Practice Makes Permanent

James Tyer and I co-authored this post to share that we are hosting a workshop in Orlando on March 24th at the eLearning Guild's Learning Solutions 2015 conference 'Kick-start Your Personal and Organizational Social Learning Journey'. We have created the agenda based on our experiences developing and supporting personal and organizational social learning practices. The workshop has a simple premise: 

If you don’t practice social, you can’t support it.

Why? Social learning is natural, but the addition of social technology adds a layer of complexity for many. Unfortunately, because of the technology used to extend and expand social interaction, the conversations frequently turn to be about the technology rather than learning. Personal social practice is challenging as it requires an openness that may feel uncomfortable. On top of this, if you haven't developed successful practices, you can’t support others to develop the same. 

How can you make sense of all the information from vendors and consultants? What really works, or doesn’t work? There is no one-size-fits-all answer and social learning is not, as many claim, the solution to all organizational performance problems.

Our workshop is meant to help you find your own answers. Split into two parts, the morning workshop is about your personal practices; in the afternoon it’s about extending these to your organization.

We will draw upon our own experiences to help: stories of success and failure (about 50-50 it always feels!). We invite you to take a look at our agenda and we’ll answer any questions you may have before you sign up.

Morning:

• An introduction to digital literacy and fluency and why our changing world requires a new mindset for all (including L&D/HR).

• Forging your career - finding your purpose, learner autonomy (we can’t depend on organizations to build our skills any more), and mastery

• The internal and external barriers to personal social practice

• Identifying the current state of your network(s)

• Participating in online social learning events

• Reflective practice: blogging and working out loud

• Building, growing, and sustaining your personal networks

Afternoon:

• Understanding the barriers to others developing a social practice

• How social practice fits into newer L&D models: 70:20:10, performance support

• Understanding your organization (business or purpose) and culture

• Communicating value to your peers and leadership

• Identifying and empowering your key organizational partners

• Some starting points: not just adding social to courses

• Nurturing your "trojan mice" and social coaching

• Organizational roadblocks

Post-Workshop:

A significant component of this workshop actually follows the workshop. We aim to continue our conversations afterward in a format decided by the participants, checking on each others’ progress, encouraging new social habits and sharing stories, resources and ideas. 

Let us know what questions you need answering or what you would change to make it more valuable to you!