One of the proven marketing techniques I find so many organizations do not take full advantage of is social proof in the form of good testimonials from customers and members. This is particularly surprising in the case of membership organizations, where a sense of affiliation and loyalty are absolutely essential for generating sales of educational products and service.

There are many ways to go about getting testimonials without a great deal of effort. It just requires a little planning and a few simple – and often free – tools. These include:

• Always having video camera on hand at your meetings. You don’t need professional video equipment – a Flip camera or your cell phone video camera can do the trick. You may want a simple, compact tripod to go with it.
• Keeping an audio recorder handy. Again, your cell phone may work for this, or you can get a relatively inexpensive digital recorder like the Sony ICD-BX112. (The advantage of a dedicated digital recorder and a Flip camera are that these can usually be passed around to staff members and volunteers much more easily than your cell phone can.)
• A digital camera. (I strongly advise having pictures of actual customers and members to go along with any text-based or audio testimonials.)
• Fields on your paper and Web-based evaluation and renewal forms where you can ask customers/members to provide testimonials – preferably with an example of the type of thing you are looking for.
• Simple, straightforward language on a release form or any other forms on which you ask for testimonials. This language should, at a minimum, allow you to use the testimonial along with the person’s name and image.

Armed with these tools, you can easily collect a wide range of testimonials to include on your Web site, in your conference and seminar brochures, and all other marketing materials. No rocket science here – it’s just a matter of planning to do it and consistently executing on that plan.

Part of what prompted me to write about this topic  today is that I noticed John Jantsch has a good post over on the Duct Tape Marketing blog on 5 Ways to Get Your Customers to Create Content for You. Much of the post actually relates to obtaining testimonials, and John (as usual) has some great tips, including:

• A One Question Survey (with a Net Promoter twist)
• A Video Appreciation Party
• Dial-In Testimonials with AudioAcrobat

I encourage you to read the full 5 Ways to Get Your Customers to Create Content for You post. More importantly, if you have not been making testimonials a priority as part of your promotional efforts, start today.

Jeff

To wrap up 2011 and tee things up for 2012, I reached out to a number of colleagues at associations, learning technology firms, and other consulting firms across the sector to get their predictions (things they think will happen) and wishes (things they think ought to happen) in association education in 2012. In the first part of what follows, I have tried to weave all of the input into a cohesive narrative that spans five major themes:

• Competition Keeps Driving Change
• Social Learning Goes Mainstream
• Mobile Learning Gets Its Mojo (Maybe)
• Strategy Has Its Day
• IT Gets in the Game – Or Gets Put in Its Place

Following this narrative, I provide the full input from each person who participated. There is a great deal of good insight here – all of which merits careful consideration if not action. I encourage you to share this and discuss it with colleagues at your organization.

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to provide input. I welcome feedback as well as other predictions and wishes in the comments.

Jeff

Competition Keeps Driving Change

I’ll start with one that I think most associations will have no trouble buying into: competition will continue to increase.

Josh Goldman (www.acuho-i.org >> www.ncacpa.org) predicts that “based on the exponential competition for members’ time and resources and their access to loads of information—-association educators will finally accept the shift from seeing themselves as creators versus curators.”

Jeff Hurt (www.velvetchainsaw.org) predicts that “more associations will offer free webinars as a membership value add instead of charging fees for them.” Why? You guessed it: “Too many organizations are providing quality free content and competing with the association.”

Rick Olson (www.krm.com) suggests that “video will become an increasingly important part of virtual learning events as associations work to distinguish themselves from the competition.”

Paul Dooley (www.wbtsystems.com) says that “We will see increased competition in the number of associations and accreditation bodies offering CPDs (continuing professional development) to their members, resulting in more options and sources of CPD training. As a result, professionals will choose their CPD provider based on course cost and quality, rather than being loyal to one provider.”

Personally, I think the “loyalty” question is a huge one in the coming years.

Social Learning Goes Mainstream…

“Social media meets education” was in its infancy when I wrote the first edition of Learning 2.0 for Associations in late 2007.  2012 may be the year when Web-enhanced social learning finally starts to reach maturity.

Marianne Vicari (www.elogiclearning.com) says “buzz will continue around mobile & social learning, as associations wonder if it’s right for them.”

