241 - Learning & Knowledge Requests? (A TechLearn Essay)

#241 - - - Sept 3, 2002 - - - 43,924 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

Learning & Knowledge Requests?
A TechLearn Essay
By Elliott Masie

How does a worker within your organization indicate their need and desire
to learn something or to acquire knowledge? This dialogue may be more of
a knowledge management issue, but I would like to raise it with you, our
learning and training colleagues.

What are the actions that a worker takes when they discover that they have
a knowledge gap or a need to learn a new skill? We know that there is an
informal process, where people reach out to their peers, work neighbors or
supervisors for immediate information or knowledge. But, what if the
knowledge gap is larger than an informal conversation. Then, we know that
the learner might go “shopping” for a class or course, in the classroom or
on-line. But, what if the list of available courses does not contain the
right stuff for the learner. In those situations, how do learners “post”
or “declare” their learning or knowledge requests?

I have interviewed several dozen workers, in diverse organizations, and
found that almost all of them lack an official point of contact for a
learning or knowledge request. Some felt that they “didn’t want to
bother” their manager with this type of request and a few said they might
post a request on an internal bulletin board (with low hopes for helpful
responses). However, most felt as though there wasn’t a place to take
their learning or knowledge request.

The MASIE Center is investigating how the “economy” of learning is playing
out in organizations. We need to honor the “demand” side of learning,
focusing on emerging requirements of learners. Most of the action in
Learning Systems (LMS and LCMS) are focused on the “supply” side of the
learning equation. How do add learner requirements to the Learning
Systems.

I imagine a feature that might appear on people’s workstations that would
allow them to “submit” a learning or knowledge request or demand. This
could be categorized by the content area (eg. Manufacturing information),
the type of knowledge requested (eg. procedure, examples or opinions) and
even the level of urgency. These could either be received and acted on by
a learning desk, by an automated function or other process. But, what a
gift to workers it might be.

We have to reach across the line from e-Learning into Knowledge Management
to view ways in which we can leverage these two fields together for the
learning benefit of the workforce. To the learner, they just want to get
the knowledge or skills or information. It might take a course, but it
might not be anything like the courses offered in the catalogue or
on-line. Then what?

Thoughts from you? Send me a note to emasie@masie.com

241 - Virtual Frog Dissection & Practice Tests On-Line

#241 - - - August 21, 2002 - - - 43,844 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. Virtual Frog Dissection
2. Byte Wars: Ed Yourdan at TechLearn
3. Practice Tests On-Line

1. Virtual Frog Dissection: Froguts is an intriguing on-line frog
dissection application. e-Learning that might save a few frogs and even a
few fainting high school science students: http://www.froguts.com

2. Byte Wars: Ed Yourdan at TechLearn: Hot off the press is a new book by
technology futurist and analyst, Ed Yourdan. "Byte Wars: The Impact on
September 11th on Information Technology" This is a great read about
risks and thinking of IT security and capacity in a new context. I was so
taken with the book that we have invited Ed Yourdan to present a keynote
on this topic at TechLearn 2002 in October. http://www.techlearn.com

3. Practice Tests On-Line: A daughter of my business partner visited last
weekend and talked about taking the Medical Boards, MCAT, which are
required for admission to medical school. As a graduating senior, she is
exploring her career options, with this tough test as one of her decision
points. We talked about taking some simulated tests and I went to the web
to see what was available for e-Learning assessment and coaching. If you
would like to see what a test-prep site looks like, spend some time at
http://www.e-mcat.com It would be interesting to think about using this
model for key competencies in our organizational learning efforts.

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: http://www.masie.com
- TechLearn 2002, Oct 27 to 30, Orlando, Florida
- Skills for e-Trainers, Sept 25-27, Saratoga Springs, NY

240 - Research Scholarships for Learning & Where Do I Go To Start Learning?

#240 - - - August 15, 2002 - - - 43,743 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. Research Scholarships for Learning
2. Where Do I Go To Start Learning?
3. Learning Quotation

1. Research Scholarships for Learning: Where is all the research on
learning? Every day, our office gets a call about the lack of good
research on the effectiveness of e-Learning and other new models. This
year, The MASIE Center and the e-Learning CONSORTIUM will be making their
annual TechLearn “charity donation” to a new project focused on supporting
PRACTICAL research in our field.

