Spencer and eLearning

https://www.docebo.com/2017/01/10/boost-employee-productivity-elearning-investments/

In this blog, Spencer poses that money spent on e-learning programs by various organizations, is money well spent. The author goes on to discuss the importance of having the right training program in place to maximize knowledge retention and then future productivity. He explains that for every dollar spent on eLearning, the organization gains thirty dollars in productivity. He explains how eLearning programs allow users to decide when and where they want to log in. It also provides facilitators an easier way to track success or failure, as well as individual progress of each employee (Thornton, 2017).

Other covered topics by Spencer include; things to avoid when using e-learning and how to increase productivity with the same. These topics are relevant to just about any type of organization that desires to empower their employees, as well as finding ways to make the day more time and cost efficient (Thornton, 2017).

Docebo is the organization that is hosting Spencer’s blogs. It is an internationally based organization that is based in several countries throughout the world. It is available also in several languages. It is a Learning Management System (LMS), that allows various organizations to incorporate formal, informal and various social learning programs into their daily flow. Though the organization has an immense amount of traffic, Spencer’s blogs, the one’s I read, have no comments in response yet. Despite the low traffic in spencer’s blogs, he has fifteen years’ experience with eLearning, and is vice president of his company Open Sesame. With this job, he wears many hats and has a good reputation with those he works with. Given the reputation of the Docebo site, it seems almost only a matter of time before spencer sees more responders and followers (Thornton, 2017).  

Reference: Thornton, S. (2017, January 10). Boost Employee Productivity Exponentially with eLearning Investments. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://www.docebo.com: https://www.docebo.com/2017/01/10/boost-employee-productivity-elearning-investments/

Stephen Cunha and Blending Social Learning

http://www.litmos.com/blog/social-learning/what-is-social-learning-how-help-you

In a blog by Stephen Cunha, the topic surrounds the topic of the Social Learning Theory and how it relates to blended learning. He explains that in a blended, or often, online educational environment, there is versatility in being able to teach from anywhere and anytime. He explains how this relates to the Social learning theory in that, for example, various educational videos to be used, for example, for training purposes, where trainees can visualize other seasoned employees in motion. Through this indirect social interaction, the individual begins to learn the most effective ways to perform their jobs (Cunha, 2014).

            This type of information can prove quite effective for, say, introducing the concept of social learning and its various benefits to the leadership of the organization in question. Stephen Cunha is a newer employee of an organization that goes by the name of Litmos. He recently graduated with a BA and is aspiring as an advocate for change. Thus far, there have only been a handful of responders that appear to be staying relevant with the questions and comments made. Based upon the host organization having a good reputation, I would feel confident in recommending that someone read his posts (Cunha, 2014).

Reference: Cunha, S. (2014, December 12). Social Learning, Blended Learning & Instructional Design. Retrieved from http://www.litmos.com: http://www.litmos.com/blog/social-learning/what-is-social-learning-how-help-you

http://marciaconner.com/blog/defining-social-learning/

Marcia Connor introduces a new perspective on the definition and explanation of social learning. The author defines social learning as interacting with others to gain insight into old, new and uncharted ideas and concept. The author poses that social media is an effective catalyst for social learning opportunities. She purports that the use of social media makes learning enjoyable and encourages its users to be proactive in their learning. This then speeds up, say, a corporation attempting to increase knowledge retention and then efficacy in application (Conner, n.d.).

The author further poses that she personally uses social media outlets daily. This then leads to invaluable networking resources and sometimes friendships. The author advises that she recommends first defining social media for oneself, or for leadership of an organization with its employees, so that information can be conveyed, answers to questions and oppositions as well as establishing motivation toward engagement. The final piece is for the individual or group to challenge themselves in branching out in social media platforms as well as acquiring new personal and professional relationships (Conner, n.d.).

This leads me toward beginning to see the relevance and importance that social media now plays in my life. As a writer, musician, counselor and now teacher, the many uses of these platforms can do nothing but benefit me on every front. I have recently defined social media for myself and have aligned myself with being more open and involved in respects relevant to myself and my life. I feel as though we are all compassion at the base and that connecting with others is almost an instinct and then need. In this respect alone, social media creates a multitude of opportunities to learn, connect, engage and create with others. For professional purposes, the networking and collaborative opportunities are endless.
Marcia Conner is a former executive level employee of various organizations who now dedicates her time to assisting others in there organizational ventures. She has valuable insight into how a company works, inside and out, as well as what has and has not been effective. She has established her own website and other endeavors that consistently venture into various pertinent topics relevant to many realms, personal, business and educational. She has many followers that consistently, through various questions and answers, seek her knowledge and expertise. Her insight would be valuable to any leader of any organization with an open mind and willingness to change (Conner, n.d.).

Reference: Conner, M. (n.d.). Defining Social Learning. Retrieved from http://marciaconner.com: http://marciaconner.com/blog/defining-social-learning/

Harold Jarche and Ways To Propagate Effective Social Learning

http://jarche.com/2010/02/a-framework-for-social-learning-in-the-enterprise/

In a blog written by Harold Jarche, he reports that learning needs to be viewed as a reciprocal process, through which individuals are judged based upon experience, credentials and knowledge. He proposes various methods toward effecting a positive social learning experience. Some methods include such concepts as thinking at a micro and macro level. This means maintaining open communication at all levels of the organization. Another might be to use social media to inspire, motivate and create easier and less threatening means of communication and group efforts (Jarche, 2010).
There are many ways that technology can be introduced to propagate effective social learning. One concept refers to Group Directed Learning (GDL). This regards the idea that having effective tools that would affect productive social learning experiences, makes the process that much smoother and more efficient. Blogging has been suggested as an effective means through which associates and other stakeholders can learn from one another (Jarche, 2010).

       Harold receives thousands of replies and posts every day from followers. All are asking questions
directly pertinent to the subject matter and offering suggestions in return. Harold also offers some
personal contact information for other queries. Harold is hailed on an international basis as a go to
person in terms of employment structure and procedures. He specializes in applying concepts like
social learning to the everyday workflow, production and profitability of many types of organizations
throughout the world. His responders often reply enthusiastically and supportively in their responses,
often adding to the conversation or introducing new concepts all together (Jarche, 2010).


    Harold’s posts are quite relevant to leadership of various organizations in that he gets to the core of
some very crucial issues that many leaders or varied organizations are now facing. With the tidal
waves of change amongst us, there is no room to doubt that many reformations will occur through
part or all of many company’s in existence around the globe. Therefore, for example, leaders able to
see the value in looking holistically versus in parts. If they could see how each part truly makes the
whole then me would be replaced with we.


Reference: Jarche, H. (2010, February 24). A framework for social learning in the enterprise. Retrieved from http://jarche.com: http://jarche.com/2010/02/a-framework-for-social-learning-in-the-enterprise/

Various Perspectives on Social Learning

Hart, J. (2017, February 27). Top down implementation of social learning doesn’t work. Retrieved from http://modernworkplacelearning.com: http://modernworkplacelearning.com/magazine/top-down-implementation-of-social-learning-doesnt-work/

     The blog written by Jane Hart references the subject of social learning in the workplace. She discusses many of the complications of implementing the popular "top down" method of implementing social learning mechanisms and forums. It explains that by leadership attempting to impose social media, for example, upon the employee base, may cause friction and dissention with opposition to concerns such as; privacy, disinterest and extra work that is not necessary. She explains that a better approach would be a "bottom up" approach to social learning in the workplace. once suggestion to to gain insight into what motivates, excites and interests the employee base. Other pertinent information includes; what types of social media sites are already being used by the employees, what are some popular topics being discussed and how many employees are engaged in one or more social media sites. one reason that this approach works, is that it puts the employee in the drivers seat, creating an instant comfort level and further motivation to engage. Providing a sense of trust with the employee base can also go a long way, but requires trust on the part of the facilitator. finally, social media is one of the most popular and most used forms of communication and inadvertently social learning (Hart, 2017).
     Jane and the organizations she works with, as well as an impressive resume and thousands of blog followers, are specifically targeting various organizations in need of modernization and, at times, complete reformation. Her programs, blogs, and consulting work provide organizational entities with means to increase productivity and profitability as well as to create a more conducive environment for its employees (Hart, 2017).
       For this particular post, there were two responders. The one gentleman introduced the concept of using what are known as Enterprise Community Managers (ECM). These individuals are essentially moderators and propagators of the various systems in place to boost organization profitability as well as offering best practices in promoting social learning. The other repsonder mentioned the various cultural concerns in implementing social learning (Hart, 2017).
      The blog site appears reputable and reliable. Jane Hart actually started an organization known as The Center For Learning & Performance Technologies. She also has a book out entitled “Learning in the Modern Workplace 2017.  Jane Hart is currently the Director of the current program that she is working with, the Centre for Modern Workplace Learning. She set up the company to help various organizations and learning professionals bring current there approaches to propagating effective workplace learning (Hart, 2017).
      Based upon the reader’s comments and feedback, it appears she is well respected and sought out for advice in this and other specialty areas

