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Transcript of Learning Technologies 2012
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8/2/2019 Learning Technologies 2012
1/5
Kate Graham is a Director of Ascot Communications and the eLearning Network. She can be reached via @kategraham23 on Twitter or
Looking at learning differently: Learning Technologies 2012
This years Learning Technologies and Learning and Skills was the largest in the event's 12 year
history. Kate Graham, the shows official rapporteur, covered proceedings to bring us all the news
from the conference and the exhibition.
When Don Taylor asked if I wanted to be the official rapporteur for Learning
Technologies 2012, I readily agreed. With a stellar line up of speakers, more
exhibitors than ever before and a route through to the Learning Without
Frontiers event next door, I knew this was going to be an unmissable event.
Day one began with a real honour. I was privileged enough to meet withDr. Edward de Bonoprior to
his opening address at the conference. Before researching Dr. de Bono, I had little idea he was
responsible for so much of what we take for granted now. His concepts of lateral thinking, the sixhats are all ideas that have seeped into the zeitgeist. Dr. de Bono is down to earth, humorous and
has real presence. You can see him in conversation with another conference speaker,Nigel Paine, in
the video section of this group.
Now, a Chief Ideas Officer. Who wouldