E-Learning 2.0 Research

These are my liveblogged notes from the eLearning Guild’s webinar on their e-Learning 2.0 research report. The report is available to any paid members of the guild, or to free (Associate) members who have taken the report. Webinar recording will be available to members in the same place as the report.

Hosts:

  • Steve Wexler
  • Jane Hart
  • Tony Karrer
  • Michele Martin
  • Mark Oehlert
  • Sanjay Parker
  • Brent Schlenker

My comments in italics. My thoughts may be a little more random than usual (like the one right below).

Steve Wexler has such a nice, NPR-style voice. My husband wondered what news I was listening to when he started talking. 🙂

Being a musician is a “wonderful background for being a lifelong learner.” -SW

I like seeing the somewhat silly intros–goofy picture of Tony etc. Definitely more personal when you have a big webinar with a lot of people like this. I’m enjoying hearing voices of people I’ve been reading and interacting with for a while; it’s a different facet of connection.

1160 people completed the e-learning 2.0 survey

Concerns with emerging technologies:

  1. New things will make what we’re doing now obsolete: False
  2. Hard to learn: Probably not
  3. Hard to convince others: Probably not
  4. “If I don’t do this; I’m doomed”: Maybe

Organizations that don’t use these technologies will lose out on opportunities

What is e-learning 2.0?

“The idea of learning through digital connections and peer collaboration enhanced by technologies driving Web 2.0. Users/Learners are empowered to search, create, and collaborate in order to fulfill intrinsic needs to learn new information.”

Brent: The biggest change is that we’re not just consumers, but content producers and creators.

Where We Are, Where We’re Going, And Why

What approaches are people using?

  • Classroom instruction still highest
  • Asynchronous e-learning is high
  • Communities of practice and wikis are highest 2.0

Changes

  • Podcasts increased 22.5% (not necessarily a 2.0 approach)
  • Blogs increased 20.7%
  • Communities of Practice increased 12.3%
  • Wikis up 7.7%
  • Mobile down 10.6%
  • A number of rapid tools are up, but tools that take longer to create (simulations and games) are down

Good question in the chat from Cathy Moore: Are blogs being used top-down or created by learners? Brent says both, very creative ways.

70% plan to apply more e-learning 2.0 approaches. However, these predictions are always more optimistic than real life.

Michele & Sanjay

  • The more people used the tools, the more positive they were about them, the better outcomes they saw.
  • 42% said very worthwhile
  • 30% said somewhat worthwhile
  • Only 0.6% said a very large waste of effort

Are Podcasts 2.0?

  • Steve says no–not learner created
  • Brent says yes–the RSS feed that lets people opt in and listen on their own time makes it 2.0
  • Is it about content creation? Technology? Control?

Drivers

  • People use the tools themselves and see the benefits: 50%
  • Functional areas: 45%
  • Learners or staff are requesting it: 35%
  • Many people see themselves as the champions of these tools, but maybe the functionality is being used by other areas

Many people agree that younger workers will demand 2.0 approaches–65%

Related: most agree that these approaches will allow them to attract and retain better talent

Learner Preparedness

Younger workers (under 30) use these tools significantly more than older workers. Dang, I’m in the older workers category. How’d that happen?

Jane Hart:

  • this tool use difference is across the board in every category.
  • Different levels of activity–younger workers more likely to be engaged with the tools, not just reading them.
  • 3 levels: Reading, Participating, Creating
  • 30% younger participating; 21% older

Just because people request it doesn’t mean they’re good at it, just that they’re familiar with and comfortable with the tools

How are we doing at preparing learners?

Tony Karrer

  • Was surprised that 30% of people were not considering or learning against adoption
  • Very smallest and largest organizations are working to prepare people; organizations in the middle aren’t doing so well
  • You don’t have to have formal learning to prepare learners to use these tools–lots of informal learning opportunities

Can you access these tools?

  • Lots of things are blocked
  • Recommended Immersive Simulations b/c the word “game” is often blocked
  • Concerns about bandwidth
  • If the CIA & FBI can use these tools, the rest of us should be able to figure it out.
  • Intelligence community driven both top-down and bottom-up; there are directives, but also a big cultural change

How do you get people to embrace this?

  • Upper Management endorsement
  • Good content
  • Pilot groups
  • Change management

All of the above are 45% or more

More change management here than other places–good content is always given as a reason, but this report said more about change management

Good question from Elizabeth Barnwell in the chat: “who implements change management in a school?” Generally, no one–that’s part of the problem.

Image: ‘2
www.flickr.com/photos/82795201@N00/188101304

4 thoughts on “E-Learning 2.0 Research

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  2. Hi Michele! Part of why I’ve gone to liveblogging rather than taking notes and trying to edit is that I just don’t tend to get around to cleaning my text up and putting it up. When I do it like this, whatever I type while it’s happening is what gets published. It might be rough around the edges, but at least it gets posted.

    I do think that the blocked sites can be a significant hurdle in some situations. If it’s really locked down tightly, like at a lot of K-12 schools, it can be such a problem that it’s the first thing you have to address. However, for most organizations, I think there are ways around it. We can do things, whether we have to go around IT or whatever.

    It’s easy to get caught up in the “I can’ts” with any change. Tony Karrer made a good point recently about starting with small changes, looking at what you can do easily and quickly. If we focus on just trying to get small successes, I think that’s a better approach than trying to do overwhelming strategic changes. The small changes do need to be accompanied by change management; people’s attitudes about content creation, transparency, control, etc. need to change too. But it makes more sense to me to focus on the “I can,” even if it’s small.

  3. Dang, Chrisy–I’m impressed with how quickly you got this up! Gotta say that while I understand the focus on what organizations “allow” and how they’re supporting eLearning 2.0 and I agree that there needs to be organizational support, I also worry that for many people this becomes the excuse for not learning/doing more with it. In the end, organizations are made up of people and I become concerned that we see a lot of people focusing on how they “can’t” use these tools at work, as though that explains everything. Then again, I was always the “beg forgiveness, ask permission” person in the organizations I worked for.

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