stickylearning

Learning & Design Thinking

This post and the later part(s) (I'll post later) are designed to accompany the visuals (below) from my session at the AITD 2012 conference. The posts are more or less the words that went along with my presentation, adding depth and detail to the quick succession of images in the presentation. My advice though is to begin by going through the presentation visuals, then after having a look through, come back to the following text to help you get a broader picture of the overall messages and ideas.

Learning & Design Thinking on Prezi

Too often L&D seems to be stuck in a box labelled 'Formal Learning'. As participants for my session entered the room they were met with the short video/images of the man breaking out of the box and seeing a whole world of new idas flying by and towards the future!

 

No prizes for guessing that the man in the box is a typical L&D professional (in fact it used to be me!). At the conference I then introduced myself, outlining a bit of my L&D background and how I'd moved past being the 'man in the box'. I explained that this presentation is really two things,

• a summary of my own journey as my eyes were opened to the benefits of the design thinking process for learning
• an introduction to Design Thinking and benefits for L&D and organisational performance

Design

What does Design mean to you? Spend a moment or two considering this question. I asked the audience to do just that and then canvassed the audience for some of their ideas - a good mix of traditional ideas of design as being about objects and others who focussed on design for learning. But let's be clear here, to define design is really pretty simple and I like the quote from Marty Neumeier's book, The Designful Company.

I really wanted to encourage the audience to see learning design as just a subset of design generally and doing do provides us with an opportunity to borrow tools from the design profession and then mix them with traditional L&D tools.

Design Thinking

Let's not complicate things here, Design Thinking is really just thinking lke a designer. (but first we need to understand how designers think and work!)

I used a part of Tim Brown's TED talk urging Designers to Think Big to link my presentation to a recurring theme throughout the conference, the changing landscape of workplace learning and changing roles for L&D professionals. (I also referenced Tim's book Change by Design, a great starting point in learning more about Design Thinking) I emphasised that in changing workplaces the flexibility and creativity underpinning Design Thinking provides an approach that allows Learning Designers to be more creative and adaptable to changes in workplaces or learning needs.

Above are three tenets of Design Thinking. I'll focus on two of these, Human Centred and Co-creative; and let's replace 'Human' with 'Learner'. Design Thinking for learning puts learners' needs at the front, that's what we design for, helping workers to do their jobs more effectively today and into the future. So, in order to become to be Learner Centred we are now able to borrow some of design's research tools to learn more about our learners, to collect their stories. For without an in depth understanding of actual learners, their environment and work habits how can we expect learning tools to meet actual needs? (I will go into more detail on these research tools and approaches in a later post)

This sounds pretty logical really, we must undestand the learner in order to design learning. But what about co-creative? Well, now let's go a step further! Where possible the best learning solutions will be designed when the creative process has included ideas and input from future learners. So, Learning Designers do not sit in an office, they go out into the real world to see learners and understand their needs....and then they work with future learners to begin the creative process of designing learning solutions...the work is collaborative. Co-creation also moves L&D away from being a 'pusher' or fountain of knowledge and instead gives learners a voice so that they can 'pull' the knowledge and skills they need to perform more effectively.

This picture of the design process above is one reason why the beginning of the design process may seem a bit messy, because by including more voices early in the design process there is a less direct, more messy, pathto a solution. But it is this very messiness that allows us to end up with learning solutions that are more likely to meet real performance needs in real workplaces. The lesson I emphasised here was to hold back from solution mode..... I know, we all like to be seen to solve problems quickly..... however we should spend time in the messy zone, looking at problems from different perspectives.

Where to from here?

I hope you're getting interested by now. It can be a little hard to get across in writing the energy levels from the presentation and even the full range of information covered. I will end this post here, about half way through the presentation, but I will continue later on. From here we move on to looking at why learning designers must remember that it's all about the delivery, later I'll look at design tools and design frameworks before linking Design Thinking more specifically to L&D, to the formal/informal learning debate and finally to making a case for creativity, innovative thinking and a stronger design mentality generally within the L&D profession.

