230 - Musings of a New College Trustee; Results of Designing for Differences Survey

#230- - - Feb. 27, 2002 - - - 42,998 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Business of Learning Conference - April

1. Musings of a New College Trustee
2. Results of Designing for Differences Survey
3. A Very Cool Web Design

1. Musings of a New College Trustee: I am honored to have been appointed
to the Board of Trustees of Skidmore College here in Saratoga Springs, NY.
This has focused my brain on the world of higher education. Here are a
few early musings:

Why Are Alumni Mainly Seen as Donors? Most colleges view their alumni
mainly as future or current donors. What if we saw them as ACTIVE
learners from the day they graduated? Imagine the opportunity to continue
your learning relationship, via digital and blended models, through every
phase of your career and life. This is a great opportunity for both
service, revenue and would ultimately create much more committed donors.

Colleges Lead the Way with CMS �" Now Let’s Integrate! Most colleges have
moved rapidly towards use of a CMS (Course Management System) as a digital
surround for their classroom offerings. The CMS is used as a tool of
communication, publishing and sometimes collaboration for on-campus
courses. This digital surround deployment is rapid in many institutions.
The next challenge is to find ways of helping learners integrate their
stand alone courses. Imagine a subgroup of students in a college who are
taking a history course, but are also taking Economics 402. Can we create
a point of integration between for these folks.

Are On-Line Labs OK? A current debate centers around the validity of
on-line science labs for students. Can an engineering student take an
on-line lab and have a rich and valid experience? Does an on-line lab
engage “all the senses” as required by some accrediting groups? How much
of the lab experience is a group problem solving activity and can that be
done with digital collaboration? When is an on-line lab NOT appropriate?

2. Results of Designing for Differences Survey: Here are some of the
results from the recent survey on Designing e-Learning for Differences.
882 learning professionals responded the week of January 28, 2002:

How important to your organization is developing or buying e-Learning
content so that it can be accessed by the widest population, including
handicaps and cultural differences:
High Priority �" 36%
Important �" 28%
Somewhat Important �" 24%
Not Important �" 11%\

When you receive marketing for e-Learning content, are vendors stressing
accessibility issues:
Almost Always �" 4%
Sometimes �" 19%
Not Usually �" 50%
Not Applicable �" 10%

Are you familiar with the term “Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation
Act” which requires that Federal agencies electronic and information
technology is accessible to people with disabilities:
Not Familiar with it �" 54%
Yes, and my organization is affected by it �" 24%
Yes, even though we are not affected by it, it is a guideline �" 10%
Yes, but my organization is not affected by it -10%

A great site for information on Section 508 is www.section508.gov

3. A Very Cool Web Design: I ran across a very cool and intriguing web
site design. This is a graphic model of a website, done by an author of
children’s literature, Jennifer Armstrong. It is interesting in the
richness of the graphic metaphor used on its front page. Check it out at
http://www.jennifer-armstrong.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: http://www.masie.com
Business of Learning Conference �" April 8 and 9, 2002 in Washington, DC
Skills for e-Trainers LAB and Seminar �" March 11 �" 13, 2002 at The MASIE
Center in Saratoga Springs, NY

229 - CRM and Call Centers Next for LEARNING ROLE

#229- - - Feb. 19, 2002 - - - 42,987 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Business of Learning Conference - April

CRM and Call Centers Next for LEARNING ROLE

Last week, I attended the Call Center and CRM Conference in Las Vegas. It
was fascinating to walk around and talk with the operation managers of
major call centers and the coordinators of Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) efforts. For the most part, they did NOT see a natural
connection between their missions and the e-Learning field.

However, as we met and talked about the role of Learning with Customers, I
found some of the most enthusiastic responses that I have ever had with a
group. Here is the idea that we were creating:

The Call Center as a natural dispensing point for a wide range of customer
Learning resources! At the end of every call from a customer to a call
center, whether it is for technical assistance, transaction support or
other requirements, there is an opportunity for DISPENSING e-Learning.
Right now, the bulk of the dialogue occurs verbally, with an occasional
follow-up by email or to a link on the web.

But, what if the Call Center Representative could LAUNCH an e-Learning
module to the customer? So, instead of being "walked thru" a procedure,
the user would have a step by step learning module, that could linger and
be used for future support. These modules could either be procedural or
conceptual, and would walk the talk of that proverb:

"Better to teach you how to fish rather than give you a fish!"

In addition, the CRM field also is a perfect point to integrate learning
resources. The sales rep or sales center can use e-Learning or
Collaborative technologies to extend the relationship with the customer.

The MASIE Center believes the CUSTOMER LEARNING is a strong part of the
future of how learning serves the need of organizations. While we have
seen the bulk of e-Learning action focused on the training of employees,
there is a parallel and often larger opportunity to supply learning to
customers.

When I met later with a group of the Vendors in the CRM and Call Center
field, they were very excited about extending their products and services
into this area. Some key players are already developing major efforts and
building the infrastructure for Customer Learning.

