Sonia Wadhwa & Arun PrakashInfoPro Learning, Inc.
Engaging Learners Beyond the ClassroomCollaborating to Learn : Learning to Collaborate
1 Who are Learners
Multimedia Workflow2 Why Engage
3 Engagement: Structure
4 Platforms for Engagement
5 Challenges in Engagement
Who is a Learner?
• Adult
• Literate
• Professional
• Adept at managing his / her learning and growth - ?
How do we treat the learner when we are in a “classroom” (teacher) mode?
How do we treat the learner when we are in a “classroom” (teacher) mode?
• Force them to learn
• Track the learning
• Evaluate the impact of learning
• Try to engage learners - ?
What exactly is an engaged learner?
What exactly is an engaged learner?
Interested
Involved
Contributive Active
Sharing Knowledge
Sharing Ideas
Asking Questions Participative
Connected
Collaborative
Why Engage? Why Collaborate to
Engage?
• Find information• Get answers to
questions• Seek guidance• Share ideas• Get second
opinions
Think about how often you connect with someone to:
• There is too much information for us to mange it all by ourselves
• Information from people we trust is richer
• We all need to connect and feel connected
The reality is that:
Because this is the way we have learned and worked…
The New WorkscapeNeed for engagement…
Work is increasingly collaborative• Specialization• Optimization• Just in time information
Changing nature of work•Anytime, anywhere• Faster, smarter, better
Need for streamlined information base•Collective common repository•Organic expert base
“Today more than 85% of a typical S&P’s 500 company’s market value is a result of its intangible assets. For many of these companies, a bulk of these intangible assets is its people. It is no longer what you own that counts, but what you know…”
Craig Symons (Forrestor Research)
Engagement: Does it need a structure?
Challenge is to create a structure around it
Always existed
Beyond the classroom or
workplace
Has been informal
Engagement: Why structure?
Formal Processes and
Systems
Dispersed and Virtual Teams
Diverse, Global
Workforce
Formal Hierarchies
Networked Organizations
A structure that connects formal & informal learning, without compromising on the quality of engagement…
• Does your company promote a culture of open sharing and decentralized decision making?
• Does your L&D department recommend on-the-job employee development?
• Do you have a significant number of millennials generation (and outgoing baby-boomers)?
• Does your industry demand constant innovation and experimentation?
• Most importantly – what is the senior management’s conviction?
Are you ready for a structured engagement?
• “Corporate Hierarchy” based communications to “Quality of Thought” based communication
• Extension of formal training
• Connects the knowledge from formal training with real-life situations
• Knowledge that is contextual and relevant to the organization
What can you “expect” from an Engagement / Collaborative system?
More “expectations”…U
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xper
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Creates a social structure for engagement wherein technology puts power into communities, not institutions
Applying CollaborationCreating engagement parameters
Establishing communities• Expert panel(s)• Mentors/ Thought
Leaders• Participants/ Learners• Closed user groups• Focused Communities/
Forums
Fostering communication • Posting content (text,
audio, video, weblinks, documents)
• Chats• Blogs• Screen-sharing/ Online
Meetings• Tagging• User feedback (Rate, Like,
Comment)• User recommendations• Asking Questions
Administering• Management
Recommendations• Expert answers• Content Moderation• Incentivizing Contributors
Analytics• Quality of Content (based
on Accreditations by Peers/ Mentors)
• User Participation (# of Posts, Questions and Rating)
• Thought Leadership Score• Organizational
Engagement Score• Areas of Expertise
ChallengesArghh….
But achieving this Ain’t Sounds great…..
The Brave New Connected World
What do you think are the key challenges towards implementing a collaborative system in the workplace?
Challenges
Organizational Risks
• Lack of readiness to move to a non hierarchical framework
• Transparency issues
• Lack of sponsorship-both financial and moral
• Hesitation in intra-organizational sharing
• Usage / adoption
Technical Risks
• Platform does not support internal rubrics and systems
• Security concerns
• Privacy issues• Compliance /
regulatory concerns
Economic Risks
• Lack of organizational sponsorship
• Cost of engagement
Measurability
• Lack of analytics expertise and/or resources
• Unreliable data• Inconsistent
analytical approaches
Other Risks
• Anarchic data without moderation
• Lack of visible mentors
• Perceived loss of employee productivity
The bump before the freeway…
• Do not be in a hurry…consider a phased approach
• Identify the departments or businesses that are good candidates
• Take IT into confidence • Let momentum build up naturally• While you govern subtly…
Mitigating the ChallengesMaking engagement a reality…
Creating Organizational Value with Engagement
Case Studies
Need Collaboration Method and How it
Worked
Learner Benefit Organizational Benefit
Developing Leadership Cohort learning in which a team of people came together for a sustained learning experience beyond courses and sessions
Sustained relationships with learning partners and senior leaders
Meaningful networking and long-term loyalty
Sharing among companies in a consortium
Platform for continued sharing of creative ideas beyond “brainstorming” sessions
Leveraging across geographies
“Idea” repository
Creating Organizational Value with Engagement
Case Studies
Need Engagement Method and How it Worked
Learner Benefit Organizational Benefit
New Product Launches
Used by teams to collaborate during development of new products
Critical and creative thinking
Faster and superior product ideas
Maximizing use of large talent pool
Communities of practice in which internal and external scientific brains coordinate to exchange knowledge and practices around shared interests
Access to specialized, often tacit, knowledge
Effective way of engaging special interest groups that minimizes risk and variance with diversity of talent pool. Creation of organic knowledge repositories.
• Replacement for formal / traditional learning
• Overnight culture change• Quantification similar to “formal” training
What not to “expect”
http://www.infoprolearning.com/gnosis
GNOSISTap Into Knowledge; Derive Wisdom
Enterprise 2.0The vision for future