Answering the Question: How Do We Keep Up

This Month's ASTD Big Question is simple and complex--"How do we keep up?"

Being in the field of instructional technology and teaching it to others--my students, consulting clients and others--it can be a real struggle to make sure I am on the cutting edge of what is happening.

I employ five methods to try to stay on top of things:

1) Listen to my students, clients and members in the blogsosphere. Listen to what is going on with technology. My students have encouraged me to blog (way back when), taught me about software like ThinkingWorlds and have encouraged me to check out new things. Sometimes it is exciting and interesting, other times I don't see the value of the tool but I always try to take a look and have them explain to me what it is about the technology that is interesting. I listen to my clients who have encouraged me to check out things like ProtoSphere way back when and even explore elements of educational games and simulations. And I learned of Second Life and Twitter through my interactions within the blogsophere. I always keep one ear on the blogosphere to learn of the chatter about new and exiting things.

2) Tryout new technologies whenever possible. I agree with some of the other respondents to this question: Basically most software fits into certain categories. It is critical to understand those categories and consider new entries into the field via categories (while, of course, being open to software that may cross categories). But categorization helps make sense of the dozens of tools that are released every day it seems.

3) Give yourself permission to "miss something." Even if I could spend 24/7 on the internet exploring new technology, I could never follow everything and that's ok. If it is really useful or big...it will bubble to the surface. If it has legs, people will use it and find value in it and then I'll learn about it and adopt. For example, Google's Wave was all the rage a while back and, while it is interesting, I am not that engaged with it. It really hasn't taken off like Twitter or other tools. It will re-surface at some point but for now, I am aware of it, have used it but it isn't part of my daily routine.

4) Focus on the core fundamentals of how people learn! No matter if you send a Tweet, post a course nugget on Facebook or enter into a 3D role-play, none if it works if the underlying instructional strategies are not there. I always look at a new technology in terms of what instructional strategies can be leveraged with the technology. Instructional strategies come first and technology second.

5) Take it all in with a grain of salt. We need to remember that sometimes keeping up with the latest technology is not all its cracked up to be as the enlightened video below shows us. If we can't laugh at ourselves or step back from all this every once in a while...we are in trouble.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Twitter Frenzy
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

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Why Open Content is Not Yet Adopted in the Workplace

ASTD's Big Question for March is How do we leverage open content in workplace learning?

The concept seems straightforward--a no brainer, take content that is used by many different organizations, and share it with others so that the overall cost is extremely low or free. Many organizations are involved with such initiatives. One of the best known is MIT's Open Courseware project. But they are not the only initiative,   there is the  Open High School of Utah and the Flat World Knowledge project that is focusing on creating open, low cost books and Yale Open courses offers select introductory courses online.

And the concept seems to be gaining momentum. A recently posted blog at the Huffington Post titled Are Open Educational Resources at the Tipping Point or the Tripping Point? discusses the possibility that open content can address a number of issues involved with improving (read "reducing the cost") of education. It might just be that the current economic climate is doing something that good will couldn't do...push the "open content movement" further.

A quick definition from the article:

The term "open educational resources" was first adopted at UNESCO's 2002 Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. UNESCO helped to define OER as educational materials and resources "offered freely and openly for anyone to use and under some licenses to re-mix, improve and redistribute." OERs include learning content as well as tools to create and share the content.

Unfortunately, there seems to be some compelling reasons open initiatives have not taken off:

1) Corporations suffer an acute case of "Not Invented Here Syndrome." I've witnessed this with something as simple as off-the-shelf e-learning courses. I've been told by presidents of companies that they need to have "custom" training for universal topics like ethics or diversity training because their organization is "different" or because their employees won't "get it" unless they see images of their own company or the references are exactly matched to their organization. This constantly astonishes me, humans can generalize very effectively and we can learn from a variety of types of content, even if it is not totally customized to our situation. Humans are adaptable and able to focus on what is important regardless of the "trimmings." Yet, organizations and individuals continue to hold onto the notion that "Not Invented Here" means "No Learning Here." This is not the case but is an impediment to the adoption of an open courseware within the organization.

2) The second reason, which is more compelling, is that learning and education is more than just course outlines and materials. The MIT initiative for example, lacks the extra element of the actual MIT professor adding the instructional strategies to the content as she delivers it. Content devoid of instructional strategies is not effective for many learners (some can leverage the materials, many cannot). Since it is expensive and time consuming to have a person take stand up materials and design them for online delivery, that step is often not funded and the result is a library of information related to a course but not a course. Can learning occur without instructional strategies?...of course but it takes a lot more effort on the part of the learner. Effort that, in a corporate setting, that is often not undertaken due to time constraints.
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2009 Top Posts and Topics: Kapp Notes

The ASTD Big question this month is an annual question: What did you learn about learning in 2009?
So one of the tasks I will do to answer this question is to see what posts were the Best of 2009 from several different sources.

First from eLearning Learning, Here are my top posts.

