Elearning - February/March 2009 - (Page 23)

Willis - Saba has had social and collaborative capabilities in our product suite since 2004 (the 3.x generation of our suite; we are now moving into the 6.x generation). Our native and long-standing social learning toolset includes wikis, communities of practice, user-generated content capture and exchange, discussion forums, Q&A, expert location, RSS’s, search-based learning and — significantly — Saba Centra, a real-time collaborative capability for Web-conferencing, e-meetings and virtual classes. Our most recent social learning announcement, ‘Saba Social,’ is a robust enterprise social networking solution that uniquely combines a rich person profile, competency-driven expertise, real-time collaboration and a comprehensive Web 2.0 suite. It is a productivity tool designed to engage employees and customers, build connected corporate communities, and accelerate high-quality knowledge exchange. Whitney - It’s a huge misperception that the LMS is the center of the learning function, and that a social platform is a subset of an LMS. Don’t get me wrong, we market (and have won many awards for) our LMS, but each learning tool has its function: LMS for tracking and reporting; LCMS for developing, managing, maintaining and delivering learning content; and a social platform for enabling informal learning. As a result, we developed a social platform that works independently of, or as a complement to, OutStart’s LMS or any other LMS. We have customers who are very successful with either approach. What are the critical considerations buyers should weigh when considering a blended LMS/social platform? Ciampi - Make sure the LMS can adopt to your business processes instead of forcing you to change or migrate your curriculum workflows. >>Ensure that you are able to profile and identify a very targeted audience for your training programs since ad-hoc training will not deliver ROI in a down economy. >>Make sure the LMS has best-of-breed capabilities for blended learning. Without strong formal learning, infor- mal learning may not be effective. >>Identify clear business cases that could use social networking and deliver tangible business value, like community of practice, onboarding and training of virtual workforce, and on-the-job learning. >>Focus your attention on key collaboration tools that will deliver direct impact and ROI in terms of ‘adoption and retention rates on LMS.’ connected from the search for experts, wikis, communities or discussions? Can user-generated content be seamlessly incorporated in formal learning programs? Second, are you buying a tool or a suite? Be sure to buy a suite that will meet your long-term needs. Wikis, blogs, communities, social book-marking, user-generated content, collective intelligence, and on and on. With so many new social tools and ‘Adding social capabilities to your learning platform should add exponential value, not incremental value.’ —Ben Willis, Saba >>Focus on solutions to business cases without getting caught up with buzzwords and technologies. >>Evaluate your one or two high-value use cases, and then look for technology to solve the problem. >>Define and measure clear success criteria, like adoption rate to LMS and retention rate. >>Don’t forget the fun factor, which is essential for adoption and retention! Willis - Two considerations stand out as critical. First, to what extent are the social capabilities truly integrated into the learning process? Are they seamlessly woven in to add value to the core learning processes, or are they add-on capabilities? Social software tools and philosophies can be powerful enablers of true peer-to-peer learning and people productivity, but to achieve this goal, the platform must have social capabilities designed into each and every process in a seamless way. Adding social capabilities to your learning platform should add exponential value, not incremental value. So, for example, does the system surface traditional and social learning capabilities in a single search, or is the search for courses and certifications disconcepts to explore, be sure the platform you are investigating adds a suite of capabilities to your blended learning toolkit and not just a single new tool. Whitney - First, since an LMS and social platform are separate, they do not need to come from the same vendor. With 80 percent of learning occurring informally, buyers owe it to themselves to carefully weigh the functionality offered and not consider it an add-on to their LMS. Second, don’t try to solve informal learning for the entire organization. Buy the functionality you need to get started with a small (but important) initiative, learn fast and grow. Additionally, the system should have an automated system for identifying, requesting and capturing knowledge from experts as well as easily enabling peer collaboration. Wilkins - There are four things buyers should consider: >>Experience. Many companies will add social media and social networking technology to their LMS, but very few, if any, will have any real experience with community or social media. Given that the biggest challenge in this transition is change management and Elearning! February/March 2009 23

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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