104 Learning with Friends: Best Practices in Adopting Social Learning
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Wednesday, September 30
104/105
Social learning allows organizations to realize the benefits that eLearning promised 20 years ago. Social is flexible, cost efficient, and allows experts in an organization to directly connect with learners. Employees are already using social tools already with zero training required. How can training professionals leverage tools their employees already know how to use?
In this session, you will learn how social learning is bridging formal and informal learning and how training professionals can capitalize on the existing knowledge of their employees. You will explore how firms can use video in collaborative ways to diagnose and improve performance by combining behavioral metrics with productivity metrics to provide business leads and training managers with powerful insights. You will learn about the six drivers of change that have disrupted learning: technology advancements, access to free learning assets like massive open online courses (MOOCs), need for innovation, shift to a focus in skill development over knowledge distribution, changing workforce demographics, and the increased ability to measure productivity.
In this session, you will learn:
- Why social learning is key to inspiring collaboration and sourcing innovation
- How to use social learning for distance coaching and peer learning
- How to measure social learning by blending behavior, data, and performance analytics
- How to use social learning in formal and informal learning applications
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Bloomfire, Coach’s Eye, Salesforce Chatter.
Christopher Nekvinda
Director of Global Learning Operations
Cannon Financial Institute
Christopher Nekvinda leads the global learning initiatives for Cannon Financial Institute. He has worked on sales, coaching, leadership, and compliance programs distributed throughout the UK, Dubai, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. As a social learning and performance support evangelist, Christopher thrives on organizational change management, coaching, and performance-centered design projects that can be delivered through an informal approach using social learning tools.
204 Social Learning: The Key Ingredient in the Blended-learning Recipe
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Wednesday, September 30
203
Can the challenge of conducting annual onboarding for 700 volunteer leaders be met in a cost effective and engaging way? Leaders are located across time zones, supported by different technology platforms, and do not have common availability for a centrally-located training meeting. However, networking and sharing ideas are key learning requirements of the group. In addition, budgetary constraints mean that only half the population can be trained per year, leaving the other half with very little support from national headquarters. This uneven approach has led to inconsistent results in terms of membership retention, chapter programming, and volunteer engagement.
In this case-study session you will see how a blended learning approach, using social learning as a critical ingredient, met the challenge of onboarding a large, geographically-dispersed audience to prepare them as volunteer leaders. You will learn how 70 local facilitators were identified as orientation trainers and invited to an event focused on developing presentation skills and providing support tools. You will gain insight into using blended learning, and specifically social learning, to successfully match performance objectives to the most appropriate, and cost effective, delivery medium.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to assess your organization’s readiness for implementing a social learning platform
- Three best practices for integrating social learning into an existing training
- The advantages of using a social media platform to facilitate collaboration among virtual learners
- How to apply a blended learning model within your organization, using social learning as a key ingredient
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and
managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Blackboard Collaborate, and Yammer.
Rachel Troychock
Manager of Collaborative and Social Learning
National Kitchen and Bath Association
Rachel Troychock is the manager of collaborative and social learning at the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Previously with KPMG and Cendant, Rachel has a decade of experience in the field of eLearning. She holds a master's degree in instructional technology from Bloomsburg University.
Nancy Barnes
Director of Learning and Development
National Kitchen and Bath Association
Nancy Barnes, director of learning and development at National Kitchen and Bath Association, joined them in 2011 as manager of professional development and certification. With more than 15 years of corporate instructional design experience, Nancy specializes in the design, development, and delivery of virtual classroom sessions, as well as blended learning of in-person and online education. Nancy formerly served as manager of technology learning services for KPMG, senior learning manager for Toys ‘R’ Us, and learning solutions manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers. She holds an MS degree in education with an option in online teaching and learning from California State University—East Bay, as well as an MA degree in cinema studies from New York University.
307 Building Your Social Habit
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Wednesday, September 30
205
We all know we may have some bad habits: biting nails, tapping our feet, regularly eating junk food. But did you know you can also work to create productive habits—habits that can improve your performance and build your knowledge? Those who have built diverse social networks are not only building more powerful relationships, they’re opening doors to new opportunities and staying ahead of the curve in their practice, and they seem to do it almost unconsciously … like a habit.