Thomas Stefaniak (www.aapa.org) wishes “that associations would fully embrace member-to-member learning,” instead of “a ‘we know what is best’ approach that does nothing to advance members.”

Rich Finstein (www.commpartners.com) argues that “the movement towards social learning provides a great opportunity for participants to exchange knowledge and share best practices in a more dynamic format.”

Dave Will (www.peachnewmedia.com) suggests that leading edge associations “will begin to differentiate themselves by offering a true learning experience rather than just transferring information. This will come in the form of social learning online.”

Jon Aleckson (www.webcourseworks.com) says “We will see more associations leveraging social media tools like discussion threads within formal online courses to generate learning that has a deeper impact for members. This should result in added synergies between the membership and education departments at associations.”

Ellen Behrens (alearning.wordpress.com) takes social learning to scale by predicting that “MOOCs (Massive Open Online Class) will make their presence known in the association community — and will probably be started by members rather than the organizations themselves.”

Tadu Yimam (www.nacubo.org) suggest that associations need to be paying more attention to game-based approaches to learning, saying that associations are primed for taking their online communities to the next level by incorporating gamified tools.

Jeff De Cagna (www.principledinnovation.com) highlights Mozilla’s Open Badges Project – a tool that supports recognition for informal and non-traditional learning experiences – as having “the potential to reinvent the way we think about learning.”

Finally, Kathi Edwards (www.learningevangelist.com) knows that the shift to social won’t come without pain and “wishes for associations would undergo a culture change that rewards risk-taking over maintaining the status quo. Associations have to become much more nimble in creating new and different opportunities for learning.”

…and Mobile Finds Its Mojo (Maybe)

“Mobile everything,” says Barbara Swarthout (www.ifebp.org). “I hope that associations are preparing themselves for the onslaught of new ways of learning:  smartphones, tablets, Facebook, LinkedIn, virtual conferences – the list will continue to grow.”

Tobin Conley (www.delcor.com) says “More associations will move to apps and mobile Web in advancing their professional development programs online.” To this prediction, however, he adds the wish that “associations actually move to the mobile Web and build apps for learning purposefully—not merely because “all the cool kids are doing it”.

Jeff De Cagna (www.principledinnovation.com) forecasts that “The continued proliferation of mobile phones, e-book readers and tablet devices worldwide, along with the rise of more mobile-friendly competitor offerings, will inspire busy, travel-weary and financially-strapped stakeholders to demand meaningful mobile learning experiences.”

Dave Lutz’s (www.velvetchainsaw.org) prediction that “more associations will consider bite-sized alternatives for capturing and sharing face2face meeting content” jibes well with serving growing mobile demand – not to mention learner needs.

Josh Goldman (www.acuho-i.org >> www.ncacpa.org) points to major innovations in mobile (and social) could enable when he makes the wish that association start to provide educational content “in relation to the context I find myself in … context predictive delivery to know I am at my home office, home city, or work office and that the association I “trust” is helping predict my content and delivery needs based on that context.”

For mobile to really gets its mojo, though, some obstacles may need to be removed:

We need “Apple to support Flash on its mobile devices,” says Paul Dooley (www.wbtsystems.com).  “Clearly this is a major headache for associations, content developers, solution providers, and members.”

Raffaele Vitelli (www.ahip.org) echoes this sentiment: “I wish that Apple would stop this stupid quarrel with Adobe and integrate Flash within their products.

Jack McGrath (www.digitecinteractive.com) goes beyond Apple to wish for “standardization of mobile platforms so it can be more easily adopted for eLearning delivery.”

Howard Horwitz (www.ache.org) notes that to support both mobile and social “hotels and other venues are going to have to step up and provide wireless hot spots either as part of the meeting package or at much more reasonable rates.”

Strategy Has Its Day

Our research for this year’s Association Learning + Technology report indicated that associations are not being as strategic about moving education online as they could be. Will that change in 2012?

As one of his wishes, Rich Finstein (www.commpartners.com) hopes “that organizations will be more strategic in planning their live online programs.”

Kathi Edwards (www.learningevangelist.com) argues that a key part of strategy going forward needs to be helping learners take more responsibility for their own learning She feels “that associations not only offer spaces for learning to occur – they also offer opportunities for members to learn how to learn as well as how to use that learning to create new opportunities in their own situations.” (Kathi and I are very much in sync on this one! Stay tuned for my new book 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner.)

