From that webinar I created these series of blog posts.

So, why use social learning?

• Why #1 - Focusing on People: Barcamp (Part 2)
• Why #1: Focusing on People (Part 1)
• Why #2 - Personalizing Learning
• Why #3 - Discovering Experts
• Why #4: Distributing Ownership
• Why #5: Adapting to a New Learning Structure
• Why #6: Liberating Knowledge
• Why #7: Choosing When To Learn
• Why #8: Roam & Learn
• Why #9: Complements Learning
• Why #10: Finds Information
• Why #11: Creates Accountability

1. My first car was a yellow, Levi edition AMC Gremlin that my dad bought for $350.  Boy was I the talk of the town.  Yah, baby!
2. There are so many things in life that I want to do that I will NEVER be able to do them all (like learn all about string theory & light, compose and arrange music, participate in an Iron Man, be a skillful woodworker…).  It makes me cry.  YET, those important things (like my family) will give me the most satisfaction.
3. Wonder Woman is my wife.  I know all you guys are all jealous - too bad.  She deftly manages me (the most challenging), our 7 kidlets, homeschooling them all, responsibilities at church, our home, a new puppy, teaching a group of home schooled teenagers, VP of the home school group, running 5 days a week,  making sure we ‘date’ once a week, and I could go on forever but I don’t want to bore you.  But, really, Linda Carter holds nothing on my wife (thankfully she doesn’t wear the same outfits).
4. Root beer makes me happy.  Thomas Kemper is on the top of the list.  Although I do have a Henry Weinhard staring at me right now, begging me to drink it.  In fact, you should try this concoction: 1/2 TK Root Beer and 1/2 Orange Juice.  Bizarre you say?  True, but when you drink it the two tastes don’t combine.  They take turns in your mouth about every two seconds.  Very funky and fun to do.  But I can only stand about one glass full, then I’m done.
5. Frisbees also make me smile.  I rarely am able to play Ultimate, but when I do I am on cloud nine.  How fun!  And Disk Golf is fun for the whole family.  Easy to play, hard to be good at and courses aplenty in the NorthWest.
6. I have always been against Apple for philosophical reasons: They are closed off - not nearly as transparent and open as I like.  I broke that with the purchase of my iPhone.  And after I-don’t-know-how-many Windows updates each week, I may be changing my tune.  I know some people (probably you as well) swear by a Mac, but I am slow in getting there.
7. Because I am way too color blind to do anything with graphic design (although that doesn’t stop my dangerous habits sometimes) I need to obsess over something else.  My love is a good font.  And even more if I can write it out using (hold on…) pen and paper - which are two other things I obsess over.

Now you know.  And I tag the next generation to do the same…

1. Mark Chrisman
2. Dave Wilkins
3. Michelle Lentz
4. Michelle Anderson

One downer of Twitter is that it is difficult to go back and see or archive the tweets.  This will help us to have a reference.  I hope you find it useful!

If you have not joined us on the SLQOTD, please follow, we will follow you back and then join the discussion.  See you there!

LINK TO SLQOTD’s E-BOOK for DECEMBER

photo credit: David Childers

WHY #11:Creates Accountability

Who, in your organization, is in charge of learning?

The answer should be: The learner. In fact, it already is whether we want to admit to it or not.  We may say that the training department is in charge of learning, and that is what most people may think, but they are wrong.  It is the individual.   And that is a huge shift in thinking that will need to happen.

The last, and probably most important  characteristic that encompasses all other characteristics is that of Accountability.  So many training programs use LMSs to track training initiatives.  There may be mandatory and recommended trainings for employees.  From this angle the learning seems to be pushed to the learner – as if the learner must be bribed to learn.  In reality, they are only being bribed to learn using the organizational learning method.

It is a Pull, not a Push method from the side of the learner.  If employees want to learn they need to go find the learning.  Parenthetically, if they use RSS, it is pushed to them, but they initiate it .  They command the learning.

But within social learning, the learner takes command of learning.  It is up to them to learn or to stay ignorant - to stay relevant or become obsolete. They can participate, or close themselves off from the learning.  This, in the end, is something that we cannot take away from each person.  But social learning does allow the learner to take more accountability and direction in their learning and how they give back to those that might learn from them.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

WHY #10: Finds Information

Social Learning FINDS what you are looking for.  Or at least helps you find how to find.

What are the most common ways to find information? Did you notice that I did not say “search for information?”  This is because searching is only one way to find information.

The four major ways to find info are:

• Search
• Hierarchy
• Tag (Machine is using us)
• Personalization

Search is the most use.  Probably because it is most common and we are used to that.  But it may not be the most effective. How many times have we searched on Google and found a whole bunch of results that have the term(s) we wanted but didn’t have anything to do with what we wanted?  All too many times.