1. Online Games for Teaching Business Concepts and Ideas. This entry was made because I was doing a presentation on the topics and I wanted to use my blog as the platform for presenting the information and as a "leave behind" resource so that the teachers could reference and find the games all in one place when they wanted to use them for the classroom.
2. Random Web 2.0 Statistics. I was researching some statistics for use in a presentation and I wanted to keep them all in one place so I figured my blog was the best place to keep those statistics. I frequently use my blog as a place for storing my notes for presentations.
3. How Long Does It Take to Develop One Hour of E-Learning-Updated for 2009. I had done some work in this area in 2003 and wanted to see if any information had changed. So, I teamed with alumni Robyn Defelice at Dishing Design and updated the article for ASTD.
4. Alternatives to Second Life (continued, again). With my new book about Learning in 3D about to be released, I am always looking for new virtual 3D environments and worlds and wanted to keep track of ones that I have found with more a business focus. This is one of a three-part series and a continuing effort to find these types of applications.
5. Educational iPhone Apps to Make You Smarter. From time-to-time I get emails from web sites about long lists of items they have compiled to drive traffic to their sites. I decided to combine a few of those lists and find some of my own and link to educational applications for iPhones because I think gadgets are a great way to facilitate certain types of learning.
6. Resources for Researching Virtual Worlds. When researching Learning in 3D, I used a lot of resources and I wanted to share some of those resources in their various forms with whomever was interested.
7. Implementing New Learning Technology? Choose the Right Pilot Group. In my consulting practice, I get asked a lot about how to pilot test new technologies within an organization. This posting is some of that advice that've found to be effective.
8. The Higher Educational Bubble Continues to Grow. I grow increasingly frustrated with bubbles in the US and world economy. We should be able to see them coming by now. With a son a few years away from college, the Higher Education Bubble is really hitting home and being employed by a university, I am a little concerned about what will happen when this bubble bursts.
9. Learning Statistics. More notes to myself that I posted on the blog so I could find them easily (if you've seen my office or desktop on my laptop, you'd know why I need a good place for stuff).
10. Audio in E-Learning. The Metro DC ASTD chapter asked me to do an interview about audio in e-learning and I linked to the interview and shared some of my notes.
11. Video Games, Education and Entertainment Statistics. More statistics for use in my presentation located in a handy place.
12. Presentation Resources. I think presentation skills are highly valuable for designers and wanted to share some resources with students and others who are interested in becoming better presenters. This is a continual process and we can all work to become better.
13. Avoiding the Virtual Ghost Town. Sometimes a client will come to me and complain that no one is visiting a virtual space they have established. This post attempts to provide some tips for avoiding that fate. It generated some good discussion about objectives in virtual spaces and helped to clarify some of my thinking in that area.
14. Save Yourself Time and Money--Before Implementing a Virtual World, Do an Analysis. Sometimes in the field of instructional technology, whenever a new technology comes along we throw away everything we know and do dumb stuff. This posting is a reminder to do an analysis before being seduced by the technology.
15. Technology Adoption Continuum: Types of Adopters. Not everyone loves technology and we need to understand that different people approach technological innovations different (especially if we have a leaning toward new technology). This posting reminds me of the need to consider other views of technology before I become all impassioned about some new technology.

Visit here to see more of the Best of Kapp Notes from eLearning Learning.

The post this year with the most comments was What Sports Teach Our Kids and Why Video Games are Better. It had 24, when I made the post I kinda thought it would stir up some discussions. It really made some people mad while it resonated with others. It was mostly tongue in cheek and I hope it made my point. I enjoy sports and video games but one or the other is not inherently good or evil.

Here are my top posts via Google Analytics for 2009.(I'll comment on the ones that are different than eLearning Learning.)

1. Bored?-Try Dissecting a Frog. I have no idea why this continues to be my most popular post on Google even thought it is over a year old.
2. Learning Statistics
3. How Long Does It Take to Develop One Hour of E-Learning-Updated for 2009
4. What Sports Teach Our Kids and Why Video Games are Better.This post had a lot of play outside of the learning community.
5. It is All Fun and Games...And Then Students Learn.Another posting done to support a presentation.
6. Diffusion of Innovations. Information on to help an organization adopt technology.
7. Definitions: ABCD Objectives. This 2006 entry continues to get attention. 
8. Help, I have an Instructional Design Master's Degree and I Can't Create E-Learning. This person needs their money back and should focus on a program with a solid foundation and good instruction that prepares a designer for the field...Bloomsburg University's Instructional Design program comes to mind.
9. What Learning Professionals Can Learn From the Steelers. What's not to love about combining Steeler Football with Instructional Design?
10. Sitting in the Airport. Another mystery to me as to why this posting is popular. I think because people who are literally sitting in an airport Google those words. Just a theory. (although the average time on that page is 1:51.)

So there are my most popular posts for 2009. I've learned a lot this year, especially about virtual worlds and I continue to learn so much from my involvement with all the wonderful folks in the blogosphere. So whether you agree or disagree with some of my comments, become a follower, lurk on the page or stop and leave a comment, I thank all of you for your engagement and interactions.

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Selling Social Media for Learning: ASTD Big Question

This month's ASTD Learning Circuit's Blog Big Question is "How do I communicate the value of social media as a learning tool to my organization?"


Here are several ways to help sell Social Media in an organization.

Address a Business Need
The most important element in communicating the value of Social Media is to solve a pressing business need. If you try to sell the use of social media as a technology play, it will not work. Address the need to share knowledge over distances or the value of timely information to sales tactics, don't focus on the technology.

