Sims Learning Connections

Here we are at Part-6 of this occasional series and I’m a bit surprised at how little I’ve written up until now regarding what the average employee would like to see in an integrated experience from their Information/Knowledge Management and Learning & Development professionals. In retrospect, this employee-view would have been a good place to begin this series.

A start at a potential wish-list:

1. An enterprise search that returns results for:
   • Reference documents, including examples of prior work, case studies, white papers, etc. — categorized as such
   • Job aids — also clearly categorized and labeled as such using the language of employees, e.g. ‘quick reference guides’ or ‘cheat sheets’
   • Templates — again, clearly labeled as such
   • (the big wish) Course descriptions and the ability to click a link to register for eLearning, classroom, and other delivery channels. That is, enterprise search delivers results from, and links into, the Learning Management System, if one is implemented.
   • Relevant mailing lists and communities
   • Web pages
   • Relevant enterprise applications
   • …and more
2. eLearning, classroom courses and webcasts always include pointers to relevant information resources, including mailing lists and communities. In #1, the intranet hands off to learning; here is the inverse — “learning” hands back to the broader intranet and internet
3. The learning activities in #2 also always include an easy means for the learner to contribute their own knowledge; for example, via a course companion wiki or discussion forum.
4. Within transactional business process applications (the day-to-day technology where work is done) there are highly targeted ‘advertisements’ for learning opportunities.

In his 2004 Chief Learning Office article, Leveraging Knowledge Management: The Curriculum Map, Nick Van Dam wrote about the development process for obtaining this vision:

The information or knowledge that is captured in a “knowledge object” can be used as a source for the development of a learning module. By using solid principles of instructional design, the information is restructured in such a way that it becomes an effective learning experience. Knowledge objects also can be included as referenceware in a learning curriculum. In this application, the learning professional must identify the most relevant knowledge objects for a specific subject area. Furthermore, they need to determine if learner access to those knowledge objects will support the overall learning experience.

In the same article, he also described one possible user experience:

..integrate the knowledge objects and learning modules in a curriculum and give this a visual representation in a curriculum map. A learning curriculum map provides all learners with relevant information, supplemental resources, job aids, knowledge objects and learning objects to support their learning and certification needs. From this map, the learner can easily and efficiently access the relevant learning and knowledge objects that are hosted on a variety of portals.