954 - Assessment Improvement, Machine Learning Futures, Sensible Shoes for Trainers

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - February 27, 2017.
#954 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
57,604 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center. 

1. Assessment Confusion? Make it Challenging, Predictive & Data Rich!
2. Machine Learning and Your LMS?
3. Comfortable Shoes for Trainers and Presenters.

1. Assessment Confusion? Make it Challenging, Predictive & Data Rich!:  Let’s take a new look at our Assessment Traditions!  Based on conversations with learners, instructional designers, compliance coordinators, trainers and managers, there is a fair amount of Assessment Confusion in the learning world.  

Assessment serves many requirements.  It provides formative and summative feedback to the learning designers and trainers.  It can provide feedback and focus for a learner on their pathway to success.  And, it must keep the “compliance angels” happy with acceptable data results.

The MASIE Center is exploring new models for how we can supercharge and evolve assessments:

- Assessment as Challenging as a Video Game: Let the learner see the Assessment as an Engagement Challenge - with the probability that they will fail some elements on their way to success.  Let them take an eLearning program with the sense that they are making progress towards a much tougher assessment outcome and they are excited when they “pass”.
- Predictive Assessment: We can design short predictive questions or case studies that will accurately predict a learner’s readiness to do a task.  Rather than take an assessment that looks like a final exam in college, give the learner 5 queries that are laddered in difficulty and will be great predictors of success.
- Data Rich Assessment: Take a Big Learning Data approach to Assessment that gives both the learner and the learning designer a better sense of a person’s knowledge or gaps. Tie together the pattern of their responses to reveal that the gap to overcome is they don’t understand the concept of “X” rather than they got 4 answers wrong.  Run data rich assessment to baseline the value of multiple choice answers to avoid questions that are overall too easy or way too confusing.

Let’s go deep as a learning field to innovate on our Assessment models and to make them into valued and even exciting tools for both learners and designers.

2. Machine Learning and Your LMS?  Machine Learning is a growing and exploding field that may have deep impacts on how we design, deliver and personalize learning for our workforce.  Machine Learning is potentially applying an approach to design that will mirror the data rich personalization of Amazon on their shopping site.

We are pleased to announce that a special Machine Learning Forum will be added to our upcoming Learning Systems & Tools ‘17 event in Chicago on April 19th and 20th.  We will explore how some LMS and Learning Systems will add Machine Learning Capability, some will provide interfaces to Machine Learning Capability and others will be ignored in the Machine Learning evolution.  

And, we will do a Real vs. Hype vendor-neutral test of current uses of Machine Learning to enhance Workplace Learning.  Join us in Chicago.  Details: http://www.masie.com

3. Comfortable Shoes for Trainers and Presenters:  I wear very comfortable shoes or sneakers when I teach, facilitate or do a keynote speech. Folks will often ask me why I choose this footware.  In a nutshell, COMFORTABLE SHOES make the job of a classroom leader or presenter so much easier.  We are moving around project based classrooms much more than presenting from the front of the room at the whiteboard.  We want to be agile and nimble, to respond to learner activity and questions.  And, I want to feel like a learning athlete when in the facilitator role.  

While many of us cannot go as casual as sneakers in the more formal corporate learning areas, there are many shoes that look business-like and still have a bounce to them.  I would love to hear from Learning TRENDS readers about your own Comfortable Shoes for Days of Training or Presenting.  Send me a fun email to emasie@masie.com  (Of course, I do like sneakers that are orange or bright - but that is for another day’s column.)

Yours in Learning, 

Elliott Masie
Email: emasie@masie.com
Twitter: @emasie 

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:

- Curation & Learning LAB - March 7-9, 2017 Saratoga Springs, NY. (3 Spots Left)
- Learning Systems & Tools ‘17 - April 19 & 20, Chicago, IL.
- Learning Innovations LAB - May 9-11, 2017 Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM.
- Learning 2017- October 22 to 25- Orlando, Florida.

Details and Online Registration: http://www.masie.com

953 - Wages for Home eLearning, Apps and Coaching Mixture, Learning Systems Inside

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - February 21, 2017.
#953 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
57,602 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center. 

1. Learning from Home Wage Laws & Australia Finding
2. App Coaching and Dashboards: Diet and Feedback from Elliott
3. Learning Systems Inside! A Finding from the Field
4. Readers: Text or Rich Text?  Next Edition Here

1. Learning from Home Wage Laws & Australia Finding: Prepare for a series of court cases that will rule on the Wage Law issues of workers accessing online learning from home. Clearly, employees who are on an hourly wage basis must be compensated for access from home. This has led a number of companies to link their LMS to their wage system, to make sure that an employee only accesses courses while at work and on wage.

