Getting into those important spaces

For the last few years I have read and heard so much about how trainers need to wise-up, get with-it, and embrace social media. This is undoubtedly true but how will people know what to do? The simple answer: by reading Jane Bozarth’s book ‘Social Media for Trainers’, that’s how.

For all you trainers out there, there is one book which should be on your ‘essential reading’ list: Social Media for Trainers: Techniques for Enhancing and Extending Learning, Jane Bozarth, 2010, Pfeiffer, ISBN 978-0-470-63106-5.

Why? Well, as Jane says in her book “It is critical, if workplace trainers intend to remain viable and credible, that they understand how to participate in the networks and use the social media tools to extend their reach and enhance the development of the employees they are charged with developing.” Surely, only luddites would tut at this and say that social media tools are not for them? Which means that if you are reading this blog, it would be reasonable to assume that you are not one of the ‘tutting’ brigade, so read on.

To start with, I felt I should support the technology focus of this book, so I downloaded it from Amazon and, using the Kindle app on my iPad, read it electronically. As a result, I realized that via this medium it wasn’t only a book but an interactive one at that, allowing me, via the many hyperlinks, to go straight to tables, diagrams, etc. in the book itself and to access straight away the valuable external website links provided; which really added that extra bit of something to what was a very pleasurable reading and learning experience.

The book opens with an overview of social media tools and current trends, both of which are covered superbly. This is followed by chapters dedicated to Twitter, Facebook and Other Communities, Blogs, Wikis, and Other Tools, each of which provides a long list of ideas for activities, discussion topics and formats, and exercises using the tool in question. I found each of these to be very informative, well thought out, and extremely valuable.  Even as a fairly experienced blogger and twitterer, I learned so much more and, although I was not a great fan of Facebook, I now see it in a much more positive light. The book concludes with an overview of the larger picture, ie social learning, along with suggestions for gaining organizational support for change – which nearly blew my socks off with the number of citations, examples, and case studies provided.

One of many meaningful messages in this book is as follows: “Research … indicates that as much as 70 percent of workplace learning is informal, occurring outside the classroom and in the spaces between formal training events. Social media is one way for the training department and the training practitioners to get into those spaces and reach employees between events.” – hence the title of this blog post.

As Jane says “In essence, training approaches incorporating social media strategies more closely resembles how we really learn in our day-to-day activities.” I could not agree with her more and, if you do too, then make sure you get and read this book. As I said to someone the other day on Twitter “you will not be disappointed” if you do.

Finally, just take a moment to think about your own organization or those for which you provide training. Social media tools are here to stay, so why not incorporate their use into your training provision? Then, having read Jane Bozarth’s book, draw-up a plan of action for doing just that.

You can contact Jane Bozarth via her website www.bozarthzone.com on Facebook at Jane Bozarth Bozarthzone and via Twitter at @janebozarth.

What has Twitter done for you?

It started when Jane Hart (http://twitter.com/c4lpt/ ) sent me a tweet of a blog post (http://bit.ly/cckBHs) which was entitled ‘What Twitter Has Done For Me’. This got me to thinking about how much Twitter has done for me, so here are my immediate thoughts.

I blogged 3 months ago about ‘Twitter – 1 year on’ and, having re-read that post, I now realize that in the intervening period quite a lot has changed:

§  Twitter has now become my main CPD (Continuing Professional Development) tool. I hadn’t realized this until now but through Twitter I have learned so much about so many aspects of my work and interests.

§    Twitter has put me in contact with some well-known and respected L&D professionals, as well as many people who work at the ‘chalk-face’ (what an out-moded term that is but you know what I mean!). Not only has the number of people who ‘follow’ me risen considerably in 3 months (which is important) but it is the quality of these followers which has really made all the difference.

§    Twitter has enabled me to extend my horizons and to return to my educational roots. For many years now I have concentrated and worked in the adult learning training and development world of organizations (corporate, public, small-medium-enterprises). However, my roots are in education (Schools, Further and Higher Education) and through the medium of Twitter I have returned to that world. I now feel ‘clued-up’ with what’s going on and how people who work in these sectors of education feel, think and behave. Perhaps, more importantly, I feel both empowered and challenged by this experience.