Jack McGrath (www.digitectinteractive.com) predicts that data will play a role in strategy as associations “use more eLearning research and metrics of learner results to drive their organizations.” (ALT Digest readers may remember that I touched on the topic of “learning analytics” in the September edition.)

Tamer Ali (www.digitalignite.com) argues that associations need to “break the store model, and put it away for good:  Associations [need to] move away from a “store” concept for their professional education items, and consider them a strategic product portfolio, tightly aligning them with member needs.”

Ellen Behrens (wordpress.alearning.com) says “Professional and trade associations are sitting on a goldmine of industry-specific knowledge and information, but without a strategy for leveraging it into viable training (not to mention a knowledge management strategy or information architecture blueprint) they’ll never reap its full value.”

Lloyd Tucker (www.stc.org) says that “The time is here when small to medium sized associations with conference attendance of 500-800 people can make more profit (income minus direct costs/personnel/G&A) from online learning than their face-to-face conference.” (Note: Lloyd has actually done this, so he knows of what he speaks!)

Tadu Yimam (www.nacubo.org) argues along similar lines when she predicts more virtual events. “More and more associations are looking for avenues to deliver educational content to a broader audience. And while the face-to-face meeting opportunity is always desirable, the convenience and cost-effectiveness of hosting a virtual event can’t be ignored.

IT Gets In the Game – or Gets Put in Its Place

We’ve noted before that organizations are often very “siloed” in how they approach their learning initiatives. (See, for example, our Association E-learning: State of the Sector Update 2010.) One of the main areas in which these silos need to be broken down is technology – where AMSes arguably have more sway than they should.

Raffaele Vitelli (www.ahip.org) predicts that “More and more Associations will recognize the importance of developing integrated solutions to provide members and non-members with a single hub for Education, Training, and Information sharing.” But –and it is a big ‘ol but – “The implementation of such a vision will require a massive technological undertaking as typically most associations have a silo-like structure.”

Indeed. That needs to change.

Dave Lutz (www.velvetchainsaw.org) throws down the gauntlet to IT with his wish that associations “stop allowing their IT infrastructure and policies get in the way of innovation.”

That’s the end of my effort to weave the predictions and wishes into a cohesive story. Below are the full submissions.

Full Submissions (with minor editing)

Note: These are presented in no particular order.

• Tadu Yimam
• Barbara Swarthout
• Jeff De Cagna
• Rich Finstein
• Jack McGrath
• Tamer Ali
• Josh Goldman
• Dave Will
• Thomas Stefaniak
• John Aleckson
• Tobin Conley
• Marianne Vicari
• Dave Lutz
• Jeff Hurt
• Ellen Behrens
• Lloyd Tucker
• Raffele Vitelli
• Paul Dooley
• Kathleen Edwards
• Rick Olson
• Howard Horowitz

Tadu Yimam
Director, Online Learning
National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)

http://www.nacubo.org

My Prediction: I think we will see a rise in association virtual events. More and more associations are looking for avenues to deliver educational content to a broader audience. And while the face-to-face meeting opportunity is always desirable, the convenience and cost-effectiveness of hosting a virtual event can’t be ignored.

My Wish: I think associations ought to consider and increase the use of game design techniques and mechanics to engage member audiences. We’re starting to see more and more use of gamification techniques in everyday tasks (not just on social media platforms, but even products such as eFile and Turbo Tax – the most tedious of duties). And associations are primed for taking their online communities to the next level by incorporating gamified tools.

Barbara Swarthout, CEBS, SPHR
Director of Education and E-Learning Programs
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

http://www.ifebp.org

Mobile everything.  I hope that associations are preparing themselves for the onslaught of new ways of learning:  smartphones, tablets, Facebook, LinkedIn, virtual conferences – the list will continue to grow.  The world is changing dramatically.  Associations need to be prepared with the onslaught of new professionals in any field that will demand this new way of educating and training.  I wish you all a successful 2012 year of looking at, and developing, your mobile learning strategy to the benefit of your association and its members.