But, the conversation is getting more complex. If an employee voluntarily accesses content on a voluntary basis, for something that might improve their career, is that also a wage hour? And, if an employee who is not hourly accesses content, does that have an impact on their time off or other benefits? And, does that relate to someone accessing the HR site for benefits and taking an online course about their retirement investments?

The MASIE Center will be tracking and hosting conversations about this topic, including dialogues with labor departments, HR leaders and unions. 

Note, I just received a note from a TRENDS reader in Australia, where there was a finding in late 2016 by Fair Work Australia Federal body (that regulates workers rights, pays and conditions) ordering a major Pharmacy  group to back pay nearly $4million AUD to 6,000 staff that were doing online courses after their work hours.  The compliance monitoring of elearning based wages from home access will continue around the world.

2. App Coaching and Dashboards - Diet Feedback for Elliott: As a person who has had lifelong ups and downs with his weight, I embarked on a new model this year, leveraging a visit to a nutritionist with a Coach Monitored App that has me entering every thing I eat during the day - with almost daily coaching feedback from a designated advisor. 

It is working nicely, for me, giving a Dashboard of Data that helps me self-shape my eating and exercise with benchmarks of weekly weighing and real time feedback on each food item being Green, Yellow or Red, as it maps to my nutrition map. 

I am intrigued by how we combine the amazing work of live coaches working with employees on development and behavior issues with an “app” model to provide more real time feedback and guidance. Linking it with a coach, who might only spend 2 minutes a day scanning your behaviors and typing feedback - even assisted by a Machine Learning advisor - could be a fascinating stretch for the coaching model. Stay tuned for updates.

3. Learning Systems Inside! A Finding from the Field: Reports from the field are showing a number of companies are pushing their Learning Management Systems deeper inside - for sign-on verification and compliance data collection - while using newer Tools and Apps as the “layers” that are providing direct learner support.

We are tracking this rise of Learning Apps and Layers with lines of business asking for customization quicker than the LMS can respond to. So, they reach for another system or tool and integrate the results through an API back to the LMS. As Learning Apps grow, we will also see managers reaching for unique learning experiences for specific learners or situations, and want to then mix them back into the LMS reporting basket.  It might be xAPI or other integration layers from the LMS or App Community.

We will explore this issue in depth at our Learning Systems & Tools ‘17 forum to be held in Chicago on April 19th and 20th. Details and early discounts at http://www.masie.com

4. Readers: Text or Rich Text? Next Edition Here: I heard from several hundred Learning TRENDS readers with their preferences for Text or HTML formats for TRENDS.  The vast majority were voting for plain Text but many wanted some bolding for topics.  So, we are going to experiment with a range of options - and eventually will try to give each reader a preference.  So, today we are using a “rich” but simple format.  Keep the feedback coming to me at emasie@masie.com

Yours in Learning, 

Elliott Masie
Email: emasie@masie.com
Twitter: @emasie 

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:

- Curation & Learning LAB - March 7-9, 2017 Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Learning Systems & Tools ‘17 - April 19 & 20, Chicago, IL.
- Learning Innovations LAB - May 9-11, 2017 Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM.
- Learning 2017- October 22 to 25 - Orlando, Florida.

Details and Online Registration: http://www.masie.com

952 - Learning Systems Ready for Changing Learners? Video vs. PowerPoint in Webinars!

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - February 17, 2016.
#952 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
57,598 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center. 

1. Learning Systems: Are They Ready for Changing Learners and Learning?
2. Video vs PowerPoint: Centerpiece of Online Learning Dialogues?
3. Format Question: Plain Text or HTML with Graphics for Learning TRENDS? 

1. Learning Systems: Are They Ready for Changing Learners and Learning? 

I am hearing a powerful and disruptive message from CLO’s and Learning Leaders about their LMS, LCMS and Learning Systems: 

“We need our Learning Systems to do enterprise learning, BUT our learning approaches and learners are changing quicker than our LMS and LCMS.  We need to do more curation, personalization, workflow support and agile video, YET our LMS and LCMS can’t make these changes in agile time.  So, what do we do?” 

This is not a knock on the LMS and LCMS marketplace, but it is a wake-up call.  We are hearing a clear direction that includes: 

* Burying the LMS as an internal system and adding new “layers” for social, curation and video elements.
* Adding Learning Apps as a new front end, customized to the learning needs of specific learners, which work with the LMS in the background.
* Shifting to non-Learning Systems, such as Talent ERP’s, to handle much of what was traditionally done with the LMS.
* Creating new Learner and Performance Metrics to take a more Data Analysis approach around the LMS. 

And, this conversation gets very intriguing when you add the phrase “Machine Learning”!  How will the emerging world of Machine Learning deal with legacy and non-agile Learning Systems? 

