-to-day concerns are now centered around implementing, maintaining and strategizing around social learning / network / media initiatives with a side plate of formal training.  I am about to give a training this morning on how to hold difficult conversations, but these type of occurrences (where I do the actual training) don’t happen nearly as often.  My team does most of the training.  We still have customer-facing training that we create and deliver.  There is always the development and delivery of internal training.  Yet my strategy is less on the formal and more on the informal.

With all the talk of social learning, web2.0 and informal communication and learning, we cannot neglect the personal touch as well.  Social learning does not only mean Web2.0, but it means any learning that has a number of characteristics (which I will be blogging about next).

A couple days ago I spoke to Christine Martell who mentioned an instance (and I don’t exactly remember what it was about) where she was frustrated by a particular interaction she was having because everything was in short bursts and nothing was getting done.  What she needed was a sit down conversation to learn and communicate and plan.  That may not be totally correct, but my mind took me to this thought:  We can’t be so caught up in the new social learning / network / media that we neglect or minimize those in front of us and the personal relationships we need to make and nurture.  Too often I see others who’s noses are constantly burried in their iPhones or eyes are fixed on the screen when the most important ‘friends’ and relationships are all around them.  We ought not ignore those that are right in front of us.

Instead, there needs to be a balance.  When anything new is introduced we tend to do a balance check and teeter totter back and forth until we find our personal equilibrium.   Mine is not the same as yours is not the same as Joes is not the same as…  But we all know when we are personally out of whack.

But when we check ourselves and we achieve the correct balance with the new (insert whatever it is here), what a wonderful thing that is!  Our world is that much more open and full.

Oh, the changes in life, the challenges and opportunities - aren’t they wonderful?!

RELATED INFO:

iPhone and iPod: Learning tool or distraction?

Success Stories

Just wanted to pass these on.  A bunch of success stories (case studies) when implementing social media.  Although not learning centric, they do provide a ground for research and creating your plan.

Enterprise 2.0 Success Stories from 2007

Some 2008 Enterprise 2.0 Success Stories - Tell Me More

The Worst Evaluation Ever

Seth Godin’s “Can you bully someone into a sale?” post reminded me of being bullied into a favorable evaluation yesterday. I stopped by a local AT&T store to return an iPhone accessory - didn’t need it after all.  Sitting on the counter they have these 1/2 page flyers that said something like, “We Strive for 5!”  They want to be rated a 5 out of 5 in customer service.

Just as I was finished and about to walk away the clerk said to me, “We have random customer service evaluations.  Have you heard about them?

“No.”

“Well, out of five, how was my customer service?  Would you give me a 5?” (add a nervous grin)

“Sure.”

“Great, because my job depends on it.”

“Really? It depends on this evaluation?”

“Ya, it really does.”

Make me laugh!  When asked directly, what was I supposed to say?  “No, your customer service stinks.  I will give you a 2.”  Luckily, she had good customer service so I didn’t mind giving her a five.  But seriously?  There wasn’t any criteria and participation was forced upon me.  This reminds me of when I would ask my mom if a friend could play and the friend is standing right nex to me.  My mom used to HATE that (understandably)!  But I usually got what I want if I did.  And so does AT&T.

On the flip side, there are other evaluation tools that are very removed from this method.  One, I have written about before: the brilliant ratemyprofessors.com.  Students volunteer to come and, well, rate their professors.  No one makes them.  The process is totally detached from any school, so there isn’t a fear of reprecussions.

I have judged many products, and recently iPhone apps, on the comments and ratings given by users.  Some I learned to stay away from, others I jumped on right away.

Opening up a place where people can talk freely without someone watching over them is a powerful learning tool.  Give them a spot to discuss openly how they feel.  Chances are the discussion is already happening - you just don’t know about it.  You can learn a lot from listening in.

Dojolearning - Haheee-ya!

The hidden sauce with most of the Web 2.0 / social media craze is LEARNING.  I don’t think people get that.   Whether it is about someone, something, or they want to have a discussion or keep up on the latest & greatest or a combination of all of the above.  Very little of the companies get this and none that I have seen have taken their solution from a learning perspective from the beginning.  Usually it is “We have a product.  Oh ya, and you can learn with it, too.”  But it is not focused on learning.

Dojo Learning is different.  They recognized this and started with learning.  Now please realize that not every web 2.0 solution has every aspect of web 2.0 functionality.  That is because they are (usually) focused to accomplish tasks which shouldn’t use every bit of new technology.  And that is OK.  Dojo Learning is similar.  It doesn’t have everything you might think of when you hear “social learning.” It is more of a course creation product with elements of social learning.  Yet what it can do is impressive.

This is a great mix of traditional elearning and social learning.  Anyone can easily create lessons online, either for a specific group or for the public.  You can even charge for it or have it open and free.

When creating your lesson (which is parsed out in chapters) you can add anything: images, links, maps, podcasts, video, files, even widgets from other web applications.  It seems like anything you really want to, you can add in.  I love that.  Others are very restrictive to what you can add, but this expands to pull just about anything in.   Using this array of functionality can point the learner to potential resources on the web where they can learn more.

