The Truth in eLearning

A colleague of mine, Peter Cervieri of ScribeStudio, recently asked me to write a review/recap of his company's premiere webTV episode of "The Truth in eLearning". It was a great honor and opportunity to see what other experts in the field have to say about eLearning, and see if I agree or disagree with their perspectives! Read on for my full review:

http://blog.scribestudio.com/articles/2006/07/31/the-truth-about-e-learning-roi

Trainers and Professional Development

Thanks to Tony Karrer for this posting on his blog:

eLearning Technology: Pew Survey on Blogging - Training Professionals Far Behind

Given my post on July 20 (Women Rock the Blogs), it's unfortunate that more female training professionals are not active in the blog world. It makes me wonder if this is due to training professionals not having enough time to increase their personal learning, or just overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information out there? Are they spending more time developing materials for others, or developing themselves?

Christopher Sessums recently commented on this topic in his blog. He also quotes Courtney Shannon, a teacher using a blog for her World History class. In reference to the use of blogs for professional development of teachers, Ms. Shannon says, "Blogs can offer an open forum with teachers near and far to discuss lesson plans, share classroom management ideas, ideas for summer reading lists, strategies to deal with the stresses of the world of teaching, rubric ideas, and to discuss "hot topics" in education, leadership, and policy."

If teachers have the time available to reach out and grab the technology that is readily (and freely) available, I believe the teaching world will continue to grow smaller as the ideas get bigger.

A new survey of teachers and their use of technology suggests there is a clear correlation between hours spent in professional development, classroom integration of technology, and improved student performance.

Technology use by teachers continues to rise, the survey indicates; three out of five teachers said their tech skills were at least "somewhat advanced," four of five think it engages students, and two in three believe it can improve performance.

Professional development in the use of technology also is on the rise, according to the survey--though one in five teachers still receives no such training.

According to Tim Sanders, in his book, "Love is the Killer App," the average manager reads 0.7 (business related) books every 5 years, and the average Fortune 500 CEO reads 12 books a year. What and how much are the training professionals reading? I'd like to find out what you are reading - post your comments and let me know!

Assessing E-Learning Effectiveness in Corporate Environment

Dave Boggs of Syberworks posted a link to a great primer on measurement of the effectiveness of e-learning in corporations. I've had similar discussions with quite a few people over the past few years, especially as this is one area I focus on in my consulting. Without true measurement of effectiveness, how can training departments truly justify their existence? If they cannot demonstrate how courses delivered contribute to the organization's bottom line, budgets are likely cut when times get tough...

Corporate managers are constantly looking for more cost-effective ways to deliver training to their employees. E-learning is less expensive than traditional classroom instruction. In addition, many expenses – booking training facilities, travel costs for employees or trainers, plus employee time away from the job – are greatly reduced. However, some firms that have spent large amounts of money on new e-learning efforts have not received the desired economic advantages.

In 1999, E-learning was seen as the cure for the training ailments. However, when effectiveness was not measured as a part of the process, and those promised 3000% ROIs didn't materialize, organizations slammed on the brakes and claimed "this stuff doesn't work!"

Measuring e-learning effectiveness is not rocket science, nor is measurement of traditional training - you actually have to do it, do it right, AND be consistent. And when something is no longer effective, change it!

Read the full article by Judith B. Strother of the Florida Institute of Technology to find out more about e-learning measurement.

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Shannon Lear Martin is the President of Austin, Texas based TrainUtopia (www.trainutopia.com) and helps companies improve their organizational performance to meet their business goals. She is also considered an expert in training effectiveness measurement. Shannon publishes a monthly newsletter “Training News You Can Use” http://www.trainutopia.com/news.htm , which is jammed with resources, articles and tips on performance improvement, training and development. She can be reached at smartin@trainutopia.com.

Women Rock the Blogs!

Ok, this has nothing directly related to training (or maybe it does...) but very interesting, regardless!

