Checklist of Social Learning Strategies
Jan 12, 2010 Adoption, E2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Implementation, Learning 2.0, social media
Feb 1-3 I will be presenting at the Training 2010 conference with Dave Wilkins (@dwilkinsnh). In preparation, we came up with a bunch of things that one would need to know when creating a social learning strategy. Each one could take a deep dive, but we wanted to make the list available.
We hope this will help to spark some imagination and help you see, as you plan and implement, some areas you may have missed. (Here is the list in document form. This work is under the Creative Commons Share Alike license.)
Please feel free to add to the list in the comments below.
Checklist of Social Learning Strategies
Cultural Issues Related to Social Learning
What do you want it to be? What is it today?
- Openness vs. planning? Where is your balance point?
- Autonomy and self-direction vs. top-down mandates? Where is your balance point?
- What do executives, key stakeholders and “rank-and-file” think about social media and sharing?
- What are your organizational attitudes about transparency?
- To what extent do learners take personal responsibility and accountability for their learning?
Social Learning Approaches and Methods
What “kind” of Social Learning models are you pursuing? How do they integrate?
- Codified?
- Collaborative?
- Emergent?
- What kinds of social learning interventions do you need?
- Do you need focused Communities of Practice or decentralized social learning that is part of all learning experiences? Or both?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: checklist, Dave Wilkins, social learning
A New Chapter with Major Change: Blame Twitter for Moving to Alabama
Aug 7, 2009 social media
I have been VERY quiet lately. Call me superstitious, but I didn’t want to spill beans until it was official (I have been burned before). Yet, alas, here it is… I will be moving to Alabama and will be heading the internal social media efforts for NASA. Ya.
I have been consulting and have been having a great time. Having a family with a few children, stability was nice, so I casually looked for full time work, but hoping that the consulting could continue on.
A couple months ago I saw a tweet come through from @SocialMediaJob for NASA. I applied and got a phone interview. Then, two weeks ago, in talking with them, they mentioned that they were having Gartner come out and go through a workshop. I flew out last week and joined them, had a two day working interview, finalized the job this week and I start next week! (Yet, at the same time, I will still continue on with the clients that I have and even look for more to build up Engaged Learning.)
They have been VERY flexible and great to work with, seeing that I live across the country. So, for the next two months I will live in Alabama for two weeks, and fly back on those weekends until we have moved the family out there.
The Marshall Space Flight Center part of NASA lives in Huntsville, Alabama and has about 10,000 employees. They are in the PERFECT spot for internal social media. I will be working for the office of the CIO. This is where the interest is coming from – from the top. The CIO is leading this, but they don’t know where to go or how to tackle it. That is what I will be leading. You see, right now when people come to them because they want a wiki or other technologies, they give them it, but there isn’t a game plan.
This is the sweet spot for any company. They are getting the requests. They fulfill them, but realize that if they continue they it will become an unwieldy mess. Then they are stuck because they don’t know what to do. And this is where this part of NASA is at. So, my job will be to create a vision and strategy for moving forward, define and implement the overall and individual strategies and grow social media within NASA.
I have helped other companies do this, but they are at different levels of wanting internal social media. Others have a reluctant executive management. Some don’t have a nuturing culture. NASA has the perfect blend of both and could not be in a better situation.
So, ALABAMA, here we come!
Yet, at the same time, we are VERY sad to leave. Lots of family, good friends, a wonderful local professional group, perfect climate and an incredible outdoors recreational life will all be left behind for….? We are not sure. It is a very emotional time for my family. But know this is right for us, as unknown as it may be.
We hear great things about Alabama, but just don’t know what to expect. The cost of living is 20% less. Ya, I can handle that. The first thing others say is “humidity.” True, but if others can handle it, so can we.
Overall, we are excited for this new chapter. As we go along, I will blog about the progress we make at NASA, how we make progress, roadblocks, challenges and triumphs. Stay tuned and enjoy the ride with me!
That’s Not What Twitter is to Me… or is it?
Jun 3, 2009 Twitter, social media
Mashable’s post about Twitter yesterday says this…
Although this may sound strange at first, Twitter really is more like Wikipedia than, say, Facebook (
). Twitter is not so much about connecting with your friends, it’s about broadcasting information.