 

 

Learning and Design Thinking - an introduction

Just over a month ago I was given the opportunity to present a session on 'Learning and Design Thinking' at the Australian Institute of Training and Development's 2012 conference in Sydney, Australia. I structured the session by following my own introduction to Design Thinking over the last 5 or so years, whilst at the same time providing attendees with a background to Design Thinking ideas and methods that can support innovative Learning Design. In the session I covered broad ground however the content was specifically designed for the audience and the occasion - the real aim being to encourage innovative thinking in learning design.

The image above is part of a small animation that played as people entered the room, as it ran I explained that many L&D live in a world of formal training and workshops and that this session was about encouraging us all to look up out of the formal box to consider alternative learning design tools and approaches. The words streaming up the page were small 'tasters' representing some of the ideas and influences that would be covered in the session. These ideas floating past also encourage us to look up from how we do things today and be more open to the different ideas and approaches that are all around us. In this month's 'Training and Development' magazine you can find a brief article that touches on some of the ideas from my presentation. I will post the full conference Prezi presentation on this blog next week along with accompanying notes.

So, what's next on the Learning and Design Thinking agenda? Well, over the next month and beginning next week, I will be writing a series of posts on Design Thinking and Learning.....

Upcoming Learning and Design Thinking posts (over the next month+):

• Learning and Design Thinking
  • Split over a number of posts I will provide notes to accompany the online Prezi visuals from the conference
• What is Design Thinking? 
  • An exploration of Design Thinking and it's origins
• Design Thinking and Learning..... perfect partners
  • Design Thinking provides tools and approaches that can encourage innovative Learning Design, this post will explore some of these benefits
• (Learning) Design Thinking Tools
  • An introduction to a range of Design Thinking tools and methods for Learning Designers to pick up and add to their own tool kit
  • Over following months a number of tools will be looked at in greater detail, providing examples and resources
• Learning and Design Thinking - links and resources
  • Regular short posts introducing links, books, and other resources to build understanding of Design Thinking and Learning.

For me Design Thinking is an ever evolving interest. I have already integrated many design tools into my own learning design methods and expect that over the next 12 months I will further refine this. As I discover new ideas and approaches I will continue to post articles that highlight these and outline their benefits to the learning design process.

We are Learning Designers

Let me explain why I don't call myself an Instructional Designer - I do a lot more than design instruction! To me the word instructional brings forth notions of teacher led instruction in formal education settings. Chalk and Talk, Tell and Do, information being 'pushed' from the facilitator to the student.

OK, I know that this is not what the majority of today's Instructional Designers actually do (they could even be offended by my description). However the problem is that the title Instructional Designer feeds into the notion that learning happens in formal settings and that knowledge is something that can be transferred through instruction. I think that the title has seen it's day and that it's time for all 'Instructional Designers' to rebrand themselves - Learning Designers, because that is what you we do.

We design so that people can do what they need and/or want to do more effectively.

 

The step-wise evolution of Social Learning

For a few months now this post has been bouncing around my head. It's been through a number of diferent forms until earlier today I read a science article that brought it all together for me. The article I read was titled, "Step-wise evolution of stable sociality in primates", I'll provide the link at the end of this post for those inclined to dig a little more deeply.

There was one particular finding that resonated with me, and it was represented nice and simply by the following diagram:

Put very simply, the study found that primates went through a series of steps in forming the social groups that are found across all species of primates today. That is from living as solitary animals, through stages of loose connections until stable social groups are formed. As I read the study, and this point in particular, this blog post idea came back in focus in my mind.

So, with this little introduction in your mind I'll now go back into my original thinking for this post - and I'll tell it in three parts.

1. Learning when flying solo
2. Lurking in an open plan office
3. Part of the furniture

OK, let's get into it!

Part 1 – Learning when flying solo

I work as a freelance learning designer with assignments typically lasting from just days through to weeks and occasionally months. Mostly I work alone in the relative calm of my home office.

I enjoy what I do but working solo is by definition solitary. This means that it's more difficult to keep my own learning going – I need to actively seek out learning, and social contact.

The internet is my window to the world of knowledge and learning, I surf the internet, its blogs and communities, finding some content interesting, some less so. Without a doubt the internet helps me to learn, you can’t help reading something that’s interesting. I surf the internet to learn whatever I need to, whether it’s how to build a website and upload it, writing blogs, presentation design ideas, cooking, gardening and on and on and on and on................

