If under a new model of education the purpose is to educate digital learners to become creators of new knowledge and skill sets, to truly usher in an age and culture of innovation by being agents of change, we need to help mentor learners in a new way of thinking about solving real world problems. One step in changing the pattern of thinking for these digital E-Learners is to introduce them to a habit of the mind I called "practiced discernment". Discernment was defined as:"...the ability to obtain sharp perceptions. It involves going past mere perception of something and making nuanced judgments about its properties or qualities.."Discernment is not a skill set that comes naturally to everybody, especially the young digital natives of this century. It requires guided mentoring and practice in order to overcome the patterns of thinking orchestrated by the industrial model of education. Some of the great minds of history such as Leonardo da Vinci possessed this habit of practiced discernment as he was able to see the world around him with heightened perceptions and from this clarity, some of his greatest works came to light.Credit: www.amsterdam-ftv-blog.com The Problems Faced By E-LearnersSome of the problems faced by this generation of digital e-learners whose purpose is to use the web to further their education are the following:Learners need to understand that not everything posted to the web is necessarily valid. They need to understand how postings on the web need to be evaluated and examined for bias and unsubstantiated pointsCredit: Lee DiGeorgeConsider the complicity of social media in compounding this problem for the E-learner. For example, an idea that is first tweeted on Twitter in social media can be re-tweeted many times in an uncritical fashion and reach many people globally. Something repeated enough times without first being critically examined for validity can be postulated as fact rather than conjecture." In 2014, it was reported that Twitter had  64 million tweets a day!"Social media when focused on social issues ranging from school bullying to hot button environmental issues can be used to not only put forth uncritically examined positions but also force acceptance through such tactics as:Censoring the right of others to express contrary points of viewUsing ad hominem argumentationUsing emotionally charged language to dismiss opposing points of viewUncritically examined ideas can be "dressed up" in flashy visuals, charts and authentic looking logos but when probed below the surface, can be revealed as fraud. With the use of multimedia tools of the web, fraud can look pretty authentic.This is what the "cut and paste" generation of E-Learners face. This in not thoughtful engagement and in order to encourage thoughtful engagement, practiced discernment as a critical literacy skill set is essential!"So, for the E-Learning student, what would practiced discernment look like?"The following is a suggested pattern of thinking to introduce and nurture practiced discernment for the E-Learner: Setting a Clearly Defined Task: Given the nature of the World Wide Web, the opportunities for distraction are great in number. We live in a time period where the people of many societies are highly distracted. The ability to focus on a clearly defined task has been hindered by a myth that multitasking is a worthwhile way of approaching the completion of tasks. I have found from experience that multitasking leads to mediocrity in all tasks attempted and students do not have the self-discipline to recognize that some tasks are of such great importance and value as to require a single minded devotion to arriving at solutions that are excellent.E-Learners Need to Be Mentored On How to Ask the Right Questions: When E-Learners have a clearly defined purpose to guide their research, it is not enough just to Google to retrieve results. Many E-Learners have poor skills in understanding how to refine and focus their search to arrive at truly relevant results. Once they find sites, they need to proceed with the same tenacity as an investigative journalist. "Students need to be taught how to ask the right questions when they come across information on the web. the search for the truth value of information must be a focused probing".Using Blooms' Revised Taxononmy in the context of E-Learning will take them into many different databases that exist in the web. They must be able to harness skill sets from many disciplines in order to effectively solve real world problems.Credit: www.Kristinahollis.wordpress.comNext post---Continuing the thinking pattern

One stark realization that all educators need to come to terms with is that education in the 21st century is not about teaching learners all the content that we know. The simple truth is that learners can find more knowledge on the Internet on most subjects than we can teach them in several lifetimes. What we need to do is to educate or mentor them on how to learn in an online world where they could easily drown in information.Credit: www.wiziq.comThis is the reason why mentoring learners so that they develop the skillset of practiced discernment is such an important critical literacy in the 21st century. One of the skills of practiced discernment is the ability of the learner to probe information that they come across on the Internet to see if it is authenticate and accurate. If the goal is to accumulate truthful information that allows for a balanced and accurate picture of a real world problem, then the student needs to be mentored on how to ask the right questions. If we fail to make this mentoring effort, then we cast students adrift in a sea of information in which they will drown in and be unable to contribute to new knowledge and skill sets in meaningful ways.Credit: Slate photos/Thinkstock & Anton SokolovA learner can only ask the right questions if the mentor or instructor himself or herself is a practitioner of this skill. Unfortunately, this is a skill set that does not come naturally to adults as well as younger learners. This is the "tipping point" of this argument."It is not enough that a mentor has a sound grounding in learning principles, they also need to have developed a mastery of practiced discernment themselves."This probing mindset understands that information on the web is NOT the same as knowledge on the web and that they should not be used as interchangeable terms.So, what are some examples of these "probing questions"?Instructors who educate students with regards to critical thinking skills will recognize and relate to these questions. It is not that instructors have not tried to instill such questioning skills but it is the fact that these skills have not been integrated into the way learners think about Internet information and knowledge. Some examples are as follows:Is this information that is being presented opinion or fact? There are still many adults who do not know the difference between these two concepts!Does the author(s) of the information have the expertise to speak with authority on the issue presented?Does the author have a specific bias in the selection of information and its presentation or does the author make a valid attempt to objectively present both sides of the issue described? Is the evidence offered on both sides of the issue complete and stated accurately?Are the arguments presented by the author supported by verifiable evidence? Is the evidence offered directly germane to the issue? Is the evidence current or or is it dated and has been declared invalid by peers in the discipline?These examples are by no means complete but they do show the required probing that learners need to develop as a skill set when dealing with the Internet. In order for learners to take such skill sets seriously they need to see that they have a personal stake in seeking the truth. If we expect learners to become agents of change and create new knowledge and skillsets, then they need to know how to interpret, analyze, synthesize and create through discerning what is useful and valid on the Internet and what is not.Distraction is a problem that needs to be dealt with because as the following graphic illustrates, the magnitude of distractive influences is much larger than we would imagine.Credit: www.creativityland.caObviously, there are other skills that complement practiced discernment and you will probably see other possibilities. Feel free to suggest them.Next... The Evolution of E-Learning---Bold But Necessary Steps?

In the previous post, it was suggested that one way to bring order to E-Learning would be to create irresistibly engaging learning experiences by using hybrids of the different versions of E-Learning that are often mentioned. The hybrid mentioned  in the previous post was the combination of project based learning with problem based learning but as postulated it is incomplete. In order to have a level of engagement for the learner that leads to deeper sustained learning, it should be linked to a form of learning experience that is really coming into its own in the online world and that is the simulation.Simulations are not new. They have been used to train aircraft pilots, medical personnel and shuttle Astronauts for years. However, with the great advancement of technology as it relates to the online world, more and more disciplines are using virtual reality simulations in order to engage their members in essential learning and refinement of skill sets. It is within this type of environment, that both problem solving based learning and project based learning can be employed as a part of the previously mentioned hybrid. Besides the need to assess developing skill sets for members, other elements that come into play in order to complete individualized profiles are:Measures of individual and group emotional responses and group collaborative efforts when confronted with an unexpected event.Measures of innovative thinking in solving a problem.Measures of recovery time in the resolution of a challenging problem in which primary solutions failed.The more realistic the immersive simulation is the more authentic the responses will be.Credit: www.acm-sigsim-mskr.orgReturn to the Kobyashi Maru Simulation--Cheating or Innovative Thinking? One of the keys to the use of such a hybrid learning experience is effective and focused collaboration on the problem that is presented in the simulation. This means the coordinating of the talents of each collaborator to arrive at an effective solution. In such a situation, divergent thinking is to be encouraged because solutions to challenging problems are not all arrived at by taking the same path. This is where ingenuity can lead to an innovative solution to a problem."Unfortunately, in many of our societies our education systems have stressed and rewarded conformity rather than individual ingenuity which has been seen as an oddity and often pushed to the side."In the digital age where a culture of innovation is the "gold ring" that business and education organizations are striving for, individual ingenuity is something that should be nurtured and prized rather than conformity to paths that have always been followed. Consider a lesson on ingenuity and innovation from the science fiction movie, Star Trek. In the movie, as well as in the earlier t.v. series, a problem solving scenario was presented in the form of a simulation called the "Kobyashi Maru" simulation. The Kobyashi Maru TestThe KM is a test given to all command-track cadets in Starfleet. The test takes place in a simulated version of the USS Enterprise’s bridge. The test candidate assumes the role of captain for the duration of the simulation. The simulated scenario is as follows. The Enterprise is on patrol near the neutral zone between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. It receives a distress call from a civilian freighter named The Kobayashi Maru. The freighter, which is located within the neutral zone, has struck a gravitic mine and needs to be rescued, otherwise the crew and passengers will perish. While rescuing the ship is what every commander would like to do, the problem is that entering the neutral zone risks a confrontation with the Klingons. Sure enough, this is exactly what happens: when the Enterprise enters the neutral zone, three Klingon battle cruisers decloak and attack. The test is programmed in such a way that, once you enter the neutral zone, there is no way to "win". In other words, there is no way to successfully rescue the Kobayashi Maru while at the same time avoiding death at the hands of the Klingons.  Everyone is supposed to fail the test, at least superficially. So, the question is, given the stakes set in the simulation, did Kirk in fact cheat or did he in fact demonstrate a high level of ingenuity and innovative thinking in finding a solution in a test that no one was suppose to pass? I would suggest to you that the conformity viewpoint would be that he cheated because everyone is expected to conform to rules that favour a no win scenario.Is this the type of thinking, the conformist viewpoint that pervades our education systems, the path to solving complex real world problems both in business organizations and in education and ultimately in our societies?The hybrid combination of project based learning, problem based learning and simulations in online environments is a recipe for irresistibly engaging learning experiences that will enable learners both in education and business to change a stagnant, dying learning culture that is out of synch with this digital age. As instructional designers, instructors, corporate trainers, learning principles leaders and life long learners we have a great opportunity to nurture the ingenuity and innovation that we have seen glimpses of in the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Tesler and others if we collaborate in the effective design of such learning experiences by using our own creativity and the tools that are readily available online. E-learning can take on a completely new an exciting dimension in a world in need of ingenious solutions to complex problems.Next.....Other possible learning experiences that promote intense engagement.

