Expectations of learners are changing, at an increasing pace. How can your learning program reflect changes in thinking – using new technology as an enabler? Marketers have recognized the potential of social media; can social media be used to improve learning outcomes?
Increasingly, as evidenced by the phenomenal take-up of sites such as facebook and twitter, people like to share their experiences and are not afraid to broadcast their thoughts and feelings online; and in turn, review those of others. This ability to receive and contribute information instantly can be very useful when applied to training programs and improve outcomes for both the trainees and the organisation. Like customers, trainees (hopefully) will be talking about you; you might as well take part in the conversation.
Tools such as blogs, wikis and online feedback mechanisms can enable training facilitators to quickly identify any areas of misconception or disagreement with training content. Trainers can respond and adjust content as needed to ensure it is current, fresh and relevant. Trainees can share their experience in relation to the relevance of the training to their role and potentially, how they can apply the learning to improve performance. Trainees may have traditionally shared their feedback with peers in their immediate sphere; however their experience may be useful in a broader context. Social media can extend the value of training programs by enabling staff to learn from peers with similar objectives, globally, to ultimately improve organisational performance.
The ability to contribute to a program can increase trainee engagement. Social media tools can transform the traditional training monologue into a dialogue in which trainees take an active part. When participants feel they can have a say, or are expected to contribute, their attention is more focused and involved. Given the open, relatively unstructured, timely nature of social media and the participant’s ability to easily and instantly post their thoughts, comments are generally open and honest.
To facilitate generation of useful feedback, trainers can use social media to pose questions designed to evoke conversation. Co-contribution tools work when topics are interesting and relevant.
The tools to achieve successful e-Learning are starting to look a lot like those for successful online marketing. Social media provides an opportunity for organisations to harness valuable information to improve learning outcomes.
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