About Jon

I have been involved in enterprise learning, in big companies and ... less big companies, for more than 20 years. My learning philosophy: don't make people tote around loads of information in their heads just so you can say you trained them. Instead, tell them where to get the information they need, when they need it. I like to read, make films and play guitar (in private). I am a member of the Dashe & Thomson running and biking teams, and captain of its small but emerging chess team. More about me here.
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Three (More) Keys to Better Performance Support

Three (More) Keys to Better Performance Support

by on April 18, 2012 in performance support

It appears that more Learning & Development professionals are starting to value performance support as a critical component of any blended learning program. In my last post, I mentioned three things to keep in mind when considering performance support (PS). To summarize:

  1. Don’t forget performance support (I realize that this hardly qualifies as useful advice, but you have to start somewhere).
  2. Use the right kind of PS.
  3. Make sure learners know how to use the PS.

In an effort to dig a little deeper on this topic, here are three more ways to be sure your PS efforts are as effective as they can be:

1.   Make it easy to zero-in on a desired task

Most learners would agree that their company’s corporate intranet site would not be classified as an effective performance support tool. Unfortunately, the intranet paradigm is exactly the one many companies use to structure their …

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How to Improve Learning Outcomes With Performance Support

How to Improve Learning Outcomes With Performance Support

by on January 8, 2012 in blended learning, Informal Learning, Learning Retention, performance support

Given that the goal of instructional designers and training developers is to improve employee performance, it’s surprising that many continue to create blended learning programs with little or no reliance on performance support tools or systems.

Fortunately, performance support systems have received more attention in recent years, thanks to a broader trend toward informal learning strategies.

As you design and deliver your next learning program, you can improve outcomes by keeping these three things in mind:

1. Build performance support into every blended learning effort

Sending learners back to their jobs after training (even a “blended” combo of eLearning and ILT) without performance support is like sending them off into the woods without a map – then wondering why they got lost, even though you “gave them directions.”

Dr. Allison Rossett describes the value of performance support in her article Ode to Performance Support.

Performance support delivers valued assistance,

…

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Social Learning Demonstration: How to Be a Backup Singer

Social Learning Demonstration: How to Be a Backup Singer

by on November 8, 2011 in social learning, Video

We talk a lot about social learning on this site.  And we link to lots of others who talk – and talk, and talk.  Sure, it’s all very smart and worthwhile, but sometimes you have to go out on a limb and do a really cool demonstration.

That’s why, today, I’m going to demonstrate the power of social learning in two simple steps:

Step One: First I’m going to describe how to do something.  You will conduct a Level 1 evaluation to rate how well you learned the material, based on my concise and engaging instructions.

Step Two: You will watch a video that covers the same material.  The professional in the video essentially uses a “tell me/show me” instructional design approach.  You will then have an opportunity to evaluate your learning based on the video lesson.

Ready?  Here goes:

Lesson Version A – How to Be a Pop Backup …

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The Angry Birds Community: Social Learning Utopia?

The Angry Birds Community: Social Learning Utopia?

by on October 3, 2011 in Collaboration Tools, feedback, Game Mechanics, Informal Learning, Motivation, social learning, Video, YouTube

I’m not sure what it is about Angry Birds that made it so popular, but it works for me.  The game was introduced to me by my 10-year-old daughter, and we both seem to have the same (huge) amount of fun with it.

Angry Birds – the game – can certainly be used as a model for eLearning; it has all the attributes that make for effective game-based learning:  immediate rewards and feedback, increasingly challenging tasks, focus on action and decision-making.  Of course, actually creating effective eLearning with the same level of fun and excitement as Angry Birds would be a tall order, but it’s a worthy goal.

I’m interested in something more than Angry Birds’ gaming dynamics, though; I’m interested in the Angry Birds community.  We play Angry Birds on an Android phone – when we get stuck and click Hint, we are are transported to YouTube, where …

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The Key to Adoption of Collaboration Tools: Process Integration

The Key to Adoption of Collaboration Tools: Process Integration

by on September 15, 2011 in Collaboration Tools, social learning, Social Media, user adoption

Plenty has been written about why employees are slow to adopt enterprise collaboration tools.  Most opinions on the matter, however, don’t provide satisfying conclusions about why collaboration tools are so slow to gain traction in large organizations.  As with more traditional IT initiatives, the old “senior executive support” mantra is frequently cited as a key to successful user adoption.

For example, in a Klint Finley interview called Five Principles for Improving Social Enterprise Adoption, Yakabod CEO Scott Ryser cites the importance of “political juice.”  Ryser says:

You need a champion with clout, supported by a cross-functional team of people with a good mix of experience, credentials and authority.

While executive sponsorship may be important, it’s not enough.  In fact, executive support is a good example of what a logician might call necessary but not sufficient.

Certainly, it’s true that guidance like this from Ryser is valuable, along with …

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