Monday, November 2

Presenting the Value of Social Media for Learning

I've received various forms of the same question from different people over the past few years. The basic question is:
How do I communicate the value of social media as a learning tool to my organization?
Which provides us this month's big question:


Presenting the Value of Social Media for Learning?


Let me provide some flavor for this question straight from someone who asked me about this:
My coworkers are Baby Boomers and Traditionals. When I mention blogs or any social networking they "poo-poo" me and say our workers should not use those tools because it will make them inefficient and not do their jobs. When I have presented the idea of how we can use discussion threads on our environment to discuss topics and make comments outside the classroom, many of my co-workers said it can't be done. They either haven't opened their mind to the idea or really care. In essence, if it is not classroom, they are really not interested in it.

My question is how do I get my coworkers to even consider the capabilities of these tools when it really does not interest them.

So some of the questions this raises in my mind:
  1. How do you communicate about the potential here to other learning professionals? to knowledge workers? to management?
  2. How do you communicate the value to an audience who doesn't have experience with social media?

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Put your thoughts in a comment below.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Responses So Far (also see Comments):

22 comments:

Owen Ferguson said...

GoodPractice Blog: Making the case for social media

Jeff Goldman said...

Jeff Goldman - My Response to the Big Question

Michael Bromby said...

UK Centre for Legal Education: Digital Directions blog response.

Praxis I test said...

Twitter is a free micro-blogging service. Users sign up, create a profile, and begin sending short messages, known as tweets, about what they are doing and thinking. All other users may read their updates unless the sender gives access only to specific people. You may ask other users for permission to “follow” them (meaning that you will receive all of their updates), and other people may ask to follow you. More than 100,000 people followed Barack Obama on Twitter throughout his campaign. As a user, you can send and receive updates through the Twitter website, or by SMS, RSS, email, and a host of other applications with too-cute names such as Tweetie and Twinkle. Indeed it is a simplest learning tool.

Paul Angileri said...

Paul Angileri - How To Make The Case For Social Media?

Karl Kapp said...

Kapp Notes: Selling Social Media for Learning: ASTD Big Question

Kevin Jones said...

How to show value? Show value.
http://engagedlearning.net/post/how-to-show-value/

Geetha Krishnan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Geetha Krishnan said...

Geetha Krishnan: The Value of Social Media for Learning

jay said...

You show how the social media project increases revenue, cuts costs, improves service, spurs innovation, or reduces time-to-execution. More at Internet Time Blog.

Jane Hart said...

Show examples how social media can be used for learning! e.g. here's a list of 100+ ways to use social media for learning - http://c4lpt.co.uk/handbook/examples.html - compiled from contributions to my Top Tools for Learning activity.

RK Prasad said...

RK Prasad - Custom Training and eLearning Blog

Arunima Majumdar said...

Arunima Majumdar - Learning Through Social Networks

Clive Shepherd said...

I've added my thoughts about bottom-up learning in general - http://clive-shepherd.blogspot.com/2009/11/big-question-how-do-i-communicate-value.html

Blogger In Middle-earth said...

Kia ora e Tony!

My contribution is Lead By Example

Catchya later

rani gill said...

wander@will blog: Social Media Acceptance - create time to play, provide constraints, get influencers.

Malcolm Law said...

Web 2.0 in education blog: Facing the Future

Clark said...

Clark Quinn's Learnlets - Promoting Social Media

gminks said...

Here's mine: Adventures in Corporate Education

Connie Malamed said...

Connie Malamed: This interview with Jane Hart might be helpful: http://bit.ly/social-media-and-learning
And here is a description of 10 social technologies for learning that might help someone in their effort to present value: http://bit.ly/GCDuF

The upsycho said...

You know, I'm soooo out of touch. Gotta get back into the groove! Coming horribly late to this conversation, but squeaking in within the month of November, may I put forward my entire MA major project as a 'Here's one I did earlier' response to this big question? It's a good fit!

What has been the impact of the use of social media on my professional practice as a corporate learning professional?

ClaudiaE said...

Claudia Escribano: You Never Know Until You Try