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Top 10 tools for Learning 2023

31 August 2023 by Clark 3 Comments

Somehow I missed colleague Jane Hart’s annual survey of top 10 tools for learning ’til just today, yet it’s the last day! I’ve participated in the past, and find it a valuable chance for reflection on my own, as well as seeing the results come out. So here’s my (belated) list of top 10 tools for learning 2023.

I’m using Harold Jarche’s Personal Knowledge Mastery framework for learning here. His categories of seek (search and feed), sense (interpret) and share (closely or broadly) seems like an interesting and relevant way to organize my tools.

Seek

I subscribe to blog posts via email, and I use Feedblitz because I use it as a way for people to sign up for Learnlets. I finally started paying so they didn’t show gross ads (you can now signup safely; they lie when they say the have ‘brand-safe’ ads), and fortunately my mail removes images (for safety, unless I ask), so I don’t see them.

I’m also continuing to explore Mastodon (@quinnovator@sfba.social). It has its problems (e.g. hard to find others, smaller overall population), but I do find the conversations to be richer.

I’m similarly experimenting with Discord. It’s a place where I can generally communicate with colleagues.

I’m using Slack as a way to stay in touch, and I regularly learn from it, too. Like the previous two, it’s both seek and share, of course.

Of course, web surfing is still a regular activity. I’ve been using DuckDuckGo as a search engine instead of more famous ones, as I like the privacy policies better.

Sense

I still use Graffle as a diagramming tool (Mac only). Though I’m intrigued to try Apple’s FreeForm, in recent cases I’ve been editing old diagrams to update, and it’s hard to switch.

Apple’s Keynote is also still my ‘goto’ presentation maker, e.g. for my LDA activities. I have to occasionally use or output to Powerpoint, but for me, it’s a more elegant tool.

I also continue to use Microsoft’s Word as a writing tool. I’ve messed with Apple’s Pages, but…it doesn’t transfer over, and some colleagues need Word. Plus, that outlining is still critical.

My blog (e.g. what you’re reading ;) is still my best sharing tool, so WordPress remains a top learning tool.

LinkedIn has risen to replace Twitter (which I now minimize my use of, owing to the regressive policies that continue to emerge). It’s where I not only auto-post these screeds, but respond to others.

As a closing note, I know a lot of people are using generative AI tools as thinking partners. I’ve avoided that for several reasons. For one, it’s clear that they’ve used others’ work to build them, yet there’s no benefit to the folks whose work has been purloined. There are also mistakes. Probably wrongly, but I still trust my brain first. So there’re my top 10 tools for learning 2023

Two steps for L&D

6 June 2023 by Clark Leave a Comment

In a conversation, we were discussing how L&D fares. Badly, of course, but we were looking at why. One of the problems is that L&D folks don’t have credibility. Another was that they don’t measure. I didn’t raise it in the conversation, but it’s come up before that they’re also not being strategic. That came up in another conversation. Overall, there are two steps for L&D to really make an impact on.

Now, I joke that L&D isn’t doing well what it’s supposed to be doing, and isn’t doing enough. My first complaint is that we’re not doing a good job. In the second conversation, up-skilling came up as an important trend. My take is that it’s all well and good to want to do it, but if you really want persistent new skill development, you have to do it right! That is, shooting for retention and transfer. Which will be, by the way, the topic of my presentation at DevLearn this year, I’ve just found out. Also the topic of the Missing LXD workshop (coming in Asia Pacific times this July/Aug), in linking that learning science grounding to engagement as well.

I’ve argued that the most important thing L&D can do is start measuring, because it will point out what works (and doesn’t). That’s a barrier that came up in the first conversation; how do we move people forward in their measurements. We were talking about little steps; if they’re doing learner surveys (c.f. Thalheimer), let’s encourage them to move to survey some time after. If they’re doing that, let’s also have them ask supervisors. Etc.

So, this is a necessary step. It’s not enough, of course. You might throw courses at things where they don’t make sense, e.g. where performance support would work better. Measurement should tell you that, in that a course isn’t working, but it won’t necessarily point you directly to performance support. Still, measurement is a step along the way. There’s another step, however.

