What's in my head today?

Since I started posting about the direction I see learning and development headed (see the posts below), a number of people have asked me how my own organisation in taking advantage of new opportunities in the learning environment. It’s certainly a fair enough question. What’s the point of me pontificating about required change if I have no intention of following my own advice? So, I thought I’d put together a few posts on some of the things we’re doing at TSAEP; topics will include web conferencing (this one), discussion groups and other social tools, the place of traditional (formal) training, and the specific software tools we use throughout the process, from content design and creation, through to the place of the LMS in hosting and monitoring formal initiatives. So, let’s get started.

At The Salvation Army Employment Plus Australia, we’ve been using web conferencing in learning and development for almost four years now. Compared to the majority of Australian organisations (and, from what I’ve seen, those elsewhere as well), we were relatively early adopters. We saw a great deal of potential early on with regard to the ways in which synchronous online events could extend and enhance the services of National Learning and Development (our business unit).

We started the process, of course, with a needs assessment, and our basic list of needs were fairly obvious and common to others who have gone down this path. We wanted a tool that allowed screen sharing, presentation sharing, text chat, audio, the ability to share files and links to websites, and the option to record sessions for later use - and we wanted all this in a system we could deploy in-house and which offered access from both within our network and outside. We compared a number of alternatives and in the end we chose Adobe Connect Professional. The company that sold the solution to use also fulfilled one of the other jey requirements we had - support and advice on the use of the tool. Our partnership with Webqem (that’s how we see it, not simply a purchaser-provider relationship) has been, and continues to be, excellent. Their support, guidance and simply the ability to bounce ideas off their people has been invaluable.

Having selected our tool, we were presented with an immediate second decision that had to be made: Did we want to also purchase the Training module of Connect to use as a Learning Management System? We decided no, mainly because we needed an LMS that could deal with learning content stored locally at each of our 80-some locations (at the time, this could be done with Connect, but the need to install a new server at each location made the cost prohibitive). Due to bandwidth restrictions, we couldn’t store our learning content centrally and have it sent out across our network (we knew in advance we wanted to make use of multimedia content), and as we were (and are) running in a Citrix environment, that would cause issues with the quality of sound and motion. We tested the idea and the results were very poor indeed.

Our use of Connect started cautiously, with a number of short hosted training sessions with content designed to address specific local needs across a handful of our sites. The relevance of the content and the convenience of being able to attend such a session without the need to travel to a central location won us some early converts, which was very important in the early days. To us, the ability to include participants from a number of different sites was an important feature, for until then our staff were pretty much limited to the advice and influence of the people around them in their site (an issue we continue to work on). Broadening their horizons led to new ideas coming out and some excellent discussion, with participants exposed to new ideas.

None of our team had previous experience hosting learning across the web, though each of us were experienced trainers when it came to traditional delivery. A resource we found priceless at the time was the Elearning Guild’s Handbook on Synchronous e-Learning, written by Karen Hyder. It contains very valuable advice and checklists, and anyone starting out with facilitation of web conference learning activities should read it. This gave us the basic ideas we run with to this day.

As we became more confident with the software, we stretched ourselves and began to offer more sessions with a wider array of topics. Offering training through this medium allowed us to save thousands of dollars that previously had gone into travel and accommodation expenses, and positive feedback from participants and managers (not all of the, mind you - you will come across hold-outs who you may or may not be able to convert to supporters over time) gained the notice and approval of our Executive team - something that’s always critical when rolling out any new initiative. I mean it, though, when I say you will come across those who refuse to believe in the value of this kind of training (and elearning in general) - don’t waste too much energy specifically trying to win them over. Work with those who do see the value, and work on those who are on the fence and willing to give the new method a go. Don’t beat yourself up when you fail to convert everyone to your point of view.

We’ve now reached the point where we even offer workshops for our accredited learning programs (Certificate IV in Employment Services and the Diploma of Management) by web conference. Our team are much more confident with the software now, and some of them have driven huge improvements in the interactivity of the sessions, drawing on Connect’s ability to form break-out groups and the power of the social aspect of group learning. Both of these accredited learning programs have won awards at the Asia Pacific Learning Conference - Best Partnership in Learning Program, Best Frontline Management Training Program and Best Distance Education Program. In 2010, TSAEP’s National Learning and Development was also awarded the Best Training Team award, which was a great thrill.

The best advice I can give anyone looking to branch out into facilitated learning online is to conduct a thorough needs assessment. Make sure the solution you end up buying meets your requirements, and be careful not to buy something because it’s shiny and new or is sold by a skilled sales team. Use the free resources available to get yourself up to speed on some solid ideas for how you are going to operate the sessions (starting with Karen Hyder’s guide, above), and don’t be afraid to experiment. Importantly, always pay attention to the feedback of the end users, and incorporate their suggestions for refinement where you can. Even though this is still quintessentially “push” learning (sessions planned and developed by the L&D team and delivered formally to participants), learning is still a two-way street. Engage people and you will win early converts.

And finally, make sure the sessions you are running are aimed at a measurable business result - this advice applies to any and all learning intiatives, and it saddens me when I hear learning professionals say things like “I don’t have time to understand the business or measure effects”, or “you can’t mesure the effect of training on end results.” True, there are many factors that contribute to business performance, and learning is but a single one; but that doesn’t mean you can make a case for the impact of your work when the business outcomes your training was targeted at improve after the intervention occurs. After all, if you’re not in your role to improve the performance on your business, you are in the wrong place.

I hope I’ve given you some things to think about and some ideas of how you may like to start. As always, you can message me (@glennhansen_ on Twitter, if you like), or use the Ask a Question link on the right of this page, if you’d like clarification on any of the above. Alternatively, you’re welcome to email me at Glenn_Hansen@aep.salvationarmy.org.

Have a great day, everyone!