E P I C T H I N K I N G
Issue 15: February 2003
This month:
- White paper: Blended learning
- Show report: Retail case studies from Techlearn
- Epic Think Tank: Blending KM and e-learning
- Review: Facilitating Online Learning
- Case study: ICI Paints
- Call for Papers: E-learning in Health &
Social Care
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W H I T E P A P E R
1. Blend it, blend it…
Attention is now turning to the serious business of bringing rigour
and structure to blending different methods of learning.
Some sceptics see blended learning as an old idea dressed up in
new clothes. Others, who have a vested interest in defending traditional
ways of doing things from the encroaching tide of online learning
see it as 'a nice name for not changing very much' (Roger Schank).
However, blended learning is more than just a temporary stay of
execution for the training departments. It represents a profound
change of orientation for our whole concept of learning - moving
us to a learner-centric approach that is sensitive to the real needs
of both learners and the context in which learning takes place.
In this ground-breaking new 44-page white paper, Donald Clark lays
out a structure for achieving optimal blends, and identifies the
components, criteria, models and tools to be used.
White Paper: Blended Learning
To get your free copy contact
us
Give your views on the subject
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S H O W R E P O R T
2. Techlearn 2002 - Part II
The challenge for retail
'Of particular interest at Techlearn this year was
a group of cases studies in the retail sector. There was a specific
emphasis on the issue of 'training in retail' at the conference,
with major presentations from a range of large retailers including
McDonalds, Home Depot, JC Penney and others.
'These case studies were instructive as they brought
out the main challenges facing retailers and how many are planning
to respond...'
Donald Clark reports from the major US conference
of the year.
Read
the full report
McDonalds: how to cope
with 89% p.a. staff turnover
Home Depot, where learning
is second only to real estate
JC Penney proves the
link between learning and profitability
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E P I C T H I N K
T A N K
3. Blending knowledge management and e-learning:
Sven, VBM and the book under the counter What do value-based
management and Sven-Goran Eriksson's management style have to do
with the convergence of learning and knowledge management? Plenty,
it seems.
For the seventh in our series of Epic Think Tank discussions,
we brought together a dozen expert practitioners who have worked
on both side of the KM/learning divide and set them to examine the
common ground which is increasingly emerging between these two disciplines.
The discussion uncovered surprising insights about
the personal, unofficial nature of the knowledge people draw on
in their working lives, and the opportunities this provides for
driving value in organisations through knowledge and learning.
Intro:
Sven, VBM and the book under the counter
1.The
personality of knowledge
2.
Making the tacit explicit
3.
Learning from war stories
4.
The book under the counter
5.
The convergence of learning and knowledge management
6.
Reward systems in the culture club
7.
Modelling the tall poppy
8.
Value based management and Sven's men
9.
The Odyssey as quality manual
Read
a FREE full report of this stimulating discussion
Give your views
on the subject
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R E V I E W
4. Facilitating Online Learning - Effective Strategies
for Moderators
Atwood Publishing, October 2000
Authors: George Collison, Bonnie Elbaum, Sarah Haavind,
Robert Tinker
Review by Donald Clark
There seems to be no settled lexicon for this particular
subject area. We speak of online tutoring, e-tutoring, e-coaching,
e-mentoring, online facilitation, counsellors, moderators… and I'm
sure there's an even larger vocabulary. However, the term this book
settles on is 'moderator'.
The authors are all experienced online moderators
and draw on this experience to provide a practical guide that includes:
- Principles that support effective moderation
- Negotiating space: forms of dialogue and goals of moderating
- Key facilitator roles
- Healthy online communities
- Voices
- Tones
- Critical thinking strategies
- Roadblocks and getting back on track
We need to be clear at the outset that their philosophy
of moderation is straight out of the Carl
Rogers counselling tradition, where interventions always keep
the moderator away from centre-stage. At times this is more psychiatrist's
couch than 'real-world'.
You are advised, for example, not to praise students
directly, or summarise, as this puts you, as a moderator, at the
centre of the power relationship.
If you can ignore this rather impractical advice,
then the book really is worth reading. I prefer the more practical
approach that the Open University recommends, where the tutor intervenes
sensibly, with regular summaries: not every learner appreciates
the long-windedness of the Socratic method.