We will be donating $35,000 at TechLearn 2002 in October to several
graduate or doctoral students, as scholarship grants, to conduct research
on key topics needed by our field.

A sample grant might be $10,000 to a doctorate student to conduct a study
on the attitude of learners about starting and not completing an
e-Learning course. These projects will be completed in time to be
presented at TechLearn 2003 and published reports in the public domain.

All participants at TechLearn this year will have input into the selection
of these research projects. If you are a faculty member or graduate
student interested in information on this program, send an email to
amd@masie.com

2. Where Do I Go To Start Learning? Where does a learner start an
e-Learning experience? Do they go to a website called My Learning and
start or resume a learning module? Do they go to a specific URL for that
course, which may have arrived in an email, clicking and launching? Is
there an icon on the desktop that displays a learner's current courses?
Should learning be launched right from a worker's calendar program? We
would love your experience and ideas on this topic. Can you send me an
email to emasie@masie.com and we will roll this up into an article in a
few weeks.

3. Learning Quotation:

"In time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future.
Those who have finished learning find themselves equipped to live in a
world that no longer exists." Eric Hoffer

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: http://www.masie.com
- TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27 to 30, Orlando, FL
- Skills for e-TRAINERS - Sept 25 to 27, Saratoga Springs, NY

Peter Senge on Learning Organizations & e-Learning

TO: Learning & Training Colleagues
FROM: Elliott Masie, The MASIE Center
Host of TechLearn 2002

I am pleased to announce that Peter Senge, MIT, will be a featured keynote
at TechLearn 2002, focusing on how "The Learning Organization" is evolving
in the e-Learning era.

Peter and I will do a live interactive satellite interview, blended with
small group discussions in Orlando, that will explore Senge's Learning
Organization models and approaches in light of evolving collaboration and
e-Learning capabilities.

Peter Senge is one of the leading thinkers on how organizations can infuse
learning into the workplace. We will be encouraging our attendees to read
several of Senge's articles prior to coming to TechLearn. This is a
unique opportunity to take theory and line it up against current practices
in our changing field.

Information and registration for TechLearn, which will be held on October
27 to 30 in Orlando, Florida, is available at:

http://www.techlearn.com

Look for additional keynote announcements in the next several weeks.

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie

239 - Customer Learning Growth; Peoplesoft Enters Learning & LMS Field

#239 - - - August 1, 2002 - - - 43,698 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. Customer Learning Growth
2. Peoplesoft Enters Learning & LMS Field
3. Dave Barry & Learning Careers at TechLearn 2002

1. Customer Learning Growth: I just returned from a Customer Learning
Seminar in Chicago at a CRM conference. It is amazing to watch the rate
at which e-Learning is being deployed in the Customer Learning arena. We
are seeing three major trends in Customer Learning implementations in the
past ten months:

a) Revenue Growth - Upselling Through Learning: The deployment of
Customer Learning as a strategy to enrich the prospects full understanding
of the products they are considering purchasing. Salesforces, both field
and office based, are being equipped with targeted e-Learning modules that
can be launched at customers to help close the deal or upsell additional
products. A learning customer is a highly engaged customer and a best
prospect customer.

b) Expense Reduction: The use of learning as a tool to reduce the labor
intensive dimensions of call center and other forms of pre and post sales
support. If a learner can access high quality, engaging learning modules,
as an alternative to long-duration support calls (or waiting on hold for a
while), the company wins in both satisfaction and reduction of labor
costs.

c) Customer Loyalty: The use of learning as a tool to increase customer
loyalty and to position the corporation as a source of affiliation and
knowledge. This is even extending to the building of communities of
practice amongst customers, to provide peer to peer persepctives and
support.

We will host a major sub-conference at TechLearn 2002.

2. PeopleSoft Enters Learning & LMS Field: PeopleSoft Inc. announced the
acquisition of Teamscape Corporation, a learning management systems
provider. PeopleSoft's entry into this marketplace is noteworthy. The
role of Enterprise Software or ERP companies in the learning field is
expanding and PeopleSoft was rumored to be poised to enter. They plan to
use the core of Teamscape's software and redeploy it, with significant
additions, as a PeopleSoft solution. This once again puts learning more
into a Human Capital Management context for many buyers. Go to
www.peoplesoft.com for details.

