Jul

20

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder … I hear BlackBoard is talking to developers at Second Life (the Internet’s alternative universe .. or virtual civilization) to use Learning Management Systems in tracking user activity and also doing some prototyping and testing.

Sounds fantastic till you actually stop to think about this for a second. If you could test elearning content creation and prototyping before putting it out in the real world scenario, maybe you can learn a thing or two … its all good right? How about user authentication and quality assurance after all “no one knows you are a dog on the Internet.”

While I am excited about the possibilities for elearning — I would have to hold off jumping into “elearning virtual” till we have worked the bugs out. I would like to think that the need for real world elearning and talent management or just personal self improvement means we have plenty of work right here on terra firma.

See you next time on virtual e-learning …. isn’t that even an oxymoron?

Don Amacheba

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Jul

19

For the longest time, e-learning was considered “top down” knowledge dissemination. An instructor or HR or Training Director creates training, loads this training, mainly PowerPoint presentations, into a learning management system and waits for quizzes to be completed. While this is a good first step, I consider it very wasteful … talking about buying a Ferrari and only doing 30 miles per hour on the highway.

In today’s learning and knowledge management environment the focus has shifted to skills development, talent nurturing and holistic employee development. How do we accomplish this? Use BLENDED learning. Blended learning can include in-person instruction, e-learning and most importantly informal learning via social networks, discussion boards and forums. Believe me, those ‘eureka” moments are probably going to happen in a discussion environment. That million dollar cost savings idea can very well happen when employees are out enjoying a break from your in-class training.
“Those “Aha!” moments are much more likely with the advent of the new social
networking technologies, says Colleen Carmean, director of research at
the Applied Learning
Technologies Institute at Arizona State University. Blogs, wikis and
other content that remains online and is searchable mean that employees
can tap into colleagues’ knowledge no matter when the entries were
made. And given the way search engines rank pages by their popularity,
smart ideas can rise over time, she says.” Workforce Management

Bottom line, find ways to foster, enhance and document these informal learning opportunities. In looking for a learning management system provider, make sure to check on whether the LMS provides for forums, discussion boards or even social networks. Few do and they are worth checking out. See www.eleapsoftware.com for one such systems.

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