Jeff De Cagna FRSA FASAE
Chief Strategist and Founder
Principled Innovation LLC
(jeff@principledinnovation.com/ @pinnovation)

http://www.principledinnovation.com

Forecast: The continued proliferation of mobile phones, e-book readers and tablet devices worldwide, along with the rise of more mobile-friendly competitor offerings, will inspire busy, travel-weary and financially-strapped stakeholders to demand meaningful mobile learning experiences. Whether associations will heed this clarion call for innovation is another matter entirely…

Wish: Many associations will participate with great enthusiasm in Mozilla’s Open Badges project (http://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/FAQs) with the goal of making it simpler for their stakeholders to build, track and display the capabilities they need to be successful in the 21st century workplace. This project has the potential to reinvent the way we think about learning, and I certainly hope many associations will want to be a part of it.

Rich Finstein
President
CommPartners

http://www.commpartners.com

Here is my wish: I hope that organizations will be more strategic in planning their live online programs. The movement towards social learning provides a great opportunity for participants to exchange knowledge and share best practices in a more dynamic format. As organizers consider changes to their webinars, hybrid events, and online classes they should think about incorporating opportunities for participant engagement into their program structure and reach a balance between learning from SMEs and fellow attendees.

Jack McGrath
President
Digitec Interactive

http://www.digitecinteractive.com

Prediction – Associations will use more eLearning research and metrics of learner results to drive their organizations.

Wish – Standardization of mobile platforms so it can be more easily adopted for eLearning delivery. Association members are adopting tablets and accessing learning anywhere, anytime.

Wish:  We break the store model, and put it away for good:  Associations move away from a “store” concept for their professional education items, and consider them a strategic product portfolio, tightly aligning them with member needs.

Josh Goldman
Josh is in transition from the Senior Director at the Association of College & University Housing Officers-International to the Director of Professional Development with the North Carolina Association of CPA’s. He can be reached at josh@joshgoldman.com

My “prediction” is based on the exponential competition for member’s time and resources and their access to loads of information—-association educators will finally accept the shift from seeing themselves as creators versus curators.  We will be “forced” to position our educational products along three primary variables: trust, cost to perceived-value ratio, and speed to market/access.  This naturally causes a shift to education by curation. In a world where google has become a verb, the question becomes what can association educators do to make their association a verb?

My “wish” regards the increased capability of location-based services (Siri, remind me to take my keys when I leave the office) that association educators will be pressed to not only deliver content when I want it, in the format I want it in (most of us are barely keeping pace), but now possibly in relation to the context I find myself in.  We’re struggling to provide parity of experience across platforms (devices) at this point, and my wish is we quickly move beyond that and think about how we increase the quality of the educational experience based on the context.  Perhaps, context predictive delivery to know I am at my home office, home city, or work office and that the association I “trust” is helping predict my content and delivery needs based on that context. (Siri, I’m on the train to work, find me brief whitepapers on the latest trends in my industry that I can read on my device).  One can dream….

Dave Will
CEO
Peach New Media

http://www.peachnewmedia.com

Prediction:  Associations will build learning programs that recognize their communities needs and are segmented very specifically in 2 ways. Some will continue to sell credit to members looking for credit and credit only, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There are many, however, that will begin to differentiate themselves by offering a true learning experience rather than just transferring information. This will come in the form of social learning online.

Wish: I wish learning online will come with more passion. Passion for the topic, passion for the participation and passion for how to use the newly acquired knowledge. Social learning online will help foster the passion people have when they converse with each other in personal relationships.

Thomas Stefaniak
Director, Specialty Organizations and Program Development
American Academy of Physician Assistants

http://www.aapa.org

I wish that associations would fully embrace member to member learning.  There is still this all too prevalent need for associations to control learning and content dissemination.  Misguided organizations follow a “we know what is best” approach that does nothing to advance members.  Organizations should seed communities with organization-produced content and then provide the vehicle for members to further discuss and enlighten each other on the application of the learning takeaways.  Control is a myth.

John Aleckson
CEO
Web Courseworks

http://www.webcourseworks.com

Prediction for 2012: We will see more associations leveraging social media tools like discussion threads within formal online courses to generate learning that has a deeper impact for members. This should result in added synergies between the membership and education departments at associations. Please see blog post for additional information on my views on social media and formal education.

Tobin Conley
Senior Consultant, Technology Management
Delcor

http://www.declor.com

Prediction: More associations will move to apps and mobile Web in advancing their professional development programs online.

Wish: That associations actually move to the mobile Web and build apps for learning purposefully—not merely because “all the cool kids are doing it”. This means that such efforts should focus on delivering value to the end-user, rather than showing off cutting-edge technology.  Remember, just because you can do something, it by no means implies that you should.

