The smart cut: Check.point article on learning in a tightening economy

Checkpoint learning today published an article entitled 'Technology enabled Learning in a Tightening Economy'. Here are some cuts I made from the article:

"For such a young industry as ours, we’ve had more than our fair share of ups and downs. But this time, we may be able to defend ourselves." : true, for a young industry we had our swings, but hey, that's what it means to be in business today. Things are more volatile and prone to go to extremes than ever before. It's a new given. Don't know who showed it at Online Educa, but the number of days the stock market grows or shrinks more than 4% has gone through the roof the last years.

"If we can demonstrate that the value delivered by learning technologies can navigate an organisation through troubled times, we may have less to fear than ever before. The problem is that when it comes to the value we create and the benefits we deliver, our industry has on the whole failed to present a unified, clear, and above all business-driven case." : all too much true. And ROI is not necessarily the best way to prove your value. Just prove if with real evidence, not hippie talk. There was an interesting talk about evidence of learning on Learning 2008 by Doug Lynch.

But the reason I am mentioning the article here is their view on the 2 agendas that go on at the same time:

"The efficiency agenda" – use technology to deal with similar learning challenges as previously, but cut cost and time
"The effectiveness agenda" – use technology to add value in a way only new technologies can; to address learning and performance challenges in new ways

And then they go on with a nice table with examples of both. But hey, you can read for yourself. Key point for the smart cut: work both on efficiency and effectiveness.