Dan Steer

ASTD2013 Sunday session SU210 with David Kelly is under way. Participants are busy tweeting and blogging and generally making lots of Internet noise. Sounds great, eh? That’s what the new world of work is all about: Sharing content, hashtag marathons, putting everything everywhere for everyone. Right? Well maybe…

According to David Kelly, many people do not really understand what curation is about. Some do not even think about it. But in today’s fast-sharing, content “creating and commenting” learning environment, it is a critical future competency for everyone.

What is curation and why is it so important?

Most people associate curation with the role of a museum curator. That person collects and displays articles in a set place for other visiting people. In the learning world, curation is basically the same thing.

In our digital (learning) world today, there is a lot of noise. People who find, rate and share things for others create more and more Internet noise every day. Add to that the fact that production of new content is easier than ever before and we have more and more and more and more noise noise noise… So we need good curators.

Who is curating content? Who should be?

MOOCs are gaining popularity. During session SU111 of day 1 at ASTD2013, Julia Wilkowski and Phil Wagner took us thought their experiences designing and delivering MOOCs at Google.

A colleague of mine just followed a MOOC on Gamification with @kwerb and Coursera. She had a great opportunity to gather a lot of information and learning on a new topic that really interested her. (You can read my mini Twitter interview with her on this post) In Belgium, we just had a great MOOC on how to use Internet for learning. But if you want to set and run your own MOOC what are the key steps to take? How can you ensure success? What are the key competences required of a MOOC facilitator? What are the challenges for MOOC participants to really learning? And are MOOCs only interesting for large multi-site organisations? Let’s see what Julia and Phil had to say…

Why is Google interested in MOOCs?

Google’s mission is to organise and make available all of the world’s information. Clearly MOOCing is linked to that. But why is it interesting? What is the added-value?

When the very first MOOC went online, over 100 thousand people got involved. Some of the online students did better in the course than the people who followed it IRL at Stanford. Why? Google’s own evaluations showed massive satisfaction from the learning population. They loved the format. They saw more search results related to the content during and after the MOOC (engagement)…

What is a MOOC?

A MOOC is a massive open online course. To be massive, you have to have at least 100 learning participants and maybe as many as 10000. MOOCs have instructors, instruction (content) goals and schedules. It may be as simple as delivering knowledge to the masses, or it may include discussion forums or Q/A sessions with experts, testing and certification. At Google, they used several of their own branded tools to create interactive, measurable learning activities (eg Google Hangouts and YouTube). MOOCs can be used to learn specific knowledge and skills, but may also be an opportunity to have crowds of people learn together to solve complex human problems, like traffic problems in Tokyo.

What do Google do to get MOOC success? What can YOU do?

Gearing up for the Sunday sessions of #ASTD2013 and making first choices of what to follow. Here are the sessions I’m thinking of following and the questions that come to mind…

Session SU111 on MOOCs with Julia Wilkowski and Phil Wagner from Google

• To which business performance and learning objectives does a MOOC best correspond?
• Which businesses or learning audiences can best profit from a MOOC? Are MOOCS only suitable for large, multi-site organisations?
• What are the most important principles to consider when setting up a MOOC? What steps must be taken to succeed?
• What specific competences does a MOOC creator or facilitator need? (eg: Are Community Management skills required?)

Session SU210 on the importance of curation with @LnDDave David Kelly

• Why is curation such an important concept today?
• What are the competences that must be developed to curate well?
• How does a good curator filter and contextualise well for his people?
• What kinds of tools and platforms can help with curation

Session SU301 with Shari Yocum on analysing informal networks in order to identify and develop essential business assets

• What do you mean by “holistic analysis” and how is it conducted?
• How can a good analysis helps to make better development choices??
• Which tools are available and in what areas has success already been proven?

Tune back in soon to find out what I heard!
D

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As part of my preparation for the ASTD ICE 2013 conference in Dallas this month, I’ve been interviewing people like Tony Bingham, Juana Llorens and Frederic Williquet (coming soon). Today, its David Kelly, better known to his 3000+ Twitter followers as @LnDDave and to others as the King of the backchannel… David is speaking at the ASTD2013 International Conference and Exhibition during session SU210 “Curation: Beyond the Buzzword”. In this interview, he outlines his approach to conference success and the learning and development topics he is currently most interested in.

Q1: In the previous conferences you have attended what have been the most interesting sessions you followed?

I usually break conference sessions into two categories: Sessions that will provide me with knowledge and skills that I can use today and sessions that will expand my skill sets and prepare me for skills I will need tomorrow.

