The document discusses how social learning is becoming the future of workplace learning. It is driven by employees increasingly learning through informal social interactions using consumer technologies. This represents a fundamental shift away from formal training. For learning and development to be effective, it needs to embrace this social learning by supporting knowledge sharing, networking, and autonomy rather than trying to control or ban informal learning activities. Success will be measured by improved performance rather than traditional learning metrics.

1. The future of learning is …. social
Jane Hart
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies
www.C4LPT.co.uk

2. C4LPT, 2011 2

3. Learning
"Social Business" is not about technology, or about
"corporate culture." It is a socio-political historical shift that
is bigger, broader and much more fascinating.
A new perspective is changing how we think about society,
politics, interpersonal relationships, science, government
and business. New approaches are emerging. Learning
and self-expression are exploding. Values are changing.
Leadership is changing. The economy is changing. Change
itself is changing — it is accelerating and becoming the
norm.”
Social Business doesn’t mean what you think it does
Deb Lavoy, 7 September 2011
C4LPT, 2011

4. Social Learning is NOT …
• a new training trend
• bolting “social” onto a course
• upgrading to a new LMS
It is a fundamental shift in the way people are learning in the
workplace …

5. what evidence do you have
that people are working and
learning differently
C4LPT, 2011 5

6. C4LPT, 2011 6

7. Consumerization of IT
“Today already 47% of business technology users
at North American and European companies report
using one or more website(s) to do parts of their jobs
that are not sanctioned by their IT department.
We expect this number to grow to close to 60%
in 2011 as frustrated workers work around
IT to self-provision technology”
How democratization of technology empowers employees, Forrester, 2011
C4LPT, 2011 7

8. Consumerization of Learning
“between one-third and two-thirds of your
employees are meeting their needs
by working around you”
Jensen & Klein, Blind Spots, CLO Magazine, April 2011
C4LPT, 2011 8

9. how can IT and L&D deal with
this? Should they ..
Ignore it – it’s not important
Ban it – it’s disruptive
Embrace it – it’s an important aspect
of learning in the workplace
C4LPT, 2011 9

10. C4LPT, 2011 10

11. who is using these tools?
how are they using them?
what can L&D do to support
a broader approach to
workplace learning?
C4LPT, 2011 11

12. Who?
Smart Workers
C4LPT, 2011 12

13. IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY
FINDING & USING
Personal Finding content CONTENT
Team productivity
productivity
Keeping up
to date
with new
content
Sharing
links,
resources
& ideas
Co-creating
content
JOINING & BUILDING CREATING & SHARING
NETWORKS & COMMUNITIES
C4LPT, 2011 CONTENT 13

14. 8 key features
how the Smart Worker
works and learns
today
…and what this
means for L&D
C4LPT, 2011 14

15. 1 - The Smart Worker :
recognises she learns
continuously as she does
her job
“today’s work environment doesn’t
tolerate learners stepping out of their
workflow to learn unless it is absolutely
vital to do so”
Gottfredson, 2011
C4LPT, 2011 15

16. The future is ….
• valuing informal and social
learning
• integrating learning in the
workflow.

17. 2 - The Smart Worker :
wants immediate access
to solutions to his
performance problems
“People don’t want to study a
problem they want to solve it.”
C4LPT, 2011 17

18. The future is ….
• de-focusing on courses and
re-focusing on performance
aids
• good information design
• not reinventing the wheel
• encouraging effective use of
the Social Web

19. 3 - The Smart Worker : is happy to share
what she knows
C4LPT, 2011 19

20. The future is ….
• recognising YOU can’t create
everything your people need
• tapping into the growing
phenomenon of sharing
• enabling the infrastructure
for sharing
• letting groups organise their
own content

21. C4LPT, 2011 21

22. 4 - The Smart Worker :
relies on a trusted
network of friends and
colleagues
C4LPT, 2011 22

23. “I’ve learned more in the last few
weeks by monitoring this
community than I have in the
past year in class….. It’s an
amazing group – I have seen
discussions on questions I hadn’t
thought about and received
pointers towards great articles.”
C4LPT, 2011 23

24. The future is ….
• helping individuals build their
own Personal Knowledge /
Learning Networks (PKNs or
PLNs)
• Helping groups set up and
maintain their own
communities of practice, etc

25. 5 - The Smart Worker :
learns best with and from others
C4LPT, 2011 25

26. The future is ….
• recognising you cannot
force/enforce social learning
• providing a framework for
conversations and discussions
to take place
• encouraging others to set up
their own learning
communties

27. C4LPT, 2011 27

28. 6 - The Smart Worker : keeps up to date
with his industry and profession
C4LPT, 2011 28

29. The future is ….
• helping individuals with their
Personal Knowledge
Management (PKM), e.g.
helping them deal with
information overload
• encouraging others to curate
content to share with their
teams

30. 7 - The Smart Worker :
constantly strives to
improve her productivity
C4LPT, 2011 30

31. The future is ….
• encouraging the use of
personal devices
• providing workflow audits
• offering a performance
consulting approach to
business/job problems

32. 8 - The Smart Worker :
thrives on autonomy
"Human beings have an innate
drive to be autonomous, self-
determined and connected to
one another.
The opposite of autonomy is
control. And since they sit at
different poles of the
behavioural compass, they
point us to different
destinations. Control leads to
compliance; autonomy leads to
engagement
A sense of autonomy has a
powerful effect on individual
performance and attitude.“
C4LPT, 2011 32

33. The future is ….
• letting go!
• understanding learning is not
the end goal, but the means
to an end - the end is
performance
• keeping out of the way of
self-reliant learners
• helping others become more
self-reliant

34. how do we measure success?
- employee learning
- L&D’s interventions
C4LPT, 2011 34

35. The future is ..
• measuring success differently
• moving from quantity to
quality
• “quantity is an antiquated
way of measuring success”
• defining performance
objectives and measuring
how well individuals meet
their objectives
• moving from LMS to social
and collaboration tools/
platforms

36. The future of learning is …
working smarter

38. bit.ly/futureoflearning