I admit it. I’m a closet horoscope reader. My friend DA has a great theory about horoscopes. If you read them at the beginning of the day, they can influence the outcome of the rest of your day by colouring your perspective and approach to the things that you do. She admits to reading them, but waits until the end of the day when any damage can be mitigated by quickly heading off to sleep.

She’s got a good point, but since I have my horoscope blaring across my My Yahoo! pages, it’s hard for me to make it through the day without checking it out at least once.

I’m pleasantly surprised by today’s horoscope, which I think really reflects how I’ve been feeling the past few days (granted, it might have been better suited to my position earlier in the week):

“It’s not just your retirement portfolio that should be diversified — think about your life portfolio. Instead of doing what’s comfortable and safe, think about what scares you just a little bit. Then tackle it.”

See, I’ve been desperate to blog about training, learning, elearning and distance education issues. I’d put off doing it for so long because I wasn’t sure I had any right to start ranting and raving about any of these topics. I’m so new to the field of adult education that my shoes still squeak. I’m devouring everything I can on the subject and continually working to improve my own understanding through course work, research and dialog. However, I never really felt certain that I should blog about any of these subjects. What if someone laughed my opinions off the face of the planet? What if I’ve completely misunderstood the point and have done nothing more than display my ignorance?

Blogging about the military, travel, and life in general is pretty safe. After all, descriptions of your experiences globetrotting or the colour you want to paint your office aren’t likely to be challenged. Blogging about learning is a whole other kettle of fish. The prospect terrified me.

Despite my fear earlier this week I began blogging about the things that fascinate me, the things I’m passionate about – learning, analysis, design and performance. I’ve jumped in and discovered that I do have something to offer. In the end, it wasn’t so terrifying after all.

Thanks so much to Harold Jarche and Tony Kerrer who didn’t laugh when they read my post but instead offered more insightful questions for me to chew on over the next few days.

Technorati Tags: learning, blogging topics, fear, horoscopes

Tony Karrer and Harold Jarche have been participating in a cross blog dialog on informal learning. Of course, I was fascinated immediately by Harold’s points relating to Human Performance Technology (HPT) and it’s foundation on training needs analysis. He – far more eloquently than I could ever dream of doing – summed up the basis of my mini-rant yesterday regarding the desperate need to ensure that training is the right fit for the issue to be resolved.

In HPT, one of the main areas of focus is the analysis; to determine what the performance gaps are. I was told by an experienced practitioner in the field that only 15% of organisational performance problems can be addressed by training. This is based on about 50 years of research and on the premise that Instruction & Training can only address a lack of skills or knowledge.

With my heart a-flutter I read on, only to see the following:

Of particular interest to me is Item 7, because the Internet has changed the balance of power and control in many organisations. With the Internet, and now with cheap and easy ways to connect people (Web 2.0), we have more possibilities for non-instructional performance interventions. Each of these addresses a different performance need, so there is no single methodology for informal learning.

I’m sold, hook line and sinker. Except…

Aside from Job Aids and Knowledge Management systems – which could be argued is just another form of Just-in-time (JIT) learning – I haven’t really seen a lot of the other items on the list work in a corporate environment. Perhaps it’s my naivete when it comes to training, or my lack of experience in multiple corporations, but I rarely see a lot of the other items on the non-instructional performance interventions list functioning as “designed” in the real world. By designed, of course I don’t mean that someone planned them out. After all if complete analysis and planning were involved, wouldn’t that make the intervention formal on some level? There would have had to have been a problem (or at least an anticipated one), analysis to determine the best options for solutions, plans for interventions and eventually the roll out of the intervention.

Harold’s end comments also struck me as being possibly as naive as I am. With the ways that companies are locking down Internet access and using programs such as Surfcontrol to ensure that access to many of the communities Harold describes (Wiki’s, blogs, etc.) are denied to their employees, I don’t think that informal learning is at the stage where we can assume the option is available and pursued by all learners. That’s not to mention the digital divide that exists in many homes and communities on a Global scale. Sure, the information may be out there, but if learners can’t access it, it’s not going to be an effective block on which to build any foundation for performance improvement and learning.

Many of Harold’s strategies for informal learning seem to me to be simply elements of self-directed learning. So, is informal learning just the new buzz word for describing what was once known as self-directed learning? I, struck by whatever reason suits my fancy – overabundance of curiosity, desperate need to know, project due tomorrow, found a new buzz word I’m not familiar with, etc. – crawl through the Internet searching websites, papers, blogs and wiki’s in order to learn as much as I can about a topic in order to help me develop a new vision, connect new material to old and form new pathways of understanding. I’m controlling my own learning and it’s driven by my own motivations. The classic definition of self-directed learning as I undestand the term. While I can hardly argue that it’s informal, to date these experiences have never been fostered by my employer.