Being social is human nature. However, using social tools to augment social networking is not, and for many these behaviors just don’t stick. In this session you will work to define your goals, identify triggers to spark activity, and assess your environment to support your growing network capability. Additionally, you will develop your own key implementation intentions and identify natural feedback loops to sustain your routines and build a powerful social habit.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to analyze your current network to identify the gaps
- How to identify your social cues (content, conversations)
- How to craft implementation intentions to formalize habit development
- How to recognize your tangible and intangible rewards (connections, knowledge application)
- How to use your personal path to scale social network growth in your organization
Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, developers, project managers,
managers, and directors.
Technology
discussed in this session:
N/A
Mark Britz
Director of Event Programming
Learning Guild
Mark Britz is the director of event programming at The Learning Guild. Previously he worked for more than 15 years designing and managing learning solutions with organizations such as Smartforce, Pearson Digital Learning, the SUNY Research Foundation, Aspen Dental Management, and Systems Made Simple. Mark is also an organizational social designer, helping businesses achieve the benefits of becoming more connected and collaborative to improve learning and engagement. Mark is the author of Social By Design: How to create and scale a collaborative company, and regularly presents and writes about the use of social media for learning, collaborative networks, and organizational design.
407 User-generated Content and the Shrinking Learning Department
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, October 1
104/105
It’s no secret that most, if not all, of us are facing an ever-increasing need to provide more and more training on complex products, regulatory issues, advanced application processes, and the like. The question is: How do we continue to offer training that keeps our learners engaged in an environment of stagnated training budgets and headcount reductions?
In this session, you will explore a real-life case study of a piloted user-generated content (UGC) initiative. You will walk, step by step, through how subject matter experts were enabled to easily create informal but highly engaging video-based content entirely on their own. Finally, you will learn how UBS was able to integrate that content within their social networking platform, making it easily accessible and searchable for all employees.
In this session, you will learn:
- How your firm can leverage subject matter expert (SME) UGC
- How to implement an SME UGC model
- How to leverage your social media platform to deploy SME-generated content
- The tools and processes you can use for SME-generated content
- Best practices and lessons learned in starting a UGC project in your firm
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Articulate Replay, Jive.
Michael Tucci
Director of eLearning & Learning Infrastructure
UBS Financial Services
Michael Tucci was a technology consultant and implementer for small & medium size businesses. His work in education began as a consultant for PaineWebber where he created their first self-paced Financial Advisor training. After UBS bought PaineWebber, Michael became a Learning Infrastructure Manager and implemented the firm's first LMS Web-based e-Learning offerings. Since becoming e-Learning Manager as well, he led a team that created processes to streamline the production of quality self-paced learning that, relying on both internal and external staff, has led to many successful partnerships within the industry.
Gordon Lam
eLearning Designer
UBS Financial Services
After managing the award-winning blended learning program at the American Management Association and the Financial Systems training program at Pfizer, Gordon Lam joined UBS. He has over 15 years experience in corporate training, focusing on the design, development, and delivery of e-Learning and virtual training. A Master’s Degree candidate in Educational Technology, he holds certifications in Synchronous Training, Instructional Design, Criterion Reference Testing, and the Adobe software suite. Gordon applies his talents as an improvisational jazz piano player towards the design and development of instructionally creative and engaging learning.
502 Using the Power of Online Communities to Supercharge Your Learning
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Thursday, October 1
113
One of the major challenges facing organizations is getting the balance between formal and informal right. Capitalizing on the benefits of social learning requires the right environment to facilitate it. The most successful communities have clarity of purpose, support from wider stakeholders, an engaged hub of participants, and a skilled facilitator to nurture it. For anyone interested in creating a sustainable and effective social learning strategy for their organization, understanding the benefits of a community approach and the right balance between structure and exploration is key.
In this session you will learn what makes a successful community and how to design, plan, and nurture communities. You’ll see real case studies on how a combined approach of formal and informal learning has been used to great effect in a range of organizations. You will analyze a case study from IPG Mediabrands on how to successfully blend communities and formal learning programs. You’ll take part in the first stages of a community planning workshop and you will leave the session with supporting materials to assist you in the first steps of community creation.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to design and nurture effective communities
- How to improve the effectiveness of formal learning through communities
- How leading organizations have used communities as part of the learning ecosystem
- Why communities have truly come of age and why today’s learning ecosystem makes communities more relevant than ever
- How to curate from communities to enhance formal learning programs
Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers and managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
SharePoint, Yammer, Salesforce Chatter, Ning, Pathway LMS, and Learning
Portals.