I would love to hear from readers of TRENDS about your experience or
thoughts re: CUSTOMER LEARNING. You will see a major focus on CUSTOMER
LEARNING at TechLearn 2002 and in this newsletter. Send me a note to
emasie@masie.com

228 - Instant Messenger Use at Work: Some Intereting TRENDS

#228- - - Feb. 6, 2002 - - - 42,922 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS Labs �" Feb & March
Host of: Business of Learning Conference - April

Instant Messenger Use at Work: Some Intereting TRENDS

Instant Messenger (IM) is a huge corporate tool, yet it rarely mentioned
in corporate productivity or learning plans. In fact, most IM usage is
not corporately provided or managed, but rather an informal system created
by users, self-installing software for AOL, Yahoo or Microsoft systems.

A recent study by Jupiter Media Metrix breaks out IM-user estimates into
home and work categories, and in a study of IM at work released in
November, it found 8.8 million AOL IM users, 4.8 million MSN Messenger
users, and 3.4 million Yahoo! Messenger users. Even more impressive is
that the total IM usage in the office more than doubled over the past
year, from 2.3 billion minutes in September 2000 to an astounding 4.9
billion minutes in September 2001.

PC Magazine carried a recent story about IM at work and indicated that,
“indeed, so many workers now run IM windows on their PCs during the
workday that corporate IT managers are getting worried about both the use
of bandwidth for IM chatting and the security issues inherent in IM. There
are worries about the way IM provides a hole in the security wall erected
by corporate firewalls, about employees' indiscretion in what they say and
to whom over IM, and about client privacy issues. In health-care and
securities firms, for example, there are federal laws about privacy and
confidentiality, and casual discussion in IM windows about patient matters
or trading in securities can violate those laws”

The MASIE Center has seen a dramatic rise in the use of IM in e-Learning
programs, to connect learners to each other and to provide easier access
to instructors. On a personal level, I use IM at work, instead of email
for about 80% of my “e” messages to my staff and to core colleagues.
Prior to calling my colleague, Wayne Hodgins at Autodesk, I will always
check to see if he is available and about 75% of the time, we just use IM
to carry on our dialogues, often stretched out while we multi-task on
other items.

One of the powerful aspects of IM is that it is “permission based”
collaboration, limited to those people that I authorize for access to me
as a “buddy”. Leveraging and scaling that in a corporate situation has a
number of challenges that organizations are just starting to discover and
tackle.
It would be a good time to both survey your workforce to measure the
extent of IM usage and to consider developing a policy to get the best use
of Instant Messenger. Here are some issues that you might consider:

* Choosing an official IM system for your company, that links into other
enterprise software.
* Develop a strategy for how your organization would most appropriately
use IM and what are approved and non-approved uses.
* Add IM usage tips to employee orientation and training
* Provide an IM model for extending e-Learning and e-Coaching
* Evaluate the impact of IM on collaboration and distraction in the
workplace.

We would love to hear your organization’s experience with official and
unofficial use of Instant Messenger. Can you drop me an line at
emasie@masie.com and we will summarize in a future TRENDS.

Upcoming Events from The MASIE Center (www.masie.com)
- Skills for e-TRAINERS - Feb and March - Saratoga
- Business of Learning Conference - April - Washington, DC

227 - Learning to Maintain the PIPELINE of Talent; My XBOX Experiences; Add Some Breathing to Virtual Classrooms

#228 - - - Jan. 24, 2001 - - - 42,854 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS Labs �" Feb & March

1. Learning to Maintain the PIPELINE of Talent
2. My XBOX Experiences
3. Add Some Breathing to Virtual Classrooms

1. The phrase PIPELINE of talent has been used by several Business and HR
executives at companies that I have visited in the last few weeks. When
the Business Executives were asked what they wanted from training and
learning projects, their responses were often "Give us a steady pipeline
of skilled talent." Their view of the expansion of learning into
technology delivery was primarily centered around the impact on the flow
through the talent pipeline. In a corporation with worldwide e-Learning
capabilities, their expectations increased on the ability to find and
develop great talent to work in their business units. The larger the
enterprise, the more we are hearing talk of the pipeline and a linkage to
the scalability of training projects.

2. My XBOX Experiences: As I type this issue, a number of my staff are
playing with Microsoft's XBOX game device in our usability lab downstairs.
Why are they spending their time crashing cars into walls and battling
warriors and movie an animated SHREK around his kingdom? The XBOX is an
interesting, low-cost, gaming box released recently by Microsoft. It has
caught my interest as a possible platform for business simulation and
feedback. If you are intrigued, look at one of the new car games, Project
Gotham. The user selects the type of car, the setting, and even the name
they want on the license plate. XBOX renders a real time, highly
realistic version of this car. And, after a game, the player can see a
detailed replay, from several angles, to review their performance and
mistakes. Think of what this could do for a high involvement customer
service or business simulation. We are doing a number of usability tests
with people of diverse ages on their responses in this type of gaming
situation. More to follow...

3. Add Some Breathing to Virtual Classrooms: Simple tip to people
delivering real time on-line presentations. Take a few breaths!

It is interesting to see how many trainers forget to breathe in an on-line
class. Since they are not seeing the learners in front of them, they
often feel as though they need to fill out every second of time with voice
noise. Breathe. Yes, take a few breaths. And, make sure to make a tape
of a few of your sessions and get feedback as you play them back. When I
teach our Skills for e-TRAINERS course, this is one of the most common
areas of feedback that we have to provide to our participants. Great
content yet add the breathing!

(Note, the next sessions for this class are in February and March, info at
http://www.masie.com)

227 - CEO's Dialogue: Drive Technology for Business & SmartForce Merges with Centra Software

#227 - - - Jan. 17, 2001 - - - 42,799Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS

1. CEO's Dialogue: Drive Technology for Business
2. SmartForce Merges with Centra Software
3. Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab in Feb & March

1. CEO’s Dialogue: Drive Technology for Business: I have been in Boca
Raton for the past few days, working with a group of 200 CEO’s of the
insurance and financial services corporations. One of the issues that we
have been dialoguing about has been the CEO’s view of technology.

A number of the CEO’s are now looking at tightening the belt on technology
investments. One CEO is now demanding that all IT expenditures be “paid
back” by reduced expenses or increased revenues in 18 months. This has
forced new IT projects to deeply align with business issues. Another CEO
is starting to demand that each new suggestion for technology be totally
wrapped around a desired change in customer or organizational behavior.

I have been pushing this group to seize the technology agenda and to do
increased “behavioral due diligence” before funding new IT projects. The
CEO of the future must be able to drive technology to be a business
solution, measured by how behavior and the bottom line changes, rather
than to just be tech competitive.

2. SmartForce Merges with Centra Software: Two of the major e-Learning
providers have merged. SmartForce has acquired Centra Software, to
combine their content, learning/content management and collaboration
products and services. The sale price is approximately $284 million in
stock. Each company has been profitable and growing, so this is an
intriguing combination. For more details check out www.smartforce.com or
www.smartforce.com Watch for several other major mergers in our space,
as consolidation and maturation increases.

I had a chance to talk with Leon Navickas, Chairman and CEO of Centra,
right after the merger was announced. Leon stressed the size of the
combined organization and the extent to which the company will be
investing in research and development. Leon will become the Chief
Technology Officer, overseeing development.

3. Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab Offered at The MASIE Center in February and
March. There are seats available in our popular blended learning
offering, Skills for e-TRIANERS, which is offered at our LAB in Saratoga
Springs, NY. Dates are scheduled for Feb. and March. Go to
www.masie.com for details and on-line registration.

226 - Mergers in Learning World Theme in Early 2002; Streaming Media Gains Corporate Use for Briefings; Learning Strategies Focus on Business Alignment

#226 - - - Jan. 8, 2001 - - - 42,765 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS �" Feb 18-20, 2002

1. Mergers in Learning World Theme in Early 2002
2. Streaming Media Gains Corporate Use for Briefings
3. Learning Strategies Focus on Business Alignment
4. Skills for e-TRAINERS Session in Feb 2002 Open!

1. Mergers in Learning World Theme in Early 2002: Watch for a wide range
of mergers and acquisitions in the next eight weeks. There are a number
of serious discussions underway between learning vendors which will lead
to mergers or buyouts. Some of this is being driven by a shortage of cash
in the banks of some learning start-ups. Others are natural combinations
of players in the field. Here are two that just came across my desk in
the last 24 hours:

* Element K has acquires the intellectual property of Mentor Technologies
(http://www.elementk.com)
* Blackboard announces acquisition of Prometheus from The George
Washington University (http://www.blackboard.com)

2. Streaming Media Gains Corporate Use for Briefings: The MASIE Center
has been tracking the use of streaming media (audio and video) within
corporate settings. We have watched a steady growth in the use of
streaming briefings for information transfer, product demonstration and
corporate events. While there are still pockets of bandwidth restriction,
firewall blockages and lack of speakers on PC's, user acceptance of
streaming is clearly gaining. Now, one of the issues is how to catalog,
index, offer and invite employees (and customers) to use these resources.
Watch for LMS and LCMS like systems deployed to manage streaming media
resources.

3. Learning Strategies Focus on Business Alignment: In the first few days
of 2002, I have had a chance to review four major corporate learning
strategy documents from Fortune 1000 companies. Some of these were on
hold in the last quarter of 2001, and are now making their way up the line
for executive approval. It is interesting to note that each of the
strategies has added a strong component about "Alignment with Business"
in the document.

This reflects a direction of linking corporate and business goals and
measures more directly with learning and seeking direct business measures
for the impact of learning. One group is moving away from offering
learning to all employees and shifting to a more laser like allocation of
learning resources to areas of performance gaps or opportunity gains.

4. Skills for e-TRAINERS Session in Feb 2002 Open! The next session of
our popular Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab in Saratoga Springs, NY has been
announced for Feb. 18 to 20th. Information and registration at
http://www.masie.com

MASIE Center Services in 2002: http://www.masie.com
* Business of Learning: Washington, DC April 8 and 9
* e-Learning CONSORTIUM Accepting Applications Now
* Learning Decisions Interactive Newsletter

225 - Where is Learning on the Radar Screen Today?

#225 - - - December 14, 2001 - - - 42,679 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS �" Jan 9-11, 2002

Where is Learning on the Radar Screen Today?
By Elliott Masie

In today's distressed economy, where is Learning on the corporate "radar
screen"?

