499 - Classrooms 2.0; Learning in a Recession?
January 17, 2008 Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - January 17, 2008.
#499 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
54,089 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host, Learning Systems ‘08 - April 10 & 11 - Las Vegas, NV.
2. Learning in a Recession?
3. One More Edition Until TRENDS 500!
1. Classroom 2.0: The Classroom of the Future: Classrooms easily can feel neglected these days. With talk of e-Learning, Web 2.0, Fingertip Knowledge and Social Networks, where is the conversation about Classroom 2.0?
Our organizations are still offering a great deal of learning experiences in a face-to-face classroom. And, the classroom will not go away any time soon. The methods will evolve, the footprint will change and even the roles of learners and teachers will be rocked, but we still will have a good number of classrooms.
So, let’s brainstorm about Classroom 2.0. If your organization asked you to design the Classroom of the Future for deployment today, what would you suggest? What technologies, layouts, new roles and altered methods would you deploy? I’d love to hear about your Brainstorm in a short-term blog that we have set up. Go to the following website and add your comments to this TRENDS Brainstorm:
http://classroom2008.blogspot.com
2. Learning in a Recession? In the last few weeks, we have had a good number of calls from learning colleagues in the United States, asking for perspective on how Learning will do if we are headed toward (or are already in) an economic recession. This is a serious and actually quite depressing topic for learning executives. In a recession, organizations often make rapid and sometimes stupid decisions to slice any function that is not seen as directly linked to the Revenue side of the equation.
In addition, investments in learning systems and infrastructure can already be seen as getting tougher. There are two companies that were ready to sign a contract for a new LMS in January 2008, yet were told to hold off or cancel the contract. It was seen as a difficult time to be spending when the future of the economy is uncertain. Another CLO was told to shrink her staff by 40% in the next three months, in order to be seen as “tightening” the budget. Actually, the company will be spending a huge amount in an outsourcing deal to compensate for the dwindling staff capacity.
Yet, the need to retain great Talent and to have the speed and agility to respond to changing market conditions is often clearly linked to the learning capacity and function within the organization.
The MASIE Center is creating a Learning & Recession Task Force to look at strategies for reacting to tough economic times. I would love to have volunteers and also your comments and perspectives. Just send me an email to emasie@masie.com.
3. One More Edition Until TRENDS 500! In just a few days, we will celebrate the 500th edition of Learning TRENDS. It has been fascinating to see the evolution of learning over the past 10+ years. We have collected comments from many TRENDS readers for this special edition. But, if you would like to add your comments, you can send them to me at emasie@masie.com.
Upcoming MASIE Center Events and Services:
- Performance Support LAB & Seminar: Jan. 30 - Feb 1, Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Learning Leaders Academy: March 10 - 12, Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Learning Systems ‘08 Conference: April 10 and 11, Las Vegas, NV.
- Learning 2008: Oct. 26-29, Orlando, Florida.
Information and Registration: http://www.masie.com