Role of L&D in the 21C Workplace

It is increasingly becoming evident that L&D department in organizations can no longer function the way they used to, at least not if they want to be relevant and be a business partner to the organization. The impact of technology, globalization, ubiquitous connectivity, remote work and distributed work teams, and economy of individuals to name a few drivers have changed the face of workplace learning and performance dramatically. Refer to Ross Dawson’s The Future of Work for a detailed overview.

Workplace learning in many places is still struggling to come out of the Industrial Era where workers were trained on best practices, put to work, and their efficiency measured by supervisors. The more of the same task they performed, the more efficient they became. And time to production improved. Economy of scale was achieved. Gone are those days and those requirements. Repeatable tasks are performed more rapidly, with greater accuracy and more cost effectively by machines. Somewhat complicated tasks are being outsourced but even the face of outsourcing is undergoing rapid change. But I will leave that discussion for another post.

Most of the work in today’s organizations require some or all of the following key skills: 

1. Problem solving 
2. Critical and analytical thinking 
3. Pattern sensing and meaning making (connecting the dots) 
4. Networking and collaborating 
5. Exception handling

Ability to learn rapidly is perhaps the mega-skill that makes the rest possible. Today’s workers can no longer rest on their laurels and past success doesn’t necessarily imply future success as well. This is the world of work that L&D must support today. And this means reskilling for L&D as well. They must support an environment where continuous learning and innovation are the key differentiators. And this mega-shift calls for some key role changes and skill acquisition for L&D.

From course designers to learning facilitators – Given that till date, L&D has been tasked with designing courses based on TNA, task analysis and skill gaps, this is perhaps one of the fundamental and most difficult shifts. While courses will still have their place, the approach to course design itself will need to become more dynamic, rapid and inclusive of informal and social components. The courses will serve very specific needs for specific groups. For a more holistic performance support and knowledge sharing, L&D will have to shift to enabling learning at an organizational as well as at an individual level. Some of the related skills required to do this are given below.

Proficiency in social media usage – While we would all like to boast about being social media gurus, using it effectively for learning and enabling others to do the same calls for a different understanding of social media. It goes beyond a Facebook status update. It is essential that the L&D team members develop the skills of building their own PLNs. This will not only help them stay on the cutting edge in the space of L&D but will also enable them to support others in building their PLNs. This requires an ability to connect to the right people on social media, filter and curate the right content in the right context. 

Facilitating self-driven learning – As course designers and course disseminators, L&D role has been more of that of the sage on the stage. However, with the need for learning new skills becoming more dynamic and skill requirement more complex, workers must know how to “pull” what they need to drive performance. This requires them to reach out to the right people, access the right content and use their own PLN to acquire the information or skill required.  All of this doesn’t happen overnight and requires time to set in place. It requires L&D to don the hat of coaches and mentors as well as facilitators who support at the point of need.  

Managing/facilitating communities and networks – IMHO, learning in the workplace will increasingly take place in communities – these could be communities of interest, communities of practice, or even communities formed out of project groups. Some will be temporary like those of people coming together for projects; some will be long term, like CoPs where workers from across the organization come together to evolve their domain, learn from each other and add to the knowledge pool. While people may still come together to share and learn as they often do without L&D intervention, support from L&D in this area will not only make it more efficient and bridge silos, it will also benefit the organization immensely by providing a platform for the capture of tacit knowledge residing within. 

Driving change management – L&D today needs to be the harbinger of change and also the driver. It is not enough to acquire the abovementioned skills and then expect the change to take care of itself. Moving to a new way of working and learning takes time, perseverance and belief from a set of people and L&D has to lead the charge. This means getting the buy-in of key stakeholders and talking the language of business. This also means having a very clear change management plan in place that includes various phases of the shift from short term goals to long term vision. Short term goals can focus on low-hanging fruits so that some quick results can be shown thus fostering trust. Bersin’s model below captures the shift. While the model has certain dates affixed to each stage, each organization will evolve at its own pace and the dates are indicative only.

These are some of the critical and macro-level shifts in the role of L&D that are becoming apparent. There are more micro-level ones like: 

1. The ability to put together a course rapidly from existing content on the web, OERs, and internal content 
2. Being up-to-date with different technologies that can impact learning 
3. The capability to gauge what kind of support is required for optimal and timely output – a course, a Job Aid, initiating and facilitating a forum discussion, curating external content and sharing internally, and so on.

The role of L&D will continue to evolve and expand. It is going to become strategic and critical but the onus lies on us to keep honing our skills and shaping our capabilities to meet the constantly changing needs of the workplace. 