A year ago, the answer would have been easier. At that time, e-Learning
was seen as hot items, an intervention that could harness the power of the
new economy, the internet and deliver knowledge benefits anytime and
anywhere. CEO's were building e-Learning quotes and curves into
presentation slides. Investment proposals for high dollar, large scale
enterprise wide learning focused management systems were making their way
up the approval ladder. So, we would have placed learning in a highly
visible place on the "radar screen".

In today's economy, the image and location of learning on that screen is a
lot more fuzzy and there is a greater sense of confusion and anxiety
afoot.

The reality is that learning, training and development are proceeding
along quite strongly, even in contracting companies. The need to make
good selection choices, to cross-train remaining employees and to increase
the knowledge chain to customers is INCREASING the demand for learning.
And, the ability to deliver the learning, in part, via the internet, is
growing as an ASSUMPTION in many organizations.

We are seeing fewer organizations launch major enterprise wide, large
dollar, learning projects in the past few months. Instead, these have
been transformed into projects that often live in the Lines of Business,
or are implemented with less fanfare and less overt investment. Champions
of Learning in organizations are changing their language, to lower the
perceived early stage investment figures and to align closer with direct
impacts on either REVENUE or EXPENSE.

As we enter 2002, it will be a good time for our field to consider how we
will be perceived and resourced. In order to meet the DEMAND for more and
more learning, we will need executive level support and access to
resources. Justifying that in a deeply constricting organization or
economy will require good thinking on all of our parts. Yet, some
organizations are rapidly trying to "hide" the learning costs to avoid
being a target for formula cuts.

We believe that a strong learning culture and delivery capability are an
incredible competitive advantage in these tougher times. The amount of
training and learning will increase in coming years. So, how do we
position our field and industry?

The MASIE Center would like to create some dialogue on this chapter and
issue a free white paper in early 2002 that our readers could use
internally to gather support.

Would you take a few minutes and send me a note about how you are
positioning learning (or e-Learning) on your corporate radar screens?
Just send it to emasie@masie.com. Include a note if you would like us to
use or not use your name/company name.

We will post the white paper by January 15th.

Warm regards,

Elliott Masie

MASIE Center Events:
* Skills for e-TRAINERS, January 9 to 11, 2002, Saratoga Springs, NY USA -
www.masie.com

224 - Compare the Web Over Six Years; Speaking from My Desk; Doing Much More With Less

#224 - - - December 10, 2001 - - - 42,621 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS �" Jan 9-11, 2002

Happy First Day of Hanukah!

1. Compare the Web Over Six Years!
2. Speaking from My Desk
3. Doing Much More With Less!
4. e-Learning CONSORTIUM Open for Applications

1. Compare the Web Over Six Years!: It is amazing to look at how the
web, and even our own websites, have changed over the past six years.
There is a great, non-profit and free site, that will give you an
intriguing perspective. It has a stored archive of the entire internet
from 1996. You just go there and enter in the name of a website, such as
your organization’s or yahoo or others, and it will give you complete
copies over the past six years. Just go to The Way Back Machine at:

http://www.archive.org

2. Speaking from My Desk: As I am writing today’s TRENDS, I had to take a
break to give a keynote speech. Normally, that would be a flight and a
sports jacket. But, for the last 12 months, about 60% of my speeches have
just required a spin of my chair and a click of my mouse. For instance,
this morning I spoke to a group of several hundred participants in a
Conference in D.C. using a web conferencing tool. Tomorrow, I am
delivering a program for Sun Microsystems to a global audience, from a
headset at my desk. And, last week, I conducted about six sessions, from
consulting, to coaching to speaking from my office here in Saratoga
Springs. I am amazed at how rapidly we are seeing a growth of the
ACCEPTANCE of speakers and consultants working digitally. Even the
resistance to pricing that we saw six months ago has changed, as
organizations see the full value of accessing expertise from afar, without
travel restrictions. We have been experimenting with using a range of
synchronous and asynchronous tools to grow the flexibility of this form of
delivery. The next time you are planning your internal meetings, consider
bringing some of your organizational executives or outside experts in via
desktop to desktop or meeting room delivery. It grows your flexibility
and “walks the talk” of learning digitally. You will also be amazed at
how much easier it is to get the CEO for 20 minutes from their desktop!

3. Doing Much More With Less!: As part of our on-going monitoring of the
e-Learning industry, I’ve been making calls to Chief Learning Officers and
Training Managers to find out about their 2002 plans. The common themes
that are emerging are:

* Learning Departments need to do MUCH MORE with LESS! While training and
learning budgets are for the most part stable or slightly decreasing, the
demand side of expectations is growing rapidly. Businesses changing size
of workforce or shifting marketplaces are asking for quick and nimble
responses from the learning departments. The buyers in these groups are
still looking for new systems and content collections, but they want what
they are being asked for within their organizations, much more for less
(or slightly less).

• Integration is Key: Many organizations are now faced with huge
integration challenges. They need to integrate Learning and Content
Management Systems into enterprise wide systems. They need to integrate
the e-Learning projects and methodologies into the classroom offerings
that are still growing in demand. They need to integrate the demands of
lines of business into corporate strategy approaches. And, they need to
integrate diverse offerings from a host of changing vendors into a logical
and dynamic offering that makes sense to their workforce.