One of the main thrusts of prior posts on this site is that whether or not we are talking about a corporate or educational organization, we want learners to become creators of new knowledge and skill sets, and to work collaboratively as agents of change. This goal not only benefits corporate and educational organizations but ultimately our societies are enriched and new generations are inspired in a positive fashion. Skeptics might dismiss this as a "Pollyanna Principle" at work but adapting a skeptics mindset very often results in paralysis of the will to see beyond self-imposed limitations and maintaining the status quo.Credit: www.dashe.comThis change requires a radical but obtainable and sustainable change in mindset. Simulations and problem based learning are means by which we can build irresistible engagement into designed learning experiences and nurture this mindset until it becomes a part of the natural thinking patterns of corporate and educational organizations.Credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/Another means by which such a mindset may be fostered is through the designed use of online scenarios and branching scenarios.The Nature of E-Learning Scenarios One of the great benefits of online learning is the power that gives the learner and ID to create, experiment and change behaviors of learners in a non-threatening environment. It is similar to what happens to "gamers" who play online video games. When your character makes a serious error during game play, dies or is eliminated, he or she knows that they can be "re-started" at a point prior to where the error was made and take a different approach to the confronted problem. Even "gamers" are given pause after such an event to consider their mistake and think about another course of action  that will allow them to avoid a repetition of the same fate. Some are quick to re-consider a new path and some take more time. This mirrors individualized learners in corporate and educational organizations. However, unlike the video gamer, a learner in a corporate or educational setting, might have limited extra chances to get it right.Credit: www.conflictdynamics.org  Important Design Elements in E-Learning ScenariosIn building irresistible engagement through E-Learning scenarios, certain key design elements that speak to effective pedagogy should be considered. The following elements, although not exhaustive, should be considered as those having the greatest impact:Focus: In order to covey to learners that they are involved in a meaningful, relevant experience, the design should focus on relevant real world problems and issues. The design should allow connections to be drawn by the learner to their own personalized learning situation.Story Telling: It is important that a realistic and personally relatable story be told. If the goal is to create an irresistibly engaging learning experience, the story telling must not treat the learner as a passive observer. In this we can take a lesson from great fiction novels in which the author crafts his or her novel in such a way that the reader feels that he or she is part of the developing story. Engagement is more than an intellectual exercise but should involve the emotional and sensory aspects as well. In such a "flow", you not only anticipate what you would do as a participant in the unfolding story, you are driven to see if your own thinking in the situation results in the consequences you anticipate. In an effective E-Learning scenario, the learner operates as a dynamic entity interacting with his or her new environment. Real time for the learner stands still when in a state of flow.Collaborative: You have often heard it said by instructors and presenters that it is important to know your audience. This is a truism that trainers take as matter of great importance but in E-Learning this takes on a more expansive dimension. It is not enough to know basic data about the audience. It is important to know the learning profiles of the people involved and especially their openness to collaborating with others. Collaboration among learners tasked to arrive at solutions in problem based scenarios requires an awareness of what each collaborator brings to the table to help to arrive at a solution. Collaboration is a key skill set for 21st century learners.Immediate Feedback: Just as in gaming, immediate, relevant, instructive feedback is required on the decisions that are made both individually and collaboratively during the scenario. Too often such experiments fail because instructors give feedback at the conclusion of the experience instead of during the experience. This is important because it is an influence in the path taken during branching scenarios. It is a dynamic process! It is from plausible consequences that we learn, re-think, re-group and move towards a solution. It is also in these crucial moments that ingenuity and innovation have opportunity to surface.In using scenarios as part of a hybrid approach to E-learning, what starts to emerge is what the future of E-Learning holds. As what one author postulated, we will see an "Immersive E-Learning" appear on the immediate horizon. The technological aspects are, as we write, being put strategically in place.Credit: Robert PennNext---More scenario elements, branching scenarios and innovative pedagogy.

In the previous post, I suggested some of the necessary qualities that should be part of the design of E-Learning scenarios in order for them to be effective.One design element that should be in place is the means to enable skill development and tracking for the learner. This suggests that in order for this to happen, we need to look at learning objectives and assessment in a different light.Today as in the past,  learning objectives are stated at the beginning of a E-Learning course . Usually, if it was higher end thinking skills that we wished to assess in the learner, we used Bloom's Taxonomy or the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy to help compose effective objectives and then a completed assessment was done at the end.Learning Objectives and Assessment in an Immersive E-Learning Environment One of the changes to E-Learning is the emergence of immersive E-Learning environments.When we use scenarios in an immersive E-Learning format, learning objectives may not remain static but instead may evolve as learners progress through the scenario learning experience. They in fact become adaptive. Here is the logic behind this:" As learners make decisions while progressing through a scenario, they receive immediate feedback concerning their decisions. This I will refer to as 'just-in-time data'. This data not only addresses future decisions made by the learners but also impacts learning objectives forcing them to adapt and evolve to the progression of skill development of the learners. Since skill development is a dynamic process, it also forces learning objectives to be adaptive and agile."In this, we start to see true individualization of learning. Ruth Clark (2013) had the following to say about scenario based E-Learning: "Scenario-based e-learning is a pre-planned guided inductive learning environment designed to accelerate expertise in which the learner assumes the role of an actor responding to a work realistic assignment or challenge, which in turn responds to reflect the learner's choices" (Clark, 2013).As you can see, this process is not a one-way process.This brings up a reasonable and obvious question: "How can we possibly measure or assess such a process?" Next segment--Use of branching scenarios and linkages to novel scenarios.

In the previous post, the case was made that within an immersive E-Learning environment that learning objectives might be transformed from being a static element to a dynamic and adaptive element that reflects "real time" change in skill development. In order for this process of change to be measured accurately, assessment can not just be the assessment done at the end of the course. Also, the emphasis shifts from being less assessment of learning to more assessment for learning. This assessment for learning occurs during the movement through the scenario learning experience, both on an individual and collaborative level. The means to accumulating "just in time data" can effectively obtained through the use of branching scenarios.Credit: www.nwlink.comBranching scenarios are a means by which we see and assess decision making among learners. These types of scenarios are ones in which the decisions made by the learner changes how the story or narrative develops and also the potential outcomes. Branching scenarios that involve telling a story in which the learner is a main character have the following benefits:Stories or narratives have more power to engage than non-narrative communication in which the learner is a passive spectator.Stories or narratives can create a sense of self-efficacy which is a crucial building block for leadership development.Stories or narratives make attitude change more persistent by engaging the cognitive and affective level of the learner.Making wrong or bad decisions in character in a non-threatening environment is educationally usefulStories or narratives can create para-social relationships that are conducive to future learner collaboration within a corporate environment or educational organization.Branching scenario development also bring with them certain cautions to be aware of:Narrative branching scenarios should carefully consider the number of branches that will be used. Too many branches can lead to confusion and be unproductive.In the design of branching scenarios it is advisable, when developing the story, to make use of story boarding and flow charting. Programs such as Articulate to name one are useful in helping to plan out and test ideas.The following is a simple example of a decision making tree:Credit: Debbie Richards (NAC)I would suggest, partially tongue firmly in cheek, that if you really want to see branching scenarios at work in a collaborative, online environment, get involved in an online collaborative video game. In such an instance you will experience how immediate feedback changes decision making and impacts learning objectives. The skill development becomes self-evident when the "gamer" or learner is exposed to a novel unfamiliar scenario.Novel Scenario Linkages and AssessmentOne problem that needs to be addressed is how do learners who progress through an irresistibly engaging scenario test their new skill development in order to establish confidence that these skills can be transferred to the reality which is their work place? They need a testing ground. No matter how many branching scenarios you use, when learners are successful in making their way through the scenario, the last task should be the proving or testing ground. The last link in the scenario should lead them to a completely new scenario that they have never seen before in which they are tasked with  a challenge where their newly developed skill sets will be called upon in a mission critical situation. The instructor or trainer in the blended learning situation should have the ability during the scenario to introduce into the scenario unexpected variables which requires the learners to re-think strategy. In such a theater, assessment can happen on many levels which helps build the learning profile of learners and speaks to adjustments to be made in future designs.Next.....Maximizing Immersive E-Learning Through Virtual Technology.