Hierarchy is good, but it is limited. For example, I may be able to save a document in a folder on my hard drive.  Oh, but wait.  It could also live in another folder.  And another.  It realistically live in all three.  Which do I put it in?  And when I go to find it next time, will I remember where it lived?  Yet it is another effective way to organize information.  A director of IT mentioned to me that one time he searched his network folders – which were not really THAT huge – and found 15 separate versions of the same document all with different information. Now, which one was the correct version?  Which was most up to date?

Tagging gives subjects to a bit of information rather than trying to pigeon-hole it into on label (which is what a hierarchy does).  For the best video on this, see  Information R/evolution.

The Personalization was pioneered by Amazon.  It can ’see’ what you are looking for and give you suggestions on similar pieces of information. The system does the work for you.  Also, it can help you find others who might know what you are looking for.  Many times what you want is not in a system but in someone’s head.  The system will connect you with that person.

Image by inf via Flickr

WHY #9: Complements Learning

The next characteristic of social learning is that it is not supposed to be threatening to the training department.  Instead it is to complement the learning function.  Indirectly I have seen many people with a learning function be intimidated by social learning because it almost seems to threaten their jobs.  On the contrary, for the most part it will compliment and add value to the learning.  Sure, in some instances it might replace some training.  But over all it is not meant to do that.

When I say that it does not replace I want to be clear: It does not replace traditional learning for the most part, but it instead adds to it.  It DOES, however, replace – and absolutely MUST replace – less effective methods of informal learning.  This is KEY.

ILT has its place.  ELearning courses have their place.  Simulations have their place.  Social Learning adds to the existing toolbox.  But to do this we MUST change our skills sets to accommodate.  We can’t sit back and say, “This is they way we have done it.  There is no way you can learn on a blog (or through Twitter, or through a wiki).”  Because, to be blunt, you would be wrong if you did say that.  We must adapt or be left behind.

This is not a scare tactic, but rather an great opportunity for those that catch on the concept.  It is time to jump on the wave and ride it!

WHY #8: Roam & Learn

Another characteristic is that we can choose when to learn - it is not time bound.  There are three aspects to time.  Before now - now / this moment - later.

Email is timeless on two fronts – it satisfies the need of now and later, but not before now. Before email, there isn’t a discussion.  You start at now.

Books are on two fronts as well – before now and now, but not later.  There is not a discussion afterward.  For example, the book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell was just republished.  Why did he republish it? Because he wanted to update it, something that an author cannot do easily.  Once you write it, it is written and done.

An instructor-led training class is usually just a now.  There isn’t a lot of before, nor is there a lot of later except for the notes you took.

Social learning has a history, as we have pointed out, a now and a future all combined into one.  You learn from what others in the past have made for you and you discuss it further to further expand on it.

What I have casually observed is that because the information is available whenever we want it, employees are more willing to learn on their own time, which is a great PRO when you are talking to executives.  They choose to listen to podcasts when they are going home.  They choose to log in at home and learn something really quickly because they have a question now.

I don’t have to sign up for this learning.   There isn’t a schedule or registration.  It just happens.

Here are a few great responses:

• via @toddbynum: @sorden, I think SL goes way beyond just a substitute for F2F. It embodies the concept that anyone can create content.
• via @dwilkinsnh: enabling learners to produce, not just consume; stem courses that link to discussions for example
• via @JaneBozarth: It will force training to let learners drive
• @wilko64: Social Learning is a very personal journey before it is social in any form!
• via @toddbynum: I can see SL being used to augment formal training as a way to support the learner in his/her everyday environment.
• via @tonykarrer: - Does social learning change the fundamental approach to Training Design? - http://is.gd/aT1h
• via @ericwilbanks: Most valuable characteristics of social learning for me is the sheer breadth of the insights created by multiple pers
• via @kerrymcguire: access to knowledge rather than just information, context rather than just content, expertise rather than just FAQ

There is so much to explore, yet so little time (and only 140 characters).   Oh that we never needed to sleep!

If you haven’t joined us, please do!  The more join in on the conversation, the more perspectives we will learn from.  Social Learning at its best.

One thing I have powerfully learned from a number of experiences lately is the power of sharing the stage and letting the learners participate in not only learning, but creating.  This includes during the learning.  It is often a scary thing to do for many reasons, but the synergy and ideas that come up are FAR better than I could have ever have done lecturing preconfigured material by myself.