With everything there you might think that it is difficult to create a lesson.  Nope.  It is easy enough for anyone to create online instruction.  And because it is online anyone CAN create it.  You are tethered to a desktop license where only a few people can create the learning.  True, it can’t do what other rapid elearning products like Articulate can, but it isn’t supposed to.  And what Articulate can’t do, this can.

Then, at the same time, it has elements of an LMS showing the learning what courses they have taken and what they are in the middle of taking.  It also gives the creator usage and billing statistics.

But social learning is all about interacting.  I was pleasantly surprised to see this in their solution as well.  In one tutorial they show how the learner can upload a picture to the page they are learning from which will be sent to the instructor.  In this example they are learning of the rule of thirds in photography and the learner is asked to find a picture which uses that principle and then upload it.  The instructor can then check the understanding of the student.  But not only can the learning upload pictures, but they can upload audio, text, video and files.

At that point it is uploaded to a “journal” which the instructor and learner have access to.  The instructor can then comment on the information the learner provided and they can have a discussion about it.  This allows the 1-on-1 conversation to take place, it engages the learning and checks for understanding.  The assessment is based around conversation.

It also allows chatting with the instructor (including archiving of the chat).  Of course, for you to do that you have to be able to tell if the instrutor is online, which you can do.  You can also see if other learners taking that course are online and chat with them.

Technically speaking, it gives you your own sub-domain - like yourcompany.learnerpages.com - which can be perfect for branding your learning.  In addition, they give you templates for changing the look and feel.  I didn’t see anything where you can customize those templates, but at least there is some variation.

Although not total social learning, this approaches it more than others.  Sure, it increases the interaction between teacher and student but it does not allow much in the learners learning from each other, posting content, replying to each other - which is something I would like to see more of.  The chatting is a form of that, but nothing like a wiki or blog.  Yet, in their defense, they may not want it to either, I’m not sure.

For their revenue they charge by the month according to the number of courses you have.  Of course, if people pay for it you may make this a profit center for yourself.

The product is still in its infancy as you can tell by the layout and graphics.  Yet still it has a surprising amount of functionality (that seems to actually work well).  Check it out.

Is KM Dead?

Watch this video. Take the time, let it run in the background as you work.  But keep your ear on it.

Is KM Dead?

This might become a semantics battle, but he points out some specific things that are dead:

• One size fits all.
• Documents and repositories = Knowledge
• Knowledge resides outside of people
• ROI of knowledge
• The central repository that is controlled by a central department is good for an organization.

Do you think he is right?

(Here are some links to more discussions on the topic.)

Changing Skills for the Learning Facilitator

THIS POST asks, “Do you need to be a subject matter expert to run subject-based community?”  If I were to change it slightly, “Do you need to be a trainer or SME to be a Learning Facilitator in the social learning world?”  Then I got thinking, what are the skills of this Learning Facilitator?  How are they different than an instructional designer or a trainer?

Here are some initial thoughts.  A learning facilitator will:

• Connect people together
• Encourage discussion and conversation, while at the same time monitor to make sure that the conversations are appropriate
• Listen to what the community of learners is saying in discussions
• Listen to their suggestions and then adjust accordingly
• Monitor discussions and flag the bad apples to keep it appropriate
• Measure and report out on activity
• Be an internal champion
• Be an advocate for the learner as well as a consult to management
• Have a strong understanding of the language and be able to express him/herself very will in written form - an experienced communicator
• Understand and have a good grasp on the technology used
• Be forward thinking and strategic to recognize other ways to increase the conversation and learning - technically and the good old fashioned way
• Be a fresh perspective from their unique position of ‘listening’ to many different conversations
• Be trusted and continue to build that trust
• Help shape and create ground rules by using the learners
• Be able to create goals and have a clear understanding of what they are and why
• Be a Simplicity Maker - too often things like this can get too technical too fast.  This person will have to keep their mind on the end user and keep things simple
• Engage and personalize
• Have a personality and use it
• Help everyone learn how to use the new technology, why they might (and in some cases should) use it
• Not give up
• Face opposition, take a smack in the face, and keep trucking (later they will come back and kiss you)
• Understand motivation and how people work and why they make decisions
• Know the world of the company or customer, how they work and how to best suite the environment and opportunities to allow for maximum ease of use and adoption

Just some stuff off the top of my head, from experience and gleaning information from other sources (here, here, here).  These part ways with the traditional training role, yet many are very similar.

Can you add to this list?  Which are more important than others, do you think?

UPDATE: This does not need to be just one person.  After thinking about it I think I made this out to be more of one job - which it could be.  This could certainly be many people, however, focused part time on this for a specific learning context.

An Online Learning Facilitator

Yesterday I wrote about being a Learning Facilitator - not getting in the way, but connection people to other people to learn - On or offline.  Then I stumbled upon TEACHSTREET.com.  They help anyone find courses on anything.  Photography in Portland, OR?  Done.  There were a number of courses for all levels.

This is about connecting those who want knowledge with those who have it.

Gather, control, teach and require has turned into aggregate, open, facilitate and house.

What can this teach us about what we might do in our organizations?

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