I've been wondering about this topic for a while now. And as I keep blogging, the more convinced I am that social software is replacing eLearning. When I joined IBM 6+ years ago, I came in as a software developer for the Lotus Learning Management System or LMS. That product was the first J2EE product launched by Lotus. Soon after that Lotus released other J2EE products such as Workplace Collaboration Services, Quickr and (my personal favorite) Lotus Connections.
Anyway, after developing the LMS, I moved into IBM's consulting division and soon started traveling all over the world to help customers implement and deploy our eLearning solution. Since I was one of the developers of the product, this job was really easy 
. I did eLearning within IBM for about 4.5 years and it was real good to me.
Early 2007
In January of 2007, I started to pick up Lotus Connections as a consultant (though I'd been blogging since mid-2006). I started to work with customers deploying and integrating Connections with existing applications. More importantly, I also helped customers figure out an adoption strategy and help them understand why viral adoption is simply not enough. Other consultants in my group followed suit: they started to leave behind eLearning (as it was also declining in popularity) and picking up social software and Lotus Connections.
As my blog gained popularity, the success stories wouldn't stop rolling in. At that point, I still had the perception that Blogs were all about sharing knowledge (authors) and gaining knowledge (readers). I was convinced that the only reasons bloggers, well, blogged was because:
- They wanted to share knowledge as required by their job
- They wanted to get known within the company
- They wanted to get more recognition
I soon discovered how wrong I was!!! Through my blog I started to learn. "How?" you may ask. Well, as I blogged, people would leave their comments sometimes agreeing with me.. sometimes disagreeing. And that was the beauty of it!! By publicly sharing my concerns and/or challenges, people voluntarily shared their opinion with me, fostering "out of the box thinking". In some instances, I even blogged about my frustrations with Sharepoint and customer feature requests. Through my blog's comments, I got the answers that I needed, even though I wasn't, at first, looking for them. I was getting unsolicited knowledge! I honestly felt, and still feel, that I learn more as a blog author than a blog reader!
As I kept learning, success stories just kept piling up, and more and more people started to leave eLearning behind, the question kept coming up again and again: "Is eLearning dead?"
Social Software, of course, has the answer
I went over to my favorite search engine, Dogear (a social bookmarking site), and searched for "is social software replacing elearning". Interestingly, I'm not the only who shares this opinion. In fact, there were 1,225 search results on our internal deployment of Dogear!! Here's some resources that I found:
- Social software fosters eLearning
- Forrester: Social computing reshapes eLearning
- Goodbye, LMS?
- Communities / Social Networking + LMS merger
- Social Software: eLearning beyond Learning Management Systems
- Is LMS the best tool for learning and teaching ? (source for comic strip)
Based on this, it seems the industry is split. Some eLearning purists say that social software is a nice add-on to eLearning systems. Others say that social software is the next evolution of eLearning systems.
So, help me out. Is eLearning is dead ? Does that also apply to KM? Or is social software what some people call eLearning 2.0? I definitely think social software is KM 2.0, but eLearning...?
Hi Luis! Well, well, well, WELCOME to the world of eLearning 2.0 or Learning 2.0. No, social software will never replace eLearning to be honest, if anything, it will enhance it pretty much like it does with almost everything. Main reason why it won't disappear is because we all have got different ways / methods of learning and what may work for some, may not work for others. Yes, I agree with you that social software is helping influence how people learn while on the job: i.e. informal learning, but from that to say it would replace the traditional is going a bit too far.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it will all be determined by the fact on where eLearning is ready and willing to absorb 2.0 aspects of peer to peer learning or social learning. That's what's going to define whether it will move on or whether it will stagnate and right after disappear.
For more stuff on this subject, hook up with Tony Karrer, Jay Cross (Father of Informal Learning), Stephen Downes, George Siemens and a whole bunch of others. If interested in the topic, check out Stephen Downes federated RSS feed searches for other eLearning 2.0 folks doing / blogging some terrific stuff! :-D
I totally agree w/ Luis Suarez. New media doesn't replace old media. A few years ago everyone asked if eLearning would make classroom training obsolete. At one point, people said TV would be the death of radio. Wayne Hodgins has several good posts on this at http://waynehodgins.typepad.com/
ReplyDeleteAlso agree in recommending you look a Jay's stuff at http://informl.com/
Ok.. comments both in this blog and my internal blog within the IBM network, all agree. Both mediums can co-exist, (though in my daily musings I just happen to run less and less into formal training [LMS], and more into informal training).
ReplyDeleteLuis, thanks for those contacts!!! I'll look them up!!
John, Thanks for the links... I'll go through them and perhaps post a follow-up blog on it.
I feel that Social Software is better suited for ad-hoc or continuous learning requirements while eLearning is better suited for structured or competency based learning requirements. They both have their place.
ReplyDeleteI don't see one replacing the other, but see them as two complementary knowledge management strategies.
I agree with all. Social-based features can enhance eLearning software, but i don't see it being replaced. Each type of product has its own purpose, even when they can certainly complement each other. Structured and more traditional and "official" learning will always be necessary for corporations.
ReplyDeleteHehe,
ReplyDeleteOh no here I go again. Contrary to popular opinion, I'm growing into quite the cynical, old, grumpy man, but I'd submit that learning itself is what popular culture is killing, whether from mass media or the new social media.
Why do I blog, let me count the ways...
1. We started Dondequiera to help promote DondeEs.com (and all things Puerto Rico).
2. Evolving out of that was the hidden goal of pushing our "agenda", exciting public debate and hopefully trying to bring a fresh perspective to ideas.
3. To write, one day when I grow up I'm going to be a famous writer, so I blog to practice writing.
4. Finally, I wanted to leave bread crumbs for anyone who might be stupid enough to try and build a web start-up in Puerto Rico. I wanted to go on "record" of highlighting the reality of our market so they wouldn't be able to say, hey no one ever told me the real situation.
BTW. Nice blog, I hope you don't mind that I add it to the Dondequiera blog list!
Hi Mc,
ReplyDeleteInteresting perspective. I've never heard that mass media was killing learning itself. I need to think more about that :). It seems, though, you agree with me as to why most people blog.
Have you found, just like me, that you learn more as a blog author than a blog reader ??
Thanks for the blog comments! I do NOT mind at all that you add me to your blog ;)