Blended Learning

In the mid to late 1990s there were bold predictions of the growth and effect of delivering learning online, whether it be via the Internet or through a localized network. Many organizations were early adopters who threw tremendous amounts of money and time into developing courses for online delivery. They expected to reduce costs and make money (Shank, 2004). Unfortunately for many, learning environments that were completely online didn't take off like expected. Learners weren't ready for it, put off by the lack of human interaction. The hype fizzled. Quietly, h...

Analyses

I. Goal

The overarching goal of the Real Estate Knowledge and Awareness Program (REKAP) is to increase real estate industry awareness and understanding among Metrolist, Inc. employees. By increasing knowledge of the industry that Metrolist customers work in, employees will have a solid foundation of industry-specific information when dealing with customer concerns and priorities, thereby increasing empathy and overall understanding of the people the company serves.

II. Organizational Analysis

Metrolist, Inc. is a regional real estate multiple listi...

Arriving in my inbox at work today was a book that I, truthfully, forgot I ordered. Actually, to be more accurate, I "preordered" it. It was released on Tuesday.

Anyway...

The book is called Transferring Learning to Behavior by Donald L. Kirkpatrick, who developed the Kirkpatrick Four-Levels of Training Evaluation Model, and his son, James D. Kirkpatrick.

I'd forgotten that I'd been waiting for this book to be publi...

ISD Discipline

I finally finished this week the ISD write up for an education initiative at my company called REKAP - Real Estate Knowledge and Awareness Program - yes, I came up with the name. Be nice.

I've pledged to myself to always do a thorough Instructional Systems Design (ISD) write up for all the learning interactions I develop and oversee. You see, since I'm a training department of one, the company trusts me and empowers me to "use my best judgment" when crafting education programs for employees and customers. If I wanted to, I could simply slap some cla...

I wish I could say I was stellar in the execution of my given vocation today. However, because I'm a department of one, the usual end of month events have me mired in the tactical realm of the job. There are a myriad of little things that need to be done on a monthly basis that need to be taken care of. Yes, I end up doing most of them.

Typically, the last week of the month I put together the course schedules for the month following the next month (e.g. May's schedule is done, I need to publish the June one). Managing this usually takes the better part of a morning.

Here's w...

Overall, my attendance at the Training 2005 conference was a very positive and informative experience. I had not attended an education-related conference of this magnitude before and was surprised at the amount of instructional sessions offered. In all, there were over 100 sessions of keynotes, demonstrations, product shootouts, and breakouts. Choosing among them could have been a daunting task. However, after looking over the pre-conference brochures, I found that many of the session topics had implications to our Balanced Scorecard initiatives and the NextGen project.

Since Metro...

Human performance practitioners have are focused on the day-to-day business needs and pressed by organizational demands. Consequently, they don’t have time for theory or dry research articles…that “ivory tower stuff.”

Practice vs. Research

Practice involves solving practical problems, a short time frame, cost-effectiveness, multiple problems that can be ill defined, dealing with organization pressures and clients demands. Research involves solving intellectual problems without a fixed timeframe, a narrowly defined focus revolving aro...

Beginning with the End in Mind: 3 Salient Points

1. This is the Knowledge Worker Age
2. Sustainable Relevance
1. In the antiquated accounting system of the Industrial Age, people were expenses not assets
2. Be strategic, avoid HR speak…everything training does should be aligned with business objectives.
3. The 8th Habit: Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs

Leadership

The goal of leadership should be to co...

Most literature on management and learning deals with how to cope with issues (e.g. Who Moved My Cheese). It does not, however, deal with how to effectively manage issues or to head them off before they become issues.

Speed: The Meta Challenge

This is an on demand world. Commerce is lightning fast. Business happens when the buyer wants it…consumers are not willing to wait around for a product anymore. They want it immediately. They want it yesterday. Consequently, business must manage the rapid pace consumers are driving the marketplace. Deci...

Many challenges for a one person training department are not unique simply because of the size of the department: working with executives, aligning training delivery with company objectives and strategy, knowing the vision of the company, delivering sound training that is relevant and current.

Unfortunately, the one person training department faces other challenges that multi-person departments may not have such as performing virtually all aspects of the department from administrative functions to needs assessments, instructional design, delivery and evaluati...