So, while on one hand I’m busy working away on the other hand I’m learning by reading...and participate, but not always because sometimes I lurk. I’ll jump into an online conversation when it really interests me and I might ask a question or put forward my thoughts. A good deal of the time however, because I'm working and seeing heaps of stuff, I filter what I read and decide if and when to participate.

So, I work solo, I participate in online conversations and I also lurk.

Part 2 - Lurking in an open plan office

At the moment I’m doing a fair bit of work embedded in the offices of a large Australian company designing a range of business leadership programs. So whilst I normally work from my office at home my current environment is a change from this.

The office itself is very large and open plan; you hear people talking .... you learn things. I’ve got work to do so I don’t always jump in when I hear something interesting....and to be honest when I first sat at my desk I didn’t really know people very well anyway. But I’ve got ears and some things you hear are either relevant to what you’re working on or just interesting.

So, while on one hand I’m busy working away, on the other hand I’m learning by listening...and not (always) participating, I still do some lurking. Of course I’ll jump into a conversation every now and then to ask a question or put forward my thoughts but mostly I work away, hearing heaps of stuff, filtering and deciding if and when to participate.

So, I’m a visitor working in an office. I do some socialising and some lurking.

Part 3 – Part of the furniture

Now let’s look into the crystal ball, at least a year into one possible future. In this future I’ve become more a ‘part’ of this office environment (this must mean i've done some very good work!). I’ve got to know many more people and they know me too. I still hear heaps of stuff and choose when to participate, but I do more participating and probably a bit less lurking, I’m more comfortable in the environment - I’m becoming part of the furniture.

I’ve made quite a few connections now; I’m included in the social goings-on. People drop by my desk to ask questions and I drop by theirs too. I’m socially comfortable and this changes how I learn - I participate more and lurk less.

What does this all show?

Let's go back to the diagram from the primate study. In it there are three steps in the evolution of sociality. I like this stepped approach as a way of describing how people build sociality on the internet. 

What it tells me is that we should expect that learners themselves will be at different steps in the evolution of their own internet sociality. It is probably also helpful to imagine that people move through these social steps at different speeds - what is fast for some seems recalcitrant to others.

It is here where undersatanding needs to kick in, you cannot expect all people to interact in online social communities just like you do. Some people jump right in confidently expressing their views and questioning the ideas of others. There are other people who will choose to lurk in the internet shadows, listening, dipping their toes in occasionally and building confidence in the whole thing. 

If you examine the actions of the lurker through the stepped evolution model it becomes clear that they have moved from the solitary world to the unstable social. They may decide to take the next step to the world of stable social if they see a reason for doing so, it can be OK to 'just show up'. What others in communities can do to help lurkers participate more is to accept that participation styles vary - there is no 'one size fits all'.

Links:

I came to the Stepped Evolution article via the BBC website that ran a report summarising key findings, then followed the internal link to purchase the full article in the Nature Journal of Science.

I've also read a number of other blog posts on lurking, particularly these three articles:

Lurking is Learning by Dan Pontefract

Lurking and Loafing by Steve Wheeler

Lurking or Peripheral Participation by Christy Wheeler

Where to from here?

Let me know what you think, that is if you're not lurking!

Touching the Earth Lightly - 10 thoughts for learning design

As someone who makes his livelihood by designing and facilitating learning experiences for businesses I should encourage all businesses to design bigger. Bigger, longer workshops, more complex online learning, more post-workshop mentoring and more assessments of all sorts - in all ways possible I should encourage business to design learning that works best for me. Bigger, bigger, bigger....

Mmmm! Well that's what seems to be happen a fair bit of the time! Big, complex learning interventions! Even within businesses there seems to be a desire to impress others with the size and complexity of programs. If it doesn't look impressively large it mustn't be much good - seems to be the message.

But, who is learning designed for? Really?