I’m at a point in my career where I probably allocate my sessions to 25% “today” and 75% “tomorrow”. However, I’m lucky enough to have been in this field for about 15 years and have been to more conferences and professional development opportunities than most in the field. The average practitioner has less experience and does not regularly attend conferences, so I would expect their allocation to skew more towards skills they can use today.

Specifically for me though, I usually try to find one or two sessions that break the mould from what you might expect from a learning professional conference. For example, some of the sessions I’ve been interested in at recent events include topics like sketch-noting, looking at design in places outside of instructional design and gaming.

Q2: I know you’ve spoken at and attended a number of conferences in the past few years. What topics do you think still merit more work and attention in 2013?

I recall reading a statistic recently that said the average experience of people in our field is five years. If that’s true, then most of the people in our field are likely novices. As I mentioned a moment ago, a sizable percentage of any conference audience will be new to the field and may actually be attending a conference for the first time. As such, there’s always going to be a need for entry-level programs that help those novices develop skills they can use immediately. And I think that’s very important.

What interests me more though are the sessions that go beyond the basics and stretch the novice skills set. I think conferences need more sessions that make attendees rethink the traditional “training” paradigm; sessions that help refocus our field away from “training” and “learning” as the default and start shifting our focus towards “performance” and “contextual connections”. With that in mind, I’m hoping to see more conferences including sessions focused on topics such as telling better stories with our data, performance support instead of training, experience design over instructional design, and breaking away from the course model.

Q3: What are according to you the 3 biggest challenges that learning and development managers will face over the next 5 years?

Just three? I’m kidding. Here are three that immediately come to mind:

• Redefining data: There’s a lot of buzz around data right now. If you look at most conference programs you’ll likely see sessions including terms like “Big Data”, “Tin Can” and “The Experience API”. Learning professionals need to pay attention to this. The way we define data, in terms of metrics like completions or pass/fail, is going to be replaced with data that tells a much more meaningful story around performance. The question is: Will learning professionals be ready?

• Learning as part of the work: Traditionally, workers needed to stop work in order to learn or be trained. You needed to either leave the workplace to attend training or stop working to sit in front of a computer to complete an elearning course. That’s changing. Technology now enables learning and skill development to be built right into the existing workflow without the need to have an employee stop working to attend ‘training’. It’s less intrusive and fits better into the model of how workers really learn how to do their jobs. The problem is: The traditional training skill set does not support playing in that space.

• Shifting from “knowing” to “connecting”: The shelf life of information is decreasing rapidly while the speed in which performance support interventions are required is increasing even faster. In today’s world of exponentially increasing data it is impossible to know everything. What is therefore far more important is to be able to find the answer to anything in a timely manner. With that in mind the role of the learning professional shifts away from building and delivering solutions towards building connections between those with needs and those with the resources that satisfy the need. This involves competencies that are new to the learning profession such as curation and community management.

Q4: People not attending a conference can follow content via your backchannel “hub page”. Do you have ideas on how they can get more actively involved during conference week?

Without question the best way to be more involved in a conference backchannel is to prepare yourself for it ahead of time. Many people want to participate, but don’t regularly use Twitter, where most backchannels today take place. That’s a recipe for failure. The value of a backchannel comes from the sharing and from the connections and interactions you have with other like-minded professionals. You can’t concentrate on “what to tweet” to participate in a backchannel if you’re still struggling with “how to tweet”.

Q5: What are your own personal objectives for conferences this year?

My objectives for conferences are actually pretty consistent when examined at a high level. They include:

• Learning about the trends that will impact our industry in the future.
• Looking for sessions that might provide answers to problems I am actively trying to solve.
• Connecting with attendees and continue to expand my personal learning network.

Maybe you have a question for David yourself? He will be speaking at the ASTD2013 International Conference and Exhibition during session SU210 “Curation: Beyond the Buzzword”.

You can find him on Twitter and keep in touch with his opinion on the ever changing world of learning and development.

Or you can leave a comment here.

Thanks for reading!

David Kelly is the Program Director for The eLearning Guild based out of New York, USA. He has over over 15 years of experience in the learning field, serving capacities of training director, internal learning and performance consultant, social media trainer and community manager. Regularly referenced as king of the conference backchannel, David is also a Twitter chat curator. Learn more about David at his website: http://davidkelly.me.