4. e-Learning CONSORTIUM Open for Applications: We have a limited number
of openings in The MASIE Center e-Learning CONSORTIUM. This is a group of
approximately 150 to 180 companies that are implementing e-Learning within
their enterprises or are supplying the industry with learning solutions.
The membership includes many of the Fortune 1000 companies and key
learning vendors. This is a vendor-neutral, no selling environment
focused on benchmarking and innovation amongst members. I work
extensively with the CONSORTUIM throughout the year and we have an
on-going set of meetings, working groups, reports and collaborations. We
have about 2 dozen openings due to changes in the industry and mergers, so
we are accepting a few new applications. Go to http://www.masie.com for
details. The cost is $5,000 per year and includes two admissions to
TechLearn 2002.

Programs From The MASIE Center:
* Skills for e-TRAINERS: January 9 �" 11, 2002 �" Saratoga Springs, New
York, USA. Taught by Elliott Masie. http://www.masie.com for info and registration!
* The Business of Learning: April 8 & 9, 2002 - Washington D.C.
Save the dates, details to be posted January 7th!

223 - Jack Welch on Learning & Business; Finding High Profile Success Stories

#223 - - - November 28, 2001 - - - 42,587 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com

1. Jack Welch on Learning & Business
2. Skills for e-TRAINERs Lab Scheduled
3. Finding High Profile Success Stories

Readers: I took a few weeks off from writing TechLearn TRENDS after
TechLearn finished in Orlando. We have been doing some

1. Jack Welch on Learning & Business: The 1,640 attendees of TechLearn
2001 in Orlando at the end of October heard Jack Welch, the former
Chairman of General Electric, talk about the importance of Learning in the
success of a business. Here is what he answered to my question about how
he views Learning:

“It is about raising the fundamental intellect of the organization every
day. It is what makes organizations win. And inspiring people to learn
because the excitement and the energy they get from that learning is so
enormous, it is how you energize an organization. By making it curious,
by making it say wow, by finding wows all of the time, by creating new
learning. That is what making an organization win is all about."

"You have to build the best team, that's the first thing we talked about.
You got to give that team a learning environment and then the sky's the
limit. As long as they know that they can stretch and reach and try
things... It is that damn bureaucracy that likes to box it in and you
have to fight it every day."

The transcript from Jack Welch's interview and hundreds of hours of
content from TechLearn are available free at http://www.techlearn.com

2. Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab Scheduled: We are proud to announce an
upcoming session of our popular class:

Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab
January 9-11, 2001 - Saratoga Springs, NY

Complete details are at http://www.masie.com

3. Finding High Profile Success Stories: One of the most important tasks
that learning professionals can do in these tighter times is to use
December to assemble some very detailed success stories from the past
year. We are urging learning departments to reach out to the business
units and gather together very specific success stories that show the
power and impact of training efforts. Build these into profiles that can
be used to market learning to both workers and senior management.

MASIE Center Programs:
* e-Learning Consortium
* Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab
* Busine$$ of Learning Conference
Details at http://www.masie.com

222 - New Habits of an e-Learner

#222 - - - October 19, 2001 - - - 42,319 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
e-Learning, Training and e-Collaboration Updates
Host of TechLearn 2001 - Oct 28 - 31 - Orlando, Florida

New Habits of an e-Learner
Confessions by Elliott Masie

I can get pretty weird as an e-Learner. After approximately 500 hours as
an on-line learner in a wide range of courses and activities, I notice
some new habits have emerged. I'll share a few with you and ask for the
same in exchange (see bottom of article). Deep breath. Here goes:

* Browsing is What the Browser Was Designed For: I browse! I sample a
wide range of learning programs as part of my choice. If you were to look
at the Learning Management System report from our organization, you would
see that my non-completion rate is code red high. Actually, those include
browsing ones. It is the digital form of auditing a class in college the
first week and then dropping the ones that I didn't like. But, the way
that I choose a class is to start it conditionally. Actually, isn't
browsing what the browser was meant for!

* Triple Tasking: I triple task! When I am participating in a
synchronous e-Learning class or session, I am usually doing three tasks at
once. I am participating in the event at hand (via listening, watching or
clicking). However, I find myself using a second laptop in my office to
do both one more task (such as email or instant messenger), but I am also
jumping ahead of the instructor's pace. Sometimes, it gets to be a 4
level multi-task with food or print material. My wife Cathy will ask if
I can concentrate that way and I tell her that I love to learn in this
style.

* Talking While I Learn: I normally don't talk to myself, except, when I
am e-Learning! My staff states that I mutter, talk to the screen and have
been known to throw a piece of paper at a learning screen. In fact, the
more engaged I am the more that I seem to talk. It is downright dangerous
when I am wearing a headset, since my voice gets way too loud. Actually,
I find my talking a good way of getting engaged in the process.

* I Compete With Instructional Times: When an author says that a module
can be done in 30 minutes, it is like the firing gun at a track meet. I
compete the with times, as a side game for my interest and motivation. It
is a good thing that most e-Learning offerings don't have a Top Scores
Page, or I would really get time competitive. Now, sometimes I find
myself having to choose between comprehension and completion. I will not
tell you the choice in this format. :)

* I Copy, Paste and Send: When I am in the middle of a cool e-Learning
course, I tend to copy, paste and send content segments to myself (for a
form of note taking) and to colleagues who I think might be interested in
the topic. It might not be totally kosher, but I find myself doing it a
lot.

