Mapping Informal and Formal Learning Strategies to Real Work

2011 May 5
tags: , ,
by Tom Gram

During the Q&A at a recent conference session on Social Learning a retail industry attendee asked: “I have to train 300 store level associates in new product knowledge in the next three months.  Is social learning really what I want?” What would your answer be?

I advocate informal and social learning vehicles when appropriate and get as excited about their uses as you likely do, but it’s not a panacea for all our learning woes.  The current zeal around social learning solutions can distract from real performance needs (we’ve been distracted before).  Social learning gets positioned as the enlightened and “correct” solution for the modern workplace. Formal learning is old, tired, and reluctantly tolerated for the vestiges of the traditional, mechanistic workplace.

But, set aside your biases one way or the other for the moment and simply think of the roles and functions you support in your organization.  It will vary by industry of course, but your list is going to be some subset of the following:

..Please visit my new blog Performance X Design to read the remainder of this post and others.

Note: The Gram Consulting blog has been discontinued. I post blog introductions here to encourage former Gram Consulting readers to visit the new blog. All the Gram Consulting content, plus a bunch of new posts are on the new blog. Please come on over…

 

from → e-learning 2.0, informal learning, Knowledge work, Learning Design, performance support, social media

2 Comments
2011 May 6
Marcus Borley permalink

Thanks Tom for an interesting scenario – one that we find ourselves be asked more and more.

In response to your question: “I have to train 300 store level associates in new product knowledge in the next three months. Is social learning really what I want?” What would your answer be?

My answer would be that social learning could absolutely be part of the learning solution you end up with, so long as it has a specific (i.e. planned) role to play. In the example above, my first question would be “What are associates going to do with this knowledge?”, and that would be where I put most of my effort in designing a suitable training solution, ensuring that knowledge acquisition was only the first stage of the process, and application was the second, evaluation probably being a suitable third stage of the learning process. If associates were being asked to offer product advice to customers using social media, then social media would be a central tool in the learning process; if the company uses social media actively as a forum for experience exchange, mentoring, etc. then it would also form a central part of the learning process, whereas if social media was just seen as a trendy medium for social, informal learning, then I would be inclined to leave it as that – a peripheral tool, not a central tool in the learning process.

A good question, raising again the central issue of having the pedagogy, not the technology as our starting point for instructional design. The pedagogy has to be sound, the technology fit for purpose.

2011 May 7
Tom Gram permalink

Marcus:
Thanks for your comment. I was hoping someone would answer that first question. It that particular scenario, the short time frame and specific knowledge and skill that needed to be learned would not justify social learning as the primary vehicle. I agree with you that it could be considered supplemental and even a way to socialize the “hard” knowledge they might learn through formal learning. Informal learning will occur whether we “design” for it or not. However, in this case, and in may others like it, floor associates did not have access to computers or mobile devices, other than one system in the administrative area of the store. That system was actually used for a e-learning program and the elearning had a discussion list which was wildly under-used. The irony is that many of those same floor associates may immediately jump on Facebook or Twitter as they walk off the store lot. We often assume social media to everywhere, when in many workplaces and for certain jobs it has not even made a dent. And in others it simply is not the quickest or most productive route to a performance need.

Btw, if you happen to read this, I’d appreciate it if you could post your response to the full post on my new blog Performance X Design. I’ve discontinued the Gram Consulting blog. Thanks,
Tom

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