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• I’ve been here 10 years and seen the same content each year – I could probably teach it
• I just want the facts – not all the floofy (a technical term) games
• I could read the content in 3 minutes – logging in to the LMS and completing the eLearning takes 20 (too long)

Personal accountability aside, to address this issue, we have expanded our offering to include our traditional interactive version, a PDF based printable text version, and an audio-only (podcast) version (see section screen depicted below). While the amount of time required to build the training has increased – it hasn’t done so dramatically, as we are able to repurpose many of the traditional eLearning assets to create the text and audio based versions.

So far, we’ve gotten a very positive response from this approach – both through comments and in Mandatory Education completions. Our deadline for completion is 5/28/2010 – and so far we are at 57%. I’ll report back with our final stats.

Our plans for the new fiscal year are to move from a traditional Level 2 (mastery test) schema to a Level 3 (application) schema – using our LMS to track our learners’ access of the content – and a sample population to test for application.

Additional Resource: This week’s eLearningTV episode ( http://elearningtv.blogspot.com/2010/05/elearningtv-may-11-2010-lms-learning.html ) addresses the three primary learning styles, and provides some additional suggestions on building and deploying eLearning that addresses the various learning styles prevalent in your organization.

Listed below is product information from Zoomify’s site:

Zoomify Express makes high-quality images fast and easy to view! It’s simple to use, just drag any image onto the Zoomify Converter, then copy the folder it creates to your web site – no special setup is needed. Your site visitors use a tiny Flash movie as the ‘viewer’ – so there’s nothing to download or install. And it’s completely free – no strings!

Features & Benefits

• Drag & drop authoring – works great with all your web design tools

• Totally standard publishing – just JPEGs, HTML, and a tiny Flash movie – no special setup

• Universal access viewing – everyone has Flash – nothing to download or install

• Free for private, public, and commercial use on web sites, CDs, or DVDs

• No royalties or fees – your content is yours – no strings!

Zoomifyer EZ Includes:

• Zoomify Converter: drag-and-drop tool makes any image zoomable – bigger is better!
• Zoomify Viewer: tiny Flash movie (SWF file) with zoom-and-pan buttons and display
• Template web page: example HTML to tell Zoomify Viewer which image to show
• Quick Start guide: easy step-by-step instructions for using everything above!

Perfect For Web Designers Creating Web Sites with High-Quality Image Content!

• Photos
• Scans
• Screenshots
• Galleries
• Maps
• Drawings
• Composites
• Games

Prerequisites:

• Authoring: images need to be converted (’tiled and tiered’) before they can be zoomed and panned
• Publishing: a web site or CD/DVD is needed for sharing the content
• Viewing: Flash Player v9 or later is used for viewing – almost every internet user already has this!
• Licensing: The Zoomify Viewer is freely redistributable on web sites or CDs/DVDs in published (SWF) form. Your content is your own – no royalties, no strings. For detailed information please refer to the Zoomify License Agreement.

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Here’s another template I’ve found to be useful in the Leadership Development vendor selection process.

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• Name of the Opportunity
• Brief Description of the Opportunity
• Brief Description of the Assignment
• Estimated Time Requirements for the Leader
• Core Competencies (that are needed, and can therefore be demonstrated or developed within the work)
• Tie to our Strategic Plan 
• Tie to our Operating Plan

Please note, you can change the drop-downs within each cell from the “DropDowns” tab. If you would like to modify or add more drop-downs, you can find instructions to do so by searching “Create a drop-down list from a range of cells” within Excel’s Help.

While we’ve used action learning and stretch assignments in our leadership development programs in the past, we have never done so to this scale. If you have – please comment on your experiences, best practices and lessons learned. Thanks in advance for your help!

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During the past quarter century, corporate training has gone through several major shifts.

The 1980s and early 1990s were the era of the corporate university. Companies created centralized training functions to develop employee skills in a wide range of professional and leadership areas. The economy was growing, so companies could invest in these learning organizations and support a long-term focus on employee development.

Then came the Internet and a decade of focus on e-learning. Companies purchased complex, employee-facing learning management systems and thousands of online courses. Corporate universities drifted into federated learning organizations with teams scattered around the enterprise.

We are now beginning a third era: the formalization of informal learning.

This shift is a result of a tremendous need to reduce costs, the proliferation of networking and mobile devices, young and always-connected employees and the ability to store and search massive amounts of content easily. Added to this is the investment many companies recently have made in integrated talent management and an emphasis on managing four generations of workers.

In this new era, corporate learning is employee-directed, continuous, person-to-person and requires new tools and technologies. Much of learning is based on informal methods, including on-demand resources, simulations, social learning and embedded learning.

As in the e-learning era, technology plays a big role. Today, approximately 175 million people are on Facebook, and more than 40 million professionals are on LinkedIn. There are more than 1 billion cell phones in the world. Companies commonly use blogs and wikis and portals for quick and easy access to resources.

While learning and development executives still are responsible for building high-powered professional, technical and leadership programs, they’re also now the stewards and architects of a vast range of informal learning tools and resources.

Formal training still is appropriate for portions of some learning programs, but informal training is becoming much more predominant. Besides being more cost and time efficient, informal learning also supports how most learning takes place. Corporate managers estimate that approximately 20 percent of job-related learning occurs through formal, traditional training, while 80 percent occurs informally or on the job.

If we are to stay relevant, learning professionals must formally consider informal learning when doing strategic planning. Rather than being an afterthought or addendum, informal learning should be near the top of the planning process.

Consider a high-powered new sales training program Bersin & Associates evaluated for one of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies. The program includes technical education, performance support, a series of communities of practice and a heavy focus on management coaching. These learning approaches come together to form an integrated, high-performance sales development program designed to bring formal, informal and self-directed learning together.

Bersin & Associates recently published the Enterprise Learning Framework, a graphical view of what the modern training organization looks like in light of the big shift to informal learning. The chart shows the six learning areas on which learning organizations should focus:

1. Programs.
2. Audiences and problems.
3. Approaches.
4. Disciplines.
5. Technology.
6. Culture.

These areas aren’t new, but we do need to think about them differently in the era of formal informal learning. As you formalize informal learning, you must think about these areas as an integrated whole and consider each when doing program planning.

If it all sounds a little overwhelming, particularly in these difficult economic times, take heart. Formalizing informal learning can be achieved without spending a lot of money. If we think like architects and bring together the elements of learning we already know, we can lead this new wave of corporate training and help our organizations become more competitive than ever.

Research clearly shows that enduring organizations have built a strong set of formal and informal learning processes, all supported by many elements of a learning culture. As leaders of corporate training, we must go beyond the classroom and e-learning catalog and embrace this new era.