Considering 70:20:10 in a Curriculum Framework

Over the last few months, we have hired several Curriculum Managers in my company to focus on curating learning content for key topics that have been identified as being closely aligned with learning needs in our business.  This new group of learning professionals provides us with awesome capabilities. If they help us to use available information strategically, it will truly enable us to drive growth.   Right now, they are engaged in hammering out our curriculum framework and I am advising them on governance issues.

One of the key things I want them to consider is the 70:20:10 learning model based on research from the Center for Creative Leadership. It states that the breakdown of how we actually learn to do our jobs effectively is as follows:  about 70% from on-the-job experiences, tasks, and problem solving; about 20% from conversations and feedback from people we work with; and about 10% from formal learning sources such as ILT or e-learning courses.  The concept is stated very clearly in this brief video clip from Internet Time Alliance member, Charles Jennings:



As the Curriculum Managers work together to develop our framework, I am asking them to consider how to structure our offerings so a motivated learner will have appropriate choices.  Learners must be able to pull learning to get what they need, rather than have us prescribe and push "courses" out to them.   We have the tools and technology to allow our learners to connect to experts and peers, to join communities of practice  - or to create their own.  We need to help them gain the right experiences for their development, not just train and test them as we may have done in the past.

Extending Learning through Yammer

Take a look at the two machine parts in this picture.  They are Vacuum Deck Blower Motors.  When presented next to each other side by side, it is pretty easy to see that they are not the same.  The one on the left is slightly taller.  If you were to go inside the housing you would see that they have different constructions and different controllers.  That is because they are made for different machines and they are not interchangeable.  But if you didn’t have them standing right next to each other, you might easily mistake one for the other and place the wrong one in the wrong machine during maintenance or while making repairs.  Some of our service representatives have made that mistake.

Of course, when they go through training they are instructed on the differences in usage and labeling so they can recognize and install the right part into the right machine.   Fortunately our equipment is pretty reliable which means there might be a long interval between the time service reps receive this training and the time they might actually have to make this repair.   It is easy to see how they might forget what they’ve learned and install the wrong part.

That is one of the frustrations expressed by the Technical Training Instructor who leads the class in which this is covered.   He is an excellent instructor.  He covers everything the reps need to know, gives them a chance to practice doing it, and provides appropriate feedback before sending them out into the field.  He had been doing this for years and hoping for the best, until he discovered Yammer.   Now he extends the learning beyond the classroom by sharing tips and tricks that the service reps can easily access off of their laptops or mobile devices at the point of need.   The picture of the vacuum deck blowers is actually part of a job aid he attached to a post in the Yammer group he recently created.  In the short time since this group has been up and running, he has been able to share pictures, videos, and job aids -  and generally give the service reps the benefit of his expertise at the point of need.  At the same time, he is learning from them.  He is learning about the challenges and the most common problems they face in the field.  This information allows him to incrementally improve his classroom training approach and materials.

Thoughts on ASTD ICE 2012 (#ASTD2012)

This week I attended ASTD’s International Conference andExpo (ICE) at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO.  It has been three or four years since I last attended ICE (it was in Atlanta that year).   It is such a big event; it is just too overwhelming to attend every year.  But I find it valuable to go every couple of years.   The snapshots over time give you a better sense of what is really progressing and changing in the learning industry.

Here are some random thoughts and reactions that stuck with me from this year’s conference:

The Learning & Development profession is strong and growing – there were about 10,000 attendees at this year’s conference.  The Wells Fargo Theater started filling up well before ASTD President Tony Bingham took to the stage to welcome everyone, and they were still coming in while Jim Collins was delivering his excellent and inspiring keynote presentation.

The Learning & Development profession is becoming well…more professional – I spoke to many people who had or were completing advanced degrees in Adult Education, Instructional Systems or the like.  Many academic institutions were represented at the expo enticing conference attendees to explore their programs. There was also a good showing of people who have obtained the relatively new CPLP credential.

This conference is international with a capital “I” – my guesstimate is that about 20% of the attendees were from outside the US.  Kudos to ASTD for setting up the “Global Village” networking room which was often packed during the session breaks.