For example, if an organization is having trouble keeping training manuals up-to-date or keeping SOPs up-to-date and tracking changes and referencing older versions of the documentation, a wiki is a perfect tool In fact, one company saved over a million dollars by transferring their three-ring binder training manuals to a wiki and the wiki is used more than the old manuals were.

If you have scientists and engineers working across geographic boundaries in isolation and knowledge of what they are doing within the organization is limited, consider having them establish blogs to share their insights and ideas. Focus on the business need and the technology will follow.

Consider the Organizational Culture

Cultural influences in terms of sharing  information openly is more important than the technology. An atmosphere of sharing is required for Social Media to be adopted. If people feel they will be punished or “get in trouble” for postings, Social Media will not work within the organization. People don't share business insights, innovations and concepts just because technology is available, they share because they feel everyone is working toward a common goal. If that feeling doesn't exist, social media won't work as a productivity enhancement tool.

Point to Case Studies
The case studies for Pfizerpedia or Intellipedia are great examples of how social media can work in highly regulated industries. Check out the use of social media by the US State Department, Wachovia Bank now part of Citigroup and others in Pedia Palooza and see many examples of how Social Media can be valuable.

Rename
Instead of social media call it "Knowledge Media." Names seem to matter and sometimes Knowledge Media has more traction than social media as a term within the organization.

Follow the "Diffusion of Innovations" process"
This process, described by Everett M. Roger outlines how a technology "takes off" within a social system. Read about Diffusions of Innovations. Roger's also talks about the technology adoption continuum which will help position social media within the organization. Also understanding how to sell technology to different groups within the organisation such as techies and visionaries versus pragmatists, conservatives and skeptics is important as well. Learn about that in Selling to Visionaries and Techies.

Follow Lessons Learned by Others
Lessons learned from others like, "don't start with a blank slate" and "seek contributors early" will help position the social media appropriately. Check out these lessons learned for helping with the implementation of social media within an organization from the post Web 2.0 Lessons Learned.

Position Social Media Differently Than It's Intended Use
For example, the Twitter question is "What are you doing?" Most knowledge workers, when hard at work, don't care what others are doing. But they do care about what others are thinking. The question should be "What you are thinking?" or "What problem are you trying to solve?" or "Can anyone help me...?" Reposition the use of something like Twitter to be a productivity tool, not a social networking tool. Position it as an extended, continuously-on call network of individuals within an organization who can help each other by having access to the thoughts, ideas and mentoring of the knowledge workers within the organization.

Have an Orientation Session
While many of the Social Media tools seem intuitive and familiar to just about everyone, some employees will need to be oriented to Social Media in face-to-face sessions. Providing up-front assistance and training is essential for the majority of employees to adopt. A small group will adopt irregardless of training but others will need some sort of training to become familiar with the tools just like we had browser and mouse training back in the day. Here is a link called Blogging to Learn, Learning to Blog that describes some things to cover when orienting someone who is going to become a blogger. For additional adoptions tips, here is a link to a  few ideas for adoption of social media within an organization.

Make Sure Stakeholders Understand the Potential Business Uses of the Technology
My blog Tech Dimensions contains a series of posts about how blogs, wikis, RSS, Twitter, and other Social Media tools can be used to address business needs.

Don't Tell Anyone, Just Start Using It
Sometimes it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to beg for permission. Start using social media tools without fanfare to address your needs and others may follow...just don't tell them they are social media tools...maybe you use them to communicate or post information (this relates a little to some earlier ideas.)
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2009 Predictions, Remembrance and Challenges

ASTD's Big Question for January is, again, a series of questions.

• What are your biggest challenges for this upcoming year?
  
• What are your major plans for the year?
  
• What predictions do you have for the year?

First a little reflection. This year has been a busy year I've worked on:

• Analyzing Mobile Learning Opportunities within an Organizations
  
• Researched Virtual World and MMOLE Learning Opportunities within an Organization
  
• Researched Social Learning for Behind-the-Firewall Implementation within an Organization
  
• Worked to designing a Game to Teach Middle School Kids Science, Math, Engineering and Technical Skills as part of a National Science Foundation Grant
  
• Worked with US Intelligence Community
  
• Presented on the topic of "Gadgets, Games and Gizmos" Around the Country
  
• Conducted a Comparison of Two Training Methodologies for a PA State Agency
  
• Wrote Serveral Whitepapers
  
• Conducted Evaluations for National Science Foundation Grants
  

My three most popular 2008 Blog postings were (#1 being most popular).

#1: Bored?-Try Dissecting a Frog
#2: Top 5 Funny and Semi-Learning Related Videos
(My favorite)
#3: Help, I have an Instructional Design Master's Degree and I Can't Create E-Learning

What are your biggest challenges for this upcoming year?

Personnally

• Time management is becoming a bigger and bigger challenge. Very difficult to balance everything I am doing and still have time to breath.
  
• Spending as much time as possible with my two boys and wife. Tough to be busy and balance family life but it must be a priority.
  
• Plus, I'd love to get in better shape...yes I did say that last year and perhaps the year before...as with time management.

Professionally

• Finding new approaches to teaching my RFP class. I teach a wonderful class but I feel it has too much lecturing even though I have been working to eliminate the lectures, we have group exercises, group assignments, student presentations, good discussions but still...can I totally eliminate lectures...not sure I can. So this is a big challenge for me this year.
  
• I am writing a book this year called "Learning in 3D" about using virtual worlds for learning, that will be a challenge as all of my books have been. But they are so rewarding and I do enjoy it after it is over.
  
• Finding the time to write a peer reviewed article (I have said this the last 2 years, I need someone to hold me to this. I even have great research, just need to write it up.)

What are your major professional plans for the year?

• To write the book, "Learning in 3D."
• To publish a peer reviewed article.
  
• To continue blogging.
  
• To continue presenting.
  
• To enjoy being part of the field.
  
• I'm giving a workshop to the Centeral Iowa Chapter of ASTD. I am really looking forward to that engagement.

What predictions do you have for the year?

• E-Learning will grow at a rapid pace. With the economy in a shambles, one good way to reduce costs is to conduct e-learning.
  
• The rapid pace of e-learning growth will create a bunch of garbage e-learning.
  
• Organizations will struggle with too few staff and too much to do but will not want to hire more people.
  
• Social Media or Knowledge Media will become a great resource within organizations.
  
• I will continue to blog and enjoy the online community of bloggers, lurkers and others.
  

In conclusion HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

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ASTD's Big Question for December 2008: New Learning

The ASTD Big question this month is What did you learn about learning in 2008?

I learn so much all the time from students, clients and colleagues, it is hard to narrow it down to just two or three things, but I'll try.

Here are a few of the lessons I have learned. Mostly about finding a good "model" for mobile learning course design, how others tend to view immersive learning environments and how Social Media is taking off in the least likely places.

First I learned that the best mobile learning device has to be the Nintendo DS. The powerful little computer literally has dozens and dozens of games that teach every thing from Spanish to French to Problem-Solving and even how to cook. These games, are all designed by many different organizations but all have elements that can be easily applied to mobile learning designs. Too many mobile learning initiatives want to place entire courses on a mobile device...not good.

I wrote a number of posts this year about mobile learning:

Five Holiday Semi-Learning Related Games
How Widespread is Mobile Learning?
Mobile Learning Via Audio

Lesson One: If you want to find out how to create effective mobile learning, purchase a Nintendo DS and some educational games. Then begin to design your mobile learning objects.

Next, I learned that virtual worlds are starting to gain the attention of publications like the Harvard Business Review and that the need to understand how to effectively use this technology to teach is acute because many learning and development professionals still think the use of Virtual Worlds for Learning is over hyped.

Of course, I wrote a number of posts this year about virtual worlds:
Some Facts about Immersive Learning Worlds
We Have 2D Virtual Classrooms? Why 3D
Teaching Higher Order Skills in a Virtual World
Complaint? Students Don't Hang Out in Virtual Worlds After Class
Virtual Jeans=Real Jeans

Lesson Two: While there is a lot of press and buzz around Virtual Worlds, there's still not a great deal of understanding of how to create effective and meaningful instruction within virtual learning worlds. More work needs to be done to help education people about the possibilities and proper use of these spaces.

The third big learning was that organizations who seemed the least open, most secretive and most regulated jumped into Social Media with both feet while other industries are still floundering. Examples include the United States Intelligence community and the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer

I wrote a number of posts this year about Social Media for Learning:
Adopting Social Media in Your Organization: A Few Considerations
A Pharmaceutical Leveraging Web 2.0 --In a Big Way
Social Networking Not Corporate Enough for Your Company?
Pedia Palooza

Lesson 3: If highly regulated and highly secretive organizations can leverge Social Media for learning, any organization can overcome obstacles and leverage Social Media for Learning.

Those are a few of the lessons I've learning and I am sure there are so many more as I learning through blogging, writing articles, speaking with others, reading and being part of the overall learning and development community. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to my knowledge this year!

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The Right Place to Find Help: ASTD's Big Question

This month's ASTD Big Question on the Learning Circuit's Blog is about Social Networking and finding help and expertise if you have a question or a concern for which you need input and/or advice. The basic question is "If you need input from people, where's the best place to ask?"

But, then the question breaks into sub-questions.
-How to reach out and find expertise
-How to use Social Media to Find Answers to Questions
-How to Learn through Conversation

And then the questions are even broken down further into more sub-questions which you can read for yourself at the original ASTD Blog posting Network Feedback.

The assumption seems to be that there is one "best" place for asking a question. One social network for Learning Management System questions and, perhaps another, for a question about learning strategies or business strategies or marketing strategies. If only you could pinpoint that particular location or network then you could be more efficient in finding answers.

I think the question sort of misses the power of social networking and Web 2.0 tools. Let me explain.

In the old days (before Web 2.0) when working a network to find information the whole process was severely constrained by time and resources. Seeking out advice, counsel and ideas from your network or a related network was time consuming and costly. You had to take the time to make a phone call to a friend who, hopefully, knew someone who might be able to answer the question. Then you had to call that person, reference the discussion with your friend and launch into an explanation of the question you wanted to have answered. That person would, possibly, answer your question for free, offer to help for a fee, or refer you to another person.

