eel-learning

Catechism of cliche (1)

(With apologies to the spirit of Flann O’Brien)

How will your new rapid authoring product have me producing courses?

Quickly

And in addition to that?

Easily

That is certainly an agreeable vision. Anything else?

Affordably

What kind of quality content will I find myself producing?

High

With what frequency will I achieve this?

Every time

What epithet usually applied to female film stars will be awarded to this content?

Stunning

What section of my workforce will produce this content?

Those with no technical knowledge or skills

What other group, presumably not to be confused with this group?

Subject matter experts

How will you draw these results from such unlikely candidates?

By empowering them

What is the aerodynamic quality of the systems that will empower them?

Streamlined

Will they need to marshall knowledge and training to master these systems?

No, they are intuitive

What unit of ascension will this bring about in the capability of my team?

A step change.

And if this is unambitious?

A quantum leap

What are we guaranteed to see within months or even weeks?

Results

What shall we do with these results?

Deliver them

Upon what horizontal geometrical construct will these results have an impact?

The bottom line

Thank you. That will be all.

A virtual conversation overheard

This is by Gary Platt. It's funny and makes a good argument, but do you think the robot voice helps or hinders the case? Do you listen despite it, because you like the dialogue, or does it make you want to switch off?I've played with this Xtranormal software and while I really like it I can't see it being taken seriously in the workplace. Or maybe I'm underestimating our corporate culture.

The Rehabilitation of Nellie

Curious. When I made my first steps into Computer Based Training, we learned to parrot the benefits. One was ‘no more learning by sitting next to Nellie’ – misinformation would no longer passed on informally , there would be a standardised, approved version of the truth promulgated to everyone. ‘Nellie-learning’ was cited again and again as a Bad Thing.

If there was an unseen presence hovering throughout last week’s Learning Technologies 2010 conference it was Nellie. Informal learning means Nellie can pass on her tips, her wisdom and her experience; Nellies can be found Just In Time across the enterprise; Nellie can even create learning material specific to whatever audience she wishes to address – no corporate standardisation.

I guess the big differences are that in a good social learning scheme Nellie may not be right next to you in the office – she may be in Hong Kong, and, for compliance and audit purposes, every word she says carries ‘Nellie said this’ on it somewhere!