Okay, I'll admit it...even though I have a Google Wave account, I haven't done much with it.Thanks go to Edward Harran for posting this on http://www.digitalforgood.com/.
If you wonder where I've been the past few days ...and what happened to my post-a-day plan, well I've been Twitterized. I have been learning everything I can about Twitter and I've found that there is a quantum growth effect occurring. There is so much data on Twitter that it has become a destination of choice for all sorts of opportunists. Over the past few days, we've even seen Twitter become a vehicle for malware attacks.
But what is most intriguing isn't that those seeking to exploit are showing up; it's what is being done for good with the data. "Data?" you say. "I thought Twitter was social media." No, Twitter is a social engine. Consider what Clay Shirkey had to say at Ted recently:
Shirkey is the author of the book "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations."
Here's a good example of a quick, effective message where the visuals support the audio, which is where the real message is. Sometimes, that's all you have. No direct interaction; just audio and visuals. You're doing an elevator pitch. You've got under 2 minutes. If you can get the visiting brain to retain the content, you win mindshare.
What I like about this is that the visual component really supports retention of the message--and it's SIMPLE. PowerPoint + a few graphics + audio piped through any of a dozen tools can produce this.
BTW, the product is Rypple, an anonymous, quick survey tool with a simple design and premise; this video hosted on Vimeo, a video hosting service that lets you set up a free account.
If you're still using Captivate 3.0, you might find this quick reference card handy. My company owns the rights...and you hereby have permission to download the file, print it, and use it for your learning or that of others; you just can't sell it or create derivative works without permission.
" talks about the social implications of Twitter. This is good for newbies, particularly...and those who are interested in the social value of Twitter.
Key Take-Away: "Create more value than you capture."
So, I came across this "adaptive learning" platform called smart.fm. Apparently they've acquired a product called iKnow that attempts to predict when you will forget something. Interesting concept, but I wonder if it really deals with performance issues.
I'm of a mind that learning is validated through doing, not simply through recall of information. Nonetheless, an interesting video, even if it is a product plug:
The popularity of social media tools such as Twitter is (IMHO) a testimony to the draw of spot learning. Thanks to Jane Hart pointing it out, here's a great video from the folks at CommonCraft that demystifies Twitter Search.
I first encountered the term "spot learning" in an article by Lisa Neal in her online eLearn Magazine. Attributed to Jonathan Levy, of Harvard B school fame, it was meant to refer to learning that happens at the point of need...the spot. I was drawn to the term, as it has occurred to me many times over the years that the point of need is where the learning must be available, whether the learning is embedded, separately available, or overlaid in the context of performance or achievement.
In the real world, hyperlinking is used to tie content together that the author wants to link...usually mirroring the content the author has available...not the content that is necessarily relevant to the learner. Authors, if they are thinking of the learner, must check their ego at the door and link to content of true relevance...or even better, leverage platforms that allow for contextual relevance. Different learners need different levels of support...and different kinds of links. Too often, authors use links rather to promote their own work. Contextual relevance engines could produce links in the context of the learner, so based on my knowledge and interests, I might see references to "Google Wave" in the context of user, developer, investor, or curious lurker.
In my current professional role, I'm very focused on identifying opportunities for embedding learning and supporting blended learning through the addition of technology to classroom learning (most of which is virtual classroom learning supported by technology). Increasingly, we see the learner as the conveyor of knowledge through the use of collaborative learning tools, such as SharePoint. In fact, our standard for designing competency development experiences for trainers is to engage the learner as a content collaborator so that no offering is ever fully a traditional trainer-led event. Instead, each "experience" is crafted in part by the participants; this leads to a much more rich and engaging learning paradigm...but that's the course model.
Spot learning is about "snippets" of learning. Just as code snippets can be used and re-used, spot learning can be invoked from the point of need and might be created by anyone. It can be used in the classroom, whether virtual or face-to-face, in e-learning, or as part of a self-exploration initiated by a web search.
In this blog, I'll try to focus on those ideas, competencies, and skills you need to be successful in building learning "spots."
So, "spot learning" is about the components that make up:...and more.
"The business" has always come to the "Learning Function" with specific requests, but in this economy, we're seeing more people coming to the Learning Function for components of learning and not the overall learning solution. The problem is that sometimes the Learning Function cannot respond quickly enough to the business need. We in the Learning Function have quality standards and processes and maxims for evaluation that our business partners may not want and frankly, may not always need. Their learners are already motivated (one of the core tenants of Malcolm Knowles foundational work) by the need to succeed. They will learn, despite of our standards or lack thereof. Granted, some things need to be measured and tracked, but if the choice is between raising the competency in a timely manner and providing evaluation, laser tight designs, and tracking, it may well be better for "the business to produce quick and dirty solutions that work.
Pushing the baseline creation of learning closer to the SME and facilitating the creation of effective "learning spots" through tools has been the harbinger of product success for companies like Adobe, Articulate and well, Harbinger, whose products facilitate content creation with simplified tools--and in the hands of bad designers, they can produce really ugly learning. Still, they are growing in popularity because:
In the business world I see us evolving toward, the accumulation of learning snippets into a courses is done by learning professionals, whose core competency is not in the subject matter, but rather in the coordination of materials and resources to facilitate learning. In the real world, most learning snippets never see the "light of course."
Perhaps that's only because the various business groups don't always play nicely. We have several bodies of knowledge and areas of competency that are required in the construction of effective learning, and through collaboration, we should be able to create effective, engaging, instructionally-sound solutions:
This calls for something like a production model, but only with more competency at each level.
It is at the intersection of these competencies that effective learning is enabled. In my view, many businesses would do well to throw out their Learning Function and create a cross-functional model where business partners are responsible for disseminating knowledge throughout the organization and the Learning Function plays a consultative role. It wouldn't work in every corporate environ, but it already does in some.
Instead of producing all the learning, the Learning Function would focus on developing the infrastructure and competency for producing the learning. They would train SMEs and classroom trainers to produce effective "spot learning" content. Candidly, some of the most critical learning would be produced by the Learning Function in tightly-constructed, high-value learning products, but more of it will emerge from the trenches, crafted with basic understanding of how learning occurs…and maybe, by driving better understanding of how to construct effective spot learning, we will enable some of the most innovative, determined minds in our organizations to become both better producers and consumers of learning.