Two requests: 

A: I would love to hear from Learning TRENDS colleagues with your perspective on the shifting world of Learning Systems and your own organization.  Send me a private message to emasie@masie.com 

B: You and your team are invited to our updated event - Learning Systems & Tools - that I will lead with Richard Culatta in Chicago from April 19th to 20th.  Limited space, so register soon with discounted rates: http://www.masie.com 

2. Video vs PowerPoint: Centerpiece of Online Learning Dialogues? We have been experimenting at The MASIE Center Learning LAB with shifting the role of video in webinars and online classes.  For the past 20 years, PowerPoint has held a central role in most webinars.  Yet, the reason I want to be part of a live learning event with distributed contacts is to have an interactive and dynamic conversation. 

We have been experimenting with software like Zoom, which provides a “Hollywood Square” model of stacking learners, without the big PPT slide box.  And, I have been using a Virtual Background to share key headlines over my shoulder, like a television newscaster might have a story title.  It is intriguing and working.  Stay tuned for some of our upcoming experiments. 

3. Format Question: Plain Text or HTML with Graphics for Learning TRENDS?  I have a question for our tens of thousands of Learning TRENDS readers about the format of these news notes.  For the past 20 years, I have used a simple, text-only format for our Learning TRENDS notes, just like this one. 

Recently, we started to use an HTML format, which added pictures, font colors and more. I tried this shift, based on comments from some readers that it would be cool to add more “richness”. 

Yet, we received the opposite feedback from many readers, including a host of people who were not opening the TRENDS notes, since they appeared to be more like standard e-ads.  

So, I would love to get some feedback from you, the readers.  Could you send me a note to emasie@masie.com with a preference of format (HTML or Text)?  There might even be a format choice that we could use.  Thanks! 

Yours in Learning, 

Elliott Masie

Email: emasie@masie.com
Twitter: @emasie 

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:

- Curation & Learning LAB - March 7-9, 2017 Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Learning Systems & Tools ‘17 - April 19 & 20, Chicago, IL.
- Learning Innovations LAB - May 9-11, 2017 Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM.
- Learning 2017- October 22 to 25- Orlando, Florida.

Details and Online Registration: http://www.masie.com

951 - Snow Day Learning and Collaboration?

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - February 9, 2017
#951 - Snow Day Learning; Two Types of Curation; London & Dublin 
www.masie.com - Twitter: @emasie - The MASIE Center - 57,293 Readers 

* Snow Day Learning:  It is a “Snow Day” right now in New York City and many of my colleagues (including our local staff) have been asked to work from home today.   When we were in school, Snow Day meant a day off.  But, what about a Snow Day for Work?  Is it an opportunity (especially for my friends in wintery regions) for a different learning or collaboration window?

So, the weather is bad and gives employees an option (or mandate) to work from home today.  Beyond doing the normal day’s work, why not have a Snow Day Plan ready to do some unique development, learning or collaboration?  Here are a few images of what a Snow Day might include:

- Let’s Work a Problem:  Pick 1 or 2 problems facing the organization and invite folks into small group Problem Workout rooms - for 30 to 90 minutes - to divergently develop fresh approaches.  All it takes is a facilitator, your normal webinar/video tools and a curator to capture and post outcomes.

- Lunch Lessons from the C Suite: Invite the CEO or other C Level officer to be interviewed by 4 folks from different offices (from their home) - with some questions sent back from the field.

- Snow Day Mentoring Meetups: Create a connection process to link employees to others with expertise or experience - as a Snow Day Meetup.

Snow Days actually were some of my BEST Learning Days in School.  The curriculum was replaced with cool projects, reading and conversations with friends and family at home. Make your Snow Days Learning filled and Collaboration Rich!

* Curation: Mine or the Organization’s?:  As The MASIE Center develops our Curation and Learning framework, it is clear that there are two parallel curator processes at work.  The Organization might provide the official curation of content from many resources, with recommendations and even personalization for each worker.  And, that could be an effective way of adding order to the Panorama of content choices out there.

BUT, the learner may create (and is already creating) their own Curation.  They are sorting content, finding colleagues to help rate choices and building their own curation perspective.  We are investigating how the Organizational Curation and Personal Curation can work together in an honorable and trusted fashion.  This will be one of our topics in the upcoming Curation & Learning LAB session in March.  http://www.masie.com

MASIE Heading to Dublin & London in March:  I will be meeting with learning colleagues in both Dublin and London in the middle of March.  If you are in either of those locations and would want to connect, send me a note to emasie@masie.com 

Yours in Learning,

Elliott Masie
Host, Learning 2017
Email: emasie@masie.com
Twitter: @emasie

MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
- Curation & Learning LAB - March 7-9, 2017 Saratoga Springs, NY
- Learning Systems & Tools ‘17 - April 19 & 20, Chicago, IL
- Learning Innovations LAB - May 9-11, 2017 Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM.
- Learning 2017- October 22 to 25- Orlando, Florida.
Details and Online Registration: http://www.masie.com