Having had the pleasure to interview ASTD President Tony Bingham recently on the upcoming 2013 ASTD International Conference and Exposition, this post outlines his thoughts on the state of the learning world and getting the best out of the ICE…

Q1: Every year thousands of people come to the ASTD ICE and many, like me, come back. What will be special for those revisiting this year?

ASTD’s International Conference & Exposition enjoys high loyalty, which is a tribute to the excellent work the ASTD Program Advisory Committee does in putting together the educational sessions and networking opportunities that thousands of people enjoy. This is a people-centric profession and I know that one of the aspects of the conference that many enjoy is the ability to reconnect with peers and network with some of the best and brightest in our field.  I also think that people return because they know that ASTD is committed to bringing thought leaders and new voices to the conference – and this includes not only keynote speakers but session presenters as well. For example, Sir Ken Robinson–our opening keynote speaker–has one of the most-viewed TED Talks on YouTube. Hearing directly from him is going to be a privilege for all of us. Nandi Shareef, one of the rising stars in the profession and featured in the April issue of T+D, will also be speaking on “The Curious Case of Workplace Millennials.” Nandi is a millennial herself and her perspective will be especially insightful to hear. I think it’s this kind of mix that makes the conference so interesting every year. That, and the fact that there are thousands of people from all over the world to learn from, all gathered together for this event.

Additionally, there will be 100 or so new suppliers on the floor in the EXPO (over 350 total). I’m always interested in where the suppliers are investing, as this can often signal future trends. The EXPO is a great resource for attendees, and every year, you’ll find many new and exciting offerings.

Q2: What changes have you seen over the last year in the L+D world? What issues or challenges do you think are “front-of-mind” for the learning profession at the moment?

Technology continues to have the most dramatic impact on the profession. We’re seeing this in many places–from organizations who are just starting to use social technologies (remember four years ago hardly anyone was using the term “social learning”?) to those who are delivering training via mobile devices to a globally dispersed workforce. The use of data – and how it can inform training and development initiatives – is another area where we are seeing tremendous engagement. Responsive design, gamification, all of these trends continue to point to a horizon that is all about the intersection of technology and learning.

Q3: Which sessions will you be following?

I have a passion for technology, so I will be looking at sessions that are focused on trends there. But I am also interested in hearing from practitioners from outside the United States. The global nature of business – and the vibrancy of the profession abroad – is fascinating to me. There is great energy around the development of talent worldwide. It’s exciting to me to be able to listen to how our international partners and members throughout the world are coping with issues like succession planning, designing learning, leadership development, knowledge management, and more.

Q4: When people visit the conference, they get a lot of big ideas and hear about all sorts of new trends. It’s easy to be very enthusiastic when away from the office, only to let things slip away or “achieve nothing” once back home. What advice would you give to HR and Learning professionals to better follow-up and implement things “post-ICE”?

In 2009 I gave a speech at our conference in Washington, D.C. in which I challenged the profession to open the door to social learning. At the time it was a new concept – the idea that people could learn from tools like Twitter or Facebook. We got a lot of interest in that topic and one of the most frequently asked questions I received was, “How do I do this?” My answer then, as it is now to your question, is “start small.” There ARE a lot of big ideas and new trends that people hear about at the conference. It can be overwhelming. But people also know that to be effective in their jobs they need to solve real problems with real solutions. My advice is to approach the conference with the idea that you are going to come back from it able to address a challenge you want to fix. Look for sessions that will give you new ideas or tools on how to fix it. And then commit to using what you learn to make your work better.

Q5: I’ve got an extra day in Dallas after the conference. Any tips for how I should use the time?

Dallas is a great city with a lot to explore! There is an amazing arts district and great sports teams, and plenty of great food.

Tony Bingham is president and CEO of ASTD, the world’s largest professional association dedicated to the training and development field. ASTD is focused on helping members lead talent management, build their business skills, understand the impact of social media on informal learning, close skills gaps, and connect their work to the strategic priorities of business.

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To do a good job with social-media based marketing you have to avoid these 5 classic rookie mistakes. If not, you risk to not be heard and not be sold.

Mistake n°1: You do everything in one place

Bad news.

Unless your customers exclusively hang-out in one place only, you need to cross-pollinate your social-media posts to ensure that more traffic gets where it needs to and more things get seen.

If you post a blog, tweet it and mention it on Facebook and LinkedIn. If you’ve got a group somewhere, add a link to it from other sources. And don’t forget that channels like email still work… Create the links between different platforms. Its a web, after all!

