Chief Learning Officer - July 2008 - (Page 53)

online training. But along with managing the basics of learning, Michigan LearnPort was meant to bring the best of social networking software and knowledge exchange to one easy-to-use, accessible spot. So Michigan LearnPort personnel sought an LMS that would underpin an online community in which educators could exchange ideas to help one another. “We needed to deliver training to tens of thousands of users, but we also wanted to foster collaboration,” Myers said. “We had to have a system that was intuitive. Not all users are experts with e-learning or online collaboration.” After months of evaluating vendors, Meridian’s LMS was chosen for the MVU project. With the LMS in place, Michigan LearnPort has a record of each teacher’s development plan. It also links PD to school goals and offers access to training. Teachers can create transcripts to show they are complying with NCLB. And Michigan LearnPort offers online forums for teachers to join after completing PD. “The collaborative features of our LMS, which we call ‘community rooms,’ were ideal for helping us reinforce the PD that teachers undertake,” Myers said. “Our Michigan LearnPort community rooms are built around discussion threads, a resident e-mail tool and calendaring functionality.” A Community of Learning According to Michigan LearnPort, since launching the new LMS in July 2007, users of the PD portal have built more than 134 community rooms. More than 100 online courses are available free to all Michigan teachers via the Internet. And Michigan LearnPort makes it possible for them to create and use a community room as part of an online course. By January 2008, about six months after the launch, Michigan LearnPort had served almost 30,000 users. “It’s amazing to see the proliferation of community rooms that educators have built in the six months since we relaunched Michigan LearnPort: We’ve gone from zero to 134,” said Elizabeth Elliott, project manager at Michigan LearnPort. “Anyone who visits Michigan LearnPort can use our LMS to create a community room. The size of the rooms range from two people to an entire school district.” According to Michigan LearnPort, educators at opposite ends of the state now can connect through community rooms. For soon-to-be credentialed teachers who often are new college graduates, the community rooms are proving a favorite. When teachers visit Michigan LearnPort, they will see the range of community rooms, as well as a feature for creating them. The social networking features of the LMS, coupled with its traditional training features, have the potential to improve the way teachers seek PD and the ways they collaborate. Before relaunching Michigan LearnPort, Myers said, teachers who wanted to collaborate would have to coordinate schedules, ﬁnd e-mail addresses for colleagues and set up conference calls at the mercy of everyone’s calendars. Now, educators can connect and learn when they have the time. “If you calculate what it costs to chase people for training, compensate instructors and pay for courses and classroom space,” Myers said, “then there’s no question we’ve saved Michigan educators time and money, while improving their skills.” For example, one Michigan school district tapped Michigan LearnPort for an online course to meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements. The district pegged its savings at $11 per employee. If the 150,000 school employees across the state were to take this hour-long, online OSHA course in place of face-to-face OSHA training, the potential savings would be more than $1.6 million, or equal to the approximate cost of operating Michigan LearnPort for one year. Going forward, Myers and his team hope to make online learning a widely accepted alternative to the traditional models of PD that Michigan educators rely on. Early success with Michigan LearnPort is helping Myers’ team make a case. CLO Bill Perry is managing partner of March 24 Media LLC. He can be reached at editor@clomedia.com. DATA POINT Since launching the new Michigan LearnPort LMS in July 2007, users of the portal have built more than 134 community rooms, and more than 100 online courses are now available for free to all Michigan teachers. Chief Learning Ofﬁcer • July 2008 • www.clomedia.com 53 http://www.clomedia.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chief Learning Officer - July 2008

Chief Learning Officer - July 2008 Contents Imperatives Selling Up, Selling Down Strategies Take Five A Customer-Driven Approach to Molding Tomorrow’s Leaders The Home Depot: Accelerated Leadership CLO Profile Birth of a Salesman: Selling Learning to Solve Business Issues Selling Learning’s Potential at Siemens Transform Corporate Learning With a User Network Wiki Training Increases Productivity for RMC Vanguard Mortgage Lessons From the Feds: Mapping Learning to Strategic Initiatives Department of Labor Centralizes Content Synchronous and Asynchronous: What’s in a Name? Coping With Cultural Barriers to E-Learning The Manager’s Responsibility for Employee Learning Case Study Business Intelligence In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - July 2008

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