Blending the Social and the Serious

Changes in people, technology and business are converging to create a new context for learning and development.  For instance, the younger generations entering the workforce are not only native to technology, but also very eager to use technology to develop and maintain relationships.  How do technological advances impact workplace learning?  How can learning professionals harness these trends to improve individual and organizational performance?

Executive Director Nancy Keeshan and Director of Learning Technologies Steve Mahaley facilitated a discussion on these questions at a CLO Symposium in Boca Raton, Florida. 

Their session, “Blending the social and the serious for individual and organizational performance,” explored the implications of the expanding connection of social networking activities with educational agendas. 
Many of the workplace trends were identified in Duke CE’s Study “A Focus on Learning and Development in 2011.” The study involved 142 global companies and revealed that learning professionals are seeing a need to bring learning closer to the workplace, and are planning to do more education via technology range of technologies (virtual classrooms, web conferences, e-modules, and social networking).  In the survey, senior learning professionals said they believe social networking provides real learning opportunities, but how to make it work in the organization remains a puzzle. 

Steve and Nancy have a simple answer to the question: It’s not about the technology, it’s about design of the educational experience. They then provided examples of how Duke CE is incorporating what some may think are “frivolous” technologies to create high impact learning. 

First, they discussed the concept of using very targeted social networking to connect learners inside the corporation, and at the same time, link those learners to others outside of the corporate walls. This link allows opens pathways to informal, collaborative learning with interested parties from around the globe. 

Second, they discussed a new Duke CE offering that leverages the connections inside and outside of corporate walls, and adds the additional benefit of just-in-time/on-demand educational content.  A searchable database with a variety of learning materials, ranging from book summaries, articles, videos, and e-modules allows learners  to access information and instruction on what they want, when they want it.  In short, you can address real issues in real time, by accessing content or reaching out to a community of fellow learners. 

Third, the recognition of learner-generated contributions and content as a means of accelerating development was explored. With today’s technologies that provide easy methods of contributing content and points of view, we now have the opportunity to make the learning experience much more about the learner – more personalized and connected to the educational process and to work itself.

Lastly, the Duke CE duo shared two ideas about how to use virtual worlds for learning. One example is to create experiences in Second Life to learn how to work virtually in teams and to improve team performance.  Another example uses a multiplayer video game to on-board new employees.  Both participants and instructors reported that this form of on-boarding allowed employees to climb the learning curve faster than traditional classroom instruction.

Steve tweeted live from the CLO Symposium. You can find him here.