If they referred you to another person, you had to start all over again with more phone calls, explanations, etc. It could literally take you all day to find the one person who had the specific answer you needed. You really had to "work your network" to find the right person to answer your question. You had to hope the Return-On-Investment for the time you spent finding the answer was worth it. There was really no cost effective way for the average person to "broadcast" a question to a large group of people.

With Web 2.0 and social networks, the cost of asking a question and seeking advice from several different channels simultaneously is so minimal that it no longer matters whether or not you know the right place to ask the question. Ask it in multiple places because you never know who might have the answer and the overall cost is negligible. And once you ask the question, you can then work in parallel until the answer arrives. You don't need to stop working while seeking the answer.

For example, we have an alumni network consisting of professionals who have graduated from Bloomsburg University with a Master's Degree in Instructional Technology (very competent and accomplished folks.) If I need to ask a question or seek input from the field I do the following:

-Send the question to our Yahoo! Group Listserv
-Post a discussion question in our NING network
-Post a question in our LinkedIn network
-Ask a question to the alumni group on Facebook
-Send a group email via our CAC Conference web site which has registered members

Total time to post the question in all five places...about 5 minutes. The ROI for using all five methods is phenomenal. I invest a small amount of time writing the question, copy and paste it into the proper location in the social media spaces and SHAZAM! I have hundreds of folks (maybe even thousands) who have the potential to answer the question. I don't need to pinpoint or target a specific group or person. In this case there is some overlap but if you broaden the concept beyond alumni...even the overlap is reduced.

I think this low cost of "working the network" is the power of Web 2.0 and social media and is what makes it so effective. Therefore, I don't think a whole lot of time needs to be dedicated to finding the "best place to ask a question." Instead, place it out there to multiple networks and wait for an answer.
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Help, I have an Instructional Design Master's Degree and I Can't Create E-Learning

This month's ASTD Big Question relates to a person who graduated from a theory-only program in Instructional Design and was not provided with the experience of actually creating instruction using any of the latest tools. So the question is:

What advice would you give to someone who has no experience with e-learning development tools? Where do you start?

• Particular tools you should explore?
  
• Resources you should read? Videos/screencasts you should watch?
  
• What would your "To Learn List" look like?

Holding myself back, I will calmly answer the question as per Tony's request to not comment on the content of the Master's program...but my tongue is starting to bleed from biting it so hard.

My first suggestion is to take an online course that offers hands-on experience using some of the tools. Bloomsburg University's Department of Instructional Technology offers many online courses that include, as a standard part of the program, instruction and hands-on experience with development tools. These courses can be taken without being enrolled as a full-time Masters Student. Any one who is interested can leave a note on my blog and I will contact them.

Here are two such courses.

• 57.584 Online Course Design -teaches Blackboard, Centra, Captivate, Adobe Presenter, Snag-It and Hot Potatoes.
  
  
• 57.588 Learning Management System Administration requires students to develop and deploy an actual course using the LMS Plateau (Why Plateau? because they donated it).

If that doesn't work...

I agree with one of the comments on Tony's Site. Have a specific course in mind that you want to build that will provide you with the motivation and focus needed to learn the software.

Then download the software (free demo version) and build something that you will post on the web. Forcing yourself to build it to a quality level good enough to post in public will motivate you to put the time and effort into the project and increase your learning. That focus will also give you a better understanding of the software than if you were just "fooling" around with it.

Alternatively...

Purchase one package and dive deeply into it. Once you master something like Lectora or TrainerSoft, you will have the basics needed to master similar programs. You might even want to learn all the ins and outs of MS PowerPoint because PowerPoint is now the foundation for several quality e-learning development tools such as Articulate and even Adobe's Captivate can utilize PowerPoint slides (just make sure your PowerPoint slides don't look like typical PowerPoint...see Avoiding Death by PowerPoint.)

Or...

Go to YouTube and search for "Learn Flash." You will find a bunch of videos on how to use Flash. You can do the same with "Learn Captivate" as well.

If worse comes to worse...

You can always get a book about the software...while it is not exactly the same as having the actual software, it can provide some help. And if you are using the software with the book, so much the better.

Now I have to go clean up the blood dripping down my chin...
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List to Learn, Learn to List

This month's ASTD Big Question is, again, a series of questions. Apparently one BIG question is not enough for the learning and development community. We aim to exceed expectations.

If you have a to-learn list and are willing to share, and willing to share how you work with that list, that would likely be helpful information.

I constantly have a "to-learn" list. Some of the items are necessary and some are "pie-in-the-sky." I tend to have two methods of working on the list. One way is what I call "wandering." Using that technique, I will open up a piece of software or google a term with no real objective just a need to "learn more about" a particular term, item or piece of software. The other method is what you might call "targted." I have to learn how PayPal works, for example, because I am about to do a transaction. Using the targeted method means I have a specific goal in mind and I need to learn how to achieve that goal.

Interestingly, I find the wandering method tends to have better retention than the target. I target learning when I have a specific task but once the urgency of that task is over, I don't retain the learning as well.
Some items on my current to-learn list includes:

• More about 3D Worlds (Wandering)
  
• Capabilities of Unity 3D (Targeted)
  
• Better time management techniques (Wandering)
  
• Creating an online store (Wandering, for now)
  
• Learning about online publishing (Wandering)
  
• Some type of 2D game platform (Targeted)
  
• To program in ALICE (Targeted)
  
• More about the PA Energy Industry (targeted)

As Knowledge Workers, work and learning are the same, so how does a to-learn list really differ from a to-do list? How are they different than undirected learning through work, blogging, conferences, etc.?