It turns out that 56% of blogs are created by women, and they don't abandon them as quickly, either! Here's a quote from a recent article in the Boston Globe:

Blogs have helped women to find their voices. Some of them find their voice 15 minutes at a time, which is why Lisa Williams said it's a perfect medium for multitasking parents. Many women talk about how they see their lives as markedly different pre- and post-blog. The biggest benefits -- relationships, community -- can't be quantified.

Having been a latecomer to the "blogosphere," I can readily agree with that! When you read someone's thoughts and opinions day after day, you feel like you know that person. This creates a real sense of community. Bloggers also provide links, credit and feedback as they write, which allows for greater contribution and sharing regardless of industry, geography or sex. Since women validate our lives by the breadth and depth of our relationships, it seems only natural that we would be drawn to a medium that allows that to an infinite degree!

Rock on, Ladies!

Are Leaders Born or Trained?

Is leadership something you are born with or something you learn along the way? According to an Tamim Ansary, people are not born leaders - they must learn to lead.

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Departments/elearning/Default.aspx?article=CanLeadershipBeLearned

There is also something to be said for genetics - some people avoid conflict and are less likely to step into a leadership role. You can't be a leader if you roll over at the first suggestion of disagreement. Leaders have to stick their necks out, and be willing to get their heads chopped off on occasion.

In any case, it's good to hear that U.S. companies see leadership as something worth investing in. First line managers are the most likely to receive leadership (management) training, followed by entry-level employees and mid-level executives.

It makes sense for new managers to receive the first benefit of these (ever-important) training dollars, as they were most likely promoted for their ability to do the job, but have yet to learn how to manage people doing the job.

Now it's your turn - I'd like to find out what YOU think makes a leader.

Click here to complete a quick poll! I promise to share the results!

Trainers Need to Sharpen those Spreadsheets

As I keep telling my clients and prospects, the best way for a training department to justify its existence (and budget) is to prove training's return on investment. While training is often seen as a "touchy feely" sort of operation, more and more organizations are seeing the light on this important business requirement:

http://www.workforce.com/section/11/feature/24/37/85/index.html

Training efforts are being disected for more than just content - are they efficient, are they effective, do they reduce costs, are they aligned with corporate goals? These are just a few tough questions that Chief Learning Officers, HR execs and departmental trainers are facing today.

The answers are critical, and available, if you take the time to gather the data and do the analysis. If you don' t have the time or capability, call me - I'll be glad to help you out, I've got Excel all warmed up...

Training Doesn't Work!

I think most in the working world would agree that it’s normal to use the training department to address skill gaps (among other things). It appears this approach hasn’t been working for many companies, and executives place some of the blame within the HR and training department. (GASP!)

According to the “Accenture High Performance Workforce Study,” only 14% of respondents said the overall skill level of their organizations’ entire workforce is industry-leading. And only 20% of respondents believe that most of their employees understand their companies’ strategy and its road to success.

So whose fault is it? The surveyed executives attributed performance problems in part to the HR and training departments. On average, only 10 percent of respondents reported being very satisfied with the performance of their human resources and training. Fortunately, respondents also took some responsibility for their low satisfaction rates.

The gap between the two could be attributed to a lack of connection to business drivers, failure to measure the business impact of HR and training efforts, ineffective or non-existent knowledge capture and sharing capabilities, and a lack of leader involvement in people issues.

Only 36% of respondents said their companies adjust their HR and training to each function’s needs and contributions to the organization. Meanwhile, more than 40% said they do not evaluate the impact of their HR and training efforts against profitability, and half (50%) do not evaluate those efforts against revenues and sales.

It has become more recognized that companies that fail to develop their workforces risk losing their competitive edge. A key component to making the leap from acknowledgement to implementation is for executive teams to view the HR/Training leader as a strategic business partner - not just the touchy-feeling team building guru!

This survey also demonstrates one of the main reasons to move from training to performance improvement - accountability and measurement of impact. Without measurement of the difference made by a training initiative, there will never be a way to demonstrate the true value of training to the organization. If one kind of training is not adding value to the organization (i.e. profitability), don't do it.

Find out what will add value and do that. Measure and confirm the value. And just like shampoo - repeat!

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Source: CLO Newsletter