868 - Facebook, LinkedIn Release Free LMS; Apple Watch to Monitor Saying No

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - April 1, 2015.
#868 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
56,839 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.
Host: Learning 2015 - Nov 1 to 4 - Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter Introduce Free LMS.
2. Apple Watch to Feature “NO” Coaching Monitor.

1. Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter Introduce Free LMS: Today, 3 of the leading Social Media companies in the world announced a series of free alternatives to the traditional Learning Management Systems:

- Facebook Introduces “FaceLearn LMS”
- LinkedIn Introduces “LinkedLearn Career Learning Systems”
- Twitter Introduces “TweetLearn System”

The three companies are jointly recognizing the growth of learning - from assigned training programs to a lifelong learning process.

Facebook leaders feel that workers will more easily accept “FaceLearn” than a traditional LMS.  “FaceLearn” will allow you to learn a topic with your friends, to LIKE or UNLIKE an instructor and to integrate personal experiences into corporate learning. They hope that workers might touch their “FaceLearn” apps as often as 4 to 10 times an hour, radically increasing the presence of learning systems.

LinkedIn leaders are convinced that a learner’s resume will have a key role in expanding learning. As a worker enrolls for a class, “LinkedLearn” will relate the content to the learner’s previous positions and work experience. If one shifts their job from a bank to a restaurant, their onboarding eLearning on how to work at the order counter will use visuals and even videos from a banking example. “LinkedLearn” is aimed at truly adaptive learning design. It may also leverage feedback from the last 10 years of a worker’s performance reviews.

And, Twitter leaders are focused on using learners’ reactions throughout a workday to inform the learning processes of other folks. They hope that employee bonuses will be linked into the “Follow” level of a worker, multiplied by the performance of not just the employee but the performance of those that follow them. It will be a whole new model of collaborative compensation.

Needless to say, the traditional LMS companies are shocked by the joint announcement of these three new systems. And, the price of using these three LMSs on an enterprise level will be FREE to the company as the revenues will be generated by advertising and leveraging big data.

All 3 systems will integrate with each other and will use a common profile and biometric shared password. They will push a new SCORM/xAPI/TinCan alternative into SwipeLearn API.

The MASIE Center will be tracking the rise of these systems and anticipates future systems from Instagram and even a connective social learning program from Match.com. Welcome to the strange future.

2. Apple Watch to Feature “NO” Coaching Monitor: When the Apple Watch appears at the end of April, look for a new performance support tool that will monitor the verbal statements of the wearer and provide feedback when a phrase is used too often.

Marshall Goldsmith, the well-known management coach who encourages CEOs to reduce the times they say the word “NO”, has been working with Apple to have a “NO” monitor app. It will count and display the frequency of how often one says “NO” to categories of people, ranging from employees to customers to family and friends. Consequence choices include:

- CEO agrees to donate $20 to a designated charity for each time she/he says NO.
- The Apple Watch will glow with a specific color as the levels of NO change.
- A wearable ankle band can be linked to the Apple Watch to vibrate or even provide a low grade shock.
- A family member (such as your 8 year old) gets a daily graph of the CEO’s NO utterance rate.

This will open up a new field for Learning Professionals to create a Learner Feedback formula for feedback and personal behavioral change.

NOTE: April 1st is my favorite day for stretching the words in Learning TRENDS - as many countries celebrate April Fool’s Day - with satire, even stretching the view of learning futures. But, please don’t yell NO - the Watch might be listening.

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie
Chair, The Learning CONSORTIUM

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