Mistake n°2: Everything you do talks about you and your product

Someone I know started using social media to sell his hypnosis MP3s. All he did was say things like “Trying to quit smoking? Download my MP3 hypno track” or “If you are afraid of spiders, buy my latest MP3″. Yet at the same time, he wanted position himself as an expert in his domain.

What he needed to do was offer content that positioned him as an expert. Having seen the light, he now applies the 75/20/5 principle:

• 75% of his posts share resources he has found from other people and places that are linked to the domains in which his hypnotherapy could be useful. Without mentioning his products, he positions himself as a “go-to” point and expert for information about those things. People find interesting references and ideas via him. The sale will come later…
• 20% talk directly about his products. He posts his own thoughts, ad-campaigns, blog-posts…
• 5% is the kind of “Isn’t it a lovely day?” tweet or post that reminds people he is not a machine running its own Hootsuite account.

Mistake n°3: When you do share something else, you just click “share”

..or retweet, or whatever. Don’t !

If you are sharing something for other people, its because you think it might be useful for them. If you don’t tell them why, you are just adding to the noise. If you don’t put it in the right place, you are just wasting your time.

Think about who needs this information and why, then contextualise your tweet, post or share by adding some small explanation of why you think this is interesting.

Mistake n°4: When you talk about yourself or your products, you talk about yourself or your products

In my opinion, this is the number 1 screw-up non-marketeers make when they start selling: They just talk about what they have to offer. But no-one cares what you have to offer. Or, to use a phrase I recently coined: “Nobody buys a rubber. They buy the ability to get rid of their mistakes.”

Your thing (or yourself) will only sell if it has value. And if it has value, it is that that you need to communicate. State your benefits. Don’t say what it is, say what it is useful for, how it can help people, the value it brings and its benefit. Read “Be FAB to Be Heard” for more information and examples…

Mistake n°5: All you do is put content

Just following the 75/20/5 content idea noted above is not enough. You need to do more than just posting things. 21st century online marketing is about creating conversation.

If you see something you like, like it. If you have a comment to make, comment. If you want more information from someone, ask for it.

Get involved with other people. Create dialogue.

If you can stop doing these 5 things, you have a much better chance of being heard and being sold.

Good luck!

D

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It seems that “not doing so well” is fashionable. Everyone is doing it ..even the superheroes!

Last year, it was James Bond in Skyfall: Wallowing in misery and booze and disillusioned with it all, it took a literal blast-from-the-past to eventually force him to face up to his demons and deal with his stress. And while we still have to wait a month or so to see the Man of Steel retreat from the world and deny his responsibilities, this week’s opening of Iron Man 3 has shown us another hero on the verge of breakdown: Tony Stark.

But if genius billionaire playboy philanthropists inside Iron Man suits are suffering from sleepless nights and bouts of anxiety, what hope is there for the rest of us? Have no fear! Read on… Fresh from the film (and without spoilers!) here’s 8 top tips for from the world of Iron to help you deal with stress and anxiety:

• Slow down and breathe. Even superheroes have “funny turns” from time-to-time. If stress is making you feel anxious or out of breath, focus on what is happening with your body for a moment. Check out these “6 mindfulness exercises that each take less than 1 minute”.

• Take some time out of the city. Tony had a reason to go to “nowhere Tennessee” but you don’t need an excuse to take a walkabout. If you need to get away, do it.

• Sleep more. Even if Tony says “Einstein only slept 3 hours a year”, he’s still tired. Turn off your work and go to bed! Need help sleeping? Check out the “faculty lounge” pages of the US National Sleep Foundation site.

• Spend more time with your loved ones. Tony has been neglecting Pepper. Who have you been neglecting? According to Kory Floyd, Associate Professor of the Hugh Down’s School of Human Communication at the Arizona State University, “being affectionate is good for you.. a cheap way to reduce stress.”

• Get a coach. You would think that if “subjective thinking retards intellectual potential” then ego-centric Tony Stark would more like Rain Man than a genius. Fortunately, he’s got his new little friend Harley to help him out. And if you’re stressed and anxious, you may not be able to fogure things out by yourself. Some external input can work wonders. Who do you have to help you think a little differently?

• Share the workload. Fighting the bad guys to save the President, you need a “War Machine” buddy (or whatever you call him!) to help you out. Whatever your job, find someone to share the work with. Here’s “6 Tips for Delegating Success” from @Forbes.