11 Differences between a MOOC and an Online Course

I love this definition of MOOCs by Ignatia Inge deWaard in her e-book, MOOC Yourself: “A MOOC is a non-defined pedagogical format to organize learning /teaching/training on a specific topic in an informal, online, and collaborative way.”

This captures the key essence of a MOOC highlighting the key differentiators between a MOOC and an online course. I think the confusion between a course on an LMS and a MOOC—especially now that MOOCs are all set to enter the workplace where course tracking has so far been the norm—is going to be rampant. Hence, it is essential to identify the key aspects of what makes a MOOC a MOOC.

Here are some of my thoughts: 

1. Unlike an online course which focuses more on content, MOOCs focus more on context. Good content is a prerequisite to creating a MOOC but what keeps it going is dynamic building up of context around the content. 
2. Online courses are close-ended with static content. The content in a MOOC is not static. It evolves dynamically through learner participation, creation of user-generated content and collaboration. The base content is just a starting point for any MOOC. Each MOOC will gather around it a repository of content – reference links, resources, participant blogs, podcasts, videos, and so on – over and above the initial content used to start the MOOC. 
3. Courses are assigned to learners, typically by the organization they work in. Sometimes, learners will sign up voluntarily for a degree or a diploma. However, in either case they will learn in isolation, as individuals. In a MOOC, learners come together voluntarily to form cohorts and groups. MOOCs have the potential to give rise to Communities of Practices or enhance the learning within an already existing CoP. I believe MOOCs and CoPs are going to have strong bonds going forward. 
4. Courses are either bought off-the shelf or custom built. MOOCs do not always require custom-built content to set up unless the need is very specific. MOOCs on various topics can be set up using blended content – some custom designed and some re-purposed from OERs and other available content from the net as long as one takes care to note the various IPR-related policies. 
5. The content in a MOOC can be replaced/updated quickly because a well-designed MOOC should ideally be based on the principles of micro-learning with no learning byte exceeding a max of 10~12 mins ideally unless the topic calls for a longer chunk of learning for it to be meaningful. 
6. Courses are designed by learning designers and SMEs and disseminated to the learners. MOOCs flatten the world of learning by bringing everyone on the same plane. A learner can become a facilitator and vice versa. The roles blur making learning a democratic process rather than a hierarchical one. 
7. Courses are close ended with a defined start and end point. Learning in a typical MOOC is not confined to a specific “digital space.” It spills over with participants tweeting about their experience, blogging about it, holding meetups and Hangout sessions. The offline and the online world can come together with the boundary of a MOOC being essentially porous. 
8. MOOCs require a set of digital skills beyond the ability to take courses online and attempt multiple-choice questions. MOOCs require online collaboration and facilitation skills. Participating in a MOOC is a two-way process—participants are consumers as well as creators. 
9. MOOCs enable building of PLNs (Personal Learning Networks). Participants in a MOOC typically come together from varied background; and without that particular MOOC, this diverse group of individuals may not have had any reason to come together. The common MOOC topic thus fosters “weak ties” among unlikely individuals opening the door to innovation and learning. 
10. Online courses require basic computer skills of navigation. However, MOOCs can be effective in fostering some of the critical 21^st Century skills like collaboration, self-driven learning, pattern sensing and problem solving. Participants in a MOOC “learn how to learn” in the course of a MOOC, with each one finding their own strengths and weaknesses. 
11. Courses are built around pre-defined objectives and may or may not cater to just-in-time learning. MOOCs are fundamentally build on the principle of just-in-time, “pull” learning empowering the learners and treating adult learners—well, like adults. This is perhaps one of the fundamental reasons why MOOCs have seen such popularity. It is immaterial whether everyone is completing all the MOOCs they attend or not. The fact is people are signing up, voluntarily, and taking what they need. The power is back in the hands of the learners. 

Corporates looking to implement MOOCs within their organizations will need to look at some of these characteristics before putting a set of courses on a platform and calling those MOOCs. 

Related articles

• MOOCs: taxonomy of 8 types of MOOC
• A faculty perspective on OCW and MOOCs
• Reports from MOOC Research Hub

What Makes a MOOC a MOOC?

MOOCs have taken the world of higher ed and corporate learning by the proverbial storm. When George Siemens, Dave Cormier and Stephen Downes came up with the concept in 2008, they had a vision of how a “learning design” based on Connectivism could change the face of learning and collaboration. The OER movement was the trigger for the MOOCs then. The MOOCs evolved and morphed as all things new must going through its various avatars of cMOOCs, xMOOCs, with more to come.

None of this is new information or insight. Then why bother writing about it you may ask.

