Twitter progress report.......shows potential but yet to deliver..

I have been using Twitter for 10 months now so it's time for a review of how we have been performing together......

It has been amazing to watch how the tool has grown from a niche toy into a huge social networking tool used by such a wide variety of people. I notice now that even Andy Murray, Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross are using it. With respect to learning and development there are clearly many professionals using it too. This article highlighted 100 learning professionals to follow but I suspect there are many more now.

When I first started to use Twitter I could think of lots of ways it could be used for real business value - I even posted my thoughts about it. I started to play with it, Tweeting about whatever was on my mind, linking to my blog and also to my nokia sports tracker site. It was interesting and strangely addictive especially as more people started to follow me.

But how is it being used as a business tool, particularly with respect to Learning and Development? I can see the potential, I really can. Training Time posted some interesting thoughts on this recently and I fully agree with their ideas. It clearly has bags of potential.

However here are some of the areas that have held our partnership back so far:

• In the low risk corporate world people are often very reluctant to use a tool such as Twitter. Apart from the name being perceived as 'unprofessional' by some camps there has been some concern in using a tool that might not be there tomorrow (yes I know they should just try it etc but the corporate world doesn't always think like that)
  
• Quite often the computers, blackberries and phones that companys provide their people with are 'locked down'. This means people can't add on neat little applications to either their pc or their mobile device. Whilst you can access Twitter via the web it is these little applications such as Twirl that make using it so much more easy and effective - especially to interact with other Tweeters. (My organisation is currently experimenting with a tool called Yammer which is a bit like Twitter but for use within a closed community).
  
• Many people just aren't ready for this stuff. If you live in the world of blogging, facebook etc then it is a natural extension of what you already do. Many people don't live in this world and would feel very uncomfortable utilising a tool such as Twitter.

If you have examples of it being used in earnest in a learning and development context then I would really be interested to know more. In the meantime I will keep tweeting........follow me here

Make Learning Stick: Part 4 - Social networking tools

This is my fourth post in my Making Learning Stick series.

Making Learning Stick is all about getting the most from your learning investment - something that is currently more important than ever for everyone involved in L&D.

In this post I want to focus on how social networking tools can be used to Making Learning Stick in an organisation.

An important aspect of helping people to learn and then embedding that learning into their 'day job' is providing them with ongoing support following a learning intervention. In a previous post I discussed how the role of the line manager can play an important part in this. However as a L&D professional you should consider social networking tools as part of your blended approach to learning.

If you are not familiar with what social networking tools are available then check out this great presentation from Jane Hart. It gives a really good overview of the Top 100 Tools For Learning so it is important to first know what is out there. So how can they be used to Making Learning Stick?

I believe a key way that they can be used is as both before and after any learning intervention:

Before the learning intervention:

Wouldn't it be good if you could start to engage with delegates before they actually attended the course?Perhaps start to embed some key messages with them, interact with them, start to gauge what is on their mind....? Social networking is a great way to do this and here are 2 examples:

• Use Twitter to drip feed messages about 'what is coming' and encourage people to tweet back and also with each other. People can tweet via SMS through their mobile phone so it is very easy to both access and use. See this article for more information about how Twitter can be used.
  
• Set up a blog that provides both more information about the course they will be attending including some links to other interesting items. Also encourage people to start sharing their experiences and to communicate with each other. You need to provide some sort of carrot to attract them - be creative.

Following the learning intervention

Once people have been on a course then the learning process has only started. It is the period following the course when people need the most support to help embed the learning into their roles. Again social networking tools can play a role in this:

• Creating a community of like minded people can be a very powerful support network for people. The use of blogs and also tools such as facebook can be a great way to do this. Make sure that you let people know about this during the course (let them try it out) and keep the tool updated with interesting stuff.
• Consider using tools such as a Wiki to provide supporting information for people. You could initially populate it with relevant information and then let people edit and update themselves. For a great example of how a Wiki was implemented then watch this video that Jay Cross shot about how Intel use it (Intelpedia). Another tool that is great for aggregating information is Delicious.  You can tag web based articles, stories or news items that are relevant to your audience and then share them very easily to create a wealth of supporting information. 

As an L&D professional you should be familiar with these tools. If you aren't then I recommend getting to know them - try them out and play with them. They can be a great way to Making Learning Stick in your organisation.......and they are free!