Focus Magazine - Summer 2011 - 50

FIVE QUESTIONS Kevin Kruse

We are now at a moment to use both emerging technology and new habits to design learning environments and programs to leverage the collaborative instincts and capacities of our workforce.

or this technology-themed issue of Focus, I’m delighted to be interviewing the uber-guru of e-learning, Elliott Masie. Elliott heads e MASIE Center, a think tank focused on how organizations can support learning and knowledge within the workforce. He also leads the Learning CONSORTIUM, a coalition of 240 global organizations cooperating on the evolution of learning strategies. Elliott is the author of a dozen books and will convene the Learning 2011 Conference, which will be held Nov. 6-9 in Orlando, FL. Social learning, also called by some Learning 2.0, seems to be the hot topic in the learning & development community right now. Do you think it’s hype or the next big thing, and why? e challenge with the phrase “social learning” is the cartoon that someone will learn to be a surgeon by hanging out on Facebook. However, I do want my surgeon to be connected, collaborating and in knowledge dialogue with a wide range of colleagues and in uencers. A better term might be “learning socially,” as that is what we, as humans do naturally. We are now at a moment to use both emerging technology and new habits to design learning environments and programs to leverage the collaborative instincts and capacities of our workforce. What impact will the rapid adoption of the iPad and other tablets have for training professionals? Tablets, most speci cally the iPad, are major disrupters of learning and content delivery. ey create a personal, second screen, outside

of the rewall that learners will use to sweeten their learning processes. And, the touch nature of the interface has some signi cant design and usability implications for how we interact with content. Add video and GPS location sensing and you have a very powerful platform for learning and development. In the next few years, learning and performance designers will rock out on tablets. With the rapid adoption of wireless broadband, on-the-go access to videos has become practical. How will this change the way we learn as professionals? Simple, it will eliminate the barriers of where we learn. We’ll see more push to performance support content in small, video chunks, to be used at the moment of need or moment of curiosity. What else do you think should be on the radar of training leadership right now? 1. Empowered learners will require and demand very di erent mixes of content and context. 2. Compliance training is out of control and has hurt the brand of e-learning. 3. Leadership development must shi from the individual to the team. Read any good books lately? What would you recommend? I continue to see Drive by Dan Pink as one of the most provocative books for learning. And, I am re-reading John Kennedy’s Pro les in Courage, as we need a lot more courage in leadership at all levels of our society to face the challenges ahead.

Kevin Kruse is the executive director of SPBT and co-author of the New York Times bestseller, We: How to Increase Performance and Pro ts through Full Engagement. E-mail Kevin at kkruse@spbt.org.

http://www.spbt.org/resources/focus-magazine.aspx

Focus Magazine - Summer 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Magazine - Summer 2011