In Part One  of this series of blog postings, I asked the question:

“As business is becoming more social and we are using new social tools to work collaboratively with one another, do we really need another set of social tools specifically for learning?” Read more →

We are hearing a lot about new social learning tools and  platforms that are becoming available – but do you really need them in the workplace?

This article was written for the E-Learning Council, and first appeared on 10 October 2011

Although we learn every day, in everything we do, whether it is in what we read,  watch or listen to, or in the conversations and discussions we have with other people, at some time or other people started believing that the only important learning happens in a formal setting, e.g. in a school classroom or a university lecture hall. Read more →

I’ve written a few postings recently (notably Social Learning doesn’t mean what you think it does) where I have tried to show how the fundamental changes in how businesses are operating, require a fundamental change in how the L&D function needs to view workplace learning.  I suggested this means a move from a “Command and Control” approach to an “Encourage and Engage” approach to Workplace Learning. Read more →

Yesterday, in my first posting on this topic, I showed how “social learning” is not just about a new training trend or about adding social media into the “blend” or acquiring the latest Social Learning Management System, but a fundamental change in how we need to view workplace learning.  And that in order stay in tune with new ways of working and learning, the L&D function needs to move from a “Command and Control” approach to one that I called “Encourage and Engage”. Read more →

A few days ago my Internet Time Alliance colleague, Harold Jarche, shared this article, written by Deb Lavoy, with me: Social Business Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does, Neither Does Enterprise 2.0.  The first few paragraphs say it all! Read more →

This post was prompted by a webinar I gave on behalf of Citrix/GoToWebinar on 6^th July 2011 and originally posted as a guest post on the Learning Pool blog. I’ve made a few changes to it here. Read more →

I continue to get asked about social learning metrics.  Until we get around to a whitepaper or something on metrics, here’re some thoughts:

Frankly, the problem with Kirkpatrick (sort of like with LMS’ and ADDIE, *drink*) is not in the concept, but in the execution.  As he would say, stopping at level 1 or 2 is worthless.  You need to start with Level 4, and work back.  This is true whether you’re talking about formal learning, informal learning, or whatever. Then, I’m not feeling like you have to be anal about levels 1-3, it’s level 4 that matters, but there’s plausibility that making the link makes your case stronger.  And I also like what I heard added at a client meeting: level 0, are they even taking the course/accessing the system?  But I digress… Read more →

Why do I need a new word for learning? Well, according to the experts in the learning consultancy branch, every time the word learning is used their clients dive under their desks and refuse to come out until they’ve gone… thanks LMS & the Snake Oil salesmen. So, the hunt is now on for a new word that is less scary. Read more →

In the world of business, the era of networks is crowding out the Industrial Age. Network connections are replacing rigidity with flexibility, penetrating internal boundaries and silos and obliterating the walls that have separated businesses from their customers. Read more →