§    Twitter has made me want to share and exchange views, articles, news, etc with others. We live in interesting and changing times and Twitter has encouraged me to share with others items of mutual interest as well as wanting to exchange my views with others.  I have to confess that pre-Twitter I wasn’t so keen on doing this but I will need time to reflect as to why!

§    Twitter has given me the confidence to debate L&D issues with others. I know this may sound trite, as those who know me would say that as a person I definitely do not lack confidence! However, outward appearances can often be deceptive and Twitter most certainly has provided me with a medium through which I feel happy to debate issues with others.

So, what has Twitter done for you? Please feel free to share your experiences if you also operate in ‘Twittersphere’.

The Need for Change

Recently, many challenges have been laid down at the door of Learning and Development (L&D) as far as some much needed change is concerned. However, even if you agree with these challenges, meeting and achieving them is going to be something else altogether.

Every day on Twitter I read so many tweets about the need for a stunning amount of change in L&D. Judging by what people are saying, change in large corporates, public sector organisations, small and medium enterprises, higher education, further education, as well as secondary and primary education is required. Yes, it’s right across the board and, as I value greatly these people’s views, a tremendous challenge for all of us in L&D – perhaps the largest one most of us have ever faced.

Why?

My assessment on why this need for change has come about is because so many of our L&D policies, strategies and processes have not moved with the times, or with the technology which we now have at our disposal, and are still firmly based in the last century.

When looking back over the first decade of the 21^st Century only a hermit could be justified in saying that there has been little change. In the course of 10 years all of us, no matter where we are located in the world, have seen an exponential amount of change which is already having a direct impact on all aspects of our lives, including our work and our job roles.

For all of us working in any area of L&D, there is now considerable pressure being brought upon us to get ‘with it’ and to drag L&D into the 21^st Century. The cost of not doing so isn’t something we should even contemplate.

What?

In a nutshell we need to free-up and open-up L&D in all areas.

In the corporate/public sector world L&D needs to be representative of and support the goals of the organisation: training needs to change both in style and approach; development needs to change with informal learning recognized and rewarded; and, people need to be given the technology and tools to help them learn better and faster.

In education teachers and lecturers need to be freed-up to help their students to learn in ways which suit the latter, allowing them to use a range of learning processes, technologies, and tools.

How?

This is the ‘six million dollar’ question, although the cost will probably run into billions of dollars! But it’s not just about cost, it’s also about attitude – a resolve and a belief that change is required as well as the ability to effect that change.

There will always be those who resist change, initially at least, but unless those people who have the resolve and belief are allowed to start effecting this much-needed change, it will never happen. Those who resist initially will either retire or leave the profession or, more positively, will join in when they see and experience all the benefits that undoubtedly will result.

The learner

For me, it’s all about those who learn. They always need to be our focus and not us, complete with our preferences and prejudices. We are here to help people to learn and to develop as human beings. The omens are good with a growing groundswell of L&D professionals not only clamouring for change but also working extremely hard to bring it about.

The most important action for us is to remove the strait-jackets, which time and other people have imposed on learners, in order to liberate them. This has to be the starting point and then all we have to do is to deliver what learners need and want.

So what challenges are you facing in L&D right now – do please tell and share?

The Power of Social Media

The Power of Social Media

I’ve now gone past the ‘wow’ factor with Social Media (SoMe) to appreciate just what SoMe tools can do in the world of Learning and Development. Here are a few thoughts.

The tools

Well, for starters, there are so many of them and they are increasing on an almost monthly basis. If you want to see a list of some of them then look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media which also provides a neat classification. Also Jane Hart (http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/) the UK’s leading SoMe guru (I hope she will forgive me for describing her thus) provides a ToolsZoNE area on her website, which lists over 2,000 tools in 12 categories.

But which ones are useful for L&D purposes? Again Jane Hart (http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html) lists 100 top tools as voted for by 278 learning professionals worldwide in 2009. Interestingly ‘Twitter’ is ranked the number one tool. Delicious is ranked second with You Tube, Google Reader and Google Docs forming the top five respectively.

So, without a doubt, many SoMe tools are not only suitable for L&D purposes but they are also being used more and more by the profession.

