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Check out a real-time Digg Swarm. 

This is a fascinating view of the chaotic rhythm of a crowd seeking the information it wants.  It’s messy, it’s unpredictable and it’s reality.  And it’s precisely the reason that formal training programs account for (at most) only 20% of how people get the information they need to do their job. 

 If you’re not familiar with Digg it’s a website that allows its users to select (digg) things that they find interesting on the net.  Those nuggets are read and rated by other Digg users and this determines how popular an item is.  This results in a community that relies on the recommendations of the greater whole to select content for the individual.  It’s an effective system at weeding through the reams of information the Internet spews daily.

Watch as people ‘hop’ from article to article on a journey to their chosen destination at the speed that’s right for them.  You’re seeing self-directed learning in its purest form.  How effective would training classes be for these folks?  They’re obviously accustomed to getting the info they want when they want it, is a classroom the best venue for them to get info regarding their job?

With the social network craze and the ‘we are smarter than me’ philosophies we’re hearing about quite often, the way in which we gather, share, find and use information has permanently changed.  Most of us are now full-fledged knowledge workers whether we think so or not and the toolboxes of training and development departments need to reflect the shift. 

Communities of Practice, Web 2.0, and the myriad other learning and development terms that are in heavy rotation are evidence that some progressive approaches need to be thrown into the traditional mix.  Classroom training isn’t dead - it will always serve a unique niche in the learning portfolio - I think it will just diminish to the point that it matches it’s impact on participants (<20%).

 Embracing informal learning in organizations will become a necessity in just a few years due to us becoming a knowledge society.  There are tons of articles out there that will tell you so - if you happen to run across one, Digg it!

Welcome to Orbital RPM’s newly redesigned cyber home.  In our on-going quest to be the information destination to those in the learning and development field we are proud to roll-out some new features on the site as well as some that are enhancements from our last version. 

• Tag Cloud :: scroll to the bottom of the home page for a look at the tags most frequently associated with Orbital RPM content 
• Calendar of Events in the field :: Event Calendar is a consolidated view of happenings in the learning and development arena ranging from conferences to webinars
• Web Blog :: All past blog entries and comments have been ported over and this will be the new home of our blog - all information in it as well as anywhere else in the site is fully searchable via the search box in the upper-right of all pages
• Multi-media resources :: although not yet entirely populated, Media Center will house all podcasts with experts, relevant videos and whitepapers as well as a real-time listing of the content visited most often by fellow viewers
• Interactive Learning Paths :: Orbital Paths is a place to explore what types of learning and development is best suited for different areas within an organization

For any true geeks in the crowd, our new site is built on a WordPress platform.  WordPress is typically thought of as strictly for blogging but the fine folks over at NetConcepts have devised a very sophisticated, yet simple, method for website content mangement using the same platform.  

The learning and development field is changing rapidly and we enjoy having a front row seat - our new site will allow us to provide a steady stream of learning and development info for those that are interested in being part of, or just listening to/reading, the commentary on the wild ride.

We hope to see you back soon…

If you’re looking for a good intro to the emerging world of collaboration technologies and how they’re impacting commerce, Wikinomics is a great start.  SocialText is currently offering a free download of Chapter 9 of Wikinomics.

 I highly recommend the read - it provides great stories, facts and insights on what media hindsight will surely declare a revolutionary technology.

I recently spent a weekend in Washington D.C. to make a vacation out of the inaugural CLO Academy that was being held in Lansdowne, VA.

It was a quick trip in D.C. so we were rushed to see the major sites. We started at the National Archives building where they have on display the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence along with access to countless other historical documents.

While up close and personal with these very elaborate and elegant documents, I wondered what the process would have been had our country been formed when the Founding Fathers had access to some of today’s Web 2.0 tools that we’re now using for learning and collaboration.

Imagine Benjamin Franklin and John Adams developing their ideas for the Constitution on a wiki, Thomas Paine keeping citizens informed about the American Revolution via his blog rather than the pamphlet ‘Common Sense’ or all of the Founding Fathers forming a community of practice that keeps in touch about their progress via an online portal.

What they would have gained in efficiencies back then is perhaps what we would have lost in enjoyment today. It’s tough to imagine throngs of people gathered around and craning their necks to sneak a peek of the final wiki page of the Constitution. Would John Hancock’s digital signature have the same impact as the pen and ink version does?  Probably not.

Don’t mistake my tone, though.  I’m all for these Web 2.0 tools and enjoy the efficiency they bring to offices and homes each day.  It just seems that the more efficient we get, the less that opportunity for nostalgia exists. 

On the other hand, perhaps these advacements will serve to make the historic documents all the more rare as times go by so that in several decades our societies will just appreciate the fact that they’re on paper - let alone written by hand.  If this serves to create more awareness and interest in our history, I say that’s one more benefit of the progress we’re making.

I was recently informed of an organization whose purpose is bringing technology to non-profits - TechSoup.  They offer a wide array of services and hardware as well as membership to a community for those that want to stay connected.

I was particularly impressed that they are educating non-profits on the newly emerging world of Web 2.0 tools.  With wikis at $10/year and advice on utilizing more of the Web 2.0 offerings, TechSoup is a great resource for non-profits looking to advance to the newest technologies without spending much.

Kudos to the TechSoup team for their contribution to the advancement of non-profits.