These are neither positive or negative behaviors. Just ones that I have
noticed about myself, as I am in the e-Learner mode. I would love to hear
from TRENDS readers about your changing behaviors when you are a learner
at a screen.. Send me a note to emasie@masie.com

Elliott

* TechLearn 2001 - Oct 28 to 31 - Orlando, FL www.techlearn.com
* Skills for e-TRAINERS LAB - Dec 5 to 7 - Saratoga Springs, NY
www.masie.com

221 - Sessions & Case Studies at TechLearn

#221 - - - October 11, 2001 - - - 42,257 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
e-Learning, Training and e-Collaboration Updates
Host of TechLearn 2001 - Oct 28 - 31 - Orlando, Florida

1. Seven FREE Pre-Conference Sessions at TechLearn
2. 41 Corporate Learning Case Studies at TechLearn

We are pleased to announce seven FREE 1/2 pre-conference workshops for
attendees of TechLearn 2001 (to be held in Orlando on October 28 to 31st -
www.techlearn.com):

Bob Pike: Creative Training Techniques for Web-Based Training
Elliott Masie: Re-Thinking Learning in Difficult Times: A Planning
Briefing Focused on Tighter Economies and Travel Reduction
Daryl Conner: Human Due Diligence: How to Assess the Human Issues that
Determine the Success of e-Learning Initiatives
Steve McMillen: Stress Without Distress: Living and Working in a Changing
World
Ed Cohen: Setting Your Course: A Working e-Learning Strategy Session
Bob Pike: Classroom Training Isn't Dead - But the Way It's Done Could
Kill It
Allison Rossett: Beyond Multimediocrity: A Tour of Instructional Design
Basics

In addition, we are proud to announce this list of over 40 Corporate Case
Studies (non-commerical) by implementing organizations at TechLearn:

Shell International Exploration & Production B.V.: The Learning Process
The Hartford: Implementing an LCMS
Compaq Computer Corp.: ROI - Measuring Success in a New Learning
Environment
Bank of America: Adopting Live e-Learning Training Initiative
Cisco Systems, Inc.: Reaching Engineers With Synchronous and Asynchronous
Training
3Com: e-Learning: Your Link to Stronger Sales Partnerships
US Secret Service: Delivering CPR Via Video Conferencing
Freddie Mac: Career Transition Program �" A Holistic Approach
Shell International Exploration & Production B.V.: Shell's Experience With
On-line Coaching
DaimlerChrysler: How to Design an Interactive, Experiantial, Engaging Web
Based Training Program
The Proctor & Gamble Company: A Blended Learning Case Study
Texas Instruments Inc.: How Texas Instruments Inc. Expanded e-Learning
into e-Services
Eastman Chemical Company: Magic in the Mix: A Case Study in Blended
Solutions
Saudi Aramco: Growing an e-Learning Corporate Culture
Reuter's Professional Services, Inc: Jump Start Your e-Learning With
e-Orientation
DaimlerChrysler: Creating A Seamless Experiential Learning Process
Cisco Systems: Using Animation to Teach Technology
The Proctor & Gamble Company: Establishing and Nurturing an e-Learning
Community of Practice
Bank of America: Skills Training for Distance Trainers
Accenture: The Many Faces of Simulations
Thomson Corporation: Talent Management Web Tools for Senior Executives
William Scotsman: Live e-Learning: Full Enterprise Software Rollout
The World Bank Institute: Reaching Across Borders - A Case for Blended
Learning
Microsoft: Skills Analysis Online
PricewaterhouseCoopers: An Inductive Cocktail: Online Performance
Simulations With Blended Learning
Wisconsin Technical College System: Creating Reusable Learning Nuggets in
a Technical College System
Bank One: Using Blended Learning for Enterprise Wide System Conversion
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center: Can Cops Learn Online
Bank One: Where Did All the Paper Go
Solucient: No Speed Limits: 6 Road Signs to Guide Your Blended Learning
Strategy
Microsoft: The "Learning Portal" Making the Technology Work
Cisco Systems: The Reality, Pain and Success of Implementing RLOs
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Overcoming Political Barriers
to Enterprise-Wide e-Learning
Accenture: Implementing a Virtual Classroom Environment
AARP: Bringing e-Learning to Aging Boomers
GE Card Services: Your e-Learning Developer Can Be Anywhere, Anytime - Do
You Have a Sound Design Process
Intel Corporation: Taking Intel e-Learning Primetime
Anheuser-Busch: Selecting the Appropriate Learning Management System : How
Do You Decide
ACI Worldwide: Knowledge Sharing and Delivery Using a Knowledge Base

We hope you will join the over 1,600 registered attendees for TechLearn.
Just go to www.techlearn.com for information and registration

220 - Counting the Steps to Instant Collaboration; e-Learning Advice: Buy Small and Fast!; Trainer Tip: Community Based Note Taking

#220 - - - October 9, 2001 - - - 42,224 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
e-Learning, Training and e-Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center: http://www.masie.com
Host of TechLearn 2001 - Oct 28 - 31 - Orlando, Florida

1. Counting the Steps to Instant Collaboration
2. TechLearn Keynoter's Daughter on Survivor 3
3. e-Learning Advice: Buy Small and Fast!
4. Trainer Tip: Community Based Note Taking

1. Counting the Steps to Instant Collaboration: As we build Digital
Collaboration capacities in our organizations, a great metric to use is
"Steps to Instant Collaboration". This basically is the number of steps
it would take for 2 individuals or 2 groups of people within your
organizations to start collaborating via technology.