• Listen to some good old rock and roll. In my own humble opinion, the distinct lack of AC/DC in Iron Man 3 may be the single biggest reason for Tony Stark being so highly strung Did someone turn off all the rock and roll? And even if the Marvel studios think they know “what the kids want to hear”, everyone else knows that life sometimes can get tough and life sometimes can be a drag … and God gave rock and roll to you.

• Go for a swim   Of course, it’s better when you choose it for yourself, but still: “Health-care professionals recommend physical activity as a key ingredient to any stress-management initiative” and sport has many other benefits.

So that’s it. Feeling stressed? Slow down and share!

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In preparation for the ASTD International Conference and Exposition this May in Dallas, I interviewed ASTD’s Community of Practice Manager for Learning and Development Juana Llorens to get her recommendations for sessions, preparation and follow-up…

What do you expect people from your community are going to be excited to learn about at the ICE this year?

I think that many people in the ASTD Learning and Development Community are excited about taking some practical guidelines back from this year’s ASTD ICE in Dallas. This is a group that loves theory and big ideas, but they also really want to get their hands on those big ideas and put them to work. They are looking for any tools and tips to design learning faster and more collaboratively.

With that in mind, I imagine that Michael Allen’s “Leaving ADDIE for SAM” session and anything on Agile will be quite popular. People also want to figure out how to use evidence and science in practical ways to better engage their learners and get their programs to really “stick.” David Rock’s session (The Neuroscience of Growing Talent), Ruth Clark’s Scenario-based e-learning session, and Karl Kapp’s session on games will be well-attended in that arena. Also look out for the Josh Davis session and Julie Dirksen session. They will be talking about how to do a phenomenal job with brain-based and evidence-based approaches. This is just a sample of what gets the L&D Community going!

How would you advise people to prepare for their visit to the ICE?

There are plenty of tools on the conference website to help you plan your time. Put them to work and research the sessions that will have the most meaning for you. On the other hand, allow for flexibility—stop by a session or two that you might not ordinarily attend. You might be surprised. Also, set at least 3 specific goals for what you want to bring back to the job. That could be 10 new professional contacts, or a new way to perform a major task. And speaking of contacts, bring business cards! So many people travel miles away from home with no way to distribute their contact info. If you want to save trees, generate a QR code that your new connections can scan to keep in touch.

For those that can’t be present in Dallas, what is in place to follow or to get updates at a distance?

If you aren’t able to attend, there are plenty of options to get updates. Follow ASTD on Twitter using the hash tag #ASTD2013, and subscribe to one or more of the ASTD Blogs for news, tips, reminders, and fresh content about what’s going on in Dallas. In addition, the “Conference Daily” will be available online as well at http://www.astd.org/Publications/Conference-Daily (as of May 19th only).

Juana Llorens is the ASTD Community of Practice Manager for Learning & Development. She works with L&D practitioners, writers, and experts and thought leaders from around the globe to deliver meaningful content and best practices to instructional designers, students, training facilitators, and all others interested in workplace learning. Follow Juana on Twitter @ASTDLearningDev, find her profile on LinkedIn or visit astd.org/Communities-of-Practice/Learning-And-Development to read blog articles and updates from around the industry.

Sometimes I see presenters taking audience questions with a serious, stern looking face and I wonder how the person asking the question felt about that. The presenter is not doing it intentionally (just concentrated) but really looks mean! They need to use their “listening to kids” face….

Just now, my youngest daughter (4) came to my office while I was working on something and started talking to me. I wasn’t expecting the “interruption” and I had my “concentrated work face” on. She was talking about something she had just been doing and I realised that my face must have looked really miserable to her. I wasn’t miserable, but I was concentrated and a bit tired, maybe a little bit frowning.. ..and just listening to her. It looked something like this:

As I realised this, I changed my facial expression and saw almost immediately her own expression change, which I took as an indication of how her feelings (about talking to me) changed. My new listening face looked something like this:

If you want people to feel good about asking you questions in a presentation and if you want them to feel like you welcome the question and they can ask more if they want to, then you need to put on a good listening face. If you don’t, they risk to think you don’t care or that you are annoyed by their question…

Here’s a few tips to put on your “listening to kids face”:

• Relax, especially between the eye-brows
• Smile, with your eyes as well
• Nod your head a little
• Try tilting your head a little (like dogs do!) as if to say “What’s that you said?”
• Imagine yourself saying “OK, I like what you are saying. Keep going…”

If you want more tips for a good charming listening face, read “The Power of Charm” by @BrianTracy and Ron Arden. Its a very easy to use and easy to read guide to active listening.

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