I don't totally agree that work and learning are exactly the same, there is some overlap but there are specific things workers need to learn that do not result in a direct work product. For example, a knowledge worker may need to learn how to write a report more effectively but still may produce a report (work product) on time for the boss by working on the weekend. It would be great for the worker to learn to write more efficient reports but learning to do so is not a work product. The products the knowledge worker produces are work.
My to-do list contains items like:

• Write assessment report for DPW
  
• Write article for magazine
  
• Meet with students
  
• Invoice clients
  
• Conduct training needs analysis
  
• Create game treatment

I have to learn some things to complete the list but this is not the same as a "to-learn" list. In Catherine Lombardozzi's case, I would argue that she places "to-learn" items on her "to-do" list which I think is great in terms of prioritization as she indicated, I just don't view what I have "to-do" as a work product in the same way as what I have "to-learn" and maybe that is because learning without an expected work product as an outcome is so much more fun.

Are to-learn lists really important to have? Are they as important as what Jim Collins tells us? I think these list are very important to have as all learning and development professionals need to continually be learning. They can be explicit or implicit but, either way, learning professionals should have such a list.

Should they be captured? Is so how? Not sure they need to be captured. I have a bound notebook I carry around for both to-do and to-learn items that I list in the book, sometimes together, sometimes apart. I also write project lists and concepts in the notebook. One place to track and organize my thoughts. Although, I also have a bunch of post-it notes that serve the same purpose so it is not as organized as I make it sound. I live in a whirl wind of chaos with notebooks, post-it notes, to-do, to-learn and project lists. No to mention things written on envelopes, the back of other pieces of paper and in the margins of books...help.

How does a to-learn list impact something like a Learning Management System in a Workplace or Educational setting? Interesting but most LMSs have assignments or course lists which are assigned to a learner based on a due date (for compliance training) or by a managers so the emplopyee can have necessary skills. Both are nice but not as powerful, compelling or satifying as a personnel to-learn list.

What skills, practices, behaviors do modern knowledge workers need around to-learn lists?First, the discipline of writing a to-learn list is a good exercise, second a periodic review of a to-learn list can be valuable and third, I think learning how to network with others to acquire the necessary learning (once identified on the "to-learn" list is important.)
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Do we really need to design differently for the so called "Digital Natives"?

This month, I worked with Tony Karrer to help create the ASTD Big Question (which always seems to be multiple questions under one big theme.) The main question is Learning design differences for Digital Natives?

Of course I have strong opinions on the topic due to the fact that I've written about it many times and I spend all day with digital natives at Bloomsburg University.

I'm having trouble deciding if I should rant on this topic or try to build a rational argument so I think this post will be a bit of both. Let me rant first...

Yes, yes and yes. We need to redesign training to meet the expectations of the digital natives...we need to run away from boring, page turning e-learning courses and provide Just-in-Time learning opportunities, we need to think outside the course and consider communities, learners teaching learners and we need to enable the use of gadgets for learning...do you text message anything to your learners? Stand up training isn't going away but it needs to be reconfigured...let's incorporate (when they make sense) more interactive learning experiences, more games and more technology...not for the sake of technology but for the sake of improving learning. Use technology when it improves learning and don't use it when it doesn't...

Getting back to a more scholarly approach...The sub-questions for this month's big question are:

• Do you believe that we have to design, develop and deliver instruction differently for the so-called Digital Natives?
  
• Are there differences in learning expectations and styles or can we just design good instruction and know that it meets all generational needs?
  
• If you have an audience that includes natives and immigrants, how can you effectively design instruction without breaking the bank?

First of all, some definitions are in order, Digital Native is someone who has grown up with technology. For example, someone born in 1994 was born the same year that Newsweek Magazine named the Internet "Person of the Year." This means such a person (in the US) has never known a time when the Internet was not a major contributor to culture, society and learning. This is also a group of individuals who have grown up in a culture influenced by the proliferation of video games, that is why I tend to use the term "Gamer" to describe the people who have grown up influenced by video games. Also, understand these terms are generalizations and there are exceptions on both sides of the term but the attempt is to provide a general description of what we must do as instructional designers, trainers or educators to reach these gamers.

A Digital Immigrant is someone who has had to adapt to technology along the way...didn't have computers until college or late high school.

So,Do we have to design, develop and deliver instruction differently for the Digital Natives?the answer is "Yes." This is due to expectations, capabilities and the overwhelming amount of information people are now required to know on the job.

Enter rant, As designers and people who deliver instruction we MUST reconfigure our training programs to meet the new needs of the Digital Natives. We can't lead them into a classroom and lecture to them on sales techniques after FORCING them to turn off computers, cell phones and other technologies...hey don't they use these technologies to schedule appointments, track customers and perform other job related tasks...perhaps we should incorporate those tools into the training process. Perhaps we should create training that can be leveraged by these tools. Tools that, if left behind, they stop the car and return home to get them before they continue on with the day...that is how important these tools have become. We can't ignore them when we have a training class.

