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12 September 2011

Social Learning doesn’t mean what you think it does!

A few days ago my Internet Time Alliance colleague, Harold Jarche, shared this article, written by Deb Lavoy, with me: Social Business Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does, Neither Does Enterprise 2.0.  The first few paragraphs say it all!

“Social Business” is not about technology, or about “corporate culture.” It is a socio-political historical shift that is bigger, broader and much more fascinating.

A new perspective is changing how we think about society, politics, interpersonal relationships, science, government and business. New approaches are emerging. Learning and self-expression are exploding. Values are changing. Leadership is changing. The economy is changing. Change itself is changing — it is accelerating and becoming the norm.”

The changes we are seeing in Workplace Learning are of course just one part of the changes we are seeing in businesses as whole. Simply replace the word “business” in the quote above with the word “learning” and it still makes sense. So, for instance the first paragraph would now read:

“Social Learning ” is not about technology, or about “corporate culture”. It is a socio-political historical shift that is bigger, broader and much more fascinating.”

In other words those who think “social learning” is just about a new training trend, or about adding social media into the  ”blend”, or that it is about acquiring the latest Social Learning Management System are missing the big picture.

Harold Jarche makes this point succinctly himself in Social Learning: the freedom to act and cooperate with others

“One current theme in the workplace and education circles is to “blend” social with the formal and structured. But social learning is not a bolted-on component of our formal educational and training programs. It is a sea change. It will disrupt institutions built upon the technology of  the printing press – all communication enterprises, including education. Yes, we have always learned and worked socially, but we have never had the power of ridiculously easy group-forming or almost zero-cost duplication of our words and images.”

So to paraphrase the title of Deb Lavoy’s article – “Social Learning doesn’t mean what you think it does.”

So what is the “big picture”?

To find out, please continue reading the rest of this posting on my Learning in the Social Workplace blog

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My Twitter Weekly Links Digest for 2011-09-11

My Twitter Weekly Links Digest for 2011-09-11 

Read them in this posting on  my wLearning in the Social Workplace blog

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08 September 2011

Key social learning resources: Part 1

This article first appeared in TrainingZone on 7 September 2011, but I've reproduced it on my Learning in the Social Workplace blog for those of you who don’t have a TZ account.

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05 September 2011

My Top 10 Tools for Learning 2011

This is the 5th year I have been building a Top 100 Tools for Learning list (based on the Top 10 Tools contributions of learning professionals worldwide), so I thought it would be interesting to compare my choices in the first year I ran the activity in 2007, with my choices today.

1 – In 2007 I selected Bloglines, as my RSS reader – and said it was “probably the most indispensable tool for my work”.   In 2011 I now use Google Reader, and although it is no longer my most indispensable tool, it is still an important tool for me to keep up to date with what is happening in the “learning” world. 

2 – In 2007 I chose Microsoft FrontPage as it was the web page tool I used to build the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies site.  In 2011 I now use WordPress to power my website.  It is such a sophisticated tool, and it also now powers my Learning in the Social Workplace blog.

3 – I still use TypePad, which was my blogging tool of choice in 2007 – which I used for Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day blog, but it’s not on my 2011 list.

4 – In 2007 Feedblitz was an important tool for me to create a daily email from the RSS feed, although I now use Google Feedburner to do this job, it’s not one of my Top 10 tools.

5 – In 2007 I chose Polldaddy, as I could use it to create short polls and surveys.  Polldaddy is now owned by WordPress so I see it now as just another WordPress plugin.

6 – In 2007 Skype was a key tool to keep in touch with my colleagues and clients, and in 2011 it still is very  important to me, so it is another of my Top 10 tools. Skype is always-on for me, which means I am only a mouse click away from texting or talking to my contacts.

7 – In 2007, I used PBWiki (now known as PBWorks) to build collaboration spaces with my colleagues, now 5 years on Google Docs is my collaboration tool of choice, and defintely on my Top 10 Tools list.

8 – In 2007, I used Powwownow ShowTime for web meetings.  In 2011 I have to say I don’t use it all now – maybe I should try it out again.

9/10  - In 2007  I also  listed two course creation tools on my list – PointeCast Publisher and CourseLab.  I don’t create content in this format anymore, so they are not on my 2011 list.

So what does my Top 10 Tools for Learning 2011 look like?  Well I’ve already mentioned four of them:

  1. Google Reader
  2. WordPress
  3. Skype
  4. Google Docs

The other 6 are:

5 – Twitter - this is probably my most indispensable tool again this year

6 – Tweetdeck and Tweetchat are also key tools for me to make good use of Twitter. Tweetdeck to manage all my accounts, and schedule postings for the live Twitter chats I host, and Tweetchat to watch the chat taking place.

7 – Yammer - has become an important tool, as it powers the Social Learning Community, where members have focused discussions around social learning and the use of social media for learning.

8 – Buddypress - the WordPress plugin – is also on this year’s list as it such a powerful tool for creating a community.  I’ve also been helping others build their own learning communities with it too.

9 – I have to admit I still like using PowerPoint to create presentations and Slideshare is definitely the place to host and share them

10 – Finally, Google Chrome has now become my browser of choice – together with many of its useful extensions.

So what are your Top 10 Tools for Learning?  Please do share them here.  You can just the list of tools if it’s easiest, or perhaps provide a link to your blog posting where you provide more detail.  It would also be interesting to read any comparisons you can make over the 5 years too.

I’ll be closing the list in the middle of November, so there is still a bit of time.  But meanwhile you can see the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2011 emerge here.

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04 September 2011

My Twitter Weekly Links Digest for 2011-09-04

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01 September 2011

» August 2011 Review Learning in the Social Workplace

Meteorologically speaking, Autumn begins today here in the UK – the summer has passed all too quickly.  Although manypeople were away on holiday in August, it was still a very busy month online and I saved nearly 50 articles and resources in my August Reading List.  But here are my 5 picks for August:

  1. Managing learning: feel the need to manage learning, Charles Jennings, presentation to elearning network, July 2011
  2. For the plugged-in, too many choices, Stephanie Rosenbloom, New York Times, 10 August 2011
  3. How social learning is like gravity, Dennis Callahan, Learnstreaming, 13 August 2011
  4. Backchannel learning in an organizational setting, David Kelly, eLearn magazine, August 2011
  5. Beware the “M” word in communities, Nic Laycock, 19 August 2011
By the way, during August I changed the design of my C4LPT website – hope you find it more easily searchable, navigable and user-friendly.

 

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