3. Dave Barry & Learning Careers at TechLearn 2002: We are going to be
announcing our 2002 keynoters at TechLearn over the next several weeks.
We start with Dave Barry, well known author and comedian, who will talk
about the funny ways in which people use technology and also learn. Dave
Barry will be the afternoon relief on Monday, after an intense series of
case studies and dialogues about learning issues.

Your Learning Career will be the focus of an interactive Keynote at
TechLearn. We will walk the thousands of attendees through a learning
careers futuring and planning session, to see some of your key choices in
the training and learning fields (and beyond) in this changing economy.
Three dozen senior learning executives will facilitate this session. Only
a TechLearn 2002 would a ballroom of learning professionals ask the risky
questions about their career futures ... and be in a non-commercial
setting to get some honest and creative answers from peers and mentors.
Reserve your spot at TechLearn now at http://www.techlearn.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Event:
Skills for e-TRAINERS: Saratoga Springs, NY, September 2002
http://www.masie.com

238 - Learning On-Line vs. e-Learning & A Season of Deals Starts: IBM and Thomson Learning

#238 - - - July 23, 2002 - - - 43,652 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. Learning On-Line vs. e-Learning?
2. A Season of Deals Starts: IBM and Thomson Learning
3. TechLearn Advisors Expanded: More than 415 and YOU!

Back After a Lull: I took a few weeks off from sending out TechLearn
TRENDS in order to give my fingers a rest and to think about some of the
key issues that we are facing as learning and technology mature. You will
see a series of TRENDS from now until TechLearn 2002 in October.

1. Learning On-Line vs. e-Learning? I was struck by how an answer changes
depending on how you phrase the question. I usually ask audiences at my
keynote speeches about their experiences with e-Learning or On-Line
Learning? When I ask how many people in the audience have recently taken
an On-Line Course, the response is often between 20 and 30 percent.

One day, my tongue got a bit tied and I asked the question with a few
changes. “How many of you have learned things on-line recently?”
Suddenly, almost 98% of the hands in the audience went up. I was shocked
until I realized how I had fundamentally changed the question.

People are very aggressively using the internet as an active, informal and
spontaneous learning and knowledge tool. So, when you ask about the TACIT
LEARNING that is being done on-line, the percentages so SKY HIGH!

Ask your colleagues the same question. You will be amazed at the
difference. So, part of our challenge is to define our arena in the
broader sense of both FORMAL and TACIT learning programs. Taking a
structured, beginning to end e-Learning program is likely to remain as
small a percentage of yearly learning for a worker as the attendance in a
formal classroom training session. I would love to hear from TechLearn
TRENDS readers on this topic. Send a note to Elliott@masie.com and I will
summarize your comments next week.

2. A Season of Deals Starts: IBM and Thomson Learning: Watch for a wave
of deals, mergers, strategic relationships and new technology
announcements as we head for September, the “start of the school year”.
These are being driven by positive and negative things in the learning
marketplace. You will hear about a half dozen to dozen major “deals” in
the next eight weeks.

IBM and Thomson Learning announced a major strategic partnership today.
They are combining forces on several fronts to face the e-Learning
marketplace with a range of common products and services. Thomson
Learning has done quite the expansion into this space in the past year.
Their press release is at http://www.thomsonlearning.com

3. TechLearn Advisors Expanded: 415 and You! TechLearn is unique in
how we build the content and schedule. Rather than rely mainly on vendor
workshops and the session proposals from folks that are on the speaking
circuit, we build the conference from scratch each year, using a large
group of learning and training colleagues.. We would like to invite you
to join our Advisor group, providing us with input on the key issues and
topics that we should address at TechLearn and reacting to the content
road map. We already have 415 TechLearn Advisors, but we would love to
have your engagement. If you would like to be a TechLearn Advisor, please
send a note with your name, organization, title and email to hk@masie.com

Upcoming Events:
- TechLearn 2002 and World e-Learning CONGRESS
October 27 to 30, Orlando, Florida,
http://www.techlearn.com

237 - Why I Am Paying for My Newspaper On-Line?

#237 - - - June 14, 2002 - - - 43,457 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Strategies for e-Learning Workshop

1. Why I Am Paying for My Newspaper On-Line?
2. New: Strategies for e-Learning Workshop in August

1. Why I Am Paying for My Newspaper On-Line: I start everyday by reading,
at 6 am, the three newspapers in our area. All on-line. While the
pictures are fewer and the ads are different, the e-newspapers have become
an habit, especially when on the road or in a foreign land. All were
free, at least until last month.