OK, it's obvious, learning should be designed to increase learning effectiveness. What does effective learning look like? Well, I'll make it simple, effective learning helps the learner perform more effectively in their work environment. (More effective learning = mastery of skills/knowledge + more control over their work + a clear purpose - which all in turn leads to better workplace productivity)

So, let's now look at the title of this post. 'Touching the Earth Lightly' is the architectural design philosophy of renowned Australian Architect Glenn Murcutt. (Here is a link and here is another that fill you in on who Glenn Murcutt is and you might also see why I'd love a house in the Australian bush designed by him!)

Here's my reading of the term, 'Touching the Ground Lightly'. It is about being less obtrusive in the landscape, making a building sit comfortably in it's place without having to rebuild the landscape to fit the building. It is about designing a building to fit the place, not the place to fit the building.

How did this make me think of learning? Simple. Here's 10 thoughts that come to mind.

1. Design learning that is unobtrusive
2. Design learning that is embedded in practice
3. Design learning that doesn't look like learning
4. Design learning where the learner is in control
5. Design learning that encourages sharing
6. Design learning for 'in the moment' needs
7. Design learning that fosters creativity
8. Design learning that is evolutionary nor revolutionary
9. Design learning for learners
10. Design learning that touches the ground lightly!

 

Design with, not for.

I've had a short phrase stuck in my head now for a few weeks, in fact it is stuck so well that I have found myself using it numerous times when speaking with clients.

The phrase is:

Design with, not for.

 

A simple philosophy, however so often it is the straightforward things that cut right to the heart of the matter! When designing learning we have a choice, to push our approach, emphases, content, style etc onto our learners and clients. In other words we can 'design for'.

There is another (better) way of approaching design that instead seeks to understand in detail the unique needs of learners and clients, their cultures, unique outlooks and anything else that may have an impact upon learning. The result, design is pulled towards learners' needs. It isn't an off the shelf 'solution' but rather a solution for their learning need. 

Put the idea in your head, you might find it popping up just at the right time to help you improve your learning design.

My Top 10 'Learning' books from 2010

Another year comes towards to an end and its been another year of great reading for anyone with an interest in learning. Once again I have read from a wide range of areas, all with something to add to how I think of learning. Below you'll find my top recommendations for the year along with a short summary of what I got out of reading each book. I haven't put these in a top ten order this year, there were so many contenders for the number one spot! Do you think there is a standout number one? Let me know.

PresentationZen Design - Garr Reynolds

Probably no real surprise for anyone who has read my blog, I really like the way Garr Reynolds has brought a sense of design to slideware. PresentationZen Design is his follow up to the slide-show stopping Presentation Zen of 2008. It is really an expansion of the design section from the original book, adding a good deal of extra information and ideas along the way. I do not think there can be any doubt that design has an impact upon how learners interact with learning materials, this book is a real help for those who would like to make sure that the learning tools that they design are engaging and effective for learners. Oh, and one extra tip, Garr has his third book, The Naked Presenter about to hit the shelves, I'm sure it will be a great way to start my reading for next year!

resonate - Nancy Duarte

The power of story telling in learning is enormous, we all tend to remember information when its woven into a meaningful and engaging story. Nancy Duarte's second book, resonate, is subtitled 'present stories that transform audiences' . I found that I couldn't put the book down, there is a new idea and lesson on every page. The book mixes things up with a series of illuminating examples of great speeches and great communicators - not all of them expected, they range from Steve Jobs and Martin Luther King Jr to Mozart and Alfred Hitchcock. From each of her examples Nancy draws lessons for the reader and illustrates these story lessons through the use of a 'sparkline' that is a visual way of showing how a speech is constructed. A good deal of the work that I do is really about weaving stories for learners and I found that the book has provided many ideas to improve what I do.

Change by Design - Tim Brown

Change by Design just missed last years's list (I hadn't quite finished it) For those who mightn't know, Tim Brown is the CEO of the design firm IDEO who, in this book shares his ideas on how design thinking can be used within organisations to drive innovation.

The book presents through a range of stories/case studies and provides glimpses of the creative/design process used within IDEO. 'Design Thinking' has (to me) real applications to learning design and there are enough good ideas and new approaches within this book to make it well worth a read! 