Everyone’s conference experience is unique – with somewhere between 350-400 sessions to choose from, everyone has the ability to create their own conference-within-a-conference based on their own needs and interests.  I spent most of my time in sessions about mobile and social learning.

Technology rules – there was a notable difference in technology usage from my last conference experience in Atlanta.  Everyone had mobile devices, many people tablets, and ASTD provided a great app for the event that allowed you plan your day, read speaker’s bios, grab presentation materials, complete evaluations, take notes, and follow the twitter stream (#ASTD2012).

Networking rules – it was great to meet some of my twitter connections in person for the first time.  It was also create connecting with fellow members of the ASTD Forum, and to meet and make new contacts.

Since this is my blog, here are some “Mike Awards” that I’d like to bestow related to the conference:

Most practical session award – Jane Bozarth (@JaneBozarth):  Social Media for Trainers.  Jane did a great job covering many ways to easily incorporate social media tools in training.

Sleeper session award – Joe Saturnino:  Implementing Mobile Learning Applications.   I didn’t know Joe or what to expect going into this session so I was pleasantly surprised. He went through the what, why and how of mobile learning and provided great ideas on things that are easily doable.

The best session I did not attend award – Allison Rossett (@arossett) and Frank Nguyen: The Yin and Yang of Informal and Formal Learning.   I had the opportunity to read the cases and try out their evaluation tool prior to this session so I did not attend, but I know it was a good one.  Allison is always informative and entertaining.

Most amazing content sharing award – David Kelly (@LnDDave): for curating and creating this treasure trove of conference resources.

The oddest surprise award – goes to the Colorado Convention Center escalator that goes to and from the expo floor.  It laughs at you while you ride it.  No, really.

A Pallette of Places for Learning

This week I had an opportunity to attend the ASTD Forum Spring Lab, hosted by Steelcase Inc. in their Steelcase University training facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As a new member of the Forum, this was my first time attending a face-to-face event. It was great to meet and network with other learning leaders in such a concentrated way. We were together for a few days with very little to distract us. So the conversation was lively, engaging and productive.

But today, I want to talk about the experience of being at Steelcase University. Steelcase is in the office furniture and office space design business. I was expecting to see some exciting new designs from Steelcase, and they did not disappoint. Like many companies of today, Steelcase has been transforming their business model. They have moved from being a traditional manufacturing company, to one that is insight driven, focusing on innovation to improve the customer experience. They are much more about “design” than they are about “build.” This was apparent when the Steelcase learning team took us on a tour of the facility. We were able to see evidence of some of the insights they had gained about designing work environments that were conducive to learning. They shared some of those insights with us as we strolled through the building marveling at the interesting places and spaces they created for people to use as they move about their day.

Here is how they expressed some of those insights:

Democratic Access – many of the Steelcase workspaces were designed to promote a sense of inclusion and community. This was evident in spaces that had no particular front or back, no “seat of power” and in which everyone had easy access to tools such as whiteboards, and monitors for projecting and sharing information.

Flexible Spaces – much of their furniture design is modular, foldable, storable and scaleable. The training room that we were in the first day, miraculously doubled in size the second day. The room did not look or feel make-shift in any way on either day.

Generative Spaces – Steelcase recognizes that people gather for different types of work and meetings. They have many spaces designed specifically for idea generation. These spaces are characterized by having long white-boarded walls, table heights for standing and thinking, and reduced barriers so people can move about freely and see everything that is going on from any position in the room.

Before, During and After Spaces – at every turn there we ad-hoc spaces that gave people the ability to gather in small groups for break-outs or intimate conversation. There were also places to easily plug in a laptop for quick email checks and the like.

Informal Learning – in general all of the designs were sensitive to the fact that we learn while work and we work while we learn. There were a variety of rooms, alcoves, and open work spaces that were comfortable, inviting and often casual looking, providing an environment that encourages thinking, idea sharing and collaborative work.

Steelcase is ready to help us say goodbye to the outdated work setting made up of offices, cubicles, and conference rooms.