As a learning designer in the workplace learning and “performance” space, I encounter this query quite often —“how can we design learning/training programs for employees that are cheaper and yet more effective”—often enough to realize that corporates are desperately looking for a learning model / methodology / format that will enable new skill acquisition, just-in-time learning, and provide employees with the skills required to perform better. Most organizations (hopefully) have accepted that learning is crucial to their strategy for growth and performance, and if done right, has a direct impact on the bottom line. However, the flipside is that training and other forms of structured, top down learning—the pillars of organizational learning so far—are tottering. They are no longer cutting the ice. Employees are rejecting them; L&D is desperately trying to prove the ROI of these programs while employees are finding their own means of acquiring the required skills and knowledge.

Added to this is the relentless pressure to do more with less – both on organizations and on employees. Many smart employees who have invested time and effort in building their own learning networks are turning to their PLNs (Personal Learning Networks) for help at the point of need. They are using various tools for PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) and taking onus of their own learning. Refer to Harold Jarche’ blog for a deeper understanding of PKM.

However, not everyone comes with the skills of knowing how to learn and require support. L&D needs to be – no, actually MUST BE – in this space enabling employees “learn how to learn”, facilitate networking and knowledge sharing skills, and help to connect the edges of the organization to its center such that all can benefit.

Into this space enters MOOCs! MOOCs, apart from being massive, open and online, has certain underlying characteristics that – if tapped into – can lay the groundwork for building a learning organization.

I will try to define what I mean by a learning organization since definitions abound. For the purpose of this post, this is how I choose to define a learning organization. 

1. It’s as flat as possible and even if hierarchies exist, they do not interfere with knowledge sharing, empowered decision making or trust. Trust, respect, and sharing are the mantras. 
2. It encourages – no, celebrates – diversity, and not only the obvious ones of gender, race, and religion, but the more subtle and hidden ones of thoughts and opinions, approaches and skills, experience and background. 
3. Knowledge sharing is actively encouraged, facilitated, and rewarded. Knowledge hoarding and hoarders are weeded out. 
4. Everyone is encouraged to build their own PLNs – both within and outside of the organization. 
5. The organizational walls are porous such that the outside can flow in without too much of a challenge while sensitive information is protected. 

Looks like a tall order but not impossible for certain!

How does all of this relate to MOOCs? The nature of the MOOC model has the potential, IMHO, to trigger some of the movement towards enabling organizations becoming a learning organization, and I have expanded on some of the thoughts below.

MOOCs, based on the principles of Connectivism, comes with aspects of collaboration included. One cannot put up a set of courses on a platform and call that a MOOC unless the following also exist: 

1. The employees can access any course at any point of time 
2. The courses are curated and updated regularly to keep the content current and relevant 
3. The employees have the ability to form groups, discuss and learn from each other, i.e., the principles of Peeragogy is applied. The learning is not restricted to only the MOOC content. 
4. User generated content is encouraged and feeds into the courses keeping them contextual and current 
5. L&D dons the hat of community managers, curators and connectors enabling employees to find the right course, access the right discussion forums and reach out to expertise when needed

All of this implies a MOOC philosophy that is not course-centric but learner-centric. Access to good quality courses via a technologically sound platform is the bare minimum—the hygiene factor for starting a MOOC. What will make MOOCs successful in an organizational setting is the philosophy driving the whole endeavor.

My concern is that organizations will jump onto the MOOC bandwagon gunning for a platform with a set of courses, much like when organizations tried to become social businesses by putting an enterprise collaboration platform in place and claiming to have become an E2.0 org. The philosophy behind a MOOC is very different. The word Open can imply much more than access to all employees. For successful MOOC implementations, organizations must re-visit the word Open from the aspects of transparency, collaboration and cooperation.

MOOCs designed around relevant content should act as triggers for collaboration and social learning. Hence, the role of an enterprise community (learning) manager could become even more imperative in the success of a MOOC. Participating in a MOOC is not only about going through a series of courses; it is more about the forming connections, making sense of complexity and enabling each other see new insights in the same course. Hence, the discussions or context will be more important than content. This is what will differentiate a MOOC from any old course running on an LMS.  

The allure of reduced cost and wide dissemination of courses with the help of technology can blindside organizations to the actual requirements. However, alert and knowledgeable L&D departments will realize that going the MOOC way requires 1. a comprehensive change management strategy, 2. a sound content management plan, and 3. a focus on community management.    

While MOOCs have the capability to make learning more effective at a reduced cost, the approach requires a fundamental shift in how we typically think of learning. While the “C” in MOOCs stand for courses, a MOOC is much more than a course. Learning cannot be and shouldn’t be controlled and managed the way it used to be during the LMS era. 

Organizations will have to trust that employees will cherry pick what they need to and want to learn as and when they need it. Rather than tracking course completion, it’s time to track performance output. Measures for evaluating the impact of a MOOC on employee performance will need to be thought through and directly linked to the organizational goals and vision. 

