Social Learning Systems

When Social Networking Goes 'Live' -- THE Journal

One doesn't immediately connect the country of Sweden with the Midwestern state of Iowa, but for five students in Shaelynn Farnsworth's senior English class, those ties are very strong and very recent. After connecting with a teacher at the International School of Helsingborg via Twitter, Farnsworth, a freshman and senior teacher at the BCLUW Community School District in Conrad, turned online social networking interactions into a trip of a lifetime for her students.

Here, Farnsworth discusses how social networking in the classroom came full circle and resulted in hands-on learning for her students.

Read the full article here.

via thejournal.com

Training Secrets From Inside The Googleplex | Fast Company

Anyone who’s tried to keep up with the online ad business, especially lately, knows it’s a turbulent tumble of ever-changing products--search, display, video, mobile--with vastly different sets of advantages and potential payoffs. So imagine being one of the poor Google sales agents tasked with keeping up with the company’s dozens of offerings.

Its thousands of agents don’t have to master one or two products, but every single one. That’s why the company has tossed out the old-school, classroom-style of teaching.

Every other Friday, the company hosts a “Product Spotlight,” a dial-in conference call which Learning and Development Manager Debbie Newhouse tells Fast Company is run like a Jon Stewart-style “talk show" (well, minus any adult toy-themed spinning wheels). A moderator interviews a product manager about a particular new feature, as sales agents across the country, and around the world, listen in. Sometimes there are also slides or video to follow along with online, and the agents get to ask questions via chat. Maybe it's more like Leno.

Read the complete article here.

via www.fastcompany.com

Can Learning Help You Score The Next "Big Innovation" For Your Organization? | Fast Company

We're in the midst of "The Learning Decade," and private-sector executives as well as public-sector officials have embraced the notion that knowledge drives revenue-enhancing innovation at a time when the economy is uncertain and companies need turbo-chargers that can accelerate growth, spark competitiveness, and boost future prospects.

Peter Drucker, the founding father of Corporate Management, said in The Effective Executive that companies need to build brainpower because, in the end, it's more important than manufacturing facilities and financial capabilities.

Indeed, U.S. organizations spent $126 billion on employee learning and development in 2009. And 80 % of all learning executives anticipate that funding for workplace learning and performance programs will increase or remain the same over the next six months. Just as important, the most recent ASTD Learning Executives Confidence Index indicates that more organizations are placing a stronger emphasis on learning today than at any time in the last two years.

Read the full article here.

via www.fastcompany.com

The Client Knows Best - Chief Learning Officer, Solutions for Enterprise Productivity

Increasingly, IBM is leveraging social learning to meet this first element of learning strategy. Rather than develop centrally related content, experts throughout the company find, build, publish, share and comment on assets to enhance skills development and productivity. IBM has created tools such as online learning communities and socially generated tags on key knowledge assets to make relevant knowledge more searchable.

Read the complete article here.

via clomedia.com