One of our local papers announced that the on-line version of their paper
would be $13 a month. My first reaction was to say No! Why should I pay
for that paper, when the others were free. I still buy the print paper on
Sunday and on some days and am exposed to their banner ads at every click.
So, I balked and dropped them from my morning reading ritual.

For about 2 weeks. When I noticed the absence of this paper's content, I
took a deep breath, typed in my credit card and with a big smile returned
to the fold of e-readers. I have been intrigued by own behavior and what
it may say about our willingness to pay for on-line content in general.

When I focus on the value of the content to me, especially when I focus on
the COST OF NOT HAVING THE CONTENT, the $13 a month seems OK. When I
think about the cost of assembling the content, the $13 a month also seems
fine. Now, I would like them to drop or deeply reduce the banner ads and
increase the search capabilities. But, I had to go through a
re-evaluation of how I felt about paying for THIS type of on-line content.
Would I read as many local and national papers if there was a charge like
this for each, probably not. Would I pay to be part of a reading club
that gave me access to a collection of papers, like Nexis, for sure.

I never balked at paying for a print newspaper, yet this was a bridge to
cross before I could feel good about paying for an e-newspaper.
Ironically, the paper tells me they have gotten way fewer subscribers than
they thought! So, they are playing with their pricing and business
models. I am intrigued about readers' thoughts about your own response to
paying for e-content, whether it be a daily newspaper or knowledge flows.
Send me an email to emasie@masie.com with some thoughts on this issue.

2. New: Strategies for e-Learning Workshop in August: We have just
scheduled another session for our managers only, e-Learning Strategies
Workshop. It will be held at McDonald’s Hamburger University in Chicago,
IL on August 27 and 28. Details and on-line registration at
http://www.masie.com

236 - e-Learning Strategies Link with Learning Strategies; Be Clear About Copying and Forwarding Rules; Globalizing Learning: More Than Translation

#236 - - - June 10, 2002 - - - 43,444 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Co-Host of: e-Learning Festival - Dublin, Ireland

1. e-Learning Strategies Link with Learning Strategies
2. Be Clear About Copying and Forwarding Rules
3. Learning Quote:
4. Globalizing Learning: More Than Translation

1. e-Learning Strategies Link with Learning Strategies: I am just
returning from a two day session with 96 Learning Managers focused on
e-Learning Strategies. The one theme that ran throughout our dialogues
and continues in my brain over the weekend is the essential link between
an e-Learning Strategy and the overall Corporate Learning Strategy.

Several years ago, e-Learning Strategies were primarily created as part of
the justification process leading up to a Learning or Collaboration System
procurement. However, more recent e-Learning Strategies, especially as
Blended Learning has been woven into the delivery mix, is deeply linked
with the overall Corporate Learning Strategy. We have found that many
companies are now making e-Learning an addition to their core strategies,
or integrating e-Learning requirements and goals into these core Strategy
Categories:

- Business Case and Alignment for Learning (and e-Learning)
- The Learning Culture
- Changes to Organizational Structures & Capacities for Learning
- Our Learning Processes
- Technology Capacities

As you develop your e-Learning Strategies, consider melding it into a new
and updated Corporate Learning Strategy.

2. Be Clear About Copying and Forwarding Rules: We have heard from a
number of learning departments that have hit some confusion about
learners' abilities under content licenses to copy or forward a screen or
chunk of information from an e-Learning course. Be clear with learners
at the start of an e-Learning offering about their rights and restrictions
on archiving, copying or forwarding content within and external to the
organization.

3. Learning Quote: Queen Elizabeth

"It's all to do with the training; you can do a lot if you're properly
trained." -- Queen Elizabeth II (1992)

4. Globalizing e-Learning: More Than Translation - The issue of
Globalizing e-Learning involves much more than just language translation.
This is the heart of the discussion that will be focused at the e-Learning
International Festival, to be held in Dublin, Ireland from July 8 to 10th.
Information at http://www.elearningfestival.com/

Upcoming MASIE Center Events/Services:
- TechLearn 2002 - October 27-30, Orlando, FL, www.masie.com
- e-Learning CONSORTIUM Membership - www.masie.com

The TechLearn 2002 site is now open!