 Choosing Technology for the Right ReasonsIn the design of irresistible learning experiences, we need to remember the symbiotic relationship between pedagogy, technology and change management. An advancement in one element of this triumvirate will cause needed adaptations in the other two. The point that should be made very clearly is that smart pedagogy needs to take the lead. Advancements in technology need to be assessed in terms of how they may enhance the learning experience of the learner and the sobering question that needs to be asked is:"Is the technology being considered the best means in helping us meet and extend the learning experience objectives or is this technology just not as effective compared to what is already being used?"There is an unfortunate attitude that some educational organizations have that every technological advance that comes out needs to be incorporated and adapted to demonstrate that they are a 21st century school without considering whether or not they will help enhance effective pedagogical practices. An analogy is what happens when a new Apple IPad enters the marketplace and people line up for hours to get one. Please do not misunderstand me; Apple products are awesome in what they do but I question the necessity to go out and wait in long lines for hours when the Apple IPad that you already possess already does a magnificent job of meeting your needs now and even your future needs.Credit: www.disenthrall.coThe point is that in immersive E-Learning we choose technology that will markedly enhance our ability to engage, inspire and deepen the learning experiences for learners. It should be chosen to push the boundaries of learning and skill development for the learner.The Incredible Virtual Journey One of the key areas for expansion of immersive E-Learning is to adapt technology to create a truly immersive environment in which the learner becomes the traveler with a mission. Pedagogically speaking the combination of experiential learning with problem based learning principles can be greatly enhanced by the virtual reality technology that is now reaching a stage of refinement where it can help create irresistible engagement and deeper sustained learning.Credit: Collis & Moonen, 2002The concept of using augmented and virtual environments to enhance immersive E-Learning is now becoming more and more of a reality thanks to advancements in these technologies.Remember! In order for these technologies to be useful, they must be able to demonstrate that they help enhance, extend and empower pedagogical practices in a transformative manner. In order for learning experiences to be irresistibly engaging and lead to deeper sustained learning they must satisfy certain requirements which have been outlined in previous posts.Educator and Learners As Agents of Change In immersive E-Learning using augmented and virtual technology, the roles of educators, trainers, and learners radically change, but in a good way. The educator/ trainer becomes what I would term a "virtual interventionist". Within this role as an agent of change, you would have the following possibilities:virtual interventionist as an academic guide or mentor within a scenariovirtual interventionist as a scenario conductor who directs and introduces challenges into a scenario dynamically(or while in play)virtual interventionist as co-collaborator with the learner is a realistic problem based scenarioWith respect to the first possibility, consider taking a 3D, first person voyage through the human body such as shown in the clip below:Now, consider the possibility of creating a platform object that you and a learner can stand on as you travel through the human body. You, the instructor point to various points on your journey as you travel through 360 deg. space, as an avatar with the learner as an avatar. This type of scenario can be played out in any exploration oriented scenario in which a real place can be digitized into a virtual environment. It could be a virtual exploration of the archaeological site and dig of the boy king, Tutankhamun of ancient Egypt. The virtual interventionist could be a foremost Egyptologist.Credit: www.theheritagetrust.wordpress.comIn this case, as you can see, the virtual interventionist as academic mentor, is an interesting approach but it is missing a key ingredient, that being a real world problem that the learner must solve in a way that allows a personal contribution to new knowledge and skill sets. Including these ingredients further emphasize the role of agent of change for both the instructor and the learner.Now, if your thinking that we are way too far away from this level of sophistication in immersive E-Learning, think again! A recent article published in LinkedIn by Mr. Rambo Levin described the combination of Moodle, a popular LMS with the Second Life virtual reality environment to produce a hybrid virtual application called Sloodle. When you consider the importance of the introduction of the Microsoft's Hololens demo using the popular Minecraft , the continuing advances in OS's for computing devices, the incredible virtual journey is beginning in earnest.However, what about an actual dynamic, story driven, irresistible scenario that incorporates collaboration within a virtual environment?  These represent the next two possibilities listed above. The next post takes us into that realm.....

In the previous post I introduced a term that I called the "virtual interventionist" which describes a radical change in the role of the instructor and learner within the context of immersive E-Learning. I am of the opinion that for too long we have failed to make use of the great talents and gifts that educators have for making learning come alive. True educators are highly intelligent and creative individuals who love to walk down the road with students as they explore, question and challenge what we know about this brave new digital world. These talents and gifts have largely been driven underground by the imposition of a model of education whose goal is forced conformity to a one size fits all mentality, not only for the learner but also especially for the instructor This needs to change in order that we can achieve a truly transformative education environment.The Virtual Interventionist As Scenario Conductor & Co-CollaboratorIt is not very often that I would suggest that you take useful lessons from Hollywood when it comes to the design of immersive E-Learning scenarios but strangely enough, some dated movie block busters from the past were eerily predictive of the potential of real world problem solving scenarios set in a virtual reality environment. What we see in these movies are:A problem based scenarioCollaborative actions in order to arrive at a plausible solutionUnexpected conflicting variables that highlight the re-evaluation of the problem and solutionDecision making that results in immediate feedback to the decision makersBranch scenarios that develop and change how the story unfolds.I must warn you that the following movie clip, which is from 2003  has the typical Hollywood hype to the point of being "cheesy". However, stripping away all the attempts to get people into theatre seats,take a good look at how well its fits the nature of a scenario of a real world problem based collaborative exercise where the collaborators act out a purposeful role that is of benefit to society. Naturally, the problem could be alot more realisic but the concept is viable.Scenario Synopsis: Geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) discovers that an unknown force has caused the earth's inner core to stop rotating. With the planet's magnetic field rapidly deteriorating, our atmosphere literally starts to come apart at the seams with catastrophic consequences. To resolve the crisis, Keyes, along with a team of the world's most gifted scientists, travel into the earth's core. Their mission: detonate a device that will reactivate the core. Another movie in the same mode that goes back even further, 1960's, is titled: "The Fantastic Voyage". Scenario Synopsis: The brilliant scientist Jan Benes (Jean Del Val) develops a way to shrink humans, and other objects, for brief periods of time. Benes, who is working in communist Russia, is transported by the CIA to America, but is attacked en route. In order to save the scientist, who has developed a blood clot in his brain, a team of Americans in a nuclear submarine is shrunk and injected into Benes' body. They have a finite period of time to fix the clot and get out before the miniaturization wears off. If the idea of miniaturization makes you think this idea really misses the mark, then you need to update yourself on recent research in the area of Nanotechnology and Robotic Surgery.Now, take these scenario and visualize them in an irresistibly engaging immersive E-Learning scenario making use virtual and augmented reality technology where the characters are learners and you, as an instructor have the option of joining them as a co-collaborator or as the virtual interventionist who injects problem variables that result in the development of branch scenarios.Within immersive E-Learning, if we start with sound pedagogy and harness the technology that is available to us, translating virtual real world problem solutions to the test ground of the real world problem solving arena will be facilitated. We will have learners who will be engaged with a purpose to contribute in real ways to the health of our societies.One important consideration that should become apparent is that more innovative pedagogical practices will become necessary as these new designs of learning scenarios using augmented and virtual technologies take shape. Next.... what research has to say about innovative pedagogical practices in a digital world.

One of the important realizations that should be derived from the advances towards effective immersive E-Learning is that our pedagogy is not static but in fact needs to be agile and adaptive to fully take advantage of this evolving learning environment. To make sure that when we speak of pedagogy we are all on the same page, I refer you to a previous definition which I used in an earlier post, which follows.   Credit: www.emergingtech.tbr.edu   Phylise H. Banner in her blog post entitled: "The Pedagogy of Learning Design: A Translation of Pedagogies" defines what we are talking about and list some essential elements. In the realm of education, the word pedagogy is used when talking about this designed approach to instruction and the alignment of learning elements such as objectives, content, activities, and assessments. She suggested that we need to focus on three key elements in effective e-learning: social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence.  Social presence focuses on creating a welcoming setting that is open and inviting so that our learners will want to engage with each other, the facilitator, and the learning content. Social presence is fostered by activities, methods, or approaches put in place to break the ice, build trust, and facilitate interaction with those around you.    Teaching presence focuses on three major functions that we take on as training and learning professionals: design, facilitation, and direction of the learning experience. We build teaching presence by designing learning events that guide participants through learning materials, reinforce key concepts, foster critical thinking skills, provide opportunities for formative feedback and support, and evaluate progress throughout the learning experience.  Cognitive Presence focuses on critical thinking skills. We want our learners to be active learners - to be actively integrating key concepts into their own worlds, exploring related resources, and adding new ideas and new knowledge. Cognitive presence is, in essence, the scaffolding of learning  as we move from the initial stages of knowledge and comprehension toward the critical learning stages of application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.  What we are talking about here is a new direction for educators, corporate trainers, instructional designers and learning principles tacticians. The focus is on transformative teaching and on inspiring learners to be agents of change where innovative thinking becomes a natural mindset.The alignment of learning elements that Phylise is talking about requires that we think of what the elements of learning objectives, content, activities and assessments would look like in an immersive E-Learning environment. Keep in mind that previously these elements were defined by the industrial model of education. In order for this to come about there needs to be a change from pedagogical practices defined by the industrial model of education to one that is in sync with a global, networked and collaborative digital age. This requires innovative pedagogical practices.Innovative Pedagogical Practice Law (2002) in a paper titled:"Leadership,Change Management and Good Pedagogical Practices" defined Innovative Pedagogical Practice (IPP) as:"...the product of change as well as a process. As a product, IPP is an organizational response to demands exerted internally or externally on the school "Researchers of SITES II suggest that an innovative pedagogical practice (IPP) possess one or more of the following characteristics:Promote active and independent learningCompetencies and technological skills to search for, organize and analyze information and communicate and express their ideasCollaborative, project based learning involving complex real world like problemsIndividualized, customized instructionAddress issues of equity including gender, ethnic, geographic or socioeconomic factorsBreak down the walls of the classroom (ie: time, space and participants in the teaching processImprove social cohesiveness and understanding    When soliciting cases of innovative practices from all over the world, the researchers of SITES II required participating countries to select cases which had the following characteristics:Technology played a substantial roleEvidence that indicates significant changes in roles of teachers and students, the goals of the curriculum assessment practices and/or educational materials or infrastructuresEvidence of measurable positive student outcomesThe innovative practice shows sustainability and transferability.One point that should be clear is that we can not just transfer old pedagogical practices from brick and mortar classrooms in the past and simply ignore the effect  of working in an online environment.Next----Concepts of Open Pedagogy and Social Pedagogy as necessary elements in immersive E-Learning.

