Social Media and Learning

I have decided to stop using this idea of learning through social media as a buzz phrase ! A term to use to sound as if I am in the know among my fellow instructional designer peers. That’s right, today I am committed to putting this concept into practice.

Can we really learn from social media? Of course, we do it everyday ( My daughter wanted to learn how to make sneakers and I gladly showed her a video on You Tube). Why do we use it? It’s fast and in the world of smart phones and ipads all the information we need is right at our fingertips.
So great , I’m sitting on my couch watching Wall Street Money Never Sleeps and I wanted to verify that the real estate agent used in the movie was the same one used in the 1987 version. I simply grab my Blackberry and see from a fellow blogger that they did use the same actress to play the part!( At this very moment half of you are using Google and Google images to see if this is in fact true!)

The deeper question is how do I move this ability to access immediate information with the use of the world of workplace training and development? How can I encourage an organization to do the same thing? Well that is the challenge many of us face. With firewalls, IT security, and Big Brother looming how can we be sure that employees are using time to utilize social media to learn rather than update their status on facebook?

Jane Hart with C4LPT recently held a webinar on learning and social media and she plainly stated that our employees will go around us! That’s right! Stagnant IT departments , it doesn’t matter what sites are blocked on websense because Joe Blow in the accounting department has a Droid smartphone that can give him access to any website! Stick in the Mud Training and Development Departments, still stuck on those face to face classes and boring PowerPoint? Scared to integrate technology into your learning plans, it doesn’t matter! Half of your employees go to school online and will gladly download a podcast to give her the information your still trying to research to create an 8 hour class!

We have to embrace change and begin to think of ways to integrate technology into our workplace training and development. So I am going to embark on my own journey and encourage everyone to do the same!