Elearning - February/March 2009 - (Page 22)

Integrating Informal Learning With Web 2.0 Technologies IT’S NOT AN EASY PROCESS. A PLETHORA OF DETERMINING FACTORS AND PRODUCTS ARE INVOLVED. B Y J E R RY R O C H E Ben Willis, senior director of product strategy for Saba; and Jeff Whitney, vice president of marketing for OutStart. And here’s what they said. With more than 80 percent of learning in an organization occurring informally, more are investigating launching a private social network platform within the learning function. How has your LMS solution changed, given this growing interest? Wilkins - It’s a broader shift than just integrating social networking. The real transition is from a model where learning content is primarily created and delivered by established company experts to a more open model, where the majority of learning is created by learners sharing their expertise in specific domain areas. Social networking satisfies some of this need, while social media technologies such as blogs, discussions, tagging, ratings, idea sharing and wikis address other aspects. [Mzinga has] developed a thorough model across our entire solution set. Within our course authoring technologies, we provide an ability to directly incorporate live social media elements. We’ve also incorporated social networking and social media into our LMS [so that] administrators can enable social media features around particular learning objects like courses, certification, curriculum and instructor-led events. Within the LMS, we also enable social media and networking without an association to courses and learning objects. Learners can participate in social networking activities outside of any learning objects. We can further extend this basic model with idea-sharing, tagging, filesharing and similar technology once a client is ready. Ciampi - SumTotal was one of the first companies to offer collaboration centers and informal learning. Collaboration centers allow user collaboration at the course, class, domain and global level. Using the collaboration centers, users can participate in threaded discussions and search threads or ask experts. In addition, we also offer capabilities to define experts, identify experts, show expert ratings and ask questions to experts. Additionally, we integrate with several collaboration tools such as Adobe Connect, WebEx and Interwise. We continue to enhance the products to incorporate feedback from our customers about growing interest in peer-based experiential learning. Can informal learning initiatives be successful without Web 2.0 technologies like wikis, RSS feeds and blogs? Not hardly. Elearning! magazine assembled a roundtable of vendor representatives to help outline the steps a company must take to successfully integrate informal learning with Web 2.0. Roundtable participants were: Dave Wilkins, senior director of product strategy for Mzinga; Jon Ciampi, vice president of product management for SumTotal Systems; 22 February/March 2009 Elearning!

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Elearning - February/March 2009

Elearning - February/March 2009 Contents Editor’s Note News Social Networking Popular Learning Needs Technology On Competency Management IT Employment Drops Trendlines Deals Learning Roles in Talent Management Informal E-Learning and Web 2.0 Cover Story: Learning Your Way to Profits Collaboration Trends, Strategies 12 Wishes for LMSs, LCMSs Tips: Recession-Proofing Your Job Case Study: Military Training Case Study: City of Arlington, Va. New Products Pop Quiz Last Word

Elearning - February/March 2009

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