3 Benefits of MOOCs in the Workplace

I believe MOOCs, especially when referred to in the context of the workplace, are increasingly going to become a catch-all term for any online, large scale, learning intervention at the workplace. The MOOC is a dissemination model that has the three components – formal, informal and social – popularized by the Pervasive Learning model and the 70:20:10 built in. While the cMOOC or the Connectivist MOOC started out with the vision of leveraging the power of networks in learning, xMOOCs took the more conventional classroom-learning format and brought it online. From the amalgamation of these two is emerging a new breed of MOOCs—the corporate MOOCs. 

What are likely to be some of the defining features of corporate MOOCs? Honestly, we don’t really know, and all of us are waiting to see the emergence. But I am willing to hazard a few guesses.

1. Corporate MOOCs will be a pathway to social and informal learning into the workplace. 

2. Corporate MOOCs are likely to produce a breed of community managers who will be a cross between enterprise community managers and learning experience designers.

3. Corporate MOOCs – if done right – have the potential to bridge many of the currently existing organizational silos. 

I have briefly explained each of my points:

A. Corporate MOOCs will be a pathway to social and informal learning into the workplace.

Because of the nature of the MOOC-model, it has built in social collaboration features via forums and chats. For organizations still skeptical of the value of social networking within the workplace, a MOOC-like course with embedded social features may feel like a safer and a more useful option of exploring workplace collaboration. The content of the course(s) can be the trigger for discussions, exchange of opinions, and sharing of knowledge. This helps to keep the course content alive while also capturing the tacit knowledge of the workforce. The focused discussions that take place around specific courses could have some of the following advantages:

i. Facilitating a culture of “working aloud”

ii. Initiating new and emergent practices from the amalgamation of shared experiences

iii. Enabling the learners’ experience to become front and center while keeping the course as a trigger and source of the foundation knowledge required

iv. Beginning the practice of peeragogy (peer-to-peer learning) 

v. Facilitating the building of communities around topics and areas of interest which can potentially become centers of excellence 

B. Corporate MOOCs are likely to produce a breed of community managers who will be a cross between enterprise community managers and learning experience designers.

The communities that are likely to grow around specific courses will require support and facilitation. There are likely to be three kinds of learners in a corporate MOOC:

i. Those who have voluntarily joined the course because the topic interests them and they want to know more

ii. Those who have enrolled because it is a part of their professional development 

iii. Those who are new the organization and the course is a part of their initial training 

For any organization, this can be a dynamic and interesting crucible for not only knowledge sharing but knowledge creation. Thus, it is critically important that organizations – if deciding to embark the MOOC way – also think of the roles that community facilitators will play. Some other questions that organizations may need to consider are:

o Who are the people who can don this mantle?

o What kinds of skills are required – subject matter expertise, social media skills, community facilitation skills, learning experience design creation skills? 

C. Corporate MOOCs – if done right – have the potential to bridge many of the existing organizational silos. 

Given a situation where an organization decides to implement the MOOC-model of disseminating online courses, and keeps all the courses open within the organization, this can lead to a very interesting outcome, IMHO. Potentially, many learners/workers could join courses that are cross-functional, even if it is with an intent to just browse through the modules. Joining the course in MOOC also implies access to discussion threads and forums pertaining to that course. Even lurking on discussion forums outside of one’s immediate teams and functional areas can lead to bridging many of the silos that exist today – especially in distributed organizations. 

But the same could happen even without a course on any enterprise collaboration platform, you may argue. And yes, indeed it can. However, with organizations still unused to open collaboration and interaction, the interaction on such forums are usually low. A course can act as a trigger for discussions amongst participants for whom that course is essential learning and a thriving forum usually draws more participation.

At the moment, what I have written may sound really idealistic and far from reality, but my bet is workplace learning will change. It may not become exactly as envisioned here, but some of these transformations will need to happen for organizations to survive and thrive. 

MOOCs, Workplace Learning and "Heutagogy"

Before I dive into the topic for today’s blog post, here are some data on MOOCs curated from different blogs, articles and sites to show the diverse reactions MOOCs have received so far:

From http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2013/12/27/moocs-inflated-expectations-early-disappointments/

“Fewer than 10% of students enrolled in Udacity actually finished their online courses, and not all of them received a passing grade.”
“…course completion rates ranged from 2% to 14%, with an average of 4% across all courses.”
“Udacity is now working with industry, where the motivation for completing an online course is directly related to employment. It has partnered with a number of companies to teach courses on the use of their products, at the end of which students receive a certificate of proficiency.”
“In 2014, Udacity will offer an online-only computer science master degree in partnership with Georgia Tech and AT&T Inc., which while not as far reaching as MOOCs, further stretches the boundaries of online learning. It will cost $6,600 for a three semester course of study, about one-third of the in-state tuition and one-seventh the cost for out-state students. The course is hosted on the Udacity platform, but otherwise taught and managed by Georgia Tech faculty. Upon completion, students are awarded a Georgia Tech diploma. AT&T is underwriting the overall cost of the course, with the hope of expanding the pool of well-trained engineers.”

