Stories around a campfire. Your Grandfather’s tales at the Thanksgiving table. Your mother’s lessons as she tends to your skinned knee. An MD’s discovery in surgery that can save hundreds of thousands of lives. The YWCA’s empowerment of women through the experiences of Polly Mitchell, a woman who escaped life-threatening spousal abuse. The common thread here is people changing society and improving lives through the power of knowledge sharing. It’s an incredible ability we have as humans and knowledge sharing has become a huge part of why associations are so valuable.
Life-long learning is a booming, multibillion dollar industry with nearly 60 million adults as current customers – and millions of others yet untapped. In the last ten years, the online learning industry has evolved immensely, bringing a massive wealth of new ideas to life. From the days of the traditional to today’s vibrant and hassle-free live capture of energetic presenters, the market is vastly different, and for the better. As the industry continues to evolve, those who are committed to it are working to bring even greater access to larger numbers of learners, with flexible delivery methods that engage learners in a community that inspires them.
Some organizations have been developing their online learning for years and they continue to improve the end user experience with a staggering rate of content creation, community interaction, adaptive learning, customized learner paths, and highly evolved virtual learning environments. Other organizations, especially some smaller associations with fewer resources, this makes the idea of creating an online learning program a daunting and overwhelming task. Whether you’re an Association Executive building a learning program with your first webinar or an Executive in a larger, more establish program, here are four corners that make a solid foundation for your online learning program:
1. Your WHY: This may seem a little fluffy and intangible to some, but I’m a subscriber in understanding what it is that drives not only your organization to thrive, but what drives you to get up every day. What is your WHY? I didn’t make this up. Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why, also has an 18 minute TED Talk (Google it) that I highly recommend if this at all tickles your fancy. In a nutshell, the best products and services are driven by passion.
2. Your Data: There is so much valuable data out there that most people let slip through their fingertips because they just don’t know where to begin collecting or storing it. Here’s how to fix that. 1. BUY TECHNOLOGY 2. INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY. Chances are, you have an Association Management System to manage your member data and activity. You may have a Community Software like Higher Logic’s Connected Community. You may have a Learning/Content Management System, like Peach New Media’s Freestone™ to manage your educational materials and programs. By implementing and integrating these systems, you’re giving your organization the answer key to the test. It tells you everything about your constituents. Even if you don’t tap into it right away, the first step is to implement and integrate the systems so you begin collecting the data.
3. Your Clientele: On the one hand, there’s data you collect from systems and on the other hand there’s information and knowledge about your constituents and your market. Understanding the trends in your space and thinking critically about a strategic approach to relevance cannot be understated. Here’s one example of critical thinking. Some organizations provide continuing education (CE) where CE credit is mandatory in the industry. What some organizations recognize and some don’t is that their clientele is made up of some people that really want to learn professionally and then there are others that are simply buying credit. Like it or not, it’s up to you to figure out your role in that exchange.
4. Your Content: At the end of the day, you can analyze your market to the extreme, hypothesize what will and will not work and consult the consultants, but the most important thing to remember is this: DO SOMETHING! Begin creating content. Of course, the content you create will vary based on membership dynamics, credit requirements, and the resources at your fingertips, but by “doing something”, you’ve taken the first step and the improvements and fine tuning will come with greater ease.
There has been amazing progress in online learning in the past decade. So whether you’re just getting started or improving an already advanced program, think about these 4 corners of your foundation. Two are rather theoretical and strategic while 2 are quite tactical and tangible.
Good luck! And keep me informed on your progress.
For more, check out Dave Will’s contributions in the progressive new book by Jeff Cobb, Leading the Learning Revolution.
Also, download the Social Learning Whitepaper derived from a series of conversations with over 250 Association Executives in 2012:.
Dave Will is the Chief Executive Peach at Peach New Media, where the focus is on making it easier for organizations to share knowledge, change society and improve lives.
Peach New Media offers a Learning Content Management System, Freestone™, to manage the Continuing Education process and professional services to manage webinars, webcasts, conference recordings and Virtual Learning Environments™.