Prediction: The lines between social and learning will continue to blur, leading to a new richness in content generation among associations, but also producing some measure of confusion in terms of content curation and access.

Wish: It is hoped that in 2012 associations will engage more fully in creating strategies that tie in elements of content, community, and learning so that they can not only produce but also reap the rewards that can come from such productive interactions.

Prediction: The Mayan calendar prediction of the end of days will not come true.

Wish: That I’m right on that one!

Marianne Vicari, MBA
Sales & Marketing Coordinator
eLogic Learning

http://www.elogiclearning.com

In 2012 associations will continue to focus on training.  eLearning will squarely be in the mix as associations continue to grow, so too the need to train it members efficiently.  Buzz will continue around Mobile & Social learning, as associations wonder if it’s right for them.  Sometimes “the shoe” doesn’t fit and we’ll still buy it anyway.  Access to training content is key, however delivering great content in a format where true learning can take place without breaking the bank is paramount.  2012 will see the balance take shape as organizations grow!

Dave Lutz
Managing Director
Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

http://www.velvetchainsaw.com

Prediction – More associations will consider bite-sized alternatives for capturing and sharing face2face meeting content. Why? Traditional audio recordings synced to Powerpoint are not immersive enough to be consumed by the masses. Short videos, interviews or written recaps will better serve those unable to attend.

Wish – Associations will stop allowing their IT infrastructure and policies get in the way of innovation. Why this is important! Enterprise Association Management Systems are putting a strangle-hold on an associations ability to be nimble and deliver membership value. Savvy CEO’s will nip this in the bud and ensure that their member facing assets serve the member first and the enterprise second.

Jeff Hurt
Director, Education & Engagement
Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

http://www.velvetchainsaw.com

Prediction – More associations will be offer free webinars as a membership value add instead of charging fees for them. Why is this important? Too many organizations are providing quality free content and competing with the association.

Wish – More associations would move away from the traditional didactic lecture to really focusing on participant learning. Why? Today’s audiences are more sophisticated and they can search for information with the click of the mouse. If the education experience does not provide ROI in learning, they may not return.

Ellen Behrens
aLearning

http://alearning.wordpress.com

Prediction: MOOCs (Massive Open Online Class) will make their presence known in the association community – and will probably be started by members rather than the organizations themselves. Like social networking and social learning, MOOCs (the name might shift and change in the next year as well) are organic in their germination and growth. Associations should welcome MOOCs when they arrive and embrace what they will do to expand the conversation and learning.

Wish: Professional and trade associations are sitting on a goldmine of industry-specific knowledge and information, but without a strategy for leveraging it into viable training (not to mention a knowledge management strategy or information architecture blueprint) they’ll never reap its full value. Doing this before competitors find ways to gather similar resources and exploit them is critical.

Lloyd Tucker
Deputy Executive Director
Society for Technical Communication

http://www.stc.org

Prediction: The time is here when small to medium sized associations with conference attendance of 500-800 people can make more profit (income minus direct costs/personnel/G&A) from online learning than their face to face conference.  Web conferencing software has evolved into cheap and easy to use platforms.  The key is volume…add more seminars!

Raffaele Vitelli
Sr. Director, Operations and Finance
Center for Insurance Education and Professional Development
America’s Health Insurance Plans
http://www.ahip.org

Prediction: More and more Associations will recognize the importance of developing integrated solutions to provide members and non-members with a single hub for Education, Training, and Information sharing.  These “knowledge-Centric” hubs will give the individual users on-demand access to all the material and events available on a specific topic through the associations numerous initiatives (Conferences, Webinars, synchronous and asynchronous training, Whitepapers, Press releases, access to Experts, Communities of practices, etc.).  The implementation of such a vision will require a massive technological undertaking as typically most associations  have a silo-like structure where different departments utilize different systems/data bases to deliver their content or manage their events.

Wish: Being a user of the Articulate suite of authoring tools, I wish that Apple stopped this stupid quarrel with Adobe and integrated flash within their products.  In alternative, I wish Articulate would come up with a version of their software that gave developers the option to generate the final product either flash based or html based.  This way we’d finally be able to produce online content that would be accessible to Ipods and Ipads (which we have wanted to do for a while now).

Paul Dooley
CEO
WBT Systems

http://www.wbtsystems.com

Prediction: We will see increased competition in the number of associations and accreditation bodies offering CPDs to their members, resulting in more options and sources of CPD training. As a result, professionals will choose their CPD provider based on course cost and quality, rather than being loyal to one provider. This in turn will see an increased need for continuing education providers to ecognize training / CPD carried out with external providers, and learning management and membership systems will need the functionality to allow members record this externally achieved CPD.

Wish: Apple to  support flash on its mobile devices. Clearly this is a major headache for associations, content developers, solution providers and members.

Kathleen Edwards, CAE
The Learning Evangelist

http://www.learningevangelist.com

First, as social learning and open collaboration become increasingly critical to the success of individuals and organizations, I wish that associations would undergo a culture change that rewards risk-taking over maintaining the status quo. Associations have to become much more nimble in creating new and different opportunities for learning if they want to remain relevant in a world that rewards flexibility and choice over tradition and the “tried and true.”

Second, I wish that association members would take greater responsibility for their own learning, relying less on finding out what has worked for others and more on participating in collaborative opportunities to discover what will work for them. This could mean that associations not only offer spaces for learning to occur – they also offer opportunities for members to learn how to learn as well as how to use that learning to create new opportunities in their own situations.

Rick Olson
President
KRM Information Services

http://www.krm.com

Video will become an increasingly important part of virtual learning events as associations work to distinguish themselves from the competition.

Howard Horowitz, FACHE, CAE
Vice President, Professional Development
American College of Healthcare Executives
http://www.ache.org

Associations will increasingly use both social media and Smart phone “apps” to drive information exchange and engage participants at their meetings and events.  These “cool technologies” will soon become so mainstream that those who do not have them will be criticized.  However, hotels and other venues are going to have to step up and provide wireless hot spots either as part of the meeting package or at much more reasonable rates.

I thought I’d point out that ASAE’s Associations Now has recently run a couple of items that many readers here would find interesting.

The first, Current and Future Trends in E-learning, offers various data (such as that in the image above) from our Association Learning + Technology report. This will give you an idea of how associations are currently making use of e-learning. You can find it online at:

• http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/ANowDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=135909

The second, What to Look for in Learning Management Systems, takes a look at how learning management systems are evolving and how associations are using them. You can find this one at:

• http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/ANowDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=137300

Enjoy,

Jeff

As we round the corner to the end of the year, many organizations are thinking about what they can do to reinvigorate their continuing education and professional development offerings in 2012. Here are five approaches to consider:

1. Flip the classroom

Across the K-12 world, a growing number of innovative educators are embracing the idea of “flipping the classroom.” Instead of using up classroom time for lecturing, they are having students spend time at home to familiarize themselves with the key content for a course. This might happen through reading, listening to podcasts, or viewing videos from sources like Khan Academy. Valuable classroom time is then spent for facilitated discussion and collaborative learning. While not every topic lends itself to this approach, many do – particularly at more advanced levels.

In the coming year, challenge your organization to flip some percentage of your educational offerings – whether classroom-based or online. Provide high quality content prior to the scheduled event, make your expectations about reviewing the content beforehand clear to the learners, and make sure your subject matter experts are well prepared to facilitate discussion. (The best presenters will tend to welcome this approach, in my experience.)

2. Reserve a “New and Emerging” Block

In the numerous surveys and interviews I have conducted, “timeliness” always emerges as one of the key things learners value in educational content. Yet, in our recent speaker survey – conducted in collaboration with Velvet Chainsaw – just over 70 percent of respondents indicated that their calls for proposals for session speakers close 8 months or more before their meetings. I’m sure you can see the disconnect there.

Going into 2012, challenge your organization to reserve a block of sessions that will be named no more than 60 days before the event. Get your speakers excited about it, and make sure your members know about it.

3. Bring in Some Instructional Design

In the surveys we have conducted on online learning in the association sector, we have consistently found that well under half of organizations use professional instructional designers – whether on staff or by contract – when creating educational experiences. In our recent speaker survey, only 41.9 percent of respondents indicated that they measure whether learning occurs at their meetings. Better design makes for a better experience for the learner and it contributes significantly to delivering on an expectation that I think more members are going to demand from education going forward: return on investment.

