Chief Learning Officer - April 2008 - (Page 49) learning content can be easily and rapidly organized into a podcast. Thousands of IBMers worldwide take advantage of podcasts and learn by merely downloading and listening to them while jogging, commuting or flying. Some of these technologies already are learning friendly, but other approaches are just beginning to reach a point where they are becoming a powerful means for learning. Virtual worlds, for example, offer an opportunity for people to connect in a brand new medium. At IBM, we look to explore the limits of any new approach that may enable people to learn from each other. It’s already clear that virtual worlds offer an opportunity for people to connect in an interesting way. And it is intriguing to see that virtual worlds are used most extensively in IBM in growth markets because there are many IBMers in places such as China or India who are looking to connect with other IBMers outside their home countries. IBMers in China and India know the clients they serve are competing in a global world, and they know they have opportunities to learn from other IBMers, wherever those people live. So we have enabled new hires in growth markets — such as Brazil, China and the Czech Republic — to participate in an exchange with other IBMers within a virtual landscape, where people meet each other, speak with each other and learn from each other in this online world. We know virtual worlds have a great deal of potential. I liken this technological platform to television in the early 1950s. We have not seen how we can make the most of it yet. But I am confident that the use of virtual worlds will become more powerful and that other companies will begin to adopt this technology during the next several years. Some technologies already are working effectively, and people can tap into them. Other technologies are emerging in their maturity and effectiveness. And we can be sure that there will be other new technologies emerging in the future. The key is that all of us should be looking to see how to take advantage of anything that enables people to learn in a collaborative, networked environment. A New Way of Learning: Networked, Collaborative and Global The long-standing evidence suggests people learn best and retain informa- tion most effectively when they can immediately apply what they’ve learned. We also know that people have the greatest energy in learning when they learn in collaboration with others. This new approach around networkstyle learning is making employee development more effective, as well as more immediate. Learning is being made instantaneous, which will enable people to keep up with the rapidly changing world. In some ways, ironically, this learning strategy harkens back to a time when there was a well-practiced approach for apprenticeship-based learning. But that approach to learning was premised on the idea that someone could be standing side by side with a skilled master printer, carpenter or electrician, for example, showing them how the job gets done. Today, what we’re talking about is people creating new approaches together and learning instantly in a real-time, collaborative way. So we’re leveraging the best of those two fundamental ideas: that people learn most effectively when they immediately apply what they learn, and they learn with the most energy when they’re learning with others. CLO Ted Hoff is the chief learning officer of IBM. He can be reached at editor@clomedia.com. http://www.thetrainingassociates.com http://www.thetrainingassociates.com
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