A Tweet
Hi Joe, “I’m eating some “killer” cheesecake at the new XYZ restaurant that just opened on Main Street. The food’s delish, you’ve gotta try it!”
Ralph
Welcome to the world of social networking! What exactly is social networking? Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. – these are all internet-based tools used to communicate with people. They have become the standard means of sharing our lives – the joys, the sorrows, the funny times, as well as the ordinary occurrences of life – with others.
But we’re trainers, so the question we need to ask ourselves is, “How can we use social networking to enhance our training?”
Research shows that as much as 80% of job learning occurs informally. While the traditional classroom will never fade away, we need to think of how we can blend other devices that will meet the needs of a new, and yes, younger workforce.
Let’s look at three examples of how social networking can be used before and after training:
- Send an email, with a discussion board, to a group of learners before a class, asking them what their main goal(s) is for the class. This information can be invaluable for both the designer and the facilitator when it comes to customizing the program to meet the needs of the learners. This will also motivate the class in advance.
- Create an internal corporate LinkedIn account for those who took a training program. The participants can share best practices and discuss how they are using what they learned in class back on the job.
- With the rapid retirement of the baby-boomer generation impacting corporations, it is critical to tap into the expertise of tenured employees before they retire. To avoid this “brain drain” set up a company-wide Facebook account where employees can share experience and best work practices. Create a topic a week and provide incentives for people to contribute. Creating a learning organization where people share valuable knowledge and experience, must become part of a company’s culture.
See how easy, yet powerful, these examples are? Try some social networking yourself – and share your experiences with the rest of us. As Mikey, from the Life cereals TV commercials would say, “Try it, you’ll like it.”
Ooops, gotta go, I feel another tweet coming on…
Ralph
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one twitter tool I use (depending on the audience) is I ask people to tweet in real time while I facilitate and speak using specific hash tags
#xyztrain for example
You can then set up search for #xyztrain and have it show up on a screen while you are talking.
This causes 2 things
1) real time interaction with the content
2) ability to ask questions as they arise and recall on questions