The second thing I argue we should do is start looking at going beyond courses. Not just performance support, but here I’m talking about informal and social learning, e.g. innovation. There are both principled and practical reasons for this. The principled reason is that innovation is learning; you don’t know the answer when you start. Thus, knowing how learning works provides a good basis for assisting here. The practical reason is it gives a way for L&D to contribute to the most important part of organizational success. Instead of being an appendage that can be cut when times are tough, L&D can be facilitating the survival and thrival strategies that will keep the organization agile.

Of course, we’re running a workshop on this as well. I’m not touting it because it’s on offer, I’m behind it because it’s something I’ve organized specifically because it’s so important! We’ll cover the gamut, from individual learning skills, to team, and organizational success. We’ll also cover strategy. Importantly, we have some of the best people in the world to assist! I’ve managed to convince Harold Jarche, Emma Weber, Kat Koppett, and Mark Britz (each of which alone would be worth the price of entry!), on top of myself and Matt Richter. Because it’s the Learning Development Accelerator, it will be evidence-based. It’ll also be interactive, and practically focused.

Look, there are lots of things you can do. There are some things you should do. There are two steps for L&D to do, and you have the opportunity to get on top of each. You can do it any way you want, of course, but please, please start making these moves!

Don’t make me learn!

10 January 2023 by Clark 1 Comment

In a conversation with a client, the book Don’t Make Me Think was mentioned. Though I haven’t read it, I’m aware of its topic: usability. The underlying premise also is familiar: make interfaces that use pre-existing knowledge and satisficing solutions. (NB: I used to teach interface design, having studied under one of the gurus.) However, in the context of the conversation, it made me also ponder a related topic: “don’t make me learn”. Which, of course, prompted some reflection.

There are times, I’ll posit, when we don’t want employees to be learning. There are times when learning doesn’t make sense. For instance, if the performance opportunities are infrequent, it may not make sense to try to have it in people’s heads. If there’s a resource people can use to solve the problem rather, than learning, that is probably a better answer. That is, in almost any instance, if the information can be in the world, perhaps it should.

One reason for this is learning, done properly, is hard. If a solution must be ‘in the head’ – available when needed and transferring to appropriate situations – there’ll likely be a fair bit of practice required. If it’s complex, much more so. Van Merriënboer’s Four Component Instructional Design is necessarily rigorous! Thus, we shouldn’t be training unless it absolutely, positively, has to be in the head when needed (such as in life-threatening situations such as aviation and medicine).

I’m gently pushing the idea that we should avoid learning as much as possible! Make the situation solvable in some other way. When people talk about ‘workflow learning’, they say that if it takes you out of the workflow, it’s not workflow. I’ll suggest that if it doesn’t, it’s not learning. Ok, so I’m being a bit provocative, but too often we err on the side of throwing training at it, even when it’s not the best solution. Let’s aim for the reverse, finding other solutions first. Turn to job aids or community (learning can be facilitated around either, as well), but stop developing learning as a default.

So, don’t make me learn, unless I have to. Fair enough?

Meta-reflections

20 December 2022 by Clark Leave a Comment

I was recently pinged about a new virtual world, a ‘metaverse‘ inspired new place for L&D. It looked like a lot of previous efforts! I admit I was underwhelmed, and I think sharing why might be worthwhile. So here are some meta-reflections.

I’ve written before on virtual worlds. In short, I think that when you need to be social and 3D, they make sense. At other times, there’s a lot of overhead for them to be useful that can be met in other ways. Further, to me, the metaverse really is just another virtual world. Your mileage may vary, of course.

This new virtual world had, like many others, the means to navigate in 3D, and to put information around. The demo they had was a virtual museum. Which, I presume, is a nice alternative to trying to get to a particular location. On the other hand, if it’s all digital, is this the best way to do it? Why navigate around in 3D? Why not treat it as an infographic, and work in 2D, leading people through the story? What did 3D add? Not much, that I could see.

My take has, and continues to be, as they say, “horses for courses”. That is, use the right tool for the job. I complained about watching a powerpoint presentation in Second Life (rightly so). Sure, I get that we tend to use new technologies in old ways first until we get on top of the new capabilities. However, I also argue that we can short-circuit this process if we look at core affordances.

The followup message was that this was the future of L&D, and we’d get away from slide decks and Zoom calls, and do it all in this virtual world. I deeply desire this not to be true! My take is that slide decks, Zoom, virtual worlds, and more all have a place. It’s a further instance of get the design right first, then figure out how to implement it. I want an ecosystem of resources.