Dear Learning & Training Colleague:

I am pleased to announce our next TechLearn:

TechLearn 2002
(Including The e-Learning World Congress and The Learning Summit)
October 27 to 30, 2002
Orlando, Florida USA

The TechLearn site is now open for registration at
http://www.techlearn.com

This year, we will focus on the evolving fields of Learning, e-Learning,
Training and Development. I am building a PROVOCATIVE AGENDA that will
address these questions:

* When will e-Learning Content Be MORE Compelling?
* What happens after you have an LMS running in your company?
* Where is all the CONTENT? Why do we have a CONTENT GAP?
* What are the best BLENDS in Blended Learning?
* How is Customer Learning evolving?
* Is Instructional Design in Need of Re-Design?
* What can buyers to to protect themselves in a fragile marketplace?
* Which Learning Strategies are working the best?
* If we Build It, Will They Come? Invitational Practices!

We invite you to be part of TechLearn 2002. Over the next five months we
will be building an agenda heavily based on the input of attendees. Go
to http://www.techlearn.com and make your reservation for TechLearn today!

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie
The MASIE Center

235 - Learner Access to Learning Management Systems; Teaching Knowledge Searching; Tips for Trainers: Training Backwards?

#235 - - - May 6, 2002 - - - 43,317 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Strategies for e-Learning �" June, Chicago

1. Learner Access to Learning Management Systems
2. Teaching Knowledge Searching
3. Tips for Trainers: Training Backwards?
4. e-Learning Strategies Workshop: 14 Seats Left

1. Learner Access to Learning Management Systems: As we collect more and more information about a worker’s training, learning and skill experience in Learning Management Systems, the issue of learner access arises. Who owns the data, who has the right to see the data and what happens to the data when a learner is no longer an employee of the organization?

It is inevitable that information from these systems will be used as part of a Human Capital Management System, resulting in key decisions about promotion, assignment and even retention. Does the learner have the right to see all of the information within the LMS? Currently, most LMS implementations do not have much in the way of data that is not viewable by employees. But, at some point, as feedback, performance evaluations and organizational assessments are integrated into enterprise wide systems, employees will ask to see their LMS records.

If an employee is applying to work at another company, while still in your employ, do they have the right to get a transcript from the LMS to attach to their resume? And, once the employee is an ex-employee, do they have any access to the LMS records, to be transportable to their next job? Can they ask that a copy be filed with their college placement office, as part of their lifelong career file?

The MASIE Center is beginning a dialogue on these issues. If you have some thoughts on these questions, please send them to me at lms@masie.com and I will post a summary in a future issue of TRENDS.

2. Teaching Knowledge Searching: I am amazed at how few companies teach employees how to search the Internet and Intranet. The range of skills and competencies in this area are incredibly wide. When I get a telephone call from a person that I have never talked to before, I do a quick 45 second search to gather background on their organization. How many organizations teach this skill to their employees? We assume that if people can use a browser, they can use the Internet. Wrong! They can start to access the Net. We can do a lot more to build and share best practices for finding useful and reliable information thru strategic searching.

3. Tips for Trainers - Training Backwards: The other day, I was a learner in a short seminar. The 60 minute seminar felt like three hours. Why?
Because the instructor didn’t really let us see where we would end up, until the minute 59. She was teaching how to build a dynamic budget spreadsheet, but he learners didn’t see what one looked like until the last minute of the session. I, like most of the attendees, were deeply confused much of the hour. I went up to her afterwards and asked why she didn’t show us the end result at the beginning. “Oh, that would take away the logic of it. I wanted to impress you all when it all came together at the end!”

I suggested that next time she start with the end result. In other words, spend 5 minutes at the beginning by demonstrating where we would end up.
Then, teach it backwards. Yes, take the curriculum and totally reverse it. In fact, I suggested that she use the same slide show, but go in reverse.

For years, I have been preaching backward teaching. Start with the outcome and then go back one step. For example, take an internal business process approval for vacation. Start with the picture of the person on a
beach and then walk it back through the steps. This model often
accelerates the rate of learning, keeps learners more involved and allows the class to “index” or relate the content to what they already know.
The seminar leader who I suggested this to sent me an email the next week. She did a trial of backward teaching and is now hooked! Try it, it works.