From http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/feature/free-resources/10-big-reasons-rise-corporate-moocs/186425

“Rolls Royce spends £40m on training a year but only £2m on certified training. That’s why the ‘certification’ argument doesn’t really matter that much in this market. Organizations want skills and competences, not bits of paper.”

MOOCs--for all the debate, angst and confusion surrounding them--have changed the face of online education and learning for good. We can love it or hate it, but we can’t ignore it. Nor can we go back to a world where MOOCs didn’t exist. In this blog post, I am going to discuss why I think MOOCs are here to stay, and the impact they are likely to have on workplace learning and the way we learn.

Here are some questions that are floating around:

• Will the MOOC model crack the workplace training and performance challenges?
• What is needed to make a MOOC successful in the workplace?
• What are the characteristics of a MOOC in the workplace?
• And most importantly, will the dropout rates in corporate MOOCs be as high as that of “open” MOOCs?

All of these remain to be seen, and I honestly have answers to none. My intent is to start a discussion and share some of my musings on this topic.

    

MOOCs, IMHO, are here to stay. Their avatar may change just as cMOOCs morphed into xMOOCs which are on the verge of morphing into … well, it remains to be seen what.... But MOOCs have the potential to resolve a few challenges that are unique to the networked, connected and complex work situations of the 21C. MOOCs—and especially xMOOCs—give the impression of being structured with a set curriculum, timeline, course-end certification and so on, and this is surely one way to perceive them. 

The other way to approach MOOCs—and this is how I approach them—is as a series of connected, curated and aggregated micro-learning modules (mostly videos as of now) surrounded or supported by social and collaborative features like a forum, hangout, and meetups. There are also quite extensive reference lists in most MOOCs for the avid and the interested. Many MOOC-ians from a specific course also get together and arrange meetups in the real world. In some cases, the professors have been known to host hangout sessions as well. MOOCs can thus be a happy blend of the offline and the online, the synchronous and asynchronous, and offer a complete course for those who wish to take it but does not stop anyone from dropping in and out of the course as well. Typically, what happens in a MOOC doesn't stay in a MOOC and spills over into the non-MOOC world in interesting  and diverse ways—via blogs, tweets, facebook updates, face-to-face meets, lunch and learn sessions, and so on. It depends purely on the learners’ intent how they wish to approach a MOOC.

I am happy to forego certification and just take what I need. I have been simultaneously participating in 3 MOOCs recently—Gamification, Model Thinking and Globalization of Business Enterprise. I have been a lurker on the forums. Have I been able to keep up with all the lectures and quizzes? Of course not! Will I qualify for a certificate? Absolutely not. But does that mean I have not learned? Not at all. I have gleaned immense insight from all the three, and while I may not have completed all the quizzes, I have definitely applied a lot of what I have learned in my day-to-day work. The Gamification course came at the right time and helped me frame a solution for a client proposal. I have been treating the MOOCs a bit like a cross between knowledge nuggets and performance support.

Here is an interesting interview with Kevin Werbach that sheds quite a few insights on the nature of MOOCs. I particularly like what he says here although I believe the experience is not only dependent on what he instructor is trying to do but also what the learner wishes to experience:

“Many people fail to appreciate that MOOC are fundamentally about creating room for experimentation and there’s no one way to do MOOC. The end result of MOOC depends on what the instructor is trying to do. For example, if I wanted to develop a MOOC whose primarily concern was a higher percentage of people passing the course, I would design a certain way than if I was primarily concerned with the learners applying the knowledge to the real world. This means that I have to make choices in terms of what I want to do and going forward.”

This is not a post in defense of MOOCs. I am just thinking aloud as to why I think this dissemination model could work well in today’s connected and complex work environment. I will not get into the details of what “openness” implies in a corporate MOOC and what is the exact number of participants that denote “massive”. We’ve seen this number dramatically shift from the early cMOOCs to today’s xMOOCs.

The MOOC dissemination approach offers an opportunity for organizations to integrate the three aspects of the Pervasive Learning model popularized by Dan Pontefract. MOOCs have the potential to incorporate micro-learning components, learning flows, and social learning aspects like discussion forums. A well-designed course disseminated the MOOC way via a platform has the potential to enable the following:

1.       A platform for employees to come together and network (especially in a geographically distributed organization)

2.       An opportunity for employees to “learn together” using technology as a medium

3.       A motivation for employees to share their thoughts, context and experience via the forum/discussion boards

4.       A reason to “narrate their work” on the platform thus possibly inculcating a culture of “working aloud”

5.       A chance to facilitate the growth of user-generated content

The actual “course” content—the micro-modules—could serve as the basis for discussion-starters or be the anchor around which conversations take place. Learners can be free to chart out their own path through the modules. I will discuss the design aspect of corporate MOOCs as I see them in greater detail in the next post.  

All of these may sound a bit far-fetched at the moment, and there are likely to be plenty of raised eyebrows and skeptical hmms. And I am an idealist—I admit that upfront. But I do believe that if organizations can foster an environment that: 

• Promotes trust 
• Celebrates openness and transparency 
• Encourages trying and failing rather than “who made this mistake” outlook 
• Perceives individuals as individuals, and bans the use of words like “resources” to refer to people 
• Believes in some form of the directive that governs agile retrospectives: “Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.”

In short, design a social business. Then, MOOCs with their blend of structured modules and social learning components have a good chance of success.

Where does Heutagogy come in?

MOOCs are primarily learner-driven and learner-directed. For organizations, this has a direct implication and reflects the motivation employees feel, the autonomy they enjoy and the purpose in their work. If the three aspects are in place, most individuals will feel the impetus to learn what they need in order to accomplish their tasks. And inculcating this culture is perhaps of paramount importance today—when the most meaningful and creative work fall in the Complex domain for which training is anyway not the answer. This is where the principles of Heutagogy come in. “A heutagogical learning environment facilitates the development of capable learners and emphasizes both the development of learner competencies as well as development of the learner’s capability and capacity to learn” (Ashton and Newman, 2006; Hase and Kenyon, 2000). 

One of the reasons that the MOOC model hasn’t delivered the desired outcome for higher ed could be that students haven’t learnt “how to learn”. There are plenty of other reasons I am sure, but this might just be one. Conversely, in the workplace today, employees need to take charge of their own learning not only for the organization but also for their own professional development. And this ability is what will distinguish talent. An organization’s prime responsibility today would be to create an environment where employees perceive the need to learn and engage in pulling that learning. Creative and complex work requires dialogue and exchange of ideas. And MOOCs could enable that as well so long as we don’t get fixated on the formal course structure and curriculum. As I have mentioned earlier in the post, MOOCs potentially offer multiple ways for learners to approach them—linearly or otherwise.

And organizations—especially those involved in complex, innovative work—would do well to help their employees become better learners. L&D could function as facilitators and connectors thus enabling a culture of sharing, cooperation and collaboration.

In summary, here are some possible advantages of MOOCs in the workplace: 

Click on the image to see a larger version

In the next post, I will delve deeper into the importance of Heutagogy in today's workplace and the design aspects of corporate MOOCs they way I perceive them. 

Related articles

• I Failed My Online Course - But Learned A Lot About Internet Education
• Georgia Tech Offers MOOC Master’s Through Udacity
• MOOCs: High-tech hype, or the future of education? > Sacramento-area professors and more chime in on massive open online courses.

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Heutagogy, Self-Directed Learning and Complex Work

Pedagogy had always established an unequal relation between the teacher and the taught. Andragogy stepped in to rectify this and foster awareness about how adults learned. However, the premise was that there was someone doing the "teaching" so to speak. While the principles of Andragogy clearly stated what it takes to motivate adults to learn, the role of a teacher / the expert remained undisputed. Knowles (1970, p7) defined self-directed learning as: “The process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes.” 

Then came Heutagogy advocating principles of self-determined learning. 

“A heutagogical learning environment facilitates the development of capable learners and emphasizes both the development of learner competencies as well as development of the learner’s capability and capacity to learn" (Ashton and Newman, 2006; Hase and Kenyon, 2000).
"Heutagogy applies a holistic approach to developing learner capabilities, with learning as an active and proactive process, and learners serving as “the major agent in their own learning, which occurs as a result of personal experiences” (Hase & Kenyon, 2007, p. 112).

IMHO, a heutagogical approach is essential today. And I have attempted to discuss “WHY” I think so in the post here.

As the Creative Economy, the Knowledge Era, the Connected Age—call it what you will—sets in and its impact begins to be felt in all spheres of life—personal, professional, institutional—it is becoming imperative to take charge of one’s own learning, development and career graph. Job descriptions are giving way to or soon will give way to competency-based profiles (primarily because it is going to be difficult if not impossible to capture aspects of jobs we are not even aware of). It is going to be up to each individual to pick up skills and knowledge on the go even as they do their work.