At the core of innovative pedagogical practices is the requirement that these practices encourage effective, focused collaboration across global networks. One suggestion that addresses the effectiveness of collaboration is the concept of "open pedagogy".Credit: www.calgaryscientific.comThe goal of "open pedagogy" is to capitalize on the talents that collaborators bring to the task or challenge of real world problems. It means that the collaborators are open to each other when it comes to dialogue from a cross disciplinary perspective. Conole(2013) in his work on open pedagogy titled: "Designing for Learning in an Open World" pointed out that open pedagogy has the following eight interconnected and dynamic attributes: technology that is participatory (Web 2.0 and mobile) - includes social media and applications  used by mobile devices;people who have trust in others’ work, are confident and demonstrate openness;innovation and creativity - involves spontaneity and a willingness to adopt another view and different approaches;sharing of ideas and resources freely so that knowledge and materials can be disseminated;connected community so that practitioners can network and become part of a community of practice;learner-generatedness - facilitating learners’ contributions by enabling and encouraging them to create and share information, resources and ideas;opportunities for reflective practice -  initiated by participation in critical analysis of practices, professional learning and connection with others’ perspectives; andpeer review - the open critique of others’ work and scholarship.   Another important characteristic of the collaboration that should be considered is that it is also social in nature. Social pedagogy is an important element that addresses the effectiveness of the online, cross networked collaboration. Bass and Elmondorf (2015) in a white paper titled: "Social Pedagogies" defined  social pedagogy as: " ... design approaches for teaching and learning that engage students with what we might call an "authentic audience" (other than the teacher), where the representation of knowledge for an audience is absolutely central to the construction of knowledge in a course."One of the great goals of E-Learning that is often missed is that the learners should have a real world audience in which to enter into discourse with concerning the new knowledge and skillsets that they have arrived at through collaboration. In other words, they need a testing ground for what they have created so that they may receive feedback and perhaps refine their thinking.Some important characteristics of social pedagogies should be:Focus on the importance of "authentic learning". According to Bass and Elmondorf (2015), authentic learning activities have "real world relevance", set problems for students that are "ill defined" and complex, provide opportunities for students to examine and address the task from multiple perspectives, and give students ample opportunities to collaborate, reflect on their learning, and integrate their knowledge in various ways.Focus on "learning traits" that emerge from authentic learning situations. It has been hypothesized that social pedagogies are particularly effective at developing traits of "adaptive expertise", which include the ability of the learner to use knowledge flexibly and fluently, to evaluate, filter and distill knowledge for effect, to translate knowledge to new situations, and to understand the limits and assumptions of one's knowledge. Equally important is the cultivation of certain attitudes and dispositions characteristic of adaptive experts, including the ability to work with uncertainty, adapt to ambiguity or even failure, and to feel increasingly comfortable working at the edge of one's competence.If you consider the points above and what has been stated in previous posts in this blog, then you realize that these mindsets and ingredients can make an immersive E-Learning approach very effective. Bass and Elmondorf (2015) summarize the nature of social pedagogies in the following manner: " Social pedagogies are ways of seeing how acts of communication and representation connect authentic tasks to learning processes, learning process to adaptive practices, practices to learning environments and intellectual communities, and how the constellation of these elements help students integrate their learning by connecting to larger contexts for knowledge and action." At the heart of these pedagogies is the goal of creating "true learning communities" in E-Learning organizations now and in the future. The problem that we need to overcome is the prevalent consumerism mindset that has defined how we design and conduct learning experiences both in the corporate setting and in formal educational organizations for a number of decades. In a digital world where we want to nurture and grow new innovators, the balance needs to change from overt consumerism to emphasis on the creating of new knowledge and skill sets. It is these agents of change who will collaborate to solve complex real world problems. One of the essential keys to this happening is in educating learners so that they acquire "habits of the mind" that are more in sync with the demands of the new global realities.Credit: www.bryanjack.caNext----The emergence of pedagogy based on advancements in virtual technology

If we take the concept of immersive E-Learning to its ultimate transformation, we enter into the world of augmented and virtual reality environments. An important question to ask is:"If we want to harness the power of the new virtual and augmented technologies to serve pedagogy, what will our pedagogical practices look like in this new learning environment and is it better than what we already have?" Credit: www.kurzweilei.net Second Life, Open Sim and other virtual environments have given us a glimpse into how we can interact with other participants in a created environment. However, the question that challenges us is how can such technology enrich our pedagogical practices so that we achieve "true learning communities" both within the corporate setting and the setting of formal education?Credit: www.jmir.orgA point that has been made in the past and bares repeating is that our pedagogy can not remain as a static entity in the evolving world of immersive E-Learning. It must be agile, adaptive and keep the purpose of education in clear sight. Just like exploring a new land for the first time, the augmented and virtual environments require that learners acquire new skill sets that will allow them to collaborate in a new virtual environment. Movement and lines of communication in a new environment are essentials.One of the better means of making use of virtual technology in the design of learning experiences is through simulations that combine problem based learning with the benefits of experiential learning. It would be naive to believe that this does not involve challenges as the following chart indicates:Credit: Cynthia Cologue(Institute for Advanced Studies)If we are to move into more innovative pedagogies that utilize virtual and augmented technologies, then we need to design irresistible learning experiences that capitalize on what these environments have to offer. In a previous set of posts in this blog titled: "The Search for the Emerald Key", I created a scenario that was a narrative adventure that unfolded as result of decisions made by the collaborators. It had the following characteristics:Collaborative problem solvingBranched scenarios based upon decisions made by the participantsAltered role of the educator to take on the role of a mentor who could be called upon a limited number of times and then only responds to questions with other questions to re-focus the thinking of the participants. The educator also was given the power to interject confounding unexpected variables into the scenario while in progress to test the problem solving ability of the participants under stress conditions involving time limits and suggested consequences of actions.Ongoing assessment both on an individual basis and on a group basisInvolvement of Instructional Designers, Game Designers, Learning Principles experts and trainers as part of the assessment team who assess the participants.Ongoing feed back for the participants during the scenario and after the scenario.A branching scenario at the end which is completely novel and unexpected where the collaborators can test out their new skillsets.Connections to other global networksLearning to access and analyze multiple online global databases as a team tasked with solving a problem When you consider the introduction of Google Classrooms and Microsoft's Hololens, you can start to connect the dots and realize that the big players in technology have E-Learning in their sights.  We already have technology to create virtual worlds in such programs as Unity 3D, Cryengine3 and Daz which is an excellent program for creating avatars and which also has a wealth of resources created by media artists so that you don't have to do everything from scratch. We can learn much from the serious game design industry and its benefits to E-Learning can be clearly seen.We can draw some conclusions in regards to immersive E-Learning and virtual technology. Some of these conclusions might consist of the following:Four pedagogical approaches can be discerned within the context of a virtual world which are: (a) Associative (transmitting information), (b) Social Constructivist (forming ideas by discussion), (c) Connectivist (emerging from interaction between people), and (d) Cognitive (problem solving).Game based scenarios offer benefits over both more restricted and more open ended approaches.Virtual worlds which were much over-hyped as educational tools at the beginning are starting to reach the mainstream as useful when it comes to productivity.Appropriate design is crucial and the designs will involve: (a) task-and game-based scenarios in the fashion similar to that which I have shown in the "Search for the Emerald Key", (b) closely linked to situations that students and professionals will meet in "real life". The experiences have to go beyond just entertainment. They have to be meaningful and lead to growth for the individual, and (c) learning through collaborationNext--Tips on Writing Simulations for Immersive E-Learning

Simulations, whether for business or formal education, are the most powerful ways to develop engagement and learning that is at a deep level and sustainable over the long term. The reason that we can assert this is because simulations are a form of experiential learning. Some characteristics that should be understood about simulations are:Simulations represent a reality within which students can not only interact with elements within the environment such as gathering critical clues to solving a problem but also interact with other collaborators in real time.Simulations are in fact "instructional scenarios" where the learner is placed in a "world" defined by his or her mentor/ trainer/instructor.In simulations, the mentor, instructor or trainer controls the parameters of this "world" and uses it to achieve the desired instructional results. The mentor, instructor or trainer may also enter this world as an avatar to be called upon to help direct the thinking of the collaborators BUT not do their thinking for them.Credit: www.avatarlanguages.com Obvious But Necessary QuestionsAs in the design of any learning or training experience, there are some fundamental questions that need to be asked that act as a guide to writing irresistibly engaging scenarios:Who is your audience?  It is a well known maxim among instructional designers, corporate trainers and instructors that you need to know your audience. I would take this a step further and suggest that given the desire to nurture ongoing collaboration and problem solving that we need to develop in-house learning profiles of those who we would like to be engaged in the learning community of our organizations. This is especially true for the corporate community who want to position themselves favourably in the new digital global economy. As I have suggested previously, the person who you need to develop such a regimen is someone who has formal qualifications and experience in the art and science of how people learn. It should be someone who not only wants to work outside the box but someone who wants to eliminate the box altogether in order to further the goals of the corporate community that they are a part of. What should the learner be able to do at the end of the simulation? If there is no realistic follow up in which the learners have an opportunity to test their new skillsets and understandings, then you have wasted your time and resources. It is similar to what students use to say about school in which they were subjected to contrived exercises that had no further application beyond the walls of the classroom. This is the reason that students in deference to school often referred to the world outside of class as the "real world". The point is that you want acquired skillsets and understandings to be naturally incorporated into the way the learners think and approach problems.What are the learning objectives for the simulation? Again, the common sense view is that the objectives need to be stated within the context of what the organization hopes to achieve. The mistake is to believe that the learning objectives in this type of environment are static. Within a simulation that uses a scenario with branching scenarios, learning objectives need to be agile and adaptive to changing conditions.How will we measure success? Feedback is a crucial essential in such a learning experience on more than one level. It not only reveals the status of the students' learning but is also used during the simulation by the students to re-evaluate decisions and actions. Simulations are great for illustrating the concept of cause and effect. Assessment for learning is highlighted.Credit: www.blooloop.comSimulation Writing IdeasThe following ideas are suggestions that I think will work derived from research:Write the ideal scene first. Use this as a foundation for the average and unacceptable paths.Use chunking to keep it short for the first time trying them.Make it conversational. This is where the importance of telling a story and allowing the participants to help develop the story through their actions and conversations becomes important. Personalities, as in real everyday conversation, come out through the interaction of the individuals in the simulation.Use feedback for more information. This could take the form of a "NEWS FLASH" which interjects a variable which impacts decision making. Play characters off one another. This can bring out the best that collaboration has to offer. How do the participants resolve differences of opinion when they come to a cross road in terms of course of action?Make it FUN! There is a reason why young people seem addicted to video games and remember the smallest details of the decisions they made and actions they took. First and foremost, the games are written in such a way as to be fun for the participants to collaborate in.Use real world problems to establish in the minds of the learners that this simulation has meaning to me and I can contribute in a meaningful way that will help the organization I am a part of.  Credit: www.3d-avatar-store.com  Next....Problem solving using the databases of professional sites