Sure, I get that such a meta verse could be an integrating environment. However, do you really want to do all your work in a virtual world? Some things you can’t, I reckon, machining materials, for instance. Moreover, we have benefits from being out in the world. There are other issues as well. You might be better able to deal with diversity, etc, in a virtual world, but it’ll disadvantage some folks. Better, maybe, to address the structural problems rather than try to cover them over?

As always, my takeaway is use technology to implement better approaches, don’t meld your approaches to your tech. Those are, at least, my meta-reflections. What are yours?

(Social) Media Moves

6 December 2022 by Clark 1 Comment

Time change, and so must we. Recent changes in the social media market mean that I’ve had to adapt. Somewhat. So here’s an update on my social media moves.

Hopefully, you’re aware of the changes that have affected Twitter. After acquisition, the new owner made a number of moves both internally and to the business model. Most of them seem counter to what I advocate: aligning with how people think, work, and learn. I’ve been on Twitter for 14+ years, and was one of the first team recruited to run #lrnchat. I have first met people who are now friends through Twitter. It’s been great. ’til now.

Now, I’m not leaving it, yet. I don’t want to be forced to make decisions by others. Still, while the decision to cut the Covid misinformation containment bothered me, the one to cut the child abuse team has forced my hand. I am no longer posting on Twitter. I’ve stopped auto-posting these blog screeds.

Of course, auto-posting is problematic. I can’t seem to get it working for LinkedIn. IFTTT works for Facebook, and for Twitter, but…not LinkedIn (testing again), and the plugin I was using doesn’t seem to any longer either. Not that I expect you to see me on Facebook (that’s just for friends & family, sorry), but I do engage a lot on LinkedIn. That’s my most active arena right now.

I’m experimenting with alternatives to the little bird. I’ve set up an account on Mastodon (sfba.social) as many have, and likewise just got in to post.news. On both, as on LinkedIn and Twitter, I’m @quinnovator (surprise, eh?). Hey, I want to make it easy to connect! If you’re on one of those, please do. Besides, I’ve got a brand to maintain, right? Not sure how to autopost to either, though.

I have yet to really get a handle on Mastodon and post.news, so I’m still experimenting. No insights yet (update: I can’t find myself on Post.news, nor can I see/edit my own profile). I’ll probably maintain the same criteria on them that I’ve used on LinkedIn: I’ll connect to most anyone in the L&D field. We’ll see. So those are my current social media moves. I welcome feedback.

Web 3.0 and whither the LMS

1 November 2022 by Clark 2 Comments

At the recent DevLearn conference, I was part of a Guild Master panel on emerging technologies. It featured notables such as Julie Dirksen, Mark Lassoff, Megan Torrence, Ron Price, Chad Udell, Karl Kapp, and Jane Bozarth, all hosted by Mark Britz. Not surprisingly, I guess, the topic went to the future of the LMS. In a session the next day, Dr. Jen Murphy of QIC talked insightfully (as she does) about the Metaverse, and compared it to Web 3.0. The conjunction of discussion prompted me to reflect on the intersection, considering Web 3.0 and whither the LMS.

To start, I’m not one proposing that the LMS should or will wither. I’ve suggested that courses make sense, particularly for novices. That said, they’re not full development plans. So it’s worth looking, and thinking, deeper. The conversation on the panel suggested the evolution of the LMS, and I think that’s an apt way to think about it.

What prompted this was Dr. Murphy’s comparison of Metaverse to Web 3.0. She argued that Web 3.0 was about user-control of content. That is, it’s about things like P2P, e.g. blockchain, NFT, etc. I’ve had a different view (now over a decade old, admittedly), that we’d moved from producer-generated content, through user-generated content, and the next would be system-generated content. AI can parse content (that people have painstakingly hand-crafted). Then systems can use models and rules to individualize the experience. That’s what web content is doing already.

So, have things changed? The recognition I see is that folks are concerned with identity and rights. Which I applaud, to be clear. The statement is that by having clear documentation, we can reward individual contributions instead of someone owning all the transactions. The latter of which would be part of a ‘system-generated’ web, for sure. Maybe my 3.0 is really 2.5? Or maybe theirs should be 4.0. Not sure I care…

What does matter is what that implies for courses. Obviously, if courses aren’t enough, we need a bigger picture. An associated question is who should own it? I see a development path as having many components. Even courses should be broken up for spacing, and have a follow-on for ongoing feedback whether digitally delivered and/or a coach. There was an LMS that actually allowed you to mix things into your paths: so you could interview someone, or read a book, or…other things besides courses. Made sense.

