On Friday 1st October, Stephen Downes ran a freewheeling conversation/ workshop with people interested in elearning in Hobart, Tasmania.
This audio was recorded on my Palm Zire 72 and then a few filters were run over it in Audacity so that most of the background hum was zapped.
I asked some questions of Stephen about how we can integrate work and learning, and about the challenges of using elearning in the workplace.
audio file 1.7Mb, MP3, 14:58 m:s, opens in new window.
[2:30] Embedding learning into work processes using technology is possible. Tech that might help here is REST and RSS.
The question to ask is "how can we add learning into this, into anything?" Writing is frequently a key to this - whether people are writing or using writing. This relates back to Stephen's comments also about knowledge management earlier in the day. Embedding the knowledge management process into daily activity: embedding the learning process into daily activity.
[5:30] Control - who's determining how learning will take place? The objectives of workplace learning are supposed to be about improving ROI or business productivity. [6:30]While the learner's motivators are different eg earning money for holiday. Effectiveness comes back to making learning something a worker would do anyhow - something they want to do for their own reasons. These might be to make their job easier for example, or improves their employability. Has to be to the benefit of the worker.
[8:40] A quiet question was asked about ROI - apart from financial return and how that non-financial return may be measured. Stephen responded that the only relevant measure was the bottom line - but [10:00] the problem is that there is no real direct cause and effect relationship between learning and earnings, or indeed anything and earnings.
[12:00] Modelling a simulation of the business as well as you can and then you play with the inputs to model potential ROI, but modelling is not sufficiently sophisticated in most cases because of the inherent diversity and complexity of business operations.
Thanks to Jennifer Dunbabin and Elisabeth Todd for organising!
Posted by Kirsty at October 3, 2004 05:54 AM