In writing effective simulations, it is important to tell a story that the learner feels that he or she has an effective role in. The decisions they make determines how the story unfolds. Their decisions are guided by a task in which they must rely on the talents or skillsets that each other bring to the defined task. It is through collaboration with each other that they are able to meet and overcome challenges along the way and also deal with unexpected variables that arise through the interjection of  unexpected factors by the instructor or mentor during the run of the simulation. At the very heart of simulations in an online environment is a very important concept that every student of world history understands, that being the concept of "Cause and Effect".The Importance of Cause and Effect in the Development of Scenarios and Branching ScenariosAs we consider world history, the one constant construct is that all events in the history of the world are linked through the relationship of cause and effect. Some of the understandings that we can grasp about this relationship are:One event can produce a ripple effect leading to multiple events. If we drop a stone in a still pool of water, the energy becomes visible in the ripples that move out from that one event and they impact on any objects on that pond.Objects in that pond may respond to the impact of this event in a number of ways. If the objects are of great substance, they absorb the energy but nothing changes. An example of such objects are the monolithic institutions in our societies such as education. Education as an institution has withstood the advance of various movements for educational change over the last two hundred years but still maintains its status quo.Objects in that pond may also respond by themselves becoming causal events moving out in a cascading effect to affect other objects. This cascading effect is what happens in simulations that use real world scenarios. The difference is that the events are represented by decisions that are made and the intelligent agents, the learners, use the feedback that they receive to exercise control over these cascading sequences.The nature of the feedback received by the intelligent agents in an immersive E-Learning environment where virtual and augmented technology is used can come from a number of technological sensors if available or simply from the natural senses.A necessary question is:"What can students learn when this cause-effect relationship is properly integrated into the fabric of a real world scenario?"To address this question, we return to a scenario that I wrote.The Manhattan Project ScenarioBackground: The time period is 1942 during World War II. Multinational physicists have been recruited to take part in a secret weapons project called the Manhattan Project. The group is spearheaded by Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and includes other notable scientists as Dr. Albert Einstein, Dr. Enrico Fermi, and Neil Bohrs who laid the foundation for Quantum theory. The military adviser to the project was General Leslie R. Groves. The goal is to develop the first atomic bomb by collaborating with others who have different skillsets in your group before the Nazis who also have an atomic weapon program, complete the same goal.Building the Immersive Environment:  The environment that learners enter into to do the work is an updated laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico, U.S.A. The learners enter in the role of one of the key scientists involved except for the role of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer which is assumed by the educator. An updated virtual laboratory may look like the following:Updated Version of Los Alamos LaboratoryA new virtual technology, titled "Cave2", could also be considered as an immersive environment that would take a blended E-Learning approach since the use of avatars would not be necessary.Credit: www.ev1.uic.eduNext....Roles, interjected variables and adaptive, agile learning objectives

One of the changes in a model that emphasizes the importance of learners becoming change agents, creators of new skillsets and knowledge is that the roles of the educator, trainer and instructional designer must change. The idea of the educator or trainer being the "sage on the stage" now changes to being the "mentor on the side" and more importantly, a co-collaborator and learner within the learning experience. This is the case for the Manhattan Project scenario. As was mentioned in the previous post, the educator, or trainer takes on the role of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and his or her principal task is to interject events during the run of the simulation that will help measure responses that are related to group and individual learning objectives. Suggested unexpected events that could be interjected into the simulation are:Credit: www.ispr.info General Leslie Groves, who directs the whole Manhattan Project, gives a news update that the Nazis have accelerated their time table for the development of the atomic bomb, which means that in order to beat the Nazis to the goal, the Los Alamos lab team will have x number of simulation time units that they have to come up with solutions, reduced.A funding cut has been introduced by the government which means the team must propose an alternate innovative solution to the current task that is more cost efficient.A moral issue has arisen dealing with the high percentage of loss of life that will occur in civilian populations as a result of them completing their work. Team members are called to present well evidenced arguments for both sides of the issue through collaborative discussion. They will then be required to take a position. They will have to present their arguments to Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer(the educator) and be prepared to defend their position vigorously under intense questioning.General Leslie Groves  announces an news update that reveals that a highly secret project in which Nazi nuclear scientists are to be kidnapped and brought back to the U.S. has somehow been leaked to the international media. The "Alsos Mission", as it has been called is resulting in angry responses from some nations. The team needs to come up with an alternate plan to slow down the Nazi atomic bomb program.Some Innovative Simulation Design Considerations Running a Parallel Simulation Linked to the Uranverein Project: The number of learners involved in the Manhattan Project simulation could be increased but it is important to remember that according to theories on effective group dynamics, effective collaboration becomes problematic as the number of collaborators increases.A potential and exciting alternative is to run two simulations at the same time that are linked to each other as a result of history. It was stated that in reality this was a tense race between the Manhattan Project and the Nazi secret weapons project called Uranverein. Following the same pattern as above, learners could take on the roles of key scientists in the Nazi program which would include:Kurt Diebner, Abraham Esau, Erich Schumann, Walter Gerlach and Werner Heisenberg(director).A link could be introduced tied to interjection #3 above where the scientists could discuss the moral issue. Credit: www.histclo.comLearning Objectives The type of learning objectives involved in such a simulation involve such skill developments as:creating effective arguments, researching verifiable evidence, evaluation of evidence with a focus on identifying bias, propaganda and simply opinion. collaborative team work through discussion with focus on coming up with solutions that are innovative and apply to real world issues germane to the time period. ability to take a position, defend it, anticipate counter-arguments and produce defences and effective communication of the position under the pressure of time and changing conditions.An important consideration to take into account is that the learning objectives involve two levels:(a) Those that emphasize collaborative group skills and (b) those that emphasize use of individual skillsThe measurement of how well learners meet these objectives is an ongoing process throughout the life of the simulation and needs to be adaptable since ongoing personal and group data collection during the life of the simulation will dictate necessary upward adjustments as the simulation progresses.The simple truth is that the learners who enter into a well designed immersive E-Learning simulation are not the same ones who exit. To prove the truth of this, it is advisable to add on a novel scenario that they enter at the end of the Manhattan Project scenario which becomes a proving ground to highlight the new skillsets that they have acquired. With respect to the idea of "Cause and Effect", two valuable skills that should become apparent is the learner's ability to track the consequences of an event and the ability to also work in reverse when presented with a scene containing clues to identify the causes of an event.Credit:www.spo300-2013.blogspot.comNext--Effective E-Learning in the Age of Distraction

With all the advances in E-Learning that are on stream and coming on stream, we still have to overcome an important problem when it comes to learners. We have to come to terms with the fact that we live in a age of distraction. With the coming of advances in Wifi and mobile technology, the degree of distraction has taken on a whole new level. We are faced with an important question:" How do we re-focus this generation and the next on the pursuit of effective E-Learning on a consistent basis and help them develop the necessary self-discipline to avoid the many online distractions that exist?" Problem #1: A Failure to CommunicateCredit: www.teachingcommons.stanford.edu What do I mean by a failure to communicate?  The failure to communicate is a failure to communicate in the same context that learners communicate everyday outside the halls of academia. Although higher education has incorporated the use of technology into their classrooms, they are still using technology within an outdated context. The idea of a lecturer standing at the front of a classroom as the "sage on the stage" instead of as a "guide on the side" is an element of a model for education that treated learners as "one size fits all widgets". Even if the instructor is using the most up to date technology in the classroom, if he or she is still using the approaches to teaching that belong to this out of sync model, then students will disconnect and will seek out distractions that are more in line with the way that they really live outside the classroom.Credit: www.cat.xula.eduTherefore, the obvious next question is:"How do we engage students in the learning experiences that we want to present?"The following are potential ways to truly build engagement:Seek to create a true learning community where you, the instructor, include yourself in the learning experiences. Build a collaborative network within the learning experiences where learners may be tasked to work together instead of being a passive, disconnected audience. Build engagement by encouraging, inspiring and challenging learners to find real life solutions to complex real world problems.As an instructor stop treating social media as the enemy and a distraction from true learning. Social media is an important part of learner lives outside of the classroom. Instead learn about why learners find it so engaging. Take a look at your pedagogy and ask yourself whether or not this technology can be harnessed to enrich your learning experiences.Make learning a personal experience for learners. One of the areas that MOOCS need to work on is the personalization of learning in an online environment.If it is possible, get away from the straight row organization of the learning space. This type of organization is an element of the dated "assembly line model" of education.Make effective use of the blended learning concepts by stretching the learning network to include participants from other learning networks on the web. The purpose is to teach that collaboration is possible on a global scale and not restricted to the physical classroom.Credit: www.galleryhip.comProblem #2: The Myth of MultitaskingWe also live in an age where people have been brought up with the formula:Multitasking  = Increased ProductivityThe maxim learned in past systems of education and business is that the more you multitask the more productive you will be. Cognitive Neuroscience suggests that this maxim really is wishful thinking.Credit: Jonathan JordanThis myth has now firmly entrenched itself in this generation and its effects can be routinely observed in the education systems and business communities of today. One reaction to failure to meet set standards when multitasking has not been to stop multitasking but to instead lower the standards or "cut corners" so that task commitments can be reported as being met. This is a sure path to mediocrity and in some critical disciplines the consequences can be catastrophic (ie: civil engineering).The Question of the Efficacy of Mobile Learning and Micro Learning  Two of the most current entries into the E-Learning realm is mobile learning and micro learning. I bring these two entries up in a post on distraction because there exists the potential for the misuse of these ideas. It is extremely important, not to be too melodramatic, that the design of learning experiences with the idea of using these technologies be done in a thorough and thoughtful manner. It is important to remember that for learners seeking to further their education in the online world, that this is of great personal importance to them. There is the temptation to use these new technologies in superficial ways when it comes to learning and could result in deeper sustained learning not being achieved. The focus for these technologies should empower learning how to think on the web and not simply to gather snippets in an uncoordinated fashion. In its lack of design, the use of both of these technologies could become distractions.Credit: www.grupo-neo.comA recent study titled: "Students' Mobile Learning Practices in Higher Education: A Multi-Year Study" by Baiyun Chen, Ryan Seilhamer, Luke Bennett and Sue Bauer (2015) demonstrates the need to change mindsets in the use of these technologies.So, given the nature of the problems that we face as a result of this the entrenchment of this mindset, what is the solution?[ If you think this article is worth sharing, please do so through social media!]Next...Some Suggestions

