ABOUT

We all know that learning that happens in an instructor-led classroom or through carefully designed e-learning modules represents only a small part of our learning experiences - and not necessarily the most effective ones - both in terms of cost and ROI.

Most learning happens in the context of everyday activities - at the shop floor, in customer encounters, in conversations at the water cooler. These contexts enable not only learning, they also shape the very fabric of organizational capability. Yet, corporate learning has little or no influence in designing these "natural spaces of learning" in a way that helps to harvest their potential.

Learning is at its heart a social process of interaction that happens in collaborative settings; settings that are hard to control and that lose their power when they get too formally structured. At the same time, the emergence of social networking software opens up a wide space of new learning opportunities, although we do not yet fully understand its implications.

Conference Topic Overview

Based on these premises, we will explore some key questions such as:

• How can we design structures, systems, and cultures that enhance participative/interactive learning?
• How can social networking technologies support and enhance the creation, distribution, and utilization of learner generated content?
• How should we deal with the delicate dynamics between informal/emerging learning activities, and the formal/deliberate alignment with the strategic goals of the corporation?
• What are the economics of informal learning - how can we justify investments, measure ROI, etc.