Drive - Dan Pink

Drive is an easily readable book, crammed with examples and anecdotes, Dan Pink looks to build a new way of looking at motivation. He argues that the established (old) ways of motivating, through what he terms, 'carrots and sticks' don't work anymore (except in particular circumstances) In short carrots encourage us to do something for a reward, sticks can be used to punish unwanted behaviours. Businesses and indeed learning uses both these approaches, bonuses for performance, A+ for excellence etc. Pink argues that there are better motivators in today's world and these are the trio of Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Autonomy - we like to be self directed (informal learning), Mastery - we like to be good at things, Purpose - we'll work harder at things when we can see the bigger purpose. A good book and well worth the read!

Switch - Chip and Dan Heath

Made to Stick was Chip and Dan Heath's first book and in fact a key driver to me beginning this blog. So when they released their second book Switch this year I had it on pre-order from Amazon as soon as it was listed! This book is all about how to change, yourself and/or others. I won't go into detail here, except to say that they provide an interesting and usable approach to encouraging change, using a three step approach - Step 1 - Direct the Rider; Step 2 - Motivate the Elephant: Step 3 - Shape the Path. Now these might sound a little unusual, but the model is interesting and as learning is essentially about change, from what we know and do now to what we could do be, this book and it's model for change provides some new ways of thinking about things!

Better than Bullet Points - Jane Bozarth

I'd been meaning to read Better than Bullet Points for a while but only got around to it a few months ago now. As you might have noticed through my reading of PresentationZen and Slide:ology I have an interest in improving the use of Powerpoint and other slideware in presentations and learning environments. Powerpoint however is also used as a starting place for the development of elearning. Unfortunately a good deal of elearning is actually really e-reading and I was keen to see what Jane had to say about using Powerpoint more effectively in the development of elearning courses. Put simply, the book is a great resource for anyone who will be using Powerpoint in the development of elearning courses. The book focuses upon the effective design of elearning first and the use of Powerpoint second. Throughout the book and the included CD-ROM there are piles of practical examples and case studies. An essential addition to your bookshelf!

The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Not a standard learning text by any means! The Black Swan is part philosophy, part economics, challenging your preconceptions and assumptions. I'm sure NNT (as the author refers to himself) would question many of my book choices here as many of them use limited examples and case studies to help to provide proofs for their ideas. NNT isn't a fan of generalising from limited observations, he's an empiricist who probably can only be certain of what he has seen himself. Why is it titled The Black Swan? Simple, for thousands of years (in fact forever) people in Europe would describe swans as being white, that was just a given. Just as the sky is blue, swans were white. But in Australia swans aren't white, they're black. Much of what we assume to be truths are really only theories waiting to be disproved, waiting for a black swan. What has it got to do with learning? Well here's one angle. traditional formal learning is about 'teaching' accepted practice, how to do things, what is right - it teaches what could be termed White Swan knowledge. Informal learning on the other hand doesn't have a set curriculum, it is flexible and ready for Black Swans. A challenging read, best done when you can get some quiet time to think, it also messes with your head a bit, but the outcome is a new way of looking at things and that is always good!

The New Social Learning - Marcia Conner and Tony Bingham

I read this book and said to myself The New Social Learning is the best book I've read for ages, and it is! It looks at how social media can help to create a whole new platform for learning within businesses. This quote from the book begins to explain the book's focus, "In large part, innovation and learning comes from the little moments between the activities we've previously thought of as 'real' work." Social media provides a way of sharing these 'little moments' it is a way of increasing collaboration within organisations, of breaking down silos of finding solutions to new problems in real time. This book is about what is happening in many businesses today and will continue to grow, people are social creatures and social media provides another avenue for people to do what they do best, to learn from each other.

Social Media for Trainers - Jane Bozarth

 

Social Media for Trainers is a really helpful book for trainers who would like a new addition to their suite of learning methods/tool. I won't go into how social media can be used for learning, Jane's book however provides a series of practical tips, case studies and ideas that trainers can use to support learning. Social media looked at includes Twitter, Facebook, Blogging, Wikis and a bunch of other tools. Whether you're across all these tools or not, this book is a great resources filled with really good ideas for using the new social media tools to improve your learners' experience.