Praying for the Right Answers

A few months ago, the Catholic Church decided to make text changes in some of the hymns, prayers and responses in the Sunday Mass. Apparently the intention of these changes is to have the English translation of the Mass more accurately reflect the Latin from which the Roman Missal was translated.

Now as a life-long Catholic, I am pretty much on autopilot when it comes to delivering my responses during the Liturgies of the Mass. The new word changes just don’t feel normal or natural, so it will probably take the second half of my life to commit them all to memory.

As I was looking around in church today, I could see that my fellow parishioners are pretty much in the same boat. Many of the devoted have been at this much longer than I have, so I can imagine the challenge of breaking away from the old habitual responses and replacing them with new phrases is even tougher for them.

Of course, the Church has updated the prayers and responses in the Monthly Missalettes that are scattered about the pews, but that alone is not enough to help people through this change. To provide additional support, the Church has created a double-sided laminated card that you can pick up and quickly scan when you find yourself getting tongue-tied or out-of-synch with the rest of the congregation during those moments when your voices should be joined together harmoniously.

Today, it was obvious our parishioners are relying more heavily on this card than the Missalette. As a workplace learning professional, this just reinforced for me the importance of helping the employees in my company to get simple answers to work issues into their hands when they need them. For quick answers, a good job aid beats a good manual any day. Similarly, using instant messenger or other social media tools to quickly connect with subject matter experts at the point of need, beats sitting through a formal class that is disconnected in time and space from the moment real answers are needed.

The bottom line is that we in the workplace learning industry need to continue to capitalize on the social media tools and technology that allow us to imbed learning into the workstream so that our workers are getting the right answers when they need them and we are all singing from the same hymnal.

Social Media Star Contest

"I'm a Social Media Star."  

Well, I'm a nominee at least.  Trivanits, the people who bring us wonderful elearning tools such as Lectora Inspire and Snap! are sponsoring a Social Media Star contest running now through February 15.

I have been a fan of their tools and a Lectora user since 2002.  Last May, I attended their annual user conference where they unveiled the newest addition to their line: Snap! by Lectora.   I had a great time and did a lot of backchannel tweeting while at the conference. Afterwards, I wrote this blog entry about it.   I guess that was enough to get me nominated.

Check out the contest here.  Vote for your favorite learning professional from among the nominees - or vote for me!  I'm a star!

Three Angles of Approach for Instructional Design Reviews

In a world where most e-learning development is rapid e-learning development, one of the design process elements that could be easily overlooked is the design review. Instructional Designers and Course Developers who are challenged with getting new modules out the door as quickly as possible to meet a business need may be tempted to skip design reviews as they try to crunch their project timelines down by a few days. But this is a risky proposition. Experience shows that the chances the developer got everything right the first time are slim to none. Skipping design reviews might seem like a great way to save time, but pushing modules out without them may diminish learning and create rework.

Design reviews don’t have to cause project delays if they are planned properly. Anyone who is working to develop a course against a tight deadline will have a pretty good handle on what is going to be done by when. The key is to use this information to schedule design reviews as early on as possible. This will lock in the reviewers and also create additional incentives to keep the project on track. Don’t worry about unforeseen circumstances that might jeopardize readiness by the review date. Put a stake in the ground! The worst that could happen is that the review meetings will need to be postponed and rescheduled.

The bigger issue is: who needs to be involved in the design reviews? Ideally, as few people as possible but reviewers have to be able to cover all the necessary angles. There are three key ones to consider:

Content – Subject matter experts should weigh in on whether or not the content covered in the module is accurate. Since most instructional designers will work with subject matter experts while developing a course, this should be the easiest reviewer to secure.

Learners - Even if the content is accurate, it may not necessarily be relevant. A learning partner who is familiar with the target audience can help by answering questions such as: Is there content missing that the audience might need? Is there content included that could be dropped? Is the module coming across in a way that is clear and motivating to the target audience? Getting questions like these answered during the review process will help pilot tests go more smoothly.

Learning – There is more to learning than just communicating content. The module has to be instructionally sound. A peer review by another instructional designer will ensure the objectives are being met and the learning activities lead to intended outcomes.

And of course, any additional set of eyes is helpful for catching errors, typos or technical glitches.