The other part aligns more closely with the user-controlled vision. I believe (and have stated, not that I can find it) that I think that ultimately, the community should own the path into membership. That is, just as we should determine the path into membership of L&D, a group in sales should determine what the necessary component skills are. They may need facilitation of this, but us ‘owning’ it isn’t right. We should merely be supporting the endeavor.

Again, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s labeled Web 3.0 or not, but I think that having a mechanism to track development, owned by the associated community (or communities) is useful. It’s not really a Learning Management System (you can’t really ‘manage’ learning), but it can include courses, and it is worthwhile. So those are my thoughts on Web 3.0 and whither the LMS, what’re yours?

L&D Language is Limiting?

2 August 2022 by Clark 1 Comment

In our most recent LDA You Oughta Know event, our guest touched on the language we use. It struck a chord for me, thinking about how we refer to things. It led me to wonder whether, in fact, we’re hampering ourselves. So here are some thoughts around the question of whether L&D language is limiting us?

So, Serena Gonsalves-Fersch heads talent for SoftwareONE, a global company. For her dissertation, she interviewed a number of folks about what L&D is doing. While her comments were extremely worthwhile, it was more a toss-off comment about using terms like “talent management” that got me to leave a note to riff on this topic.

So let’s start with those overarching terms. Human Capital, Human Resources, and Talent strike me as ways to dissociate from thinking of people, and instead think of using assets. You might invest in them, but are you investing in your people, or in the capability of your organization? The latter may sound sensible, but it leaves open the question “at what expense”. Do you care if they burn out from the way you use them? Shouldn’t we talk about our people, employees, or those we’re responsible to and for? Perhaps I’m overly sensitive to the issues, but too often I see the approach being impersonal and if not inhumane.

Similarly, what about the phrase Corporate University? I am fond of the case study Mark Britz presented in Revolutionize L&D, where he said that for his organization, he recognized that what was needed was a community to share, given that they were disconnected but experts. What folks really mean by a corp uni is a training academy, but a uni isn’t a good model. Instead of deep theory with little practical application, it’s almost the reverse. Learning should be continual and ubiquitous, not sent off to separate environs. Even when you do specific formal interventions, they should be seen as integral, not isolated in an ivory tower.

Similarly, I’ve sounded off on the problems of Training & Development, or Learning & Development. Training and learning are means to an end. What we want are people performing optimally, and continually developing. It might even be Performance & Innovation (if you take the revolution seriously ;).

It’s clear language does determine the ways we think about things (is it a mishap or a catastrophe?). When we use language that characterizes activity in certain ways, we implicitly put constraints on it. This is true for every formulation, of course, but perhaps it behooves us to think consciously about the language we use. Do we know if L&D language is limiting us? Let’s make sure that we’re not prematurely handicapping ourselves by our framing.

On blogging

26 July 2022 by Clark 5 Comments

A recent chain of events led to a realization, and then a recognition, and some cogitation. What am I talking about? Well, it comes down to some reflections on blogging. So here’re some thoughts.

It started when my ISP wanted to do his quinquennial (yeah, I had to look it up) OS upgrade on the servers. Ultimately, it led me to review my site, which included my blogroll. Quelle horreur, it was almost completely out of date! Some people I’ve lost touch with, most who aren’t blogging any more or even in our field! In updating it, however, I found that there are many fewer people who seemed to be blogging. Which is interesting, though there are stalwarts in my upgraded blogroll.

There are lots of places people are putting up their prose thoughts. You can sign up for newsletters (I get a few), and many posts appear on LinkedIn. There are also article sites like Learning Solutions magazine and eLearnMag, amongst others. I have avoided having a newsletter; I don’t like the idea of collecting folks’ email addresses and using it as a communication tool. (Completely contrary to the advice I receive about marketing.) I also don’t want to post just on LinkedIn, though it’s an increasing way people interact. Instead, I will keep posting here, trying to maintain at least one post a week.

