Get a realistic perspective

While Expertus participated in the CLO Symposium, we had discussions with 23 senior learning executives about a variety of training-related topics. Again and again, executives expressed a high level of frustration with learning management systems (LMSs).

Our recent survey on LMSs also showed significant challenges. More than half of the survey respondents (About 55%) expressed that LMS customization was their top LMS challenge. Integration was next highest. Almost 40% of respondents said their companies did not use the latest versions of their installed LMS. Reasons for not upgrading included lack of budget (38%), impact on previous customization work (32%), uncertainty about version stability (32%), and lack of technical resources (25%).

Why the problems? Are they part of the package, so to speak?

Not necessarily so! But, avoiding major problems does require some upfront thought and a realistic perspective.

Work on LMSs whether an implementation, an upgrade, or a consolidation requires in-depth technical expertise with both the LMS application as well as a wide range of other applications, tools, and content. Even if your LMS is a stand-alone application today, we can assure that you’ll want integration in the future.

We’ve found that most companies require LMS customization whether the LMS is hosted or installed behind a corporate firewall in order to achieve the promised benefits of the application. Most companies simply do not have the technical resources for such work despite what their IT teams may tell them. And LMS projects are too important for them to be viewed as training projects.

Anyone who touches your LMS application also should have what we call domain expertise, a thorough understanding of corporate learning and its best practices. For instance, if you implement an LMS based solely on your current needs, you’ll likely find yourself trapped and limited within the next year or so. Though there’s no need to over-engineer, it is highly essential to consider likely future needs and de facto standards for corporate training.

LMSs are highly sophisticated applications that offer great value if you handle them with care. If you’ve got questions about the direction you’re taking on an LMS-related project, contact us. We’d be happy to offer an objective and practical perspective.

Informal Learning in the corporate scenario

The evolution of informal learning and its relationship to traditional formal learning are some of the key developments in training over the past decade. Call it a learner-centric model, if you will-one where content bubbles up through the organization by coming from anyone and anywhere. Leveraging the power of learning 2.0 services or capabilities can really be beneficial. Informal learning that takes place day to day from person to person is something that we are familiar with, but in a Web 2.0 world of interactivity, various forms of communication, collaboration, information and training become highly personalized. These include informal learning elements such as white papers, wiki’s and blogs, Google searches, knowledge management components and other useful bits and pieces that can be accessed via the Internet- and which don’t necessarily fit within a pre-defined learning structure. There are a variety of ways to leverage the value of informal learning in the corporate scenario, which could otherwise be called as corporate social learning. One is to have managers as instructors where they deal with practical application of the skills acquired and then have participants practice their new skills and provide feedback to determine what is and isn’t working. A second approach is to develop an internal teaching culture that can take advantage of existing resources-including blogs, webinars and the like-to extend learning well beyond the classroom.

And the third is use corporate social learning as a natural adjunct and follow-on to more formal methods, a very cost-effective approach that enables organizations to squeeze more knowledge and value out of the learning continuum. Lastly, a simple Google search really is informal learning. Your Learning Management System or Learning Portal should have the ability to do federated searches. If a student is searching for a class, they should also have the ability to find other resources that might save them a day of training and get the knowledge they need quicker.

For more information log on to http://www.expertus.com/.

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