Will past experience help? Of course! But not in the usual way we recognize, that is, replicate what we did in the past to be successful today. Past experiences can help us to make sense of the present, analyze and see patterns—but our responses must be driven by the context and reality of the present. This is where we enter the Complex and Chaotic domains of the Cynefin framework. In the Complex domain:

“Complex – relationship between cause & effect can only be perceived in retrospect. We should Probe – Sense – Respond & we can test emergent practices.”

http://www.jarche.com/2014/02/actually-its-not-complicated/

As long as the work environment hovered between the Simple and Complicated domains, organizations and their L&D departments could take charge of the “learning”—via top-down training programs, elearning courses, and refresher training and help people apply the best practices and the good practices—pillars of what made the Industrial Era so successful. The L&D and HR had to ensure that employees received some 12 days of training per year and hope that this would make employees effective and efficient at their work and deliver business results. However, with the passing of the Industrial Era, this model has gradually failed leading to training departments being questioned on their efficacy and worth. The reality is the context has changed so dramatically that the cure of the past is no longer successful in solving the challenges of the present. Even instructionally sound programs based on the principles of Andragogy have failed to meet the needs of the hour.

With the advent of the creative economy, there is barely any hope that such training programs will work to build proficiency and capabilities that can meet the demands of the day. In the creative economy, all meaningful work is happening and will continue to transpire in the Complex domain where the “relationship between cause & effect can only be perceived in retrospect”. This calls for responses on the go and the ability to extract learning.

I have captured some of the key aspects in the diagram below:

Click on the image to see a larger version

http://idreflections.blogspot.in/2014/03/drivers-of-workplace-learning-in.html

With respect to extracting learning, Charles Jennings has written a very insightful post here: http://charles-jennings.blogspot.in/2013/10/workplace-learning-adding-embedding.html

Quoting him here:

“The model of ‘learn then work’ is replaced here with ‘work then learn, then work in an improved way’. Learning is not only embedded in the workflow, but new learning is continually extracted from experiences and exchanges with colleagues, customers and the entire value chain.” (The highlight is mine.)

What Charles J has said is similar to how response happens in the Complex domain of the Cynefin framework and leads to emergent practices – “working in an improved way”. And it can only happen in retrospect.

This ability to respond requires employees / learners who are able to “extract learning” and know “how to learn”. He further writes that: “Examples of this type of workplace learning include narrating work and sharing with colleagues – often achieved by micro-blogging on a regular (possibly daily) basis; active participation in professional social networks is another example.” This ties back to the concepts of micro-learning and learning flows discussed in the blog posts here and here.

What have work in the Complex domain, the Creative Economy, and Learning Flows got to do with Heutagogy?

A fair bit, I think. A heutagogical approach emphasizes that learners negotiate their learning and learning outcomes. This is also closely tied to the concept of capability:

“Capable people are those who: know how to learn; are creative; have a high degree of self-efficacy; can apply competencies in novel as well as familiar situations; and can work well with others. In comparison with competencies which consist of knowledge and skills, capability is a holistic attribute.” (The highlight is mine.)

~ http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/pr/Heutagogy.html

Today’s organizations require people to be capable, to drive their own learning and cooperate to learn together. In return, organizations (if they wish to survive, grown and retain talent) have to let go of the cultural and structural relics of the industrial era, be transparent, and support and sustain a culture of cooperation. The L&D department needs to facilitate and empower all employees to become learners – “learners who have the capability to effectively and creatively apply skills and competencies to new situations in an ever-changing, complex world”.

~ file:///D:/Sahana/ID%20Stuff/Heutagogy.pdf

It is no longer very important (at least in most occasions) to be trained on specifics. If the value of what the organization is seeking to do is evident to the employees, if they are made to feel as much a part of the organization as those in the C-suite, and see how the outcomes achieved will impact them personally, they will take the onus to drive their own learning. This, however, is proving to be the toughest part with most organizations used to creating monetary value for stakeholders, and not emotional value for employees.

In the next post, I am going to delve deeper into various aspects of Heutagogy and how it could be one of the fundamental principles behind the success of courses disseminated the MOOC way—whether by institutions via platforms like EdX and Coursera or by corporates seeking to optimize learning and performance in the workplace. 

Related articles

• Heutagogy Highlights - Conference in Prague, March 2013

From Micro-Learning to Corporate MOOCs

I have recently been exploring micro-learning in some detail. And wrote about it in my previous post. Particularly interesting for me is the relation between micro-learning and learning flows as described by Jane Hart. As an extension, I have also been wondering how micro-learning and learning flows could map to MOOCs.