4. e-Learning Strategies Workshop - 14 Seats Left: Our new workshop on e-Learning and Corporate Learning Strategies for executives and managers is almost filled. There are just 14 seats left. It will be held at McDonald’s Hamburger University in Chicago, IL on June 6 and 7. Details and on-line registration at http://www.masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
- International e-Learning Festival �" Dublin, Ireland �" July 8 - 10 �" www.masie.com
- Learning Strategies Workshop �" Chicago, IL �" June 6 �" 7 �" www.masie.com

234 - A Look at e-Army Efforts

#234 - - - May 2, 2002 - - - 43,295 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Learning Decisions: Strategies for e-Learning �" June, Chicago

1. In Memory of Robert Gagne, Instructional Pioneer
2. A Look at e-Army Efforts
3. International e-Learning Festival in Dublin in July

1. In Memory of Robert Gagne, Instructional Pioneer: A hero of mine in
the instructional design world, Robert Gagne, passed away. He was born in
1916, was the co-developer of "Instructional Systems Design" and wrote The
Conditions of Learning. Gagne was a seminal thinker in the development of
instructional theory and influenced a whole generation of designers and
trainers. There is a bio of Gagne, including a summary of his key
theories online at:
http://www.my-ecoach.com/idtimeline/theory/gagne.html

2. A Look at e-Army Project: Check out the progress of the large scale
e-Army efforts, including partnerships with a range of service
providers, technical and managerial support services, and educational
institutions to provide online learning opportunities for its personnel.
There is a story about this online at:
http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id=998

3. International e-Learning Festival in Dublin in July: I am pleased the
announce the upcoming International e-Learning Festival, to be held in
Dublin, Ireland the week of July 8th. This is the third year for this
event, hosted by The MASIE Center and Advanstar. This year, we are
focusing on the challenges of developing e-Learning for multiple countries
and in multiple languages. Info and registration at: http://www.masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Event: www.masie.com
Strategies for e-Learning, June 6 and 7, 2002 at McDonald's Hamburger
University in Chicago. This is a manager only (no vendors) workshop
focused on developing an e-Learning and/or Corporate Leaarning Strategy.
Info and online registration at http://www.masie.com

233 - Rudy Giuliani & Learning; Textbooks, Content & Context; Tip for e-Trainers

#233- - - April 22, 2002 - - - 43,295 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Learning Decisions: Strategies for e-Learning �" June, Chicago

1. Rudy Giuliani & Learning
2. Textbooks, Content & Context
3. Tip for e-Trainers

1. Rudy Giuliani Conversation: I had the honor of introducing and
interviewing Rudi Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City at the recent
e-Learning Conference in Washington, DC. During our conversation
backstage, he shared several perspectives about e-Learning and the role of
learning in leadership:

- Relentless Preparation: This was one of his five principles of being an
effective leader. The Mayor was adamant that on-going training and
preparation, focused on business metrics (eg. Street crime rates by
neighborhood) was the only way to cope with a complex organization.
Mixing training with live performance data was key to changing the output
of an organization.

- Weekly Simulations: During his administration, there were weekly paper
based and electronic simulations. At the end of a staff meeting, each
person would open an envelope which contained a nightmare crisis. For
example, what if Sarin gas were released at a Knick’s game and 10,000
people were exposed. During the next 20 minutes, each senior manager in
the room had to articulate their group’s response and work out
collaboration with other responders.

- e-Learning and Unions: I asked the Mayor about the role of e-Learning
with unionized workforces. He said that there had been a shift recently,
where unions were starting to see e-Learning as a benefit to both
employees as well as their families. Flexibility in how e-Learning is
viewed from a time and a wage perspective is an on-going conversation with
unions, who are starting to see it as an investment for their members.

2. Content, Context and Textbooks: I was in Tampa last week talking to
the manager of college bookstores from around the United States. The
dialogue turned to the changing nature of textbooks. As you can imagine,
there is innovation in the format and use of textbooks by colleges. While
digital textbooks have not replaced paper, a number of colleges are moving
towards creating bundles of CONTEXT that would go with the book. For
example, how can we integrate the CONTENT from the author who wrote the
textbook with the CONTEXT from the class instructor or from other students
around the country.

We had an interesting conversation about what would happen if textbooks
became cheap or free, in digital format. I posed the option that students
might be very interested in buying a CONTEXT layer, which would contain
the yellow highlighting of a student who had received an A+ in the course. Simulations and other e-Learning high intensity offerings were seen as possible revenue sources for publishers.