Lisa Minogue-White
Director of Learning Solutions
WillowDNA
Lisa Minogue-White is a director of learning solutions and co-founder of WillowDNA, a reporter for Learning Now TV, a presenter for Learning Now Radio, and a fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute. She is also a popular webinar speaker in the UK, a regular contributor to leading industry publications, a speaker at key events, and a writer. Lisa’s specialties include online distance learning, collaboration, learning technologies, and communities, and she was featured by Clive Shepherd in his book More Than Blended Learning.
706 Reworking the Puzzle: How Kaplan Built a Smarter Learning Ecosystem
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Friday, October 2
104/105
L&D professionals are consistently being asked to do more with less while providing scalable training solutions that align to business needs. At the same time, employees are becoming increasingly accustomed to driving their own learning at home using popular technologies. By leveraging a mix of technology, instructional strategy, and organizational knowledge, L&D professionals can put employees at the center of the learning and performance ecosystem and, by supporting this shift in accountability through a focus on providing right-time, right-fit learning opportunities, truly do more with less.
In this case-study session you will learn how, during the past three years, Kaplan Higher Education Group evolved its learning ecosystem to address the need for rapid scalability while continuing to focus on the needs of the individual knowledge worker. You will gain insights on how to shift from a reliance on training events to awareness, influence, and expansion of an employee-centric ecosystem. You will explore popular cultural challenges and learn how to influence various stakeholders. You’ll leave with the knowledge needed to start expanding and integrating your own ecosystems.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to identify the elements that make up a learning ecosystem
- How to diagnose the health of your existing learning ecosystem
- To recognize the value of establishing a solid knowledge base for your learning ecosystem
- How to apply right-fit, scalable technology to align your ecosystem elements to how people really learn
- How to start the shift towards an employee-centered, self-sustaining learning ecosystem
Audience:
Novice and intermediate developers, managers, and directors who
understand the concept of a learning and performance ecosystem at a basic level
and are familiar with blended learning solutions, knowledge management, and
reinforcement training.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Confluence (wiki), Axonify (reiterative eLearning platform),
Google+ (social media), Google Analytics (data reporting), and Adobe Connect
(virtual instructor delivery).
JD Dillon
Chief Learning Architect
Axonify
JD Dillon became a learning and enablement expert over two decades working in operations and talent development with dynamic organizations including Disney, Kaplan, and AMC. A respected author and speaker in the workplace learning community, JD continues to apply his passion for helping people around the world do their best work every day in his role as Axonify's chief learning architect. JD is also the founder of LearnGeek, a workplace learning insights and advisory group.
812 Learning Solutions from Silicon Valley: The MVP Approach
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Friday, October 2
104/105
You have limited resources and need to create from scratch, and you’re under time constraints to deliver targeted learning programs. What do you do? You have to leave the glitter aside and create what you can with what you have. When you are in the trenches of a startup, you have to constantly iterate on learning and training solutions. There is rarely a final learning product, more like an MVP, most viable product. MVP is the quickest way possible to start the learning process.
Taking a page from the “Lean Startup” movement, they each designed, delivered, and iterated on training solutions, keeping the MVP approach close in their arsenal. You will leave with ideas that you can use to build training programs quickly and apply to any organization, whether a startup or not.
In this session, you will learn:
- The basics of the Most Viable Product of learning solutions
- To collaborate and use technology to involve learners sooner
- Concepts of “working out loud”
- To ask targeted questions to understand and evaluate the results
- To create action plans from the MVP to continue to iterate
Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and project managers.
Technology
discussed in this session:
Enterprise Social Network Tools, Desk.com, Google Docs, PowerPoint,
Very Light LMS (Mindflash/Litmos).
Allison Michels
Training Program Manager
Zenefits
Allison Michels is the training program manager at Zenefits. Previously she was the director of education programs and services at Hootsuite and Microsoft, where she served as the global education programs manager for Yammer. Her focus has always been her customers and building programs that keep the learner at the center, since whether an executive at a large enterprise or a volunteer at small nonprofit, everyone has something to learn about social and technology. She helps to focus business strategies into applications that revolve around people.
Amber Deibert
Training Manager
Zenefits
Amber Deibert is the training manager for client support at Zenefits. Hired to build the initial training program for the company, she now leads a team that is rapidly iterating and improving its approach in order to support the growth of the client support team, which has increased 3,000 percent in the last 12 months. Previously working as an advanced admin of Salesforce.com, a Certified ScrumMaster, and an agile coach, Amber focuses her career on building highly functional and successful teams.