The authors are also clear about their preference
for 'scheduled asynchronous' collaboration, as opposed to synchronous
events. In this they concur with Pratt and Palloff's 'Building Communities
in Cyberspace' in recommending the considered contributions over
time that result from asynchronous contacts as opposed to the instant
reactions of the synchronous model. On this I too agree.
What does come across from this book is real experience
and a passion for the subject. If you are, or plan to be, an online
moderator, the book gives you a wealth of strategies, tactics and
tips on all aspects of handling learners online. If anything, they
can be a little too prescriptive about the dos and don'ts, but 'you
pays your money and you takes your choice'. Most of what is said
here is grounded in real practice and therefore makes good sense.
In separating voices, tones and critical thinking
strategies, the authors open up for the would-be moderator a range
of possibilities that would take a long time to gather from experience.
Each piece of advice is also illustrated by a real piece of dialogue.
This is useful as the advice can be a little abstract.
The book's three big-ticket claims are:
- Moderating has a social and professional dimension
- Better a 'guide on the side', than a 'sage on the stage'
- Online moderation is a craft that can be learned
On a detailed level this is backed up with three forms
of dialogue; social, argumentative and pragmatic.
In examining the success factors in facilitation,
and behaviours that lead towards healthy online communities, the
book provides plenty of practical detail. The idea of voices and
tones is both interesting and useful. I was less enamoured with
the critical thinking strategies: the authors have definite views
about good and bad strategies that seem at times a little narrow
- however, warnings at the end on 'roadblocks' and avoiding the
trap of being a 'question mill' are sound.
To summarise. Although a little narrow and prescriptive
in its insistence on non-interventionist counselling techniques,
this book redeems itself with more than enough good practical advice
to satisfy the prospective moderator. Finally, the book also has
one good joke:
"My teacher knows nothing about geometry: she wrote
a2+b2=c2 for right-angled triangles and asked us to prove it!"
Give your views
on the subject
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C A S E S T U D Y
5. ICI: Performance Management
ICI Paints was leading a cross-business project to
develop an e-learning programme for their employees, focusing on
performance review management. It needed to provide anytime learning
on a fundamental HR process, supporting and complementing the existing
tutored workshops…
Read more...
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E P I C N E W S
6. Call for papers: E-Learning in Health & Social
Care
As part of our thought leadership programme, Epic
intends to mount a series of conferences in 2003 to share knowledge
and insights about e-learning in practice:
- May - E-learning in Health & Social Care
- October - E-learning & Financial Services
- December - E-learning & Education
The conferences build on the success of our Think
Tank dinners in creating a forum for practically-focused discussion
and will contain no vendor presentations.
For the first of these, E-learning in Health & Social
Care, we invite papers from anyone within health who has knowledge
and useful experience to share with their peers. We are particularly
interested in examples of successful projects and implementations
within the health service. If you have something you would like
to use this forum to present please contact us on this email address:
mailto:marketing@epic.co.uk
If you are interested in attending any of these events
and would like to be notified when further details become available,
please email:
conferences@epic.co.uk
Further Epic news stories this month…
E-leadership
for local government
AIM/OFEX: Epic
profits soar
Epic interim results
show increased revenues and profits
Times and Sun -
Epic beats market expectations
Shares in Epic
jump
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F O R E T H O U G H T
In next month's edition of Epic Thinking:
- New white paper - e-tutoring
- Show report - eLearninternational, Edinburgh
- Further information about our season of conferences
- Epic's Steve Rayson reviews the NHS University Development
Plan
If you have any questions that you would like to see
our delegates address at future Epic Think Tanks, or suggestions
for further sessions, mail them now to:
thinktank@epic.co.uk
Catch up on past think tanks…
Leading
Change and e-learning
Blended
- or Blanded?
Leadership
and e-learning
Health
and e-learning
Collaboration
and e-learning
Corporate
universities and e-learning
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R E T U R N O F P O S T
If you have:
- a question to put to the Epic Thinking user base
- a response to any of the points raised here
- a suggestion for a topic you'd like to see covered mail
us right now
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