The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/21494
“By 2020, law firms will have technology users who reflect the behaviors, values, needs, expectations and demands of five very different generations.” How do we begin to formalize informal learning? Legal technology users need to become agile learners now more than ever with rapidly changing roles, technology and environments. Yet, formal classroom training is anything but agile. Updates to curriculum and e-learning, scheduling and execution of classroom sessions are time-intensive processes. How do we facilitate learning in a world that needs to develop new awareness and skills on a regular basis? We believe the answer lies within informal learning. In fact, a number of studies show that people learn how to do their jobs through a blended learning model. One of our favorites is the 70-20-10 model architected by McCall, Eichinger and Lombardo at the Center for Creative Leadership. They conclude that 70 percent of learning occurs on the job performing daily tasks, 20 percent from feedback provided by peers or mentors and only 10 percent happening in formal learning programs. With 90 percent of learning occurring outside of the classroom, we need to find a way to tap into the informal learning that happens daily among technology users. While many believe that the “formal” acknowledgement of informal learning signals the death of the traditional training profession, we believe that informal learning actually increases the value of the training professional in law firms. Because informal learning happens every day in every organization, we are encouraging learning professionals to find ways to become a partner and facilitator of the learning that naturally happens. Our friends in the knowledge management profession are looking at ways to “formalize” informal knowledge sharing, much like we are looking to “formalize” informal learning. Can we leverage their hard work and technologies to bring knowledge and learning into one consolidated platform? IBM has developed a portal that combines learning and work to streamline the learning experience. Content is a shared responsibility of the training team, business experts and thought leaders. With this model, employees only have to visit one place. The search feature is vital, with results being customized based on the context of the employee’s role. While learning experts act as content moderators, IBM’s learners actually shape the learning experience using a rating and tagging system to bring forward content and information that is relevant. Key to the learning portal is the mix of resources, 54 www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer including those managed in the learning management system (LMS), internal resources contributed by individuals and external resources. We believe that technology is an enabler for change, but individuals are the heart of the movement. To truly embrace new ways of learning, we must consider that individuals experience learning differently. New forms of social learning using Web 2.0 technologies and innovative models for competency-based, peer-to-peer learning are two of the biggest trends on the horizon and will be components in Next Generation Learning in law firms. Social Learning and Community Building ASTD (the American Society for Training and Development) partnered with the Institute for Corporate Productivity to research how organizations are using social media and Web 2.0 technologies for learning. The study finds strong evidence that the use of these tools for work-related purposes contributes to getting work done and learning more in less time. So how do we move forward with our own social learning initiative? To say that the future of workplace learning is social seems odd given that work and learning have always been social. What is changing are the ways that we “socially” connect with each other. Social learning leverages the use of social media tools, allowing for access to relevant information and expertise in the context of daily work. Beyond the technology, it is about engaging, communicating, connecting and providing information at the moment of need, building communities of practice, finding experts and capturing knowledge where the learner is in control of what and how they learn. Social media tools include items such as microblogging, wikis, blogs, discussion forums, shared bookmarking sites and virtual communities. Studies show that people learn more from each other informally on the job than they do in formal training programs, and much of what they learn in those moments is retained because the connection to the benefit is immediate. Historically in law firms, those communities met via e-mail, in the break room or in formal firm functions like practice area meetings. With online social tools, such as wikis and discussion boards, those communities of practice become transparent and the conversational knowledge is captured,