Challenge your organization to up its ID game in 2012. If you truly can’t afford professional help in this area, at least be sure to read essential works like Bob Mager’s “six pack” on designing and delivering great instruction and Ruth Colvin Clark and Richard Mayers e-Learning and the Science of Instruction.

4. Invest in improving your SME talent pool

I hear again and again from learners that the key factor that makes an educational experience great is an effective presenter. Yet, in my experience most organizations do relatively little to help their presenters be more effective instructors. Our recent speaker survey indicated that around 73 percent of organizations prepare their speakers for meetings, but only about half of those that provide preparation actually provide training or tips for better presentations. Diversity is also an issue – most organizations rely on the same speakers again and again and do little to cultivate a “bench” of talent, particularly among younger generation members.

These are not terribly difficult issues to address. Start by putting together good supporting materials – e.g., tips on developing sound learning objectives and communicating information effectively – and using these as a basis for brief training sessions for speakers. And build a solid channel for communicating with current and prospective speakers, whether through an e-mail list, listserv, discussion board, or other means. Make it easy to spread the word about speaking opportunities to those who may not otherwise think of themselves as speakers. Challenge your organization to do these things in 2012.

5. Invest in improving your learners

We live in a world that demands continual lifelong learning for those who want to thrive and associations are in a unique position to service that demand. Nonetheless, learners themselves need to be prepared to learn effectively, and as I have argued before, many are not. We are not adequately trained by our education system to be self-directed as learners, and we certainly aren’t prepared to take full advantage of the wealth of opportunities that technology-enhanced social learning offers. Supporting learners in being better prepared to learn is a tremendous opportunity for associations.

Challenge your association to capitalize on this opportunity on 2012. Actively provide learning tips to your conference, Webinar, online course, and online community participants in whatever form makes most sense. Blog posts, newsletter article, tweet, and videos are among the wide range of delivery opportunities. And you may want to check out my 15 Ways of the Successful Self-Directed Learner.

Those are my five. What would you add?

Jeff

Many thanks to Maddie for highlighting the video below featuring Tom Hood, CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs. I’ve been preaching Learning 2.0 and social learning for years now, but it is much more meaningful to hear directly from an association leader about the value he sees in it. I’d recommend watching this one with as many others in your organization as you can convince to join – including your executive director or CEO.

Not seeing the video? Click through to http://www.tagoras.com/2011/10/18/social-learning-executive-view/

Over on the aLearning blog Ellen Behrens is running a brief, 10-question survey to identify how and when associations are choosing to use online learning, including the implementation of social learning. You should take it if you are:

• wondering what other associations and non-profits are up to with their learning offerings…
• anticipating a change for the next year and want to know if others are making similar changes..
• considering increasing your education budget but need to prove other associations are investing more money in their learning programs first…

You should also take it just to support continuing efforts to shed more light on education in the association sector. We all need more information than we currently have, and this is a quick easy way to contribute. So, take a few minutes today and head over to:

• http://svy.mk/alearning-survey

Jeff

WBT Systems, one of the providers covered in our Association Learning Management Systems research has just released a new report titled “Open Source or Commercial Learning Management System?” Yes, coming from a commercial learning management system provider, this is a a bit of a loaded proposition, but WBT has done a good job in previous reports of maintaining an objective viewpoint, and it does so in this one as well.

The report “looks at the pros and cons of both an open source and commercial LMS and takes a deep dive into areas such as license fees, IT resources, support & maintenance, product roadmap, security and industry best practice.” You will have to fork over an e-mail address to get it, but that’s all – and I think it is worth it.

You can download “Open Source or Commercial Learning Management System?” and other reports from the WBT Systems Web site (http://bit.ly/p1EDIi)

Jeff

P.S. – If you are interested in this post you may also be interested in our free video on Selection Essentials for Association Learning Management Systems.

I’ve found in the course of much travel and conversation that it is not uncommon for association educators to not engage on the topic of social learning because social media is the responsibility of someone else in the organization. This raises my eyebrow on at least two points.

The first is the apparent confusion between social learning and social media. They are different. Social learning – the idea that we build much of our knowledge through our interactions with other human beings – has been around since people first started communicating with each other In other words, pretty much as long as people have been around. Social media has arrived only in the last decade (okay, earlier if you count discussion boards, but still…)

Associations have always been in the social learning business. Indeed, a significant part of their value has been as orchestrators of resources for effective social learning – primarily in the forms of meetings and events. The problem is that that this value has been disrupted at its core. Communication is no longer expensive; organization is no longer expensive; the production of content no longer has to be expensive. Associations no longer have a corner on the social learning market in adult continuing education and professional development, but associations that hope to thrive must still understand and excel at facilitating social learning.

Social media is a huge factor in that disruption, so it stands to reason that associations hoping to not only survive, but thrive might want to invest heavily in understanding social media as a social learning toolset. Even so, whether or not they embrace social media, association educators simply cannot ignore the concept of social learning and do their jobs well.

The other eyebrow raiser is the idea that social media is the responsibility of someone else in the organization. It often is true (sadly, in my opinion) that social media is controlled by marketing, but that does not relieve education of learning about and experimenting with the tools from the viewpoint of supporting learning. In more progressive organizations, one person or department may have responsibility for coordinating social media usage, but all major functions within the organizations are sitting at the table when it comes to deciding how social media can support key parts of the organization’s mission. Like, for example, learning.

Jeff

P.S. – See Defining Social Learning for a fuller definition of social learning. Also, check out our Learning 2.0 resource center for a lot of free resources, including the free eBook Learning 2.0 for Associations.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanspoldoja/5001818922

I usually save this sort of geeky stuff for a link in the monthly ALT Digest, but I’m a huge WordPress fan (this site is built on it) and I have been following Sclipo with interest for a while. The two together seem worth much more than a newsletter link. Here’s the basic run down from Sclipo:

With Sclipo’s new “Embed your Campus” feature, you can now transform your WordPress site, or any Content Management System like Joomla or your custom-coded website, into an Online Campus in just a few minutes! The Sclipo Online Campus provides powerful e-Learning apps, including a course manager and live web conferencing, as well as a social network and promotion tools. It has been especially designed for continuing education helping independent teachers and education organizations to teach and collaborate better, as well as to attract new students.

We created this feature because many of our current users have a website to promote their educational services. Now, their webs can also offer an Online Campus, providing a better learning experience for current students and helping to win more new ones.

(Get the full story on the Sclipo blog: http://sclipo.com/blog/feature-note/transform-your-wordpress-site-into-an-online-campus-with-sclipo.html)

While Sclipo or Sclipo+WordPress is probably not an answer for continuing education providers with bona fide LMS needs, it does offer some very interesting possibilities at a very reasonable price.  I think it is well worth taking for a spin if only to see what ideas it sparks.

Jeff

P.S. – As with all of the technology providers we cover here at Tagoras, we have no financial relationship of any sort with Sclipo. This just struck me as pretty cool and worth noting.

One of the issues with which we routinely see organizations struggle is how to compete with free Webinars in their market place, or related, how to justify charging for some Webinars while offering others for free. One of the strategies we often suggest is to make use of the distinction between inform and perform training offered by Ruth Colvin Clark and Richard E. Mayer.

Clark and Mayer define inform programs as those that communicate information while perform programs build specific skills.[1]  Using this distinction, “inform” Webinars – like the typical “subject matter expert shares basic information or news” model so common across the Webinar landscape might be offered for little or no charge to members. These can be positioned as a member benefit and as fulfilling the organization’s mission, and in most cases we recommend they carry no credit.

“Perform” Webinars, on the other hand, should offer a richer experience which might include, for example:

• Clearly stated learning objectives
• Increased interactivity through the use of self-checks, Q & A, real-time chat, and other activities
• Potentially, pre- and/or post-session interactions
• Meaningful supporting materials (e.g., job aids, templates)
• Scored assessments
• A trained, expert presenter
• Availability of continuing education credit

Some organizations fall into the distinction between inform and perform intuitively, but we feel it pays to pursue it consciously and overtly for a couple of reasons:

• Both within the organization and in the marketing of the product, the application of research-based terminology – inform and perform – helps make clear the additional value provided by the perform Webinars – value for which the organization should charge accordingly;
• Embracing these terms also ups the stakes for the perform Webinars and encourages the use of effective instructional design principles, meaningful training of speakers, and other elements that contribute to the delivery of consistently high value.

The inform/perform distinction represents one of those serendipitous instances where the language and principles of learning dovetail perfectly with the needs of marketing.  If you aren’t already thinking about your Webinars along these lines, we highly recommend giving it a try.

Jeff