If informal learning is just self-directed learning dressed up in a new costume then how do things such as Job Aids, which have always been firmly on the side of ISD in my opinion, fit into this category?

Oh my, I think I’m more confused now than I was when I started considering this topic.

h/t to Stephen’s Web for featuring Tony’s response in his OL Daily newsletter and starting the cogs spinning in my little brain.

Technorati Tags: informal learning, self-directed learning

I was disheartened when I read the following on Yahoo! News this morning.

“Regional bulletins that the 7.7-magnitude undersea earthquake was strong enough to create a killer wave did not reach the victims, because Indonesia’s main island has no tsunami warning system…Indonesia has installed a warning system across much of Sumatra island but not on Java. It has been planning to extend it there by 2007.”

Quote Source: Death toll in Indonesia tsunami at 86 – Yahoo! News
Map Source: Maps courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps used with permission.

What’s the point of having a regional bulletin if the information is never going to reach the people who most need to hear it? Is it not possible to arrange to spend any of the collected donations from the previous tsunami in the area (December 2004) to speed up the implementation of such a system?

I’ll admit, I’m the first one to not know much about these systems. I know the province of BC has one, but the meat and bones of it are well above my head.

I’m full of questions today.

As for all those who’ve sent me IM’s and emails asking if I was affected by the tsunami, thanks for your concern. I’d like to reassure you that I was no where in the region where it occured.

Technorati Tags: tsunami, indonesia, no warning system

I read a lot of blogs, papers, and participate in a lot of on-line groups that focus on Instructional Design, Training, and eLearning. A while back, someone posted a question that has rolled around in every training and education professional’s head at one point or another.

Management Concern: “What if we train them and they leave?”

ID Question: “What if we don’t and they stay?”

It’s a question that needs to be addressed at every level. There appears to be a wealth of research to back up the connection between happy and productive employees and high levels of training within an oganization. Sandra Yates and Snowden McFall both highlight the importance of well planned training for employees while the Leadership Advantage site refers to a 1999 Gallup poll which stresses that investment in training can be a useful tool in retaining talented employees.

Opposite side of the coin
I have found that in a corporate environment, the concept of training is frequently thrown out as the “be all and end all” to solve any production or performance issues. Quite often, the problem to be solved has never really been analized and no one has stood back to ask what they believe training will resolve. It’s been my experience of late that so many people aren’t taking the necessary time to investigate why the issue (whatever it is) is occuring in the first place. Sure, in a perfect world (or even an academic environment), everyone is completing a basic training needs analysis before starting down that road…but many of us who work in a corporate training environment have realized that those making the decision to employ training as the “answer” are from departments outside of training and often hold the purse strings.

If you do a google search for the phrase “what if we train them and they leave” you’ll find a wealth of articles containing this phrase. The other thing you’ll notice is that many of these articles center on ways to get better bang for your buck when it comes to training. Suggestions include eLearning, mentoring, on-the-job (OJT) training, just-in-time (JIT) training, on-line knowledgebases, and apprenticeships. Not that I’m saying that there’s anything wrong with any of these suggestions, but in many of the articles, there’s an underlying assumption that someone somewhere has thoroughly reviewed the performance data, current situation, and determined that training is the only solution that fits.

I’m finding more and more in the projects I’m asked to work on that this just isn’t the case. Training isn’t a magic wand that can resolve all performance issues. For example, training won’t improve performance of your employees if you have a high attrition rate due to a tyranical supervisor. It won’t change production numbers if the equipment is antiquated, continually broken, or the timelines assigned to a task are significantly underestimated. Spending money on training front line employees to resolve either of the above two issues could result in a complete waste of time, money and resources. When the problem continues, as often occurs in these situations, it can directly affect the perception and reputation of the members of the training department in a negative fashion.

Despite this many managers are eager to jump into the training cycle without spending anytime in preliminary analysis. While business are often dynamic and the pace of change is ever increasing, sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back and let those whose skills lie in training analysis, such as your trust Instructional Designer or Performance Consultant, have the time to dig to the root of the issue and make a determination whether or not training is really necessary.

Let’s not get me started on the issue of sacrificing good design for quick turn around and dollars saved. Badly designed training is equally responsible for decreasing the reputation of training professionals and not producing advertised results! That’s a rant for a completely different day…

Technorati Tags: training, needs analysis, instructional design, ROI

It’s with heavy heart that I learned of the passing of two injured RCMP officers in Spiritwood, SASK today. By all accounts they were amazingly generous people who served their community well.