Exploring the Benefits of Using WordPress for Learning

Using WordPress for Learning
John Polaschek and B.J. Schone
November 12, 2009

About Qualcomm

“The more effortlessly employees can communicate, collaborate and share new insights with one another, the faster an organization can respond to changing customer expectations and business conditions.”
Ross Mayfield, CEO of SocialText, Web 2.0 Expo

Enterprise 2.0 @ Qualcomm

Do you blog?

Blogging Software

WordPress Driven Web Sites

WordPress Driven Web Sites
More examples - http://wordpress.org/showcase/

Com vs. Org
WordPress.com
WordPress.org

Com vs. Org
WordPress.com
WordPress.org
Hosted on WordPress.com
Free and paid versions
Premium for custom css
Premium for extra storage
Limited private users
Upgrade to private site
Self hosted
Open Source
Custom css for free
Unlimited storage
Unlimited private users
Private behind firewall
http://en.wordpress.com/features/
http://en.wordpress.com/products/
http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page
http://wordpress.org/about/

WordPress Stats
There are over 15 million WordPress publishers
6 million blogs hosted on WordPress.com
9 million active installations of the WordPress.org software.
Your employees may already be familiar with it.
Current Stats
http://en.wordpress.com/stats/
http://www.quantcast.com/profile-search/wordpress.com

WordPress.com Blogs

WordPress Multi-User
Can run thousands of blogs with a single install
Powers WordPress.com
Open Source
Can be self-hosted
Great for the Enterprise

3 Flavors of WordPress
WordPress MU
WordPress.com
WordPress.org

Plugins

Themes

Mobile
BlackBerry
http://blackberry.wordpress.org/
iPhone
http://iphone.wordpress.org/
In just over a week since WordPress for iPhone 2 was released on the App Store, the application has been downloaded onto over 20,000 iPhones and iPods.
Source: http://iphone.wordpress.org/2009/11/06/20000-downloads/

Technical Summary
Open Source
Flexible
Plugins
Themes
Mobile App
Low barrier to entry
Low tech requirements (Linux, Apache, PHP, MySQL)
Single-User and Multi-User versions
Easy to use / configure
It’s free!

WordPress @ Qualcomm

Began Pilot (Feb. 2009)
Testing within our own department
Learning Program support sites
Determine pros and cons
Share with I.T.
Began Customizing for Enterprise (Spring 2009)
SSO Siteminder/LDAP integration
Developed Qualcomm themes
Limited plug-ins

Enterprise Launch (August 2009)
Communicate
Email, Blogs, Micro-blogs
Corporate communication news articles
Educate
Workshops and Webinars
Support sites
Community support via mail lists
Ongoing communication and education

Learning Programs

Knowledge Sharing

Informal Learning

Technical Support

Regional Communication

Blogging Advantages
Publishing
Quick to create - Personal, Group, Team, Project sites
Support learning initiatives (formal and informal)
Experts sharing what they know
Self-service - fewer/no bottlenecks in communication process
Read
Learn directly from your colleagues
Embed multi-media (Video / Audio)
RSS (via Outlook)
Leave comments, have discussions
Tags
Identify trending topics and keywords
Search
Immediate access to knowledge sharing

Has this been a success?

First 3 Months…
6657 Users
313 Blogs
866 Posts
369 Comments

Success Not Just in the Numbers

“A simple, straightforward approach to leveraging social learning is to include social activities (e.g., discussions in blogs or discussion groups,
collaborative writing in blogs) as part of the learning flow of a current formal program. Companies which have taken this approach tell us that including such activities helps to shorten the time to mastery for learners.”
Bersin & Associates Research Bulletin, 2009
Volume 4, Issue 36

Our Success Story
Facilitates both formal and informal learning
Increased international communication
Unencumbered sharing of knowledge / information
Employee satisfaction increased
Increased collaboration
Intellectual property kept internal
Content is searchable

The Moral of the Story
Partner, partner, partner
Educate, educate, educate
Succeed or fail cheap and fast.
Provide an Enterprise 2.0 alternative, otherwise employees will use Web 2.0.
Blogging and other 2.0 technologies are changing the way we learn, work, develop products, and do business today.

Contact Us
John Polaschekjpolasch@qualcomm.com
B.J. Schonebschone@qualcomm.com

Thank You

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Exploring the Benefits of Using WordPress for Learning

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