3. A Tip for e-TRAINER: More and more guest speakers are coming into
classrooms using technology delivery, such as a virtual class tool. One
tip that I have discovered is to “draft” a person in the classroom as your
side kick. When I start my speech, I usually start with some back and
forth dialogue with the person, to establish a warmer delivery model.
Then, I will stop at several times and have the person poll the group for
questions. If they have access to a PC or PDA in the room, I try to be
on instant messenger with them. They can feed me info on how the session
is going, when people seem confused or downright bored. It makes the
session go smooth and lowers my stress considerably.

- Learning Decisions: Strategies for e-Learning: June 6 & 7, McDonald’s
Hamburger University, Chicago, IL. I will be teaching this 2 day in
person, followed by 4 on-line sessions, blended learning event. It is for
implementers only and focused on the various elements to building a
successful e-Learning and/or Corporate Learning Strategy. 40 spaces left.

http://www.masie.com for information.

232 - Blended Learning from an Airport Phone; Why Take an On-Line Class on Campus?

#232 - - - March 26, 2002 - - - 43,201 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. Blended Learning from an Airport Phone?
2. Why Take an On-Line Class on Campus?
3. Some Water at The MASIE Center

1. Blended Learning from an Airport Phone? Last Wednesday, I was
teaching a Blended Learning event from an Phoenix airport telephone at
7:00 AM. I struck me how much I've altered my teaching and consulting
style, as I was training while standing a few feet from my gate:

- One of our e-Learning CONSORTIUM members, Michelin, asked if I would
conduct a briefing on trends in learning for their senior team on that
day.
- Checked my calendar and saw that I was not only in another city, but
that I was going to be boarding the plane for a 5 five hour flight to New
York, just as their meeting was to get underway.
- The answer was a Blended Model! First, an email went to the
participants and asked them to generate a list of issues that they would
like me to address.
- Based on these answers, I videotaped a 30 minute dialogue, in my
studio, responding to their questions and concerns.
- They started their meeting by viewing this tape, followed by a going
into breakout groups and surfacing additional clarifying questions for me.
- As soon as I cleared security, I called their meeting room and we have
a 35 minute back and forth Q and A from these distilled issues.
- Following my chat, they proceeded into other discussions, and are
forwarding a list of follow-up questions, which I will respond to in a
streamed video in the coming days.
- Result was a multi-method, multi-event Blended Learning experience. It
was simple and low-cost to produce and was totally flexible to both of our
calendars. And it worked!

2. Why Take an On-Line Class on Campus? Recently, several faculty
gathered to talk about their experience in using e-Learning on-campus. A
number of faculty are starting to substitute one or more of weekly
sessions of their on-campus courses, with asynchronous learning and
projects. On first glance, it didn't make sense to me. Why would a
student take an on-line class from your dorm room or library, other than
perhaps to add flexibility? Aren't we giving up interaction?

But, these early adopters reported other reasons and outcomes that are
changing how some institutions are viewing the role of e-Learning:

- Greater student engagement! A number of faculty reported that they are
getting more participation from more students, due to the requirement of
engagement on-line. They even see this changing students' behavior in the
classroom based segments, as the culture of participation is not limited
to the few that raise their hands.
- Greater team work! By building team projects, often requiring
in-person or Instant Messenger collaboration, the on-line portions can be
used to increase dramatically the level and accountability of student to
student learning. The faculty are better able to monitor the progress and
process of team work.
- Changes to the classroom! Mirroring what some corporate groups are
doing, a few faculty reported that their in-class roles are changing,
moving away from lectures and presentations, which can be streamed to the
learners on-line. The class becomes more of a resource, dialogue and
deeply interactive place.
- Cross Campus Engagement! A couple of faculty are building larger
collaborations with their colleagues teaching parallel classes on other
campuses, beginning to thread and mix resources to bring more expertise
and diversity to the classroom.

3. Some Water at The MASIE Center! We had a flood here at our new
building in Saratoga Springs this weekend. The sprinklers went off
without warning or cause and water gushed throughout the place. Good news
is that all people, servers, furniture and core records are safe. Bad
news is that we have a lot of new painting, carpeting and wall repair
ahead of us in the next 90 days. Our staff are at work, up and running,
we are hosting several small groups here in our Studio and life goes on
and it will look brand new in just a short while. The bad news is that we
are going to cancel our Skills Labs at the Center for a short while, to
give us a chance to get everything back to normal. If anyone remembers
the Bill Cosby comedy record about Noah... "Is that water? RIGHT!"

