Yael Even-Levy, PhD is a manager of Instructional Design & Technologies at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and a senior judge at Brandon Hall Research Excellence in Learning Awards. Her 15+ years of experience in learning, development, and performance encompass multiple industries and disciplines. Yael’s expertise extends beyond the traditional instructional strategies and processes. She has a passion for cutting-edge learning technologies and innovative delivery that targets multi-cultural and multi-generational workforce, including Web 2.0 social media tools, mLearning (Mobile Learning), Immersive Learning Simulations (ILS) – aka Serious Games, and Virtual Worlds (Web 3D). She can be reached via LinkedIn.
Q. Yael, you’ve probably seen this situation before: a key employee leaves and takes her knowledge with her, which threatens the livelihood of several projects. Some say that knowledge management and collaborative learning can solve this problem. Thoughts?
Encouraging, supporting and widely promoting employee knowledge sharing are the first steps in moving forward towards capturing best practices and knowledge that can benefit others in the organization. However, despite all best intention these steps may not necessarily guarantee a successful flow of contribution to a knowledge repository behind the organization’s firewall.
Knowledge transfer via a web-based knowledge-sharing system requires careful planning and is only successful if employees are actually using the system. Employees may be reluctant to post or search the system for solutions for a variety of reasons. Regardless of their level of experience with social networking sites, many employees refrain from posting. Even some experienced employees who share their thoughts with others via blogs, twitter, and other public social media sites, are reluctant to share their knowledge at their employer’s sites.
Organizations that face this dilemma could benefit from reviewing their guidelines and the system’s ease-of-use. When guidelines on what can or cannot be posted are too strict, and when the system is too difficult to use, employees get discouraged from participating and contributing. Consider also employees’ workload. Are you allowing them to share their knowledge into your system in addition to a heavy workload?
Additional recommendations are for communicating and constantly promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing that will improve job performance and professional development. Motivating the workforce to share their knowledge with their peers via the use of technology can be a challenge to organizations but it is worthwhile. Organizations need to communicate clearly to their employees what the expectations are and what the benefits will be. Providing incentives helps keep employees interested and leads to improved participation.
Q. Sounds like corporate trainers need to be aware of the challenges they may face. What do some successful collaborative learning solutions look like?
My best learning experiences are without a doubt in the 3D space. Learning 3D is very innovative and is catching on especially with large organizations. This type of immersive learning is very exciting and engaging, and is accessible via virtual worlds such as Second Life, OpenSimulator, and Forterra’s OLIVE.
There are many 3D environments available today, so Second Life is not your only option. It’s so happens that this is the digital place I visit most. Learning professionals will find that there is so much to do, from teaching or attending workshops, networking and collaborating, to going on learning field trips.
Q. Do you have any tips for those who are already involved in Second Life?
I especially recommend visiting ASTD Island and Education Island, attending the weekly meetings at Train for Success by the Gronstedt Group, and attending conferences by World2Worlds. You’ll find additional recommendations on this page: http://msnlog.com/sl.html.
From the moment you enter Second Life—I mean, from the moment your digital avatar enters Second Life—you’ll discover a fast-growing digital world filled with people, entertainment, experiences, learning and business opportunities. No wonder so many organizations, universities and school systems around the world use the Second Life Grid™ for recruiting, on-boarding training, and as a part of their educational programs.
Q. The peer-to-peer learning happening on Second Life reminds me of the learning that happens in online learning communities. Thoughts on using online learning communities as a solution for knowledge-related problems?
As more organizations embrace eLearning 2.0 and 3-D strategies and move beyond formal instructor-led training and traditional models of professional development, they shift their emphasis towards informal learning experiences, on-the-job support solutions, and ongoing performance coaching and mentoring to remain competitive in a global market.
An “online learning community” as a solution, supports this shift by providing a web-based suite of tools that are designed to support instructional coaches, and also support on-boarding, mentoring, and other customized learning objectives based on need. This engaging type of Learning Management System provides interactive libraries of instructional strategies and multimedia resources, and some form of social networking that supports and facilitates collaborative online discussions among groups of people, known as “a community of practice.” These groups consist of members with similar or shared professional responsibilities and mutual interests, are often located in dispersed geographical locations, or even different organizations, and are most likely to benefit from such online systems for their own professional development and in turn make contributions to the overall goals of their organization.
Q. With all these different technologies that you’ve described now dotting the learning landscape, what should learning professionals focus on to stay ahead of the curve?
Some of the most complex challenges facing organizations in the 21st century are hiring, training, and retaining an increasingly diverse workplace. So when recruiting, interviewing and training new employees, human resources and training & development professionals alike are encouraged to become more aware and more sensitive to cultural and generational differences.
My specific recommendation to learning professional is to gain an in-depth understanding of their learners’ values and attitudes and offer more targeted learning solutions that also promote networking and collaboration. By “targeted learning solutions” I mean design learning solutions that accommodate learning needs and nurture intellectual capital by targeting job type, role, and demographics. Above all measure results whenever possible and watch the bottom line.
Q. Thanks so much for your insights, Yael. To wrap up, could you recommend some resources that you trust for corporate training tips and industry news?
As a member of both the eLearning Guild and ASTD, I find their articles and resources extremely useful. There are also several practical invaluable guides that I recommend for anyone in human resources and training & development:
- Cultural Orientations Guide: The Roadmap to Cultural Competence by the cultural anthropologist Joerg Schmitz will benefit professionals in global organizations who need to build their cultural competence, understand the impact of culture, and be able to negotiate successfully with other professionals from different background.
- Linking Learning and Performance: A Practical Guide to Measuring Learning and On-the-Job Application by the president of the ROI Network Toni K. Hodges. This volume provides valid and reliable techniques and useful examples and templates. It guides new and experienced learning professionals on how to successfully measure learning programs and on the job performance, and then report business results.
- The Complete Guide to Simulations & Serious Games by the simulation expert Clark Aldrich will benefit new and experienced learning professionals who are interested in gaining a better understanding of the topic and design non-linear, interactive and engaging Immersive Learning Simulations (ILS) aka Serious Games.
I would also like to bring to your attention the forthcoming book by Dr. Patrick Felicia (Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland) titled, Handbook of Research on Improving Learning and Motivation through Educational Games: Multidisciplinary Approaches. This volume will be valuable to learning professionals, scholars, and other readers who are interested in design patterns, instructional design, intelligent tutoring systems, affective learning, theories of motivation in video games, adaptive systems, mobile gaming, and Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs).
Tags: Collaborative Learning, corporate training, instructional design, knowledge management, learning communities