There are some very interesting questions that we should ask about our relationship to the technology that we experience every day. Some of these questions would be the following:"How do we relate to technology that comes into our life? Do we see the technology as something that is alien to us, frustrating; something that we fight with every day?"   Credit: www.wordlypost.in  Let me illustrate what I mean by this with a personal experience. During my years as an educator in "brick and mortar" schools, I held the position of being the site technology administrator as well as being a class room instructor. One day, while doing my rounds in the elementary school hallway (Grade 7-9 school), I came across a strange sight. A grade 5 teacher had her desktop computer on a cart in the hallway and was the using the key board to hit the top of the monitor while screaming at it the following: "I hate you, I hate you! I don't want to know anything about you!" The first thought that came into my mind was:  "How do I talk this distressed lady down before she commits digital homicide or injures herself?" However, as I reflect back, I recognize that this is the same type pattern of relating that many people experience and it is a reason why relevant change in educational institutions is slow to happen. We have been brought up to believe that these are tools to make our jobs easier but unfortunately what has not been impressed upon us is that we only have part of the formula. In living with only part of the equation, we have created a solitude that is counter productive.The Greatest Technology Known to Man A preeminent technology that is often not considered and is greater than any technology that exists and has existed, is the human mind. It is from the human mind that the rise of civilizations have been plotted as well as their downfall. The human mind is greater than the super cray computer despite the speed that it can perform functions at. The human mind can visualize, imagine and create.Credit: www.craysupercomputers.com In the first solitude we see technology as disconnected from us, alien to our understanding and even as a threat. However, when we add the human mind into the equation in the right order, our thinking about the relationship that we have to technology should go something like this:"I see technology as an extension to my mind and the way that I think. It allows my mind to go into areas where I have not been before. It allows my mind to gather more information than I previously had and as a result, I can use my mind to dream, to visualize, to probe phenomena deeper, and to innovate. I want to explore what I see, solve problems that have not been solved and create what has never been created before. I have learned to work with technology in an intuitive way."Credit: www.dreamstime.comSo, what does this have to do with E-Learning and innovation? We need to change the way that we relate to technology. If we see it as disconnected from ourselves, alien and a threat then education will never be free of its institutional inertia; innovation will not become a natural mindset. How we approach learning about technology and experiencing it must not continue to be from the first solitude but instead should come from the second one where we enjoy a digital symbiotic relationship with the technology because it has its origins in the most powerful technology known to man, the human mind. Leonardo da Vinci was considered a genius but take a close look at what he created; they were products of a powerful and divergent mind. They started there first.Is the human mind flawless? No, we have made extraordinary efforts to limit it, incapacitate it and make it conform to superficial boundaries. If we truly desire that the generations coming be agents of change and creators of new knowledge and skillsets, then we need to change how we relate to the technology in our lives. In doing this, we enrich societies and build futures.

In this digital age where so many online and real life stimuli compete for our attention, there is a need to define and focus on what will engage our learners in a consistent and meaningful way in immersive E-Learning. What we need to do is to metaphorically speaking, "start a fire" in online education. When you consider the characteristics of a fire, you can see how this might apply to immersive E-Learning. Consider these points:People are drawn to fire. When they look at it, it engages their attention for long periods of time without any external motivation being applied.People looking at a fire often lose track of time; it consumes their interestThe fire initiates more than just the intellect but also the emotions, imagination and creative impulses of  a person. Within the fire, our mind sees and interprets which allows our imagination to flowThe fire may also stimulate the necessary physiological conditions that lend themselves to personal introspection."How does this relate to building irresistible engagement? "In order to answer this question, we need to be fully aware of the problem that exists with 21st century learners today.The Problem of Learning in Both the Corporate and Formal Education EnvironmentsWe are all products of our education. Whether you are a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or an esteemed university professor of an ivy league university, it is our life long education that has shaped us to what we are today and continues to direct the way that we think about things today that make up our personal and professional life. Throughout our educational lives, we have placed our trust in those who have structured our learning and put forth a vision of learning to guide those who were the designers. However, during this time of trust, perhaps we forgot to ask an important question, best expressed by the Latin phrase:"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"Even in this 21st century, who is watching the guardians of education? We are products of education systems that formalized regimentation, conformity, and standards that the guardians of education said were important to healthy citizenship and would benefit all people. Yet, after several centuries, we still have illiterate masses in many countries, poverty, illness, wars and gross socio-economic disparities.  "If education was to be the great equalizer, what went wrong?"Educators and Trainers: The ParadoxEducators and trainers are some of the most intelligent and gifted people tasked with empowering the educational growth of learners but the simple truth is that educational and corporate organizations have grossly ignored or squandered the intellectual capital of these individuals. Instead of nurturing their talents, they have sought to control, micro-manage and task their time in such a way that these talents can not grow and like a healthy plant encircled by weeds, they wither and uncritically comply with their directives. How many L&D departments have been financially neutered as a result of a lack of vision?Credit: www.pinterest.comSir Kenneth Robinson is correct in stating that public education has systematically downplayed the importance of creativity to an enriched education and now that our societies are seeking to foster innovation both in the corporate world and formal education, we are faced with generations who have been systematically conditioned to keep buried any creative impulses unless called upon to be creative. This uncritical adherence to the dictates of the overseers of education has resulted in a generation that struggles to think for themselves without direction. This uncritical obedience was dramatically demonstrated in an experiment by a Yale Psychologist, Stanley Milgram in July 1961.Credit: www.wallpaper222.comBuilding Irresistible Engagement in the Age of Distraction: Starting the FireRecognizing what we are up against, we need to build a fire of change in E-Learning both in the corporate and formal education environment. We have to be honest with each other and admit that the frameworks for our thinking about education need to change because they are not working and we are squandering a valuable resource that is found in this generation and in the coming generation. These generations are disconnecting from their education because they recognize that nothing of substance has changed in the vision and purpose of education. We need to take the responsibility of starting that fire of change and that begins with all of us who are professionals in this area going out of our way to put the word out and seek to develop collaborative networks based on a new vision and purpose of education.So, to do my part, if you think that the points I am making are valid and should be discussed, share them globally using whatever social media at your disposal. Put a link to this blog on your website to spread the word. Conversations can't happen unless there is more than one person taking part in the conversation. Next...Specifics on how to create and nurture the fire of irresistible engagement for learners

Most organizations, if asked, will state that they do have a learning culture within their organization. With affirmations such as these there are some important questions that should be asked which requires honest organizational introspection:"Given the fact that we live in an age of information and learning, what does an effective learning culture look like? Do we have a learning culture within our organization that is in sync with the global digital economy or are we still doing things the way that we have always done things?"To answer such questions, we need to look at the differences between traditional learners of the past and 21st century learners. The employees who will help a 21st century business organization flourish are ones who have grown up with the internet and all the tools it offers. It is these employees who will seek harmony in the ways that they learn within a business organization with the natural ways that they pursue informal learning in their everyday lives. The following simple chart gives the comparison, keeping in mind that the characteristics described are true for both formal learning organizations and business organizations seeking to establish an effective learning culture. Credit: www.educatorstechnology.com  Traditional Learning Culture Within Business OrganizationsTraining within business organizations have followed a template approach for many years. Some characteristics of this approach would be:Training sessions for employees carried out by a trainer or a small group of trainers using a standard presentation approach.Standard training approach imparted information for the purpose of upgrading employee knowledge and skills in regards to company products and services that was individualized according to the role of the employee.With the introduction of MicroSoft Office, PowerPoint was often used to present needed information. Employees were expected to take notes, ask questions and then use what was learned in their respective roles within the organization.Motivation to employee compliance used the "carrot or the stick" approachLater, with the introduction of multimedia and interactive technology, employees were allowed limited participation in training by "clicking on screen buttons to move to the next self-guiding slide".If you look closely at these characteristics and the comparison chart above you will notice that it fits a type of learner who was required in a different age. It is not the type of learner or employee who is going to be useful to a 21st century, connected business organization that wants to innovate and compete in the global market place.Transforming the Learning Culture in a Business Organization Credit: www.LinkedIn.comTransforming a dated learning culture to one that is in sync with the nature of 21st century learners  or employees means that the hierarchical organizational structure needs some revision. The learning culture needs to be something that all members of the organization are intimately involved in from the CEO to the lower levels in the chain of command. If a goal is to have employees contribute in meaningful ways to company innovation, then there needs to be structures in place that nurture collaboration, problem solving, employee initiated innovative ideas and as much communication laterally as vertically in the chain of command.It also means a re-definition of traditional roles within an organization so that they are more in sync with the demands of a global digital economy that moves at a much greater rate than in the past."What, specifically, needs to be added and what would the new roles encompass?"One point that should not be underestimated is the growing importance of an organization's ROI to the effectiveness of the learning culture that anchors it. This is an age of multi-level learning with global access to knowledge that is growing exponentially. We can no longer maintain the stataus quo and expect to survive. Next... Adding more specifics to the new pattern for learning cultures and also application to formal higher learning organizations..