The next question, Are there differences in learning expectations and styles or can we just design good instruction and know that it meets all generational needs?

There are differences is uses of technology in attention spans and in processing of information. (See Chapter One of Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning). We are naive to think that a generation who has grown up during a certain time is not influenced by the technology...they are, they are shaped by it. They are dependent on it...they learn with it. If we don't use those techniques, concepts and approaches in our training programs...we are losing huge opportunities to help them learn. Good instructional strategies are still good instructional strategies but we need to be more creative in how we deploy those strategies and leverage technologies to provide good strategies. Perhaps technologies has allowed us to now maximize learning...for example, we've always known that the sooner a learner receives feedback, the higher the retention of the learning. With educational video games, feedback can be instant as opposed to a classroom where you might not get feedback until you take a quiz on the content.

Finally, "If you have an audience that includes natives and immigrants, how can you effectively design instruction without breaking the bank?" I've written on the topic before so here are some ideas.

Acknowledge to the class that their are multiple generations within the class and that each generation may have a different preference for learning and different expectations. Often people aren't aware of what causes generational differences...they just know that the "kids have no work ethic" or that "he expects me to stop my life to work on this project." So, one of your jobs as an instructor is to let all of your learner know that there are differences and that some of them are related to the different experiences of each generation....Another technique is team up the learners based on generation. Team a Gamer/Millennial with someone from the Silent Generation or from the Boomer Generation.

Mix up your own approach. Chances are, you teach or train based on your own preferences. Get out of your comfort zone and begin to involve other techniques that appeal to different generations. Have some online assignments, group assignments, in class games and don't forget a little lecture. Also, have the learners teach each other (using guidelines you create.) Try to mix things up every 10 minutes or so.

Also, when making a point or presenting examples of concepts or ideas you are teaching, use multiple examples. Try to think of an example or metaphor that would cover several generations or pick on per generation. Have your learners develop these types of metaphors that meets their own preference. Learner creation is a power tool for retention and recall.

For the entire blog entry on the subject, see Teaching/Training Across the Generations

So yes, we must think differently about instructional design and the learning events we create because of the expectations, habits and learning styles of the digital natives (or as some people call them...digital savages.) If you are interested in learning more about the subject, you can see the web site Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning and read some whitepapers, articles, acquire a book on the topic and even see some examples of instruction designed for these digital natives.

Thanks to Tony for the question.


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ASTD's Big Question for December: New Learning

The ASTD Big question this month is What did you learn about learning in 2007?

I learn so much all the time from students, clients and colleagues, it is hard to narrow it down to just one or two things, but I'll try.

Here are a few of the lessons I have learned. Mostly about the power of the network and Web 2.0 tools.

First, I learned how far a digital asset can travel if people find it has value.One of my student's YouTube videos Educational Uses of Second Life has over 5,500 hits and has been favorited 67 times. And a piece I created called Avoiding Death by PowerPoint has taken on a life of its own. I still get emails about the piece and when we switched servers, got a lot of emails asking me to re-instate the link or provide a new one.

The lesson: Good instruction doesn't need to be long and it stands on its own. If you create a learning nugget that people need...they will find it. Learners hunt for relevant information.As learning professionals we need to find out what nuggets interest learners...not what courses to design.

Second, I learned first hand the exponential power of the social network of the web. My blog book tour was a huge success for me both emotionally and from a sales perspective. See Recap of Blog Book Tour for Gadgets, Games and Gizmos. What really amazed me was how far the blog book tour travelled. We had a number of people join the tour, write about the tour and generally created great discussions about the book...about the boomer/gamer knowledge gap.

The lesson: People/learners will voluntarily join a discussion or dialague when they feel they can add value and when they feel part of a larger group. As learning professionals we can create the framework for the dialogue to occur and let learners know their contributions are valuable.

Third, I learned about the power of the blogosphere and Web 2.0 tools to transform traditional learning when I taught a class this summer using blogs, wikis, YouTube and other tools that required the students to create and distribute their own original content. I summed up my initial impression in my blog entry Tear Down The Walls: Web 2.0 Extends Class and then in a follow up Web 2.0 Lessons Learned.

The lesson: Opening up a class to the blogosphere and leveraging Web 2.0 tools provides learners an opportunity to learn from each other and learn from the larger professional community. Opening classes, rather than closing them behind an LMS, is the future of learning and a great way to spread knowledge throughout an organization, community and profession. As learning professionals we need to create and distribute content that is open and accessible to as many learners as possible.

Look forward to next month's question.
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Learning Circuits April Big Question: Are We There Yet

The Learning Circuit's Blog question for this month is "ILT and Off-The-Shelf Vendors, What Should they Do?"

I am going to answer that question by recanting a story from Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning.

In high school, I literally had a lesson on how to fold a map. The lesson was part of a six week class on how to read and use maps. I vividly remember the lesson because it confounded me how re-folding a simple piece of paper could be so darn frustrating. I always had the last flap inside out. Instead of the nice map cover, I had an obscure piece of Pennsylvania highway on the front. I did not do well folding a map and only a little better reading it.

When I got older, I always seemed to have jobs that required me to travel (someone has a warped sense of humor). Therefore, I always had various types of maps in various stages of being folded shoved into the glove compartment of my car—just enough so it would close (but eventually, they would spill out.)