I see MOOC as a dissemination model that offer a unique opportunity to integrate both—micro-learning and learning flows. It is an approach that – if done right – can integrate all aspects of the Pervasive Learning model – Formal, Informal and Social – popularized by Dan Pontefract in the book, Flat Army. I will discuss this in a later post. In this post, I am going to focus my attention on how micro-learning and learning flows can be an integral part of a MOOC and how this may benefit the corporate world. As is evident, I am referring to xMOOCs here and not the original Connectivist cMOOCs that fired our imagination a few years back. Since then, with the advent of the elite academia into the MOOC world, and platforms like EdX, Coursera and Udacity, we have seen a surge in what has come to be known as xMOOCs—the online, semi-synchronous version of classroom lectures and face-to-face group discussions. And lately this has been morphing into another avatar – the corporate MOOCs. The infographic here indicates that 2014 could well be the year of corporate MOOCs. The infographic further delves into types/use cases for corporate MOOCs, namely: 

1. On-board new employees
2. Self-directed development
3. Build talent pipeline
4. Workplace and on-the-job training
5. Brand marketing
6. Collaboration and innovation
7. Train channel partners and customers

I will skip the use cases for now and stick to a more generic discussion of how MOOCs can be designed to facilitate workplace performance, just-in-time learning, and collaboration. 

    While many organizations are still hesitant about this MOOC phenomenon and are not quite sure how this will impact their training and performance outcome, some of the bold and brave have tentatively ventured into this realm. With declining training budgets, complex work situations, and an exponentially rising need to be on the cutting edge in their domain, organizations are desperately seeking solutions. Training the way we knew it is no longer working. A distributed workforce, constantly changing ecosystem and automation have put an end to that. However, organizations are not yet ready – and perhaps with good reason – to completely let go of training and let people learn as they work. Training is still seen as a necessity but is in desperate need of a makeover. 

Enter micro-learning, learning flows and MOOCs…

At present, the video lectures that have become such a ubiquitous aspect of xMOOCs represent micro-learning being no more than 15 mins on average in most cases. Now, it is not difficult to imagine a world where the video lectures are replaced by various forms of micro-learning. Refer to the diagram below for some examples.

Click on the image to see an enlarged version

These micro-components could be part of a formal course (so to speak) that an individual could go through – not necessarily in a linear manner although that can always be an option. A learner can dip in and out of a course taking whichever micro-module fits their need at the moment. They can come to the course throughout all the Five Moments of Learning Needs as described by Conrad Gottfredson and Bob Mosher. 

                                              Click on the image to see an enlarged version

The micro-modules should also lend themselves well to mobile access thereby adding convenience, flexibility and learner control.

The learning path through the micro-modules will be unique to each learner and their role, performance needs and prior knowledge, skills and experience. This should ideally be left up to the learner to decide. This takes care of the formal part and organizational need.

There could potentially be learning flows supporting the course – especially the Themed Flow and the Circular Flow that Jane Hart describes. This, IMHO, will offer the following advantages:

1. Facilitate a social learning experience 
2. Facilitate capture of tacit knowledge through experience sharing and discussions 
3. Enable communication within cohorts and connect learners to relevant content and expertise 
4. Help to add context to the existing content – thus taking care of relevancy
5. Initiate a “working out aloud” habit where Working out loud = Narrating your work + Observable work

For more on Narrate Your Work and why it matters, here are a couple of posts I recommend you read: 

1. Dave Winer: Narrate Your Work
2. Harold Jarche: Narration of Work

However, I digress! Let me get back to the topic in hand. With the formal and social component taken care of through the micro-modules and learning flows respectively, the next big consideration would be the learner – the motivation they feel, the autonomy they perceive and the purpose behind the MOOC. If these aspects are designed into the course, corporate MOOCs could well deliver value for money.

It is perhaps also important to remember that the roles of the L&D team must change to facilitate this shift from linear training – whether ILT or WBT – to a more networked and connected learning model. Trainers will now have to don the hat of facilitators and connectors. Instructional designers will have to think in terms of micro-modules, learning paths and the course as a journey rather than a defined and structured path.

I have created a diagram to represent both the virtual and real world components of MOOC – as we all know what we learn online doesn’t stay online but comes back to the offline world in various forms. Neither world is sacrosanct but is thinly divided, often merging. 

Click on the image to see an enlarged version

And here are some more reasons to invest in corporate MOOCs in this post by Donald Clark: 10 Big Reasons for the Rise of Corporate MOOCs. 

I would love to know your thoughts on corporate MOOCs and what could their efficacy and potential need be.

Related posts:

How MOOCs will Revolutionize Corporate Learning and Development

The Potential for MOOCs in the Training and Development World