For example, most people that are using Video Conferencing still have 4 to
6 steps to have a video call, including scheduling, technical testing,
establishing connections, etc. That would be far from instant, especially
when compared to the number of steps it would take to have a telephone
call between 2 people.

We are using the Steps to Instant Collaboration as a way of measuring the
ease of use and extent of integration that exists within your organization
for enabling rapid and easy digital collaboration. We have to make
launching a shared web view of data or slides as easy as picking up the
phone. We have to make launching a video conference as natural as going
to a meeting room.

2. TechLearn Keynoter's Daughter on Survivor 3: If you follow the series,
Survivor, there is another connection to the world of training on this
current season of the show. Kelly Goldsmith is a member of the Boran
Tribe. She is the daughter of Marshall Goldsmith, one of the leading
management coaches and a keynoter at TechLearn. No one knows how well
Kelly did on Survivor, but if you are a fan, you can check out her
biography (and root for her). Info at:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor3/survivors/kelly_b.shtml

3. e-Learning Advice: Buy Small and Fast! In a dialogue today with one
of the leading CEO's in the e-Learning field, I got a bit of insight into
how their company is handling the current economic challenges. The motto
they are using with clients is to: Buy Small and Fast! In other words,
if you can't make the large scale enterprise level purchase, scale back
your budgets but move quickly. That gets you started and moves you
forward.

4. Trainer Tip: Community Based Note Taking: This is a tip that I have
been using for 20 years! Buy a notebook and offer this to the class a
set of group notes. (You can also use a laptop if you have good
keyboarders). Each person is responsible for one hour of note taking.
They really dig in and do extensive note taking for their section, then
pass the notebook or laptop to the next person. At the end of the class,
everyone gets a copy of the notes. This creates a great set of
perspectives on the content and also can be combined with notes and slides
from the instructor.

TechLearn 2001 Update: There are 1,600 folks registered for TechLearn
2001 to be held in Orlando on Oct 28 to 31. We have just added several
additional sessions dealing with Computer Security Education,
Intergenerational Learning and e-Coaching. The main hotel will sell out
the room block by the end of this week, but there are secondary hotels
available at Disney. Complete information and registration is available
at http://www.techlearn.com

219 - From London: Organizations Creating Digital Collaboration Strategies; Organizations Creating Digital Collaboration Strategies

#219 - - - October 4, 2001 - - - 42,198 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
e-Learning, Training and e-Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center: http://www.masie.com
Host of TechLearn 2001 - Oct 28 - 31 - Orlando, Florida

Special Report from London

1. Organizations Creating Digital Collaboration Strategies
2. Dr. Paul Mayberry of U.S. Dept of Defense Featured at TechLearn
3. Learning Quotation
4. Organizations Creating Digital Collaboration Strategies

1. Organizations Creating Digital Collaboration Strategies: I am on a
quick one day trip to London to present at an e-HR Briefing. One of the
dialogues that was ripe amongst the human resource executives from Europe
and Asia at this event was the immediate need to create wider Digital
Collaboration Strategies. In light of the recent events, on both an
economic and political front, many of the HR executives need to
dramatically expand the ability of their workforce to collaborate through
technology. While there are pockets of video, audio and web based
conferencing capacity throughout the organization, there are few companies
with enterprise Strategies for leveraging Digital Collaboration.

The MASIE Center is working on a paper that we will publish in a week here
TRENDS on ways to create a Digital Collaboration Strategy within the
organization. If you have any ideas that you would like to add to this
paper, please send me a note at emasie@masie.com

2. Dr. Paul Mayberry of U.S. Dept of Defense Featured at TechLearn: We are
honored to announce that Dr. Paul Mayberry from the U.S. Department of
Defense has just been added to our program at TechLearn. Dr. Mayberry
serves as the focal point on all issues and activities related to the
readiness of U.S. armed forces. He will be providing a unique
perspective of the process that the Pentagon faces in ensuring the
readiness of U.S. forces for both peactime contingencies and the crisis
that we are facing at the moment. Dr. Mayberry will be featured at our
General Session and will also join the dialogue with Jack Welch during his
keynote. The Advanced Distributed Learning Team will be at TechLearn, to
be held in Orlando, Florida, on October 28 to 31, providing updates on the
SCORM standards as well as gathering input and ideas from the community at
TechLearn about effective models for learning and training innovation.
Once again, Mike Parmentier will close TechLearn with a take-home trip
report prepared by his team for each attendee to use as they summarize the
content and dialogues from the Conference. (Info and on-line registration
is available at http://www.masie.com We have over 1,600 attendees
registered for the event and hotel space is limited).

