12 Responses

1. Community of Practice

   Hi Tony

   Not quite "Social media" but I run Communities of Practice for a select group of people withing the organisation.. ie Trainers, People involved with certain projects, Focus Groups etc etc

   I think they are a fantastic way of learning support but they also offer so much more such as teambuilding and sharing of new ideas and concepts.

   You can find more info here…

   http://www.ewenger.com/theory/

    

    

    

2. Captivate

   Hi Tony,

   I use Captivate (among other packages) to produce e-learning. Feel free to contact me for info, tips etc.

3. social media – a fad?

   I don’t think so. Many organisations have deployed social media tools – Yammer, sametime etc and they are now a mainstream part of the communications process.

   Sure the worlds of marketing, communication and learning are merging – but then so is technology.

   For example read the following:

   http://rapidbi.com/management/learning-and-od-through-social-media/

   http://rapidbi.com/management/twitter-as-a-training-and-learning-tool-some-examples/

   Technologies like these change.. fast – so will an individual tool be around in 10 years – probably not – but the methodology – yes!

   LinkedIn for example is rapidly becoming the place for networking – soon there will be a learning equivalent!

    

4. Learning Link

   Thanks Mike

   My comments about being a fad were just a bit playful, trying to provoke a response.  I worked at L&G for many years and we effectively used communities of practice as pre and post learning forums.

   My current organisation has embraced the concept and potential benefits of this form of communication / learning and I’m hoping that we should see a robust strategy emerge for 2011.  I’m currently looking to write a distance learning policy and start engagement with the Line Managers.

   Re your comments on a learning equivalent of LinkedIn, is this something that you’re involved with, as sounds very interesting.

   Tony

    

5. social fad?

   Hi Tony

   no not yet 😉

   but then I suspect that untill the current school generation get into the world of work, it wont grow fast enough – but time will tell

6. Not generation Y

   re: the comment on school leavers coming into the workplace –  In my company of about 230 people we have many technophobes (most but not all of them of an older generation.)

   Personally I wouldn’t touch social media training. I am hesitant about e-learning and even something as established as webinars because I think if people hate the medium they’re learning in they’re unlikely to learn anything. It’s hard enough to get people to engage with training and put the time and effort in as it is, without putting an additional barrier in the way. If they have trouble actually getting a programme started or navigating within it, they’re going to switch off from learning.

    

   Secondly, it seems that the cost saving of e-learning goes up the bigger an organisation you are. Is there as much benefit for SMEs like mine? Though I guess this doesn’t apply so much with social media as a lot of it is free.

    

   However I’m not closed minded about this, maybe people can persuade me otherwise on these two points…

7. A one stop shop answer

    I am using these techniques all the time with great success. I suggest you go to Jane Harts web sites at http://c4lpt.co.uk 

   You will find everything you need here and you can also join the Linked in education group. Jane also has Feedblitz which daily sends you the latest ideas and information. This is probably the only place you need to look.

8. Learning 2.0 tools

   I use a wiki as a site to host training information.  We don’t have any budget for a learning management system so I had to look at free resources.   The wiki uses web 2.0 spreadsheets so staff can access at any time to register themselves for a course.    http://acltrain.pbworks.com/

   I also use a blog for staff to read articles that other staff have written about conferences they have attended.

   And we use webinars and Camtasia to record demonstrations of how to use databases and internet sites.

   — Jayne Gutry Professional development adviser Auckland City Libraries

9. thanks

   Thanks Ayerst, Jane’s site is great!

10. video on why it’s not a fad…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng&feature=player_embedded

     

11. Business Process Guidance – an in-between

    Hi,

    My department currently have University students completing thesis studies investigating how BPG systems can assist as a form of controlled method of training.  This at least allows a complete feedback loop for review, there are a lot of companies out there such as Panviva, Tata even SAP are offereing a form of BPG (sold under license from RWD). These systems also incorporate similar technology as Captivate, and in some instances have a better interface for less experienced e-learning developers. 

    Social Networking can be a difficult business plan to sell to coporate stakeholders due to the lack of security for business intelligence.  If it is possible to have your business develop closed networks there is great potential to create powerful learning environments. 

     

12. New Book Addresses practical uses for SoMe in Training

    Jane Bozarth’s book Social Media for Training has a lot of practical applications for SoMe in training. Available at Amazon.