10.26.2008

Instructional Design, Training, Statistics, Web, 2.0, & New CEOs

Instructional Design in a Connected World - Brainstorm in Progress

Much of what has been said characterizes instructional design as mechanistic, linear, and formulaic. To an extent, there is some truth to this because instructional design has many problems to solve - one of them, for instance, might be that factory workers may need to know how to operate a specific piece of equipment or billing coders in hospitals may need to know some legal procedures.

Business leaders urge firms not to slash training - People Management

Now is precisely the time to keep investing in the skills and talents of our people. "It is the people we employ who get us through. When markets are shrinking and order books falling, it is their commitment, productivity and ability to add value that will keep us competitive. Investing now in building new skills will put us in the strongest position as the economy recovers."

Connecting the instructional design dots - Virtual Learning Worlds

From an instructional design standpoint, we talk a lot about "Just in time" learning, or JIT. The design field has struggled with this for many years. How do you get that critical information to your employees or students exactly when they need it the most?

False advertising statistics effective, say 9 out of 10 cats Mind Hacks

Even when consumers can directly experience the relevant products and the specifications carry little or no new information, their preference is still influenced by specifications, including specifications that are self-generated and by definition spurious and specifications that the respondents themselves deem uninformative.

The long nimbus - The Economist

Firms have at last begun to embrace Web 2.0 technologies in earnest, a trend predictably called Enterprise 2.0. By 2013 companies around the globe will spend $4.6 billion on such tools, according to Forrester Research.

Companies may not have much choice but to open up, says Mr Mulholland. Employees will increasingly resist constraints on their use of technology, and they will have a growing need to reach beyond the corporate firewall. Twenty years ago, he argues, 80% of the knowledge that workers required to do their jobs resided within their company. Now it is only 20% because the world is changing ever faster. "We need to be open to new and unknown connections with people and content," he says.

The Seven Things That Surprise New CEOs - Harvard Business School

The CEO must learn to manage organizational context rather than focus on daily operations. Providing leadership in this way - and not diving into the details - can be a jarring transition. One CEO said that he initially felt like the company's "most useless executive," despite the power inherent in the job.

No comments: