Dump

I'm going to close down the old 6C learning forum very soon now and start an all new site. I thought the following forum posts deserved preserving, so I'm going to dump them just in one big post here:


Some interesting free documents at the www.kineo.co.uk website:
- 13 ways to manage informal learning
- 50 ideas for free e-learning
- 7 ways to market e-learning

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http://nuvvo.com/

This site gives info on a hosted LMS system they describe as 'learning 2.0', based on AJAX and all that 'web 2.0' stuff.
It's English only, but has a virtual tour and extensive online help. You can create your own free hosting account and create a course. You can charge students for your course (nuvvo charges 8% transaction fee).

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A nice example of podcasts used for learning.

http://www.firstaidpod.com

It has small training movies on how to provide first aid. Put it on your ipod of PDA and use it (just in time) when you need it!
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Creating online content is a team sport

(taken from Patti Shank)
Most folks who build online instructional materials can't do it all. But building good online learning in
any kind of effective and efficient manner requires that one possess expanded skills.

Here are the major skills that are often needed for building online instructional materials:

Instructional design
Graphic/visual design
Technical writing
Creative writing
Information design/architecture
Web authoring
Multimedia/programming
Usability
Quality assurance
Learning infrastructure
Project management

Yeah, it's a lot. Before you become overwhelmed, however, keep in mind that not every project requires
deep skills in all these areas. But a lack of skills (and not knowing when other skills are needed) leads
to ineffective (or worse) online instruction.

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Survey by eLearners.com Explores Myths About Online Learning
When online higher-education students were asked what they think the biggest myth is about online learning, their top three responses were: "It requires less time and effort," "The work is easier" and "It is a less effective educational/learning format," according to a recent survey by eLearners.com. More than half these students indicated they spent more than 10 hours per week on their course work. Despite the workload, 90 percent of the online students surveyed indicated their experience was good or better, with more than 83 percent saying they would recommend online education to others.
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ROI calculation is a natural next (or first?) step in e-learning : why do we spend that money? What do we get back?

Here is a link to a toolkit for return calculationin workforce change management:
http://www.aspenwsi.org/BVAToolkit.asp
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'The rise of the high-performance learning organisation'
http://www.accenture.com/xd/xd.asp?it=enweb&xd=services\learn\rise_hp.xml

1- Alignment of learning initiatives to the business goals of the organisation
2- Measurement of the overall business impact of the learning function
3- Movement of learning outside the 'four walls' of the organisation to include other members of the overall value chain such as customers and channel partners
4- A focus on competency development of the organisation's most critical job families
5- Integration of learning with other human performance systems and functions such as knowledge management, performance support and talent management
6- Blended delivery approaches that include classroom as well as both synchronous and asynchronous electronic learning
7- Mature design and delivery of leadership development courses

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Pick the low hanging fruit

As a recommendation, you should identify the 'low hanging fruit' for your learning projects. If you concentrate on the quick wins, you can quickly prove the value of learning and get the necessary credibility and executive support for your next step in the learning transformation.

Some ideas to help identify those learning needs:
- what is the main goal of the company this year?
- compliance with regulatory directives
- organisational change (merger, acquisition, reorganisation, moving to another building,...)
- performance improvement (new product, cost reduction)
- competitive forces
- new hiree training
- IT projects (IP telephony, desktop upgrade, SAP introduction, ...)

Any more ideas on the 'low hanging fruits'? What is the key learning need this year in your organisation?
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free ebook the business impact of e-learning

Just found this on the internet:

http://www.ag-rapportenservice.nl/(phmcsg55z2j1gz553b55fr55)/Default.lynkx?HomePointer=1-10&type=RapportView&RapportPointer=1-9-6439-6441-44884

It can be ordered (paying) or downloaded (free). It's a disseration of a doctoral student at universty Nuyenrode (June 05).
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Justify elearning investments in three phases

Just came accross a Gartner study (ID G00131076, publication date 13 Oct 2005) on e-learning investments.
Their point is that e-learning requires sustained investments over many years but justification for this spending will change with time. They advise to use a three-phased approach to retain the support of corporate managers.

Phase 1 : e-learning lowers training costs (= justify investments on cost savings)
Phase 2 : e-learning makes employees more productive (= operational/tactical benefits)
Phase 3 : e-learning helps achieve business goals

Any comments on this justification?

An IBM executive briefing paper (see documents) lists three similar phases for governance of learning:
1- Training efficiency
2- Business Unit Performance
3- Enterprise Readiness
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