“She works on learning and technology
in a way that is creative, concrete and quirky”

Performance Support Goes to the Oscars

Mike Yonker, my guest blogger, is President of Learner Mobile for SVI Inc. Much of mobile training and development is broken. Few have the patience to go through courseware on a phone or even a tablet. Screens are small and content is long. Mobile can do so much more. Mobile was the buzz at the ASTD International Conference in Dallas in May, 2013. Even though they are keen for it, many learning professionals fail to ask the right questions. It's important to inquire about device compatibility with the organization's technical requirements. It's important to know how both mobile content and messages are managed and published and how they … [Read more...]

Leader development is the question. Is mobile the answer?

When you look at the numbers associated with workplace learning and development, the investment in leader performance jumps out. Bersin Associates, now a unit within Deloitte, wrote this in 2012: U.S. companies have increased leadership development spending 14 percent over 2011 levels to an estimated $13.6 billion in 2012. The Bersin group notes that this spending is extending beyond senior leaders and to mid-level and even first-level managers. Talent Edge 2020, a longitudinal study of the matters weighing on executives’ minds, identified leadership as their most pressing talent concern. Can we rely on training and development for … [Read more...]

The Pulse of Mobile Learning

A faint pulse today Most of what is said and written about mobile learning and support touts potential and points to the future. Current studies confirm a faint pulse for mobile in enterprise learning today. I first noticed this enthusiasm-action gap when colleague Jim Marshall and I surveyed workplace learning professionals about their learning technology practices. To our surprise, even in this professionally active sample, only 4% said they were using mobile to deliver learning and support in their organizations. So low was that number that I confirmed it with several large audiences, including one at a conference devoted to mobile … [Read more...]

Performance support “hearts” training and vice versa

In September I attended the eLearning Guild’s new conference, Performance Support Symposium. Ontuitive’s Bob Mosher kicked it off with a mighty bang, offering the jaw-dropping suggestion that we cast off training in favor of performance support. Like Bob, I am hooked on performance support. In the 80s, I wrote a book about job aids. More recently, I wrote another, this one called Handbook for Job Aids and Performance Support. This thing I have with performance support (PS) is a long-term relationship. My bond with training and development is just as deep. It began with a few years as a high school English teacher, then several decades … [Read more...]