3. Learning Quotation:

"In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find
themselves equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."
- Eric Hoffer

4. Shift To Expense Side Investments for Learning Projects: In the past
several weeks, we have seen a number of organizations that were moving
towards making significant enterprise wide learning investments slightly
press the pause button. In each of these situations, the organization
decided to move forward through a series of expense side procurements
rather than make a large capital investment. Several organizations chose
to secure an ASP type model for a yearly fee, to get the capability of a
Learning or Content Management System, without making the trip through the
investment approval process. In another situation, an enterprise wide
investment in a learning system was delayed for a year while two of the
business units in the company moved forward with an out-sourcing of
learning content and services contract. We are tracking other ways in
which organizations are adapting to changing availability of investment
dollars.

Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
* TechLearn 2001 - Orlando, Florida, October 28 to 31 - www.techlearn.com
for info and registration
* e-Learning Suppliers: Deadline for inclusing in the TechLearn Resource
Bag is next Wednesday. Contact Jennifer for details at jennifer@masie.com
or 518-587-3522

Learning in Difficult Times Workshop Offered at TechLearn

Re-Thinking Learning in Difficult Times: Special Planning Briefing by
Elliott Masie Offered as Pre-Conference Workshop at TechLearn 2001

We have added this special pre-conference workshop to the TechLearn 2001
agenda to address some of the immediate changes that are impacting the
learning and training field. TechLearn will be held in Orlando, Florida
on October 28 and 31.

Elliott Masie will conduct an interactive, 3 hour planning briefing for
organizations developing strategies to cope with the current difficult
times that we all face. This will be held on Sunday morning, October
28th. Benchmarking based procedures will be presented and discussed that
include:

* Learning and Training During Staff Reductions - How can the learning
function be used for rapid internal re-deployment and for employee morale
maintenance during staff reductions and layoffs?
* e-Learning When Investments are Difficult - What happens to enterprise
wide strategies for e-Learning deployment when organizations cannot
provide investment approvals? Can e-Learning be implemented without
significant costs?
* Digital Collaboration as an Imperative - Organizations are changing
their view of digital collaboration tools in the light of recent travel
restrictions. How can organizations rapidly deploy a wide range of digital
collaboration tools to provide alternative delivery of learning, training,
meeting and sales processes?
* Blended Learning Models for Difficult Times - What are easy to implement
changes that can be made to existing classroom programs to rapidly convert
them to blended learning models?
* Budgeting for Tighter Times: How are major corporations changing their
budget projections for the coming year? Decreased to reflect less revenue
or increased as a tool to make organization more competitive and nimble?

Data from research The MASIE Center has done will be presented in detail
during this session. This is a planning briefing. These issues will be
discussed frankly by Elliott Masie and participants will have an
opportunity to assess how their organizations are responding to the
current difficulties compared with similar groups. Each participant will
complete a planning grid to reflect current and ideal strategies for
addressing these hard issues.

For information about TechLearn and the various pre-conference workshops,
please go to http://www.techlearn.com

218 - Results: Survey on Training Reactions to Current Crisis

#218 - - - Sept 21, 2001 - - - 42,164 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
e-Learning, Training and e-Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center: http://www.masie.com
Host of TechLearn 2001 - Oct 28 - 31 - Orlando, Florida

Results: Survey on Training Reactions to Current Crisis

This survey was done at the request of our Human Resource and Training
colleagues, as they have worked to design a corporate response to recent
events. The survey was taken by 1,609 training and human resource
professionals from 25 countries around the world (86% U.S. and 14%
international). The data was collected on 11 am on Sept 19th to 5 pm on
Sept 20th. We wanted to give a very rapid turnaround on the data, so here
are the raw results and a few preliminary comments. The MASIE Center will
track changes in the months ahead. Complete data with graphics available
at:

http://www.masie.com/survey/

About 45% of organizations indicated an increase in the use of digital
collaboration tools such as audio, video and web based conferencing.

The data indicates that HR departments were active in providing immediate
perspective and offers of support to employees. In the short term, there
were a lot of meeting cancellations, though we are seeing many of those
rescheduling in the near future.

There has not been a wide spread ban on travel, though increased
sensitivity to employee comfort with travel at this time.

Here are the text based results:

1) What outreach to employees has your organization done in reaction to
these events:
83% e-Mail or letter to employees from senior management
51% Counseling or support services offered
43% Meetings or in-person discussions for employees
42% Cancellation of organizational meetings
17% On-line dialogues, websites or threaded conversations
13% Shift in sales process (including stopping sales outreach for a while)
15% Other

2) Has your organization CANCELLED ANY training offerings due to these
events?
53% No
47% Yes

3) Has your organization ADDED ANY training offerings due to these events?
88% No
11% Yes

4) How, if any, has the organization's travel policy changed?
37% Employees may make personal choice not to travel at this time
35% No change
13% Special permission is required to travel at this time
4% There is a "no exceptions" freeze on travel at this time
1% Employees may not travel together at this time
10% Other

5) Have recent events increased your organization's use of collaborative
technologies like teleconferencing, video teleconferencing, virtual
classrooms, etc.? (Check all that apply)
55% No change
32% Increased use of telephone conferencing
18% Increased use of video conferencing
16% Increased use of instant messenger and email
14% Increased use of web based classroom conferencing

6) If there have been changes in the use of learning technologies, do you
expect these changes to be:
40% Too soon to know
37% No Change
17% Long-term
7% Short-term

Warm regards,

Elliott Masie