Amazon Kindle

OK, not a book and mine's still on it's way however I already know that it will be worth it. I've been using Kindle on my iPad and that's good, but having all my books with me in a lightweight reader will be great and I can get a new book right away without having to wait for delivery from the US. They're cheap too, mine's going to be the wifi/3G model, $189 Australian, I'll save this in 6 months by buying ebooks instead of 'real' books. I don't like writing in my books, (just a hangup of mine) but in the Kindle I'll be able to bookmark and highlight text to my heart's content, great for helping me find what I'm looking for. (BTW why a Kindle and an iPad? I can never get to use the iPad, everyone wants to use it at once!) 

 

So, another great year of reading, ideas challenged and horizons opened. Looking forward to 2011 now!

(Learning) Design with Intent

A few months ago I came across an excellent and free resource that I have now used parts of when designing learning solutions for clients, it's called "Design with Intent" and is the creation of Dan Lockton (a PhD student at Brunel University), along with Professor David Harrison and Professor Neville Stanton.

In this post I'll introduce you briefly to the tools and how I think they apply to learning design. You can also find out heaps more by going to Dan Lockton's "Design with Intent" page (where you can download the tools for free!) as well as the Design with Intent Wiki where you'll be able to read even more about the system and the thinking behind it!

What does the Design with Intent approach look like?

The tool is named Design with Intent for a reason, it seeks to provide a way of designing "to influence or result in certain user behaviour". Now for anyone who has ever struggled to design learning solutions that go beyond simple knowledge and skills towards broader behavioural learning objectives you will appreciate the intent of the tool and why I was attracted to the tool to assist in learning design. My interest in it goes beyond this however, as I'm very interested in the design of different learning options/tools that better engage people and lead to more effective learning experiences.

The Design with Intent (DWI) approach seeks to challenge your way of thinking to place questions in front of you, to make you consider a variety of solutions. As Dan pits it in his wiki it is an 'idea generation tool, provoking design ideas by asking questions and giving examples of particular principles in action'. It is a little like the IDEO cards that I have also used at different times, but the difference with DWI is that it is a lot more behaviourally oriented in it's approach.

Here are two cards from the deck that I'll use as examples:

This card challenges how I lay out information, use typefaces, colours, link to other resources, make anything stand out from the crowd, direct peoples' attention. It makes me think this through, I'm less likely to skip over it or not to consider something. It's like having someone look over your shoulder and challenge what you're doing!

This card makes me think, 'what can I do to draw people into the learning, build motivation, keep them connected and engaged. I mightn't do the 'First one free' thing, but it's got me thinking about engagement and motivation.

Are you getting the picture - even a little?

In fact there are 101 cards! These are broken into 8 lens each one designed to assist in resolving different design problems. The 8 (colour coded) lens are:

Architectural: relates to issues of the environment in which the design problem exists. Generally this relates to the physical environment but could also be applied to the design of learning tools and how these tools are organised for learners.

Error-proofing: is about designing solutions that prevent users from making errors. For example, providing users with feedback to check their intent before committing, ie "Did you mean....?'

Interaction: links interactions and behaviour, for example the use of progress bars to indicate how far you have progressed through an online learning course, giving users feedback as they use the system, tailoring solutions based on individual learners' needs

Ludic: uses 'games' thinking to build engagement, for example leaving gaps to fill, building collections, creating learning levels and so on. It seeks to build 'playfulness' into the design

Perceptual: can you use colour, contrast, proximity and other design tools to suggest associations, links and/or differences to users to direct their behaviour?

Cognitive: uses ideas from cognitive psychology to look at how people make decisions and look to how decision making can be influenced through design

Machiavellian: this lens comes from the school of 'the end justifies the means'! Forced choice, 'locking out' unwanted choices, can you drive behaviour towards your desired outcomes?

Security: here you could build a system where 'learning' is supervised or tracked in some way or direct learners to certain options based on their previous behaviour.

How could this be applied to learning design?

As I've said already, I see two uses for this system in learning design.

