Social Learning From the Employee Perspective

Tom Spiglanin

Guest Blog

Editor's Notes: I am happy to have my first guest blogger - Tom Spiglanin. Tom thanks so much for sharing.  You can tell from his Google+ page that he has a keen interest in social learning. So he'll probably be back!
As a reminder, this blog is also included on The 1% Edge Portable Coach App. There is a separate tab just for this blog!

Social Learning From the Employee Perspective

Chances are good if you're reading this you're someone who thrives while learning through online social media knowledge networks. We know learning is everywhere (Harold Jarche). We learn by synthesizing (me) new concepts when discovering novel ideas and merging them with our own. We do this in real time, as well as during periods of reflection (David Kelly), what Dawn Mahoney calls "learning in the white space."

What concerns me is that we seem to be a small minority. I work around many smart people, but relatively few actively engage in online social knowledge networks. I think they're missing out and don't know it. There must be valuable resources and connections for them in their respective fields of professional expertise. Even for the most technically specialized individual, it would be naive to think he or she wouldn't derive some benefit from interacting with others online.

What role should L&D play in informal learning?
Presuming knowledge is out there to be had, the question is how to develop self-directed learners who go beyond Google search. What role should the organizations historically responsible for learning and development (L&D) play in informal learning through online social media?

It's perhaps easier to answer what not to do. We mostly agree you can't implement, mandate, manage, monitor, or measure informal learning. So before answering, "leave the learners alone" or "get out of the way," let me give a few reasons I think the L&D function has a role:

1. There are many who are unaware of what online social knowledge networks are, let alone what value they provide for personal and professional development. Awareness is an issue.
2. Not all learners are created equally. In our organizations, we have a wide range of learners, some of whom are digital natives and some who aren't digital visitors, let alone residents. Among those digitally resident, many use online social media tools for networking and not necessarily for learning. They may not recognize when they've learned. Mindset is an issue.
3. Education has long struggled with stimulating and encouraging students to learn. The industry uses many techniques including problem-based learning, collaborative learning, and others to do this. Although learning is a personal activity and outcome, it doesn't mean it shouldn't be stimulated and encouraged to happen through modern social media. Motivation is an issue.

Awareness, mind-set, and motivation then are three things the Learning and Development community can focus on to catalyze an active learning mind set. Harold Jarche suggests, "...starting with a core group who understand the specific context of how they can they can better share knowledge and collaborate in their unique organization." His view is that modeling behaviors for others will lead to change in that mindset over time. Harold also points out that leadership needs to support the initiative and be actively engaged, which partially supports the motivation issue.

Other ideas on a way forward were surfaced in a recent Social Workplace Twitter Chat on Building a Collaborative Culture. In a future post, I'll go into more detail on those ideas. In the meantime, tweet your ideas to me or reply below. ------------------------------

About the Guest Blogger:

For almost fifteen years, Tom has been developing learning strategies, educational products, and instructional designs for the Learning Systems Center of The Aerospace Institute, the educational division of The Aerospace Corporation. He also facilitates learning public speaking and communication skills in the classroom and increasingly online using social media.

Tom earned his Ph.D. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and his B.S. from the University of California at Riverside.

All views expressed are his own and not those of his employer. You can find Tom on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomspiglanin

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