CorpU Weekly Digest: Social Learning (2012-Apr-16)

Topics: Social Learning

Here are this past week's headlines in social learning: 

• (1) Companies often limit access to Facebook in the workplace, but the reality is that they are missing out on an opportunity to harness an incredibly versatile tool to manage social learning ;
• (2) The utility of vulnerability assessment for stimulating social learning on climate change, its consequences, and potential adaptation responses ; 
• Books: Work and Quality of Life: Ethical Practices in Organizations and The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education ; 
• Webinars ; 
• Conferences

 Companies often limit access to Facebook in the workplace, but the reality is that they are missing out on an opportunity to harness an incredibly versatile tool to manage social learning.
Facebook undoubtedly offers a rich multimedia platform to promote social learning and collaboration. Its relevance to modern lifestyles is noted across the world and there are moves to allow the use of the technology, albeit a restricted version, as a learning tool for children of elementary school age. With the 30+ demographic of Facebook users rapidly increasing, there is absolutely no reason why adult learners can't get in on the act. According to this article, here are the advantages of trainers using Facebook to manage social learning:

1. It is easily accessible and represents a largely free alternative to more expensive social learning platforms.
2. The majority of users will already be familiar with Facebook, hence learning can be immediately focused on the actual course material as opposed to getting to grips with how to use the learning platform.
3. It incorporates an array of rich learning tools including videos, images, discussion boards, chat features and private messaging.
4. It is easy to use and equally intuitive for trainers and learners alike.
5. It can be used to host an entire stand-alone course, in combination with other social media platforms like Twitter, or as a viable supplement to a traditional classroom-based learning environment.
6. The difficulties of getting learners in one location at the same time are non-existent, making it the perfect solution for delivering training content to remote workers spread over a wide geographical area. Course materials are available 24/7 and events can be scheduled in real-time with an instant view of who will be attending.
7. It promotes instant and consistent collaboration and discussion between learners on the same course.
8. It will direct updates from trainers and learners to the newsfeed of individual members without them specifically logging in to the learning environment. Members can also subscribe to receive group updates via RSS feeds. Important information is seamlessly delivered without the need for an individual user to log in to the platform.
9. Using Facebook as a platform for learning can level the playing field between trainers and learners. The perceived hierarchy is broken down somewhat, since everyone is collaborating together.
10. Using Facebook is fun. That much is proven by the astonishing user statistics. If learning is enjoyable and undertaken with peers, the whole process is likely to be more successful thanks to a higher degree of motivation.

Read "10 Reasons Why Facebook is Ideal for Managing Social Learning"

 The utility of vulnerability assessment for stimulating social learning on climate change, its consequences, and potential adaptation responses.
A new paper published in Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change by Yuen et al. explores the utility of vulnerability assessment for stimulating social learning on climate change, its consequences, and potential adaptation responses. This paper explores the value of vulnerability/risk assessments in climate change adaptation planning processes as a catalyst for learning in four case studies in Southeastern Australia. Data were collected using qualitative interviews with stakeholders involved in the assessments and analyzed using a social learning framework. This analysis revealed that detailed and tangible strategies or actions often do not emerge directly from technical assessments. However, it also revealed that the assessments became important platforms for social learning. In providing these platforms, assessments present opportunities to question initial assumptions, explore multiple framings of an issue, generate new information, and galvanize support for collective actions. This study highlights the need for more explicit recognition and understanding of the important role social learning plays in climate change vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning more broadly. For those who are intertested, the study design is quite intriguing for future applications of social learning in the enterprise. Read "Vulnerability Assessment & Social Learning"

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 The Business of Learning: New Major Products, Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships

No major news in mergers, acquisitions, or product releases.

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 Books To Read

Employees have personal responsibilities as well as responsibilities to their employers. They also have rights. In order to maintain their well-being, employees need opportunities to resolve conflicting obligations. Employees are often torn between the ethical obligations to fulfill both their work and non-work roles, to respect and be respected by their employers and coworkers, to be responsible to the organization while the organization is reciprocally responsible to them, to be afforded some degree of autonomy at work while attending to collaborative goals, to work within a climate of mutual employee-management trust, and to voice opinions about work policies, processes and conditions without fear of retribution. Humanistic organizations can recognize conflicts created by the work environment and provide opportunities to resolve or minimize them. The topic is covered through a series of essays from well known writers and professors to be released on May 31, 2012, called Work and Quality of Life. This collection documents the dilemmas that result from responsibility-based conflicts, including essays by Prof Carolyn Ball , Prof Joseph Sirgy, Prof Cath Sullivan, and Prof Stacey Kessler among others. The book is organized by sources of dilemmas that fall into three major categories: individual, organizational (internal policies and procedures), and cultural (social forces external to the organization), including an introduction and a final integration of the many ways in which organizations can contribute to positive employee health and well-being. This book is aimed at both academicians and practitioners who are interested in how interventions that stem from industrial and organizational psychology may address ethical dilemmas commonly faced by employees. Buy Now

In the book The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education, Prof Karl Kapp, known for his blog Kapp's notes as well as his instructional technology classes at Bloomsburg U, argues convincingly that gamification is not just about adding points, levels and badges to an eLearning program, but about fundamentally rethinking learning design. He has put together a brilliant primer for learning professionals on how to gamify learning, packed with useful advice and examples. Buy Now

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 Webinars 

The Human Capital Financial Statements Webcast Series
Date: N/A
Presenter: Jeff Higgins Register now

Social Learning Tips & Trends Webinar
Date: Thursday, April 19, 2012, 2:00 PM ET
Presenter: Sharlyn Lauby, SPHR, CPLP, President of ITM Group Register now

Mobile End User Experience
Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 11:00 AM ET
Presenter: Aternity Register now

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 Conferences

Emotions and Education: Affect, Anxiety and Achievement
Date: April 19, 2012
Location: New York City, NY, USA Register now

2012 Sloan-C Blended Learning Conference and Workshop: Perfecting the Blend
Date: April 23-24, 2012
Location: Milwaukee, WI, USA Register now

Learning TECH 2012
Date: April 23 - 25, 2012
Location: Chicago, IL, USA Register now 

Delivering the Strategic Role of HR
Date: May 2, 2012 
Location: New Zealand Register now

Global Management Conference: Fourth Annual Conference on Globalization, Sustainability and Development, 2012
Date: May 2-5, 2012
Location: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Register now

1st Annual People Effectiveness @ Work Conference
Date: May 8, 2012
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Register now

HR Summit 2012
Date: May 9-12, 2012 
Location: Singapore Register now

The Mining and Resources Accelerated Learning and Workforce Development Conference 2012
Date: May 15, 2012
Location: Australia Register now

Corporate University Xchange's Global Leadership Congress
Date:  May 15-17, 2012
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA Register now 

Social Recruiting Strategies Conference
Date: May 22-25, 2012
Location: Chicago, IL, United States Register now

National Institute on the Assessment of Adult Learning
Date: June 6-8, 2012
Location: Atlantic City, NJ, USA Register now

Leading Across Generations: Workforce Challenges and Opportunities
Date: June 13-15, 2012
Location: Berlin, Germany Register now

Gamification Summit
Date: June 19-21, 2012
Location: San Francisco, CA, United States Register now

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