There are myriad reasons I want to continue to blog. First, it’s for me. With a commitment of one post a week, it causes me to search for things to think, and then write, about. Not that there’s a dearth (to the contrary!), but there are ups and downs, and it’s good to have a driver. Blogging has caused me to do more than skim, and actually synthesize things (it’s led me to have thoughts on just about everything!). It’s also a place to lob my other way of thinking, diagramming. The practice of writing, of course, is probably good for my books, with a caveat.

The blog allows me to be more personal, doing things like using too many italics, and use more idiosyncratic references and grammar. Of course, it’s not always perfectly reread, so sometimes I have to go edit it after it’s posted! Which isn’t good for books. It also keeps me terse (a problem I’ve had since high school, my AP English teacher was sure I wouldn’t pass the test for that reason, but it actually was a benefit). Maybe too… Which may be good for books; at least mine are mostly pretty short and to the point ;). It’s also allowed me to share interim ideas and get feedback.

So, I find blogging to be valuable. I’ll happily follow the folks that I can that way. (I use Feedblitz as an email aggregator as I prefer email rather than a dedicated reader.) Or happy to come across their posts wherever, and even some newsletters. I appreciate folks who share their thinking in many ways, though I don’t really listen to podcasts nor watch vids, as I can read faster, and I don’t have a commute. Besides, having watched people I care about get taken down the rabbit hole watching vids (my take: doesn’t give you time to pause and ponder), I think I’ll prefer prose.

So those are some thoughts on blogging. I welcome seeing your comments here, on LinkedIn, or any other way you care to share.

Sensitivities and Sensibilities

12 April 2022 by Clark 2 Comments

We are currently experiencing a crisis of communication. While this is true of our nation and arguably the world, it‘s also true in our little world of L&D. Recently, there have been at least four different ‘spats‘ about things. While I don‘t want to address the specifics of any of them, what I do want to do is talk about how we engage. So here‘s a post on sensitivities and sensibilities.

First, let me be clear, I‘ve some social issues. I‘m an introvert, and also miss social cues. I also have a bad habit of speaking before I‘ve done the knowledge-check: is this true, kind, and necessary? Subtlety and diplomacies aren‘t my strong suit. I continue to be a work in progress. Still, I never intentionally hurt anyone, at least not anyone who hasn‘t demonstrated a reliable propensity to violate norms that I feel are minimum. I continue to try to refine my responses.

There are two issues, to me: what we should say, and how we should say it. For instance, I think when someone says something wrong, we need to educate. Initially, we need to evaluate the reason. It could be that they don‘t know any better. Or it could be that they‘re deliberately trying to mislead.

Let‘s also realize we‘re emotional animals. If I‘m attacked, for instance, I’m likely to blame myself, even when it’s wrongly. Others are highly unlikely to wear blame, and lash out. We are affected by our current context; we are more critical if we‘re tired or otherwise upset, and on the reverse are more tolerant if rested and content.

I‘m also aware that we have no insight into where someone‘s coming from. We can guess, but we really don‘t know. I really learned this when I was suffering from a pinched nerve in my back; I have more sympathy now since I‘ve come to recognize I don‘t know what anyone else is living with.

So, I‘m trying to come up with some principles about how to respond. For instance, when I write posts about things I think are misguided or misleading, I call out the problems, but not the person, e.g. I don‘t link to the post. I‘m not trying to shame anyone, and instead want to educate the market. I think this is a general principle of feedback: don‘t attack the person, attack the behavior.

Also, if you‘re concerned about something, ask first. Assume good intentions. How you ask matters as well. The same principle above applies: ask about the behavior. I’m impressed with those who worry about the asker. If the ask seems a bit harsh, they wonder whether the asker might be struggling. That‘s a very thoughtful response.

There‘s a caveat on all this: if folks continue to promote something that‘s demonstrably wrong, after notification, they should get called out. Here in the US, the first amendment says we can say whatever, but it doesn‘t say we don‘t have any consequences from what we say. (You can‘t yell ‘fire‘ in a crowded theatre if there isn‘t one!) Similarly, if you continue to promote, say, a debunked personality test, you can be called out. ;)

So this is my first draft on sensitivities and sensibilities. Assume good intent. Ask first. Educate the individual and the market. Don‘t attack the person, but the behavior. I‘m sure I‘m missing situations, conditions, additional constraints, etc. Let me know.

Seek

Sense

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