There are now several forums operating in the field of L&D. I was wondering how they differed in responses and questions and why people would prefer one over others.
I am not an expert on forums so there may be others but at the moment I am aware of Trainingzone, Trainerbase, CIPD's community forum, HR network, skillfair?
I wasn't really interested in the website more the forum aspect, but if people want to broaden it thats fine.
No ulterior motive here.
Juliet LeFevre
2 Responses
My views
Let me start.
I personally prefer Trainingzone. I like the layout – clean and uncluttered and the nature of the questions and responses, they are often very insightful and contributions come from knowledgeable contributors. I think this is aided by the fact that TZ has news and articles written by the same contributors and the cross fertilisation of this raises its game for me. The moderators are hands off and that’s a plus.
I am fortunate enough to view my colleague’s CIPD forum, this has recently undergone a design change. All in all I find it a bit too cluttered with too many barely used functions (think TV remote controls). I find the responses very mixed and one is never sure of the knowledgeableness of contributors, some of the questions are very basic and one questions the abilities of those using this professional forum. Its also inundated with students and L&D is lost amongst the multitude of HR stuff. They have also opened up the CIPD to ‘affiliates’, ie. anyone non-qualified, who often seem to use the forum as free access to experts. The CIPD’s own staff have a very haphazard approach to which queries they respond to and which they dont, there is no consistency to this. The moderator is hands on and that’s a minus.
Don’t forget Trainers’ Talk
There’s also Trainers’ Talk, (www.trainerstalk.com), which is free to all Trainers’ Library members (www.trainerslibrary.com).