March 19, 2003

It is time for March Madness! The annual ritual of pouring over NCAA Basketball Tournament brackets and entering office sponsored pools must cost the economy millions in lost productivity. Fortunately, I am not aware of any research being conducted in this area, so I do not feel too guilty about feeding my habit.

To me, these tournament pairing brackets resemble organizational charts. In those charts, HR and Training professionals play a role in making the teams match up, train for competition, measure success and prescribe a succession plan. Predicting outcomes is a big part of our every day jobs. Doing it for fun once a year for basketball tournaments is just a great way to stay in practice. My advice (for basketball and real life) is to pick an upset or two, and revel in watching the underdog achieve what on paper seems impossible.

In case you were wondering, I picked Kentucky to win this year. And for fun, I have my alma mater Creighton University going to the Final Four. Who knows? It could happen.

Articles in this issue:

Training or Learning: What Fits Your Company?

Flexible Learning Objects

Copyright: Using Movies and Music in Training Comes with Legal Obligations… and Costs

10 Damaging E-learning Myths

Make it Relevant, Interesting and Funny

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As always, thank you for your involvement and continued dedication to training!

-  John Quincy, Editor

Training or Learning: What Fits Your Company?
By Maryann Billington

Often, today's chief learning officers are much like the captains of seafaring vessels who have embarked on a perilous ocean journey. Guiding the organizational ship toward its business goals requires skilled preparation. You can train that yacht's crew to raise and lower the sails. The safest journey will occur when they have learned how their actions affect the maneuverability of the ship in rough seas and how to make the right decisions as individuals and as a team.

Let's consider an organization's goals, options and resources when creating a learning and training solution. Company leaders seek experienced chief learning officers (CLOs), not unlike the captain of a ship, to navigate through the learning options to help achieve the business goals. Since there are no sophisticated GPS systems available to chart that course, CLOs rely on the analysis and detailed planning they generate to skill the workforce by training or learning events that are appropriate and cost-effective. (LEARN MORE)

Flexible Learning Objects
By Clark Quinn

While much attention has been paid to delivering learning objects through existing systems, and similarly to the use of mobile devices in learning, connecting the two has taken a back seat. There is, however, considerable potential in supporting learning "on the go" through small and system-supported content. As we recognize the transition from formal courses to informal learning, from learning Just In Case to Just In Time, we are similarly recognizing the potential to move to granular learning experiences?
(LEARN MORE)

Copyright: Using Movies and Music in Training
Comes with Legal Obligations… and Costs
By Brian McDermott

Hollywood film clips, background music recordings from big-name stars, and handouts of articles from top-notch publications all add to the quality of a successful meeting or training session. But just in case you think all these elements come free because they're so readily available on videotape, CDs or the world wide web, here's the essence of copyright law as it pertains to meeting professionals:

If someone else wrote it, filmed it, or recorded it, chances are extremely high you can't use it in your meeting without permission and probably not without some fee. The good news, however, is that it has gotten simpler to acquire permission to use copyrighted materials. And the costs may be much less than you might first think. (LEARN MORE)

10 Damaging E-learning Myths
By Maish Nichani

Make no mistake about it, the e-learning industry is going through troubled times. The current economic climate isn't conducive to providing top quality e-learning and there are mixed opinions about the success of this type of training.

We can argue about the causes of this phenomenon forever. However, this article presents 10 damaging myths that we feel are contributing to the problems facing our industry. These myths seem to be spreading at an infectious pace. This list isn't intended as a criticism of any existing e-learning company - we have tremendous admiration for anyone who works in this difficult industry. Rather, this list gives us an opportunity to look again at the assumptions and beliefs that have come to define our dealings with customers. (LEARN MORE)

Make it Relevant, Interesting and Funny
By Elliott Masie

Every great classroom-based course that I have attended has contained humor and laughter. I remember taking a course on structured programming, one of the least funny topics I've ever encountered as a learner, yet the laughter was intense in that classroom.

When I think about the instructional design for the class, I bet there was little mention of laughter in the designer's teacher notes. Yet the teacher 'enabled' learning and it made all the difference in the world. (LEARN MORE)

What’s New? 

Training Magazine has published their Annual Top 100 list. It's ironic, isn't it? When times are good, people are often "too busy" to attend training. When times are bad, training budgets are slashed, and there is little or no training to attend. While many training departments around the globe continue to struggle with quantifying and proving actual returns on their efforts beyond mere T&E savings, this year's Top 100 have such analyses down to a science.

The Herman Group has released its top ten forecasts for the workplace in 2003.

NEXT MONTH - We are constantly searching our industry resources for other practical ideas to help you be an effective workplace expert! If you have topics you wish explored, or resources to share, for future editions, please forward them to me. JQ