Chief Learning Officer - August 2008 - (Page 14)

TRENDS Time for Green Learning! Make your development more energy efﬁcient • BY NICK VAN DAM, PH.D. igh energy prices and strong evidence of global warming have caused a growing number of companies and individuals around the world to take action to address these issues. This offers an opportunity for the learning function to provide a greener approach to delivery. Traditionally, the learning function has been everything but environment friendly. We publish glossy course catalogs and marketing brochures; produce fullcolor training manuals; invite our employees to jump a couple of times a year into their cars or on airplanes to visit training sessions; and leverage large energy-consuming conference and training centers equipped with the latest technology. Reﬂecting on all of these elements of learning, it’s obvious there are a number of ways we can create a green learning environment. H Nick van Dam, Ph.D., is the global chief learning ofﬁcer for Deloitte and the founder and chairman of the e-Learning For Kids Foundation. He can be reached at editor@clomedia.com. energy and reduces CO2 output. When you consider the sheer volume of learning still delivered in classrooms, it’s easy to see there are tremendous opportunities to make a bigger shift toward e-learning and online performancesupport systems. This doesn’t help just the environment: It also can provide more effective and efﬁcient learning and skill development opportunities for learners in a number of areas. Finally, leadership capability assessments, diagnostic tools and course evaluations can move online. Reduce Travel With Innovative Technology Supplementing and replacing knowledge-based classroom events with online solutions such as webinars, podcasts and communities of practice can offer the largest reduction in the impact of training on the environment. Additionally, smart choices can be made in travel (e.g., take a train vs. car, drive together with colleagues, combine training events with other meetings). Support Greener Conference Centers Much can be done to design and convert to energyefﬁcient buildings. Opportunities include green choices in heating, biodegradable or ceramic coffee supplies, lighting options such as motion-activated lighting systems and timers to regulate the use of energy, recycling, insulation and others. So what prevents corporations from implementing a signiﬁcantly greener approach to learning? As with any transformational change, the leadership of an enterprise must take it seriously and model the way by taking personal and collective action. Here are a few steps your organization can take: • Create and promote a clear commitment and vision to support green learning as part of the overall corporate social responsibility strategy. • Address change management early on. A broadbased communication plan must be formulated to acquire the support of the learning community for a green learning environment. • Address the learners’ concerns. For example, in some situations, learners might prefer reading paper manuals rather than computer screens. As the saying goes, what doesn’t get measured won’t get done. Therefore, learning functions should develop speciﬁc goals to make learning greener and measure progress made against those standards. CLO Market and Communicate Electronically Training catalogues, posters and other marketing materials easily can be replaced by online equivalents. This would save not just printing, but also mailing and transportation costs. And as many learning functions have discovered, it’s much easier and more cost-effective to make updates to online collateral. DID YOU KNOW? Oil prices averaged $72 per barrel in 2007. Peak trading of oil in June 2008 reached $138, or 52 percent higher than last year’s average. Source: U.S. Department of Energy Process Registration Online Thanks to learning management systems and automated self-service registration portals, there is no need to have a paper-based registration and conﬁrmation process. Still, a number of people have a habit of printing the conﬁrmation, or are even asked to do so! Why not have it on an electronic format? If you issue a conﬁrmation number or some other kind of identiﬁer, there’s no need for a paper copy. Create New Processes to Distribute Materials As a learning professional, I admittedly have developed a habit of taking all training manuals home and storing them in my ofﬁce. One step that could be taken is to provide all training materials on a CD-ROM or ﬂash drive to all participants, thereby saving many trees and the energy required to produce the manuals. Use More E-Learning and Online Performance Support There is no doubt that taking learning on a computer compared with commuting to conference centers saves 14 Chief Learning Ofﬁcer • August 2008 • www.clomedia.com http://www.clomedia.com

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Chief Learning Officer - August 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Connections Business Impact Trends Best Practices Effectiveness High-Octane Leadership Development Leadership and Personality CLO Profile Discussion Groups: Harvesting Value from Real-World Experiences Kimpton 2.0: Discussion on the Web Learning Olympics: Development Through Competition Bypassing the Obstacles to Change Listen Up: A How-To-Guide for Podcasting University of Toyota: A Success Story in Podcast Implementation What Stinks About Webinars? Webinars for Learning Professionals Case Study Business Intelligence Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - August 2008

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