The power

Although it is relatively early days with using SoMe tools for learning, particularly formal learning, there is a number of interesting reports from people who have embedded the use of these tools into their L&D programmes. One of the most recent reports from Jane Hart (I hope she doesn’t start to get a complex!) can be found at http://bit.ly/9XyYXL which details Jane’s experience of using Twitter in a face-to-face workshop. If you want to know ‘how’ just read her write-up as it’s excellent.

On 30 April the topic for #lrnchat was ‘Enterprise 2.0’. I expected the ‘chat’ to be about Enterprise 2.0 platforms but to my delight it focused on Enterprise 2.0 tools, i.e. SoMe tools. You can find a transcript of the chats on this topic at http://lrnchat.com/. It was interesting to discover that only a relatively few people had actually managed successfully to embed some of these tools into their current L&D programmes.

Apart from IT issues, such as IT departments/controls which block or act as a negative influence on the use of such tools, there are some other factors which, seemingly, are limiting their use. Factors such as getting buy-in from the ‘hierarchy’, the ability of learners to use the tools, a limited vision as to how these tools can be used effectively and not just because they are available, and how to ‘manage’ their use by the L&D profession, appear to be some of current constraints.

However, in the next year or so I expect to see the increasing use of SoMe tools in L&D as current constraints are overcome. It is their power and potential which will come to the fore and survive, believe me!

Many thanks to my growing network of L&D folk, without whom I would not have been able to write this post.

Twitter - 1 Year On

I have now been a ‘tweeter’ for just over a year. I have tweeted 805 times (and counting), have 129 followers, and I follow 56 people. I also have the somewhat dubious distinction of being a ‘Twitter Elite in Warwickshire, England’. I think I am now completely bitten by the Twitter bug!

An important grovel: I realize that I haven’t blogged for many months, for which I apologize, but work has really taken off in a big way (no doubt the subject of further blogs) and I’ve been so busy that I haven’t found the time for blogging, that is until now ....

What’s happened?

Since I last blogged on my Twitter experience, a number of things has changed:

I have ‘met’ many interesting people, not just from the UK but also from Australia, Germany, India and the US, most of whom work/are interested in Learning and Development, e-Learning, Social Media, etc.

I now have 129 (at the time of writing) faithful followers. I decided early on not to follow everyone, especially those who have ‘Twitterrhoea’, as it would be impossible to keep up with everyone’s tweets. Accordingly, I am at the moment following just 56 people.

I have now used Twitter to ask questions of my followers, for example I asked recently what people felt were the main obstacles to designing and developing high quality and effective e-Learning; I was not disappointed with the response that I received.

I also take part in a weekly discussion group about learning, #lrnchat. It’s amazing what you can say in 140 characters and all discussions/debates thus far have been very lively and extremely informative. Also, I have met some more kindred souls as a result.

Whilst I use Twitter mainly for L&D purposes, I now also tweet about Cally (my beloved Labrador) and our adventures, plus cricket and tennis (two of my passions). I’ve also taken heed of some other people’s tweets and am now happy to include some social tweets, such as my latest: “Arrrh I hate this British Summer Time lark (apols to those in Scotland) – I have far too many clocks & it makes me really bad tempered.” However, when it comes to my work as a Parish Councillor I do not tweet about this, just in case I land myself in any trouble, as I can do that very easily without Twitter!

I now ‘retweet’ anyone’s tweets that I think will interest the vast majority of my followers. Using the recently added ‘retweet’ button this is a very quick and easy thing to do, plus I have also learned how to RT (i.e. retweet) people’s contributions where I can add my own comments or views.

Last but not least, when, on very rare occasions, Twitter goes off-line I feel quite deprived! Now, how sad is that?

Where next?

Some people can be extremely disparaging about Twitter, especially those people who tweet. However, Twitter is what you make of it and how you use it. Having used Twitter for over a year I now see how it can be used, amongst other things, with considerable benefit for ‘Social Learning’.

Twitter is a readily available and free tool. It is easy to set up a group of likeminded people, e.g. #lrnchat, and to moderate this use. Users can ask questions of followers, provide information, generate debate, and so on. The people I follow are not lonely, small-minded folk, as some have claimed. Most, if not all, are at the cutting and leading edge of Learning and Development and I have learned so much from them.

Yes, I am now a truly dedicated follower of Twitter!