The maps had highlighter all over them from my efforts to determine the quickest route to my destination. Then one day, after being forced to take my car because hers was in the shop, my wife bought me an atlas. It had all the maps in a nice neat book I could keep on the front seat. It was a great improvement for the aesthetics of my car.

Then, a few years ago, I started to use automated directions from the internet. It was fantastic; all I needed to do was type in my home address and the destination address. My printer would instantly provide turn-by-turn directions and even small pictures of the route highlighted in purple. I received a printed set of instructions guiding me to my final destination. I could throw away my atlas.

Whenever I traveled, the electronic directions provided pinpoint accuracy for about 99% of the trip. For some reason, they seemed to break down all time during the last mile. The last 5280 feet were always wrong. Leading me to believe that gas stations created the web-based directions so you would stop in and ask for directions. It was also a little scary trying to read the directions at 60 miles an hour to determine whether or not I should get off at the upcoming exit three lanes over.

Another unfortunate side effect, was that my car now had dozens of sheets of paper scattered about. Every trip required one set of directions for my destination and one set for the return trip. If I wanted to take a side trip, I needed to print directions for that little jaunt as well. These directions were a definite improvement over maps, no folding, but my car was back to being a mess.

Enter Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. I now have a small device that looks like a tiny television monitor stuck on the inside of my windshield and plugged into the outlet of my car. It is a GPS receiver. This receiver, no bigger than six inches, displays a map showing the route I need to follow and providing a visual image of my car on the highway. It also gives me verbal turn-by-turn directions from a female voice named “Jill.”

The GPS has eliminated both my need to print directions from the internet and the danger of trying to read instructions at 60 miles an hour. Technology has replaced the need to teach people how to read (and fold) maps and it made my car neater.

So, what should ILT and Off-the-Shelf Vendor focus on...creating embedded learning experiences within an organization, automation of information...not education. Create workflow learning, Just-in-time learning, replace the need to "know" something with the ability to look it up or to have the device, process or machine inform the user of the machine, process or device...focus on moving the burden of knowing from the person to the object or process. Just like fast food establishments with cash registers that automatically make change...vendors need to work on the same type of concept.
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Questions, Questions and More Questions

To answer the question at ASTD’s Learning Circuits Blog, I am going to try to stick to Tony’s initial thought of specific questions and dive very deep into the technique I use when consulting for a needs assessment or evaluation.

I use a technique I call the 360 Needs Assessment. This process involves asking questions at several levels within an organization. The idea is to separate the facts from the opinions. If I can triangulate information, I know that I have a fact, if I can’s substantiate it…well then more investigation is required. Or I know that the information is a minority opinion.

So, I first ask questions of the stakeholders:

• Why do you think this is a problem?
  
• Have you every tried to solve it before? How? What was the result?
  
• Why do you think training is the answer?
  
• If the problem is solved, describe the ideal state, the results, the outcome, your expectations.
  
• If the problem isn’t solved, what are the consequences?
  
• Did the employees ever know how to do this in the past?
  
• Do you think internal or external forces are causing the change.

Then I move to the employees impacted by the problem/challenge/potential training, I want to know if the stakeholders (usually management) know what is going on in the trenches (hint, they rarely do).I use similar questions but not always phrased as below.

• What do you think is causing the problem?
  
• What do you think is the solution to the problem?
  
• Are their incentives that drive you away from the desired goal?
  
• Is the environment conducive to your obtaining the desired outcome?
  
• Would training in XYZ solve this problem for you?
  
• Do you feel that you know how to perform the tasks that are required?
  
• What would you do to solve this problem?
  
• Have you ever seen this problem before? What was the attempt to solve it?

Then I move to managers of the employees:

• How long has this been a problem?
  
• Is it as "bad" or "good" as indicated by the stakeholders?
  
• Why aren’t employees performing (solving the problem?)
  
• What is the result on the customers or downstream employees?
  
• Is their another way (besides training) to solve this problem?
  
• Do you have the right people in place?
  
• What external or internal factors are contributing this is problem?

Next, I talk to downstream employees

• What problems do you encounter as a result of the performance upstream?
  
• What outputs would you like to see but are not getting from the upstream employees?
  
• Why do you think you are not getting what you need?
  
• How would you solve the problem?
  
• How often do you meet with employees upstream? (usually never)
  
• How do you have to compensate for the employees upstream?

Finally, I talk to the ultimate customers; usually they are outside of the organization. This is not always possible for many reasons but can be extremely insightful.

• Please rate the product/service/attention provided by organizations XYZ?
  
• What would you like to see improved?
  
• What is fantastic and that you don’t want to see change?
  
• How has performance changed over time?
  
• Is the organization responsive to your needs?
  
• What are your needs?
  
• How does organization XYZ understand what your needs are?

These are some of the tactical questions I ask. I don’t always get access to all these people but I certainly try. I also like to get people who have been with the organization for a long time, short time and intermediate. The goal is to gather data from a variety of places. Sometimes when you learn something at one level, you need to go back to another level and ask more questions.

It does take a while with intense interviews, however, you can cram a number of interviews into a day or week and really get a feel for the answers after doing a half-a-dozen or so.
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