1. As a way of approaching behavioural learning needs, the DWI approach challenges your thinking and indeed presents options to you. For example the Ludic (games) lens could provide ideas on how to influence the behaviour of salespeople in a retail environment by providing unpredictable reinforcement of wanted behaviours, using rewards and scores, making a meme of your plan. This can all be used in the design of the learning itself, whether on-job, workshop or online-based. Make it fun, influence perceptions and in turn bahviours.
2. Alternatively DWI can be used in the design of learning tools themselves. Whether this is in the graphic design appearances that comes out of the Perceptual Lens, or the Architecture of the learning environment or how learners Interact with the learning tool. 

The options and applications never seem to end. For me however the DWI cards repeatedly remind me that I do not have all the solutions, BUT with a little prodding from DWI I can approach learning design problems from previously unthought of angles.

An excellent addition to my bundle of tools (and yours too!)

(As I said you can download the cards for free, however I recently bought a pack and can see myself using them more than ever!) Click here to purchase!

 

 

Social Learning - this is how it can look!

Let's begin with some context to this post!

Like many of my blog posts the ideas come when two or more ideas collide in my head and I think, Mmm, that's interesting. Writing the blog post itself is one of the ways I get my thoughts in (some sort of) order.

Right now I'm reading an excellent book, The New Social Learning by Marcia Conner and Tony Bingham. Once I've finished the book I'll certainly write a comprehensive review. The book has again turned my mind towards the question of using social media tools to provide another channel for organisational learning.

As these thoughts were bouncing about my mind recalled a recent TED video of Sugata Mitra speaking on child-driven education. (You can watch it below)

A very interesting video but for me the interest here is that children working together socially were able to learn what they needed to without anything that looked like traditional formal learning. In fact, the idea was that Sugata would simply leave a computer for village children in India to use and that was that! Amazingly the children learnt to use the computer, they also learnt how to speak English with a more 'English' accent and also learnt a good deal of a Biotechnology course (in English) Remember, this was all done on their own without a 'teacher'!

So what has this to do with social media?

Well, I think it is an excellent example of how people can solve problems together by talking through problems with other people. Provide them with engaging tools and let them go - together. 

Social media really is just a technological 'tweak' of what you see in the video. Instead of children in a village there are employees in an organisation communicating through various social media tools. As in the video, someone may for a time become the teacher, helping others with a problem, whilst others will provide encouragement (like the 'method of the grandmother' in the video)

And perhaps the most important point is that social media often works just as the learning in the video, people often do not see what they are doing as 'learning'. But honestly, who cares, as long as people are learning!

So how about organisations?

Provide engaging tools that allow employees to find what they need to know, when they need to know it. Provide these tools within an online social environment, allowing people to engage with and learn with other people. Allow the system to self-organise, build trust within the organisation.

So, to wrap this up.

Learning can (should?) be social, people can do it amongst themselves without formal structures and it mightn't even look like learning!

Oh, and buy The New Social Learning, really, it's worth the read! (and if you want to know more about it, I'll write a post on it in a week's time!)

Lists are the enemy of learning!

I have to begin here by saying, I've never been a fan of lists, I like things a little more 'free-form', I find lists stifling. 

Lists put an artificial order on things, they say, after doing/reading this, the next 'logical' point is X. To make matters worse, we tend to prioritise lists by placing numbers next to each point, we tell the reader, 'point 1 before point 2, before point 3....'. When you put something in a list you tend to simplify things because a list is really a series of BRIEF points...no explanation, let's keep things brief!

A list forces you to move on to the next point and the next....until a defined end - no discussion. And of course we've got the dreaded bullet pointed list! Arrgghh! Powerpoint or document, if it's in a bullet-pointed list your mind seems to go into a trance-like automatic state, 'must finish list' your mind repeats over and over! Finally we're all told to use 'To do' lists to 'improve our productivity'! Productive? Only if that means no creativity! I mean, you can't be creative if every moment of your day is 'time-managed' by a 'to do' list?

We are drawn to lists because of their ability to create a sense of certainty and predictability, lists feed our need to be 'in control'. But is it any wonder that we find our creative juices drying up! Isn't it obvious, following a list does NOT encourage creativity.

Lastly, creativity happens when two new ideas collide unexpectedly in your head...and is closely followed by learning. But how can you learn if you follow a list? There's nothing unexpected in a list. Quite simply, lists are the enemy of learning!