What? It is about broadcasting information? Dave Wilkins must have been referencing this post yesterday when we were recording our latest podcast. To me, the “What are you doing?” is lame. Sure, every now and then tweet what you are doing. Fine. But if that is all you do, buh-bye. Give me something useful.
Broadcasting information? That is not how I use it. Most of my usage is around conversations. My tweets….
(Thinking in real time) … Wait a minute. I guess I do – broadcast links, broadcast useful bits of information and appreciate it when others do the same. But I connect at the same time. I have conversations with others and collaborate, not just broadcast info.
Twitter, then, takes characteristics from both. It is to broadcast info, but then at the same time it is used to connect, have conversations and collaborate (like @slqotd is used). So, no, it won’t follow the curve of regular social networks. But if we assume that Twitter is only a broadcast medium (only because it does do that) then we are selling the benefits short.
Thanks for joining me in my journey of thought.
Why Social Media, Twitter, et.al. Have Been Rejected Then Adopted
May 14, 2009 Adoption, social media
Dave Wilkins did a masterful job in explaining “Why Twitter?” in his post The Truth About Twitter.
I created the Spandex Continuum to explain the stages social media is going through today.
But for a more in depth look at why, this video is a pure MUST watch. You may not get it until the last two minutes, so watch it to the end. Basically, personal preference is NOT determined what people like or dislike. Did you catch that? OK, maybe not never, but keep going with me here. Instead, people will make a choice based upon what they can explain, even though they may like something completely different. An odd paradox. If they aren’t forced to explain it, they often go with what they like. But if they have to explain it their answer changes.
My mind is still going through the lessons I have learned and trying to explain them right now. After the video tell me: What lessons did you learn about social media and how others view and use it?
Tags: choice, Malcolm Gladwell, popcast, preference, social media, Twitter
Social vs. Not – Pictorally
Mar 10, 2009 Email, Implementation, RSS, Searching, Social Learning SIG, Verbs of Social Learning, Wiki, blogging, collaboration, social media
I don’t know who to credit this to, but I love it. It has been posted so many times that the originator is lost. But, THANK YOU! to whomever it was. (UPDATE: It is from Nasa. Thanks, Harold!)
What I love about this is that it is simple & direct. This got me thinking… Why don’t we have more of these? So I decided to create some more. And here they are…
Blog Advantages:
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RSS Advantages:
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Social Networking Advantages:
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The Worst Evaluation Ever
Aug 15, 2008 social media, transparancy
Seth Godin’s “Can you bully someone into a sale?” post reminded me of being bullied into a favorable evaluation yesterday. I stopped by a local AT&T store to return an iPhone accessory – didn’t need it after all. Sitting on the counter they have these 1/2 page flyers that said something like, “We Strive for 5!” They want to be rated a 5 out of 5 in customer service.
Just as I was finished and about to walk away the clerk said to me, “We have random customer service evaluations. Have you heard about them?
“No.”
“Well, out of five, how was my customer service? Would you give me a 5?” (add a nervous grin)
“Sure.”
“Great, because my job depends on it.”
“Really? It depends on this evaluation?”
“Ya, it really does.”
Make me laugh! When asked directly, what was I supposed to say? “No, your customer service stinks. I will give you a 2.” Luckily, she had good customer service so I didn’t mind giving her a five. But seriously? There wasn’t any criteria and participation was forced upon me. This reminds me of when I would ask my mom if a friend could play and the friend is standing right nex to me. My mom used to HATE that (understandably)! But I usually got what I want if I did. And so does AT&T.
On the flip side, there are other evaluation tools that are very removed from this method. One, I have written about before: the brilliant ratemyprofessors.com. Students volunteer to come and, well, rate their professors. No one makes them. The process is totally detached from any school, so there isn’t a fear of reprecussions.
I have judged many products, and recently iPhone apps, on the comments and ratings given by users. Some I learned to stay away from, others I jumped on right away.
Opening up a place where people can talk freely without someone watching over them is a powerful learning tool. Give them a spot to discuss openly how they feel. Chances are the discussion is already happening – you just don’t know about it. You can learn a lot from listening in.
Tags: at&t, evaluation, ratemyprofessors.com