                        There are many reasons to encourage social learning. First and foremost, an individual internal homeostasis is paramount in enabling that individual to learn in the first place. The psychology behind social learning regards Bandura's theory of Operant Conditioning regards neutral, reinforcing and punishing responses, in various social settings, which then encourage or discourage future behaviors. The next reason is that people simply love to be heard and understood. In this sense, by call and response feedback, the individual establishes comfort rapidly and then opens to new concepts and directions. It has been empirically shown that many social media sites are reliable sources of information. The individual must disseminate what is real and fake by further individual research. This chain of events propagates more learning per capita than former classroom settings. Finally, social learning begins from a child observing and imitating their parents. This conditioning then translates into that same individual relying upon social learning throughout their lives (Heera, 2014).

Reference: Heera, E. (2014, December 30). 4 Important Reasons To Encourage Social Learning. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com: https://elearningindustry.com/4-important-reasons-encourage-social-learning

     Social Learning Theory, as introduced by theorist Albert Bandura in nineteen seventy-seven, regards the concepts of both monitoring the reactions between various stimulus and the concept that behaviors are learned from the surrounding environment and its various components. From early childhood call and response between parent and child, to the classroom, training room and place of business, there are endless opportunities for an individual to learn from his surroundings and the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that could be gained. As educators, both positive reinforcement and mediation would be needed. There are four concepts to be aware of regarding this process of reinforcement and mediation. The first is attention.  This regards the extent to which the exposure to new stimulus excites interest in the subjects. The next is the concept of retention. In other words, how well is the behavior or training method remembered? The reaction to the stimulus may be actively observed, but is it not always remembered which prevents imitation. The next concept is the reproduction. This is the ability of the subject to perform the behavior that the model has demonstrated. The final concept, inclusive of Bandura’s theory, is motivation. This would be demonstrated by the level of enthusiasm and then precision the subject would now perform said behaviors (McLeod, published 2011, updated 2016).

Reference:McLeod, S. (published 2011, updated 2016). Bandura - Social Learning Theory. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org: http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html

A blog is a personal online diary or journal that is frequently updated. It is a place where the individual can share their passions, insight and previously acquired knowledge. Essentially, it is a personal website that can be shared internationally with those who wished to read and respond. There are millions of individuals, or bloggers, that participate in these sites on a daily basis, with a wide variety of purposes and subject matter (Byrd, n.d.).

There are some advantages to blogging. A blogger, who has been able to create and maintain a blog site as their main source of income, can potentially use blogging to replace the nine to five job. Blogging is also an excellent source of networking opportunities on an international level. Blogging also provides a medium through which the individual is able to freely express their thought and knowledge, while recipients are able to respond and potentially provide further knowledge. Some disadvantages to blogging regard, first, the potential for liabilities. As this forum tends to be free form, there is always the potential for liabilities in many forms. It has also been discovered that it is also difficult for moderators to enforce policies that have been put in place regarding what is said and how. Marketing blogging efforts can be difficult, especially for  interorganizational communication. Leaders cannot force consituents to participate in blogging, therefore many ideas and concepts can be lost or even ignored (Benjamin, n.d.).