The Social Learning Question of the Day will simply do just that - throw out a question about social learning to the twitterverse and allow anyone to answer. Since we all have differing experience it would be good to come together and learn from each other.

So, jump on board:

• Make sure you are signed up on Twitter.
• Follow @slqotd
• It will automatically follow you back (it may take an hour, however).
• Each (business day) morning a new question will be asked about social learning.
• To respond to this questions or others’ responses, direct message (DM) back to slqotd by adding this (without the quotes) to the beginning of your tweet: “d slqotd”
• This will go to everyone who is following @slqotd.

Both Dave Wilkins (@dwilkinsnh) and I will be monitoring it.  But we expect that everyone will add their thoughts and insights, ask more questions about the question, share resources, links, etc.

We hope you enjoy it!

120 Ways to Deter Innovation

Which ones do you use?

1.   The savings are only peanuts.
2.   That’s beyond our responsibilities.
3.   That’s Joe’s job, not mine!
4.   Not enough help.
5.   It’s against company policy.
6.   We don’t have the authority.
7.   Have you gone through proper channels ?
8.   Lets get back to reality.
9.   Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
10.  Good thought, but impractical.
11.  Let’s think about it some more.
12.  Management would never go for that.
13.  The client won’t like it.
14.  They won’t hold still for that.
15.  Let’s put it in writing.
16.  We’ll be the laughing stock.
17.  Not that again!
18.  Weld lose money in the long run.
19.  We did all right without it.
20.  Where’ d you dig that one up.
21.  It’s never been tried.
22.  Let someone else try it first.
23.  That’s been tried before.
24.  What’s the use?
25.  Not enough time.
26.  Too hard to sell.
27.  I don’t see the connection.
28.  It’s not practical.
29.  What you are really saying is . .
30.  It leaves me cold.
31.  It won’t stand up.
32.  Let’s all sleep on it.
33.  You’re right, but . . .
34.  I’m not convinced.
35.  We’ve tried that before.
36.  We’ve always done it this way.
37.  It won’t work.
38.  We can’t pay for the tools.
39.  It costs too much.
40.  If I thought it’d work, I’d have used it.
41.  It’s not in the budget.
42.  Where will the money come from?
43.  You can’t do that!
44.  You should know better.
45.  We’re not ready for that.
46.  This isn’t the right time for it.
47.  We’re not considering hardware yet.
48.  Everybody does it this way.
49.  Too academic.
50.  Not timely.
51.  It’s a gimmick.
52.  It isn’t progressive.
53.  Not for us.
54.  Too hard to administer.
55.  No good!
56.  Plain stupid.
57.  Screwy.
58.  Too radical.
59.  Too complicated.
60.  The idea is unsound.
61.  It isn’t feasible.
62.  Too difficult.
63.  Impossible!
64.  Production won’t accept it.
65.  We can’t hold up production for that
66.  Engineering won’t approve it.
67.  My Boss won’t like it.
68.  I can’t see it.
69.  Too much trouble to get started.
70.  So what?  We’re making a profit!
71.  We don’t have the manpower.
72.  We haven’t time for detail.
73.  The design is frozen.
74.  Schedule won’t allow any plans.
75.  Who is going to do it?
76.  Takes too much time.
77.  We don’t do it that way here.
78.  Our product is different.
79.  Too much work.
80.  It won’t apply to our problem.
81.  Don’t move too fast.
82.  It will set a precedent.
83.  Not enough background.
84.  Why can’t we do it another way ?
85.  We’ve got something just as good now.
86.  Don’t be ridiculous.
87.  We know all this . . .
88.  I’m too busy to decide now.
89.  We haven’t enough facts.
90.  What about the directive?
91.  That will take two years to test.
92.  It will make present equipment obsolete.
93.  It’s not permitted by specifications.
94.  It’s not according to standard changes.
95.  We’ll come back to it later.
96.  Let’s form a committee.
97.  Cost doesn’t matter.
98.  Why change it - it works.
99.  We can’t help it - it’s policy.
100.  Forget cost - just get it out.
101.  The way we’re doing it is best.
102.  Why?
103.  Runs up our overhead.
104.  That’s too “ivory tower.”
105.  What do our competitors do?
106.  What can we expect from the staff?
107.  Has anyone else ever tried it ?
108.  It won’t work in our industry.
109.  It won’t work in my department.
110.  No, no, no.
111.  Too theoretical.
112.  Personnel aren’t ready for this.
113.  The users won’t go for it.
114.  Its new.
115.  We have too many projects now.
116.  We don’t want to do this now.
117.  It’s not standard stock.
118.  We don’t have enough volume.
119.  Let’s shelve it for the time being.
120.  Could a vendor supply this for less ?