Upcoming MASIE Center Event:
- Business of Learning & e-Learning: Washington, DC - April 8 & 9 - Info
and Registration at http://www.masie.com

231 - TV News Shifts Might Predict Education Shifts; Confessions of an e-Learner in a Masters Program

#231 - - - March 13, 2002 - - - 43,128 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. TV News Shifts Might Predict Education Shifts
2. Confessions of an e-Learner in a Masters Program

1. TV News Shifts Might Predict Education Shifts: Recent reports from
television networks in the United States report an increasing trend away
from people watching the evening news programs. When I grew up, the
family would have dinner and then move to the living room to watch the CBS
Evening News with Walter Cronkite. This was the time when we all learned
what had happened in our world that day.

The demographics of television watching indicate that adults who are below
the age of 40 are less likely to watch the evening news programs. Reasons
include: they have already seen key news stories on the internet; they
are less likely to want to access news on a regular basis; they are less
tolerant of having one person assemble the list of top news - they would
rather build their own news collection from multiple sources; they are
less tolerant of the "happy talk" between news hosts and they don't want
to dedicate an entire 1/2 hour to the task.

Interesting to apply those preferences to classroom led training!

2. Confessions of an e-Learner in a Masters Program: One of our
colleagues, Lisa Van Damme, from Merck, has been working on an on-line
Masters Program. Here is a note from her about her experience with an
upcoming final exam:

"I knew when I started my masters program that there would be a
comprehensive exam at the end. For my first few courses, I diligently
printed out the lecture web pages and online discussion forums for each
week of class. Each week included a new discussion and if it was an
interesting topic, we'd quickly accumulate seventy or eighty postings. By
the end of the semester, I had some massive notebooks taking up space.
Then I figured I should burn all of the files to a CD. That lasted for a
little while too.

Eventually, I just stopped taking the time to try to save everything.
There were too many links - too many threads leading to all directions.

Now the end is here and I know I have to take that exam in April. I
emailed my advisor to ask about how to best prepare for the exam, and she
said that my coursework should have prepared me. There is no real way to
"study" for the test. I am amazed at how stressful I find that. I feel
like I should be doing something to prepare. Looking through some sort of
notes, I still have my spiral notebooks from high school -- how can I not
have any "tangible" record of three years of graduate work!!

I've decided to read back through all of the graded papers and projects
that I've saved and just forget about trying to resurrect old class notes.
Maybe I'll "peruse" each of the textbooks I've bought over the years.
Mostly I figure that I'll head into the exam happy that my nights and
weekends will soon be free again."

Lisa's note reminds me of the strong need for us to develop methods for
retaining and integrating content from longer duration on-line learning
experiences. LMS system developers might want to look at ways of building
a learner's content briefcase that builds from course to course.

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: www.masie.com
- Business of Learning - Business of e-Learning: April 2002, Washington,
DC
- Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab - May 2002 - Saratoga Springs, NY

Free Learning Standards Report: Making Sense of Learning Specifications & Standards

TO: Training & Learning Colleagues
FROM: Elliott Masie, The MASIE Center

Making Sense of Learning Specifications & Standards:
A Decision Maker's Guide to their Adoption

Free Report at: http://www.masie.com/standards/

The phrase "learning standards" is one of the most powerful and most
misunderstood aspects of the e-Learning revolution. As organizations make
significant investments in digital learning content, there is a strong
desire to have greater assurances portability and reusability. As
organizations focus on providing learners with the "just right" content
and activities, there is a strong desire to have the ability to more
easily store, search, index, deploy, assemble and revise content. All of
these hopes are part of the story of "learning standards".

To lower industry confusion about learning standards and to accelerate
their adoption, The MASIE Center's e-Learning Consortium organized and
facilitated a group of learning professionals who worked together for
several months to generate a collection of information and job aids.

You can read or download this practical report at:
http://www.masie.com/standards/

Special Thanks To:
Wayne Hodgins, Autodesk, and Connie Latson, The MASIE Center and the S3
Group for their leadership and facilitation of this effort.
Thanks to Murry Christensen, Goldman, Sachs & Co. for his help on
formatting and publishing.

Upcoming MASIE Center Event:
The Busine$$ of Learning - The Busine$$ of e-Learning: April 8 & 9, 2002
in Washington DC - http://www.masie.com for details