Building an effective learning culture is not about the tools! It is about a revolutionary change in purpose and perspective. It is about coming to the realization that your business organization or higher learning organization is terribly out of sync with the realities unfolding in a connected global economy and world. It is about being proactive in a rapidly changing world. Your customers of past years have changed and your new prospects are even more different in their needs and ways of looking at things than customers in the last decade."Don't panic, but you do need to take the first steps to being a proactive rather than a reactive organization where learning is part of the business mindset. Where employees pursue their learning because they see it as in the best interests of their organization and their own growth.This is part of what creates a sense of community or family within an organization"Credit:  jbasslearning.comWhat Should Be the Characteristics of a Learning Organization in the 21st Century?Leadership: The number of articles and books that deal with leadership are almost as numerous as sand at a beach. I remember one particular book that I found fascinating was titled: "The Organization of the Future(1997)" which was a collection of writings by "thought leaders" of the time compiled by the Drucker Foundation. The section titles give you a good idea of the primary drive of the book. Some were:Part I- Shaping Tomorrow's OrganizationsPart IV--Working and Organizing in a Wired WorldPart V: Leading People in the Organization of the FutureIn the time they were writing, the Internet was just coming into the mainstream and business leaders were being encouraged to develop a new vision that would include the utilization of this new frontier that was opening up. Some paid attention, some did not. When you combine the need to change the learning culture of business with what Peter Senge states in his even earlier book titled: "The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization(1990)", a common thread emerges."Business leaders need to be proactive not reactive to the changes occurring outside the walls of their organization. They need to be aware of the transformations occurring in the global economy and based upon that, come up with a shared vision that recognizes that we are living in an age of information and learning."Those who are led by the business leaders need to see a natural fit between the world that they live in daily and the work place. If that perception is not there then the employees will experience a disconnect between what business expects of them and what their clients and customers expect of them.Role Re-Definition: It is vision that directs everything else in a business organization. It is the vision that encapsulates core values that an organization considers important. One of the effects of a change in vision is the need to re-examine the nature of the roles of those who are intimately connected to the learning culture of the organization. This is an element of what we would term "organizational design".Instructional Designer:  The ID needs to use design thinking to design irresistibly engaging learning experiences for learners that goes beyond the typical "tell them what they need to know and pray that they follow through" approaches of the past. Reflecting on the advancing research on how people learn, the design of learning experiences should take into consideration the following elements and understandings:Learners become more engaged in their learning when they have the opportunity to collaborate with other learners on relevant, problem based real world problems as seen within the context of the organization's interests. Unlike in the past where collaboration was largely restricted between the trainer as the "sage on the stage" and the learners in the training session within the local walls, through the effective use of blended E-Learning collaboration should be between learners within the organization networks  where a learner is Spokane is teamed up with a learner in Washington, a learner in Rio de Janeiro and a learner in Montreal, Canada. In a connected, collaborating learning culture within an organization, there are no walls. This can be designed into the learning experience.  Kill the meaningless "point and click interactivity" that treat learners as simpletons! Too many E-Learning experiences in the past have had learners proceed through a series of point and click exercises comparable to rats in a Skinnerian maze. Thoughtful engagement means taking the learners on a journey where they use their creativity, initiative, talents and intelligence to collaborate and solve meaningful tasks and receive useful feedback on the decisions they are making. This is also the cradle in which innovation can be nurtured.This too can be designed into the learning experience. The trainer in this scenario is the "guide on the side and co-learner in the experience". This is the type of learning that provides deep and sustainable understanding where the learner does not need to be externally motivated to apply new skillsets and understandings in their roles. Instead, what is created is an overwhelming intrinsic drive to follow through.Accessibility to the learning culture for collaboration should be available from any digital device no matter where the learner is 24/7. This is the greatest potential of Micro-Learning and Mobile Learning. Learning should be personalized to the needs of the learner. This is where instructional designers need to collaborate with HR departments and IT departments so that learners have stress free access on their terms.One question for you to consider:"For many organizations in the past, the SME has been an essential person or group of persons relied upon for content for training. If our goal is to encourage learners within an organization to take control of their learning in the best interests of the organization and their own growth and to learn how to learn in a connected online environment, where does the SME fit in or does he or she fit in?" Next... A new role---LPE--Learning Principles Expert

 In the previous post I suggested that in order to have an effective learning culture, we first would have to acknowledge that the following ideas are valid:We live in an age in which learning, innovation and the creation of new knowledge and skillsets are goals which globally connected businesses should align themselves with in order to prosper and grow.Credit: David Blake, CEO (Degreed)   E-Learning and the new technologies are not simply "plug and play" elements into an established business culture which hasn't changed in decades. The context for the above mentioned goals needs to be examined in the light of the changing realities of the global economy.            "The world does not cater to you; you must adapt and cater to new clients, new markets and a new breed of employees!" Jack Welch, a well known thought leader, expresses this idea more succinctly when he states: "...When the rate of change outside an organization is greater than the change inside, the end is near..."  The traditional roles of those intimately connected to the learning within an organization must also adapt  and change in the light of the new reality that having an effective learning culture matters and has an impact on the ROI for an organization. I mentioned in the previous post how the role of the instructional designer would change and I will describe a new role, the Learning Principles Expert, in Part III of this post. The Business Case for An Effective Learning CultureCredit: www.entrepreneur.com A question to think about is this:"Why do people work at a company such as Google?"When the new generation of employees were surveyed as to what they consider the most compelling reasons to work at Google, the most overwhelming choice made was to learn. Although salary and benefits were important, these were not the first choices. We could ask a similar question about working for Apple. Steve Jobs was a demanding but prolific visionary. Within the Apple organization, the learning culture was extremely important. The importance of the learning culture had a demonstrable impact on Apple's recruiting practices.Out of Steve Job's vision came a very crucial realization that became a force in the Apple organization which simply put is this:"An effective learning culture is a primary driver for innovation!"When you consider how much organizations struggle with the idea of innovation to the point of detesting the very term, perhaps our problem is that we have neglected to develop the most important driver, that being an effective learning culture. It also brings to mind another very sobering question for organizations, given the Google and Apple experience, that they need to ask:"Do we have the kind of learning culture that attracts top talent?" If your answer  to this question is no, then the follow up questions are:"Why not?? What is holding us back??Some will say that they still have reservations. In Part II & III of this post, I will continue with why such actions to re-design the learning culture makes sense, identify continuing barriers and suggest how the use of a new role, the Learning Principles Expert (Guru?), will help revitalize not only the learning culture but also foster innovative thinking on the part of engaged employees...   

In the previous post I suggested that we could learn much about an effective learning culture by looking at large corporations that are doing it such as Apple and Google. The objection that is offered about basing a business case for effective learning cultures on the example of Apple and Google might go something like this:"Wait a minute! It is unreasonable to use Google and Apple as examples since they represent the exceptions and not the state of the majority. Basing a major business decision on such a small sample does not make sound business sense, despite how good their ROI has been over the years. Besides what about our organization which is a medium size business? We are not at the top of the Fortune 500 index! "Credit: www.businesstech.co.za Perhaps, a sampling of the opinions of other leaders would help clarify the case even further.Tom Glocer, former CEO of Thomson Reuters makes the business case for implementing an effective learning culture when he states:"The best employees are the curious employees and those that want life-long learning. They want to know how things work. Stimulate that curiosity and desire for learning within your employees and you will open doors for innovation.."Again returning to the business case of Google Inc., Glocer states:"..The dedication the company shows to investing in the individual is often valued higher than compensation..."David Westin, former President of ABC News states: "In a world of constant change, you need to have people learning what is new and what is available, just to achieve mission..."With regards to the state of a learning culture, Lori Figueiredo, an innovator and entrepreneur puts it succinctly when she states: "At the end of the day, learning is not about bums on seats. It's part of a process to achieve a wider purpose."Bottom Line---You don't argue with success; you learn from it and you adapt to excel and survive.Credit: www.bersin.wordpress.comRe-Writing the DNA of a Learning Culture--Facing the Barriers The choice of the term "DNA" in the title is deliberate and I believe, appropriate. When you consider that a business is in fact a living organism, then like any other organism there are a fundamental core set of instructions from which everything else in the business organization flows. This DNA code is what makes up what we would term the corporate"culture". This also means that the learning culture of a business organization is defined and controlled by the coding of the business culture itself. Any change that needs to happen with regards to innovation and the learning culture has to be approached first at this level. However, also coded into the DNA of a corporate culture are mindsets that were appropriate in their time but have now gone beyond their "best before dates" and are now impediments to any form of effective learning culture taking root and also the possibility of innovative thinking becoming a systemic, natural mindset for the growth of a 21st century organization.Mark Cuban, shark tank star and owner of the Dallas Mavericks points to a problem with some big companies which is that they have lost their ability to be "audacious companies". The mindset required to be an audacious company is described as being bold, courageous and even heroic on one hand but on the other hand are defiant, presumptuous, irreverent, cocky and sometimes disrespectful.Credit: www.entrepreneur.comWhat is being suggested here is a counter-cultural mindset and perspective. Too many companies suffer from what may be termed as "short -termism" which suggests that big companies are not adept at monetising ideas because they're so focused on delivering short-term performance to meet shareholder demands. Effective learning is not just for the employees and officers of an organization. There is a responsibility to educate the stakeholders. It is a reason that systemic innovation rarely takes hold and a reason why the learning culture is not properly supported and refined within an organization. This is why a re-write of the DNA of a learning culture within an organization is necessary. This is only one of a number of barriers.Next.... Part III--Other barriers and the role of the Learning principles Expert(Guru?)

In the last post, it was suggested that even though the design of an effective learning culture within a business organization has been demonstrated by example to be good for the long term prospects of an organization in an age of learning and innovation, there are still barriers to following through on what needs to be done that originate with the nature of today's business culture. A point that I made is that an effective learning culture is a driver for systemic innovation within an organization.   In a very good post by Moe Glenner posted in LinkedIn titled: "Can Big Tech Regain Its Innovation Mojo", Moe suggests that there has been a shift in thinking towards not doing innovation within the company but instead, purchasing innovation. This approach to innovation in the long term is counter productive and represents one of the strategic challenges for a business looking to compete effectively in a globally networked economy. Henry Doss, an expert on innovation and its relationship to leadership, in an article for Forbes(Jan. 2015) titled: "Why Big Business Fails At Innovation" labelled this approach as "Herding" and describes it in the following as:"When businesses outsource innovation and limit themselves to the purchase of innovative output from suppliers, they inevitably position themselves in the "me too" category. If there is a truly innovative product, strategy, market positioning or management paradigm out there to be bought and sold, then of course everyone is in the market for it. And inevitably, this competition to buy the newest innovation leads to purchase herding behaviour, with everyone leaping into the market place to "buy innovation".This consumerism mindset which is part of the industrial age of thinking about things takes us away from being creators of new knowledge and skillsets and back into the past with all of its assumptions which are really out of place in the digital economy.Credit: Robin TeiglandIf we maintain this type of mindset then creating an effective learning culture is irrelevant because the business culture maintains the approach of "doing things the way that we have always done things".With respect to L&D , there is a tug of war going on between the traditionalist perspective for business culture vs the new and evolving perspective that sees the need for developing an effective learning culture. In another very effective LinkedIn post by learning strategist, Deirdre Jensen titled: "The L&D  World is Splitting in Two", she details the nature of this struggle. I fall into the new camp and will suggest a new role that business organizations should consider in their attempts to transform their culture to one in tune with 21st century realities.Re-Writing the DNA of the Corporate Learning Culture: The Learning Principles ExpertWhat I am going to suggest is changes to the learning culture in an incremental but discerning manner, starting with the creation of a new role tiled the Learning Principles Expert. This is predicated on the understanding that the roles of those who are intimately involved with the learning culture need reformation.Rationale: We live in an age of learning where knowledge is growing at an exponential rate across many disciplines, many of which have direct impact on the business interests of organizations on a global scale. In this age, the creation of global networks that will enable business to collaborate across international borders are becoming an essential as we see the establishment of trading blocs such as the Trans Pacific Trading Partnership which is a trade agreement among twelve Pacific Rim countries concerning a variety of matters of economic policy, about which agreement was reached on 5 October 2015 after 7 years of negotiations. The pattern for these networks is already in play. The ability of employees within an organization to be effective real world problem solvers and online collaborators is becoming a 21st century essential. The use of  effective "blended online learning" by employees needs to become more and more an essential in the recruitment of talented staff.Credit: www.skyprep.com Organizational Fit: A great idea, not my own, that has been suggested by others is the establishment of a "Guru" line within the organizational structure with its own separate line for advancement and funding. One of the problems of merely placing it within L&D is the inevitable budget struggle. For the Learning Principles Expert, this is the approach that I would suggest.What are the responsibilities of a Learning Principles Expert? This will be the focus of my next post...[If you feel that the ideas presented in this post should be broadcast further a field to promote open discussion and hopefully, inspire great ideas, then please use social media to pass this on or put a link to this blog for reference by others within your organization!]

Perhaps a good analogy of what we hope to accomplish would be the biological process of a metamorphosis that occurs in the life cycle of a monarch butterfly.Credit: www.divinesoul.jpSome of the similarities that we can note are:Like the Monarch butterfly, business is a living organism that proceeds through stages of change in its life-cycleAt the larva stage, changes in a business may just involve tweaks or enhancements that are not readily noteworthy while the vision, mission and service remain largely unchanged. Outside appearance, much like varieties of larvae, seem similar with the idea of "branding" being the distinguishing mark.Movement to the next stage of change, as in the case of the monarch butterfly, always involves struggle against institutional inertia.Movement to the next stage is also impacted by outside forces which may cause an organization to reach a plateau or to even cease operation and disappear as would be the case of a predator impacting the Monarch butterfly at one of its vulnerable stages.When the monarch butterfly fulfills its final transformation, its opportunities to escape its former constraints and reach out to the greater world increases. What awaits business organizations that transform their learning cultures to their ultimate conclusion is a greater, more adaptive and more in sync connection with the expanding opportunities in a digitally connected collaborative world.A Stage in the Transformation of a Business Learning Culture: The Learning Principles Expert The obvious questions to ask in regards to this position are: "What will the responsibilities be of someone in such a role?""Who will such a person report to?""What kind of organization resources would be needed to support such a role?" Some proposed responsibilities for such a person might be:Creating and Tracking Learning Profiles for Employees: If we accept the idea that in an information and learning age, we need to have employees always learning in order to support informed organizational goals then it makes sense that we use every opportunity to encourage and empower the learning activities of our employees. Both formal and informal learning are important and should be harnessed to the benefit of organizational goals. This would also help the organization obtain clear data on the intellectual and creative talent that exists within their staff. This is especially important in giving direction towards the goal of encouraging innovative thinking as a natural mindset in the work place.Collaborate with the Instructional Designer: A person in this role should be an expert on current adult learning principles as well as someone who is knowledgeable of the many ways on how adults use technology, such as social media, in their learning. This person should be an experienced educator with a sound understanding of effective pedagogical principles and also new and innovative pedagogical principles. The reason for this prerequisite is that in order to create an effective learning culture, you need a person who has the skillsets to create irresistibly engaging learning experiences in collaboration with the instructional designer.Design Learning Networks Connecting the Greater Global Business Network: One of the new and evolving initiatives that will prove very important to the survival of business organizations is called "open innovation". In order to make innovation more cost effective and overcome the "herding" mistake mentioned in the previous post this is a path that should be explored. An example of this type of thinking is the "open source software movement" that has resulted in very powerful and useful software applications without the huge capital required in the development and testing that is often seen in large software companies. The same type of thinking could be used as one path to innovation. You could maintain it as proprietary within a large organization or create temporary partnerships with other organizations within your particular business sector.Design Forums for Employee Innovative Idea Presentation and Testing: If we truly want to see employees engaged in collaborating on real world problems germane to organization interests then forums need to be designed where employees and their collaborative groups can present such ideas to a diversified but expert forum for exploration. Employees need to know that they are making meaningful contributions in helping the organization succeed. They need to feel that they are stakeholders in their future and that of the organization.One of the vehicles for accomplishing the above is to put into place effective blended learning practices. A Learning Principles Expert could lead the way in such an endeavour. The purpose of the above suggestions is to provoke some introspection and discussion. It is not all inclusive but it is a step to cause thoughtful engagement in the cause of transforming the learning culture so that an organization can adapt to the changing world outside its walls. Credit: www.pinterest.com Next... a consideration of the next two questions mentioned above

Two important questions to consider in the transformation of the business learning culture are:Who will the Learning Principles Expert answer to in regards to their responsibilities?What company resources will be necessary in supporting the transformation?In dealing with the first question we have to ask ourselves a question of clarification which is:"What should the profile of the person who oversees the needed transformation look like?" As I mentioned in a previous post, the number of books, articles and other forms of communication dealing with leadership skills are almost as numerous as grains of sand at a beach. The question to consider is what qualities need to come into the spotlight when you are talking about changing a learning culture. How does this scenario impact what we should see in a profile of someone who oversees the Learning Principles Expert?  In general, the leadership competencies we should see when we are considering our goal of learning culture transformation might include the following:tech literatecollaborativevisionaryconfident and courageousresilientoutward facingsystems thinkerenergeticGiven the above, one quality that should be added is whether or not the individual has a high degree of "learning agility".Credit: www.learninglive.beWhy is this an important for leaders?Credit: www.ajoconnor.comWhat would this look like in observable terms?Credit: www.thecareercafe.co.ukWe have to keep in mind that such an individual acts more like a "human bridge"  between the Learning Principles Expert and his or her collaborative team and upper management to whom he or she has to be able to translate and defend the efforts being made, act as a mediator, and at times be a staunch advocate on behalf of the collaborative group tasked with modifying the learning culture. What kind of resources would be needed to support the transformation of the learning culture? This is where it gets really interesting and cost efficient for business organizations because it takes advantage of the online world and blended learning potential in ways that promote "open innovation". More about this in the next post ..[Remember to feel free in sharing these posts on social media if you deem them good for promoting discussion]