An interview with Charles Jennings

Charles Jennings is the MD of Duntroon Associates and was formerly Chief Learning Officer for Thomson Reuters. In 2008 he was honoured with an ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Learning Industry’ award in recognition of his work on ‘just-in-time’ and informal learning.

Here’s my summary of cofacio's interview with Charles on the future of learning. The important points to learn about are:

1. Ebbinghaus and his Forgetting Curve
2. The 70/20/10 model
3. ePSS (electronic performance support systems)

In the past, learning was all about helping people acquire knowledge and traditional learning approaches were focused on transfer of content. You would be provided with the content, a chance to practise that content (if you’re lucky), and an assessment at the end to see whether you have retained that content. Now we know that the idea of people retaining knowledge by taking an assessment at the end of the course doesn’t really work. Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve states that it’s impossible to remember everything and that we tend to forget what we’re told very quickly unless we consciously review it.

Now, learning is about behaviour change, and providing the right tools to help people ‘do’ things better. The amount of information being created is increasing exponentially. We can’t remember it all; the skill is being able to find it. The role of learning professionals is changing from content delivery to a facilitator and curator of knowledge sources, and a provider of information.

The economy has had an impact and it will continue to be a driver over the next few years, but this should mean different training rather than less. We know people learn more in the workplace than in a classroom and there is a push to move in to informal learning. Financial constraints are going to make it easier to make that move. If you can do things cheaper, that’s a good incentive to do it.

70/20/10 is a really good learning model. It is based on the principles that adults learn about 70% of what they need to know by doing their jobs; 20% through other people, their colleagues, asking the right questions, and informal coaching and mentoring; and about 10% through formal structured learning. It’s a really good framework for thinking about how workplace development happens. In other words, don’t spend all your time, money, and focus on the 10%; instead start to think about the tools you need to help people in the workplace. Remember though: it’s a framework, not a recipe.

ePSS, or performance support for short, is about just-in-time learning; learning at the point-of-need.

When we look at particular areas of training, particularly around systems and processes and product training, all the evidence says people simply don’t remember what they were taught maybe a month or more earlier. When they actually have to use it, the first thing they do is ask a colleague (the easiest route), try trial and error, or call a help desk (if there’s one available). So, what was the point of the training? Instead, we could take that training budget and think about how we could support people at the point-of-need – ePSS technology, access to stores of information, or links to the right people. We could reduce the formal course to explaining the change, and what it’s going to mean, but replace the content with a list of FAQs or job aids, which could be far more useful. Knowledge isn’t power; access to it is. Essentially, we learn through experience, practise, conversation, and reflection. We should allow learners to practise (to ‘do’) and provide the relevant support until they don’t need it.

New employees (digital natives) have grown up in the Internet age and social media age. That’s the way their generation works, continually interacting with friends and colleagues on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc. Organisations need to think about how they can support this. Staff will be frustrated where they don’t have connectivity, where they don’t have access to their tools.

Control is not through technical control, filtering out access, because you can’t – the majority of people are probably carrying smartphones anyway. Control is through process and a policy of acceptable use – don’t expose organisation to litigation. Organisations need to trust their employees.

The 12 Elements of Great Managing

To identify the elements of worker engagement, Gallup conducted thousands of interviews in all kinds of organisations, at all levels, in must industries, and in many countries. These 12 statements emerged as those that best predict employee and workgroup performance:

1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
9. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last 6 months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

Clark Quinn on Designing Mobile Learning

Cammy Bean’s interview with Clark Quinn.

Mobile Learning: Which Device?

Here’s a forecast from Gartner about how the smart phone market could look like in 2015:

As Amit Garg mentioned in his blog Upside Learning, we should take this with a pinch of salt, but key points to take away are:

1. There will probably be 3-4 platforms to target, no more than it is now.
2. iPhone will NOT be the device to target. Android will have the largest market share.
3. Windows Phone 7 (with better phones and the tie-up with Nokia) will grow fastest in next 2-3 years and will be the platform to watch out for. Windows could have a unique advantage in terms of seamless integration with PCs.
4. Symbian is as good as dead. 

Mobile Learning: A SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis of mobile learning from Upside Learning:

Strengths

• No longer just a buzzword or science fiction.
• Practical, affordable devices available that enable learning on mobile.
• Devices are getting faster and better, with increasing memory and storage capacity.
• One of the most relevant tools (currently) for performance support.
• Internet connectivity on phones not restricted to WiFi alone. Options like EDGE, 3G, 4G and even WAP exist. SMS and Voice can also be used for learning tools on mobile.
• Development platforms for mobile are easy-to-use and do not involve most of the complications associated with desktop or system software.
• Both ‘Push’ and ‘Pull’ strategies can be mixed for best results.

Weaknesses

• Myriad number of operating platforms, device types and variations in supported technologies make it difficult (and at times impractical) to create a unified solution which works well across the board.
• Still fast moving in terms of technologies making it challenging to keep up both at consumer’s end and at the vendor’s end.
• While the development platforms and tools are easy-to-use, using such tools to design effective learning solutions is another matter altogether. It requires a skill-set that includes instructional and media design competencies for mobile device, and interface & user experience design skills.
• Concerns still revolve around basic device security and data security. Lack of common standards for mobiles adds to the confusion.
• Lack of tools to create engaging mobile learning content due to lack of Flash.

Opportunities

• One of the best ways to offer quick, real-time, on-demand performance support. More than pushing training on to a mobile device, designing mobile performance support solutions would be the greatest opportunity.
• Front end or middle layer for the LMS. This allows enterprises to extend a part of the LMS environment on to the mobile devices thus allowing an integrated approach. This covers traditional training components – training schedule, notifications, performance support – and even social learning and collaboration components – friends sharing content (even generating content like photo and video using the mobile device).

Threats

• Early stage technology curve.
• Lack of standards for learning on mobile, and even general use of technology on mobiles.
• Lack of vendor focus. Not many vendors have been able to innovate and come up with relevant solutions. Vendor mindsets may still be revolving around LMS, PMS, etc.
• Multiple platforms and varied technical frameworks. Adds to complexity in terms of design and development, especially when the need is to build native apps which can utilise the true potential of the mobile platform.