Learning Content Searched and Sorted
May 05, 2008
You know what you want to teach, and you know your learning objectives. But more than delivering structured coursework, training in the 21st century is about giving employees the learning tools they need to find and organize the information themselves.
By Richard Buck
According to Webster's dictionary, training refers to the act, process, or method of one who trains, with a focus on the trainer. Wikipedia, on the other hand, defines training as the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies, with the focus on the learner. Sign of the times? Absolutely. And savvy training professionals are on board, realizing the ways we learn and, therefore, train, are changing. In fact, in today's workplace much of what and how we learn has little to do with training in the traditional sense of the word.
An interesting post on the Informal Learning Blog caught my attention: many a knowledge worker has said, "I love to learn but I hate to be trained." Training is something imposed on you; learning is something you choose. Chances are, in light of today's increased global competition, rapid technological advancements, and the need for constant innovation, the number of knowledge workers in your organization is high, and growing. McKinsey reports roughly 40 percent of employees can now be deemed knowledge workers, and that number is expected to rise to 44 percent by 2015. Given these statistics, it's critical we engage these workers in the training and development process.
But, how? If we don't "train" them, how can we help them learn what they need to know in order to continue to learn, stay current, and perform their jobs at the highest levels? Four principles provide the framework for answering these questions:
1. Learning is continuous. Learning happens everywhere, all the time. We learn independently and from others.
2. People learn differently. We may all use some common tools, but we use them differently and in varying amounts.
3. Learning is a process, a desired result of which is to be able to do something with what we learn.
4. Learning is more about providing access to information than delivering content.
While these principles form the foundation for creating a learning culture, there is a huge hurdle to overcome: finding the needle in the haystack of the massive amount of information available online. The Internet made the world our library. There's so much information at our fingertips we often don't know where to look for what we need, and then determine what's most important to hold onto. An oxymoron to say the least. Knowledge workers need the tools and a convenient way to sift through massive amounts of information, pinpoint what's most pertinent, and then organize their content so they keep found things found. Facilitating this type of find-and-manage system will drive their ability to control their own learning because they will be able to access the right information at the right time.
According to the "2008 Workplace Productivity Survey" commissioned by LexisNexis, information overload is pushing workers to the brink and cutting into workplace productivity. The survey, which polled 650 employees in a variety of industries, reveals 68 percent of professionals wish they could spend less time organizing information and more time using it. Workers admit not being able to lay their hands on the right information at the right time impedes their ability to work efficiently, as another 85 percent of respondents say not finding the right information at the right time is a significant time waster. And 62 percent say they spend too much time sifting through useless information.
It's for reasons such as these Mirror Image Internet recently implemented Eluma 2.0 to help employees create their own personal learning environments. "We realized searching for and discovering information is only half of the equation. Because if you can't find the found information when you subsequently need to use it, the value of the information is lost," says CFO Bob Andrews. "We are all individual learners and thinkers. The way I create and manage my information is unique to my needs and wants, as is the way you organize yours. What's most important is that I can easily find what I need, and then use it or share it. We're now applying this concept to workplace learning. Helping employees organize their Web content in a way that works best for them makes it easier for them to use and share the information, and improves productivity and efficiencies."
Whether at work or at home, Mirror Image employees can collect content from their hard drive and Internet links, and organize it in a personal style that works best for them, using folders and subfolders, tagging with keywords, flagging for follow up, or setting RSS feeds to send desktop alerts when new items are published.
We also know in today's workplace, learning and sharing go hand in hand. Especially for younger workers who grew up in a digital world, sharing information is expected and respected. Have a question? Not sure how to approach a new project? The first thing employees often do is ask peers and co-workers for help. Applying such a system to information management makes it easy for employees to share individual items or entire collections of content with co-workers, teams, or the whole organization. Collaboration is enhanced as co-workers add their comments, ratings, and suggestions to the material.
As the definition of training has evolved, so too have the tools organizations have at their fingertips to facilitate this evolution. Apple's iTunes changed the way millions of people organize their collections of music, photos, and videos. All of your data is at your fingertips. No more searching through endless lists of songs to find the one you want to listen to. Now we can take that same philosophy and apply it to enhancing workplace learning. By making it easier to find and access content, employees can better manage their often-growing pool of information. And then put what they've learned to work.
Richard Buck is the Chief Executive Officer of Eluma. Located in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, Eluma builds software that combines personal Web organization and productivity tools with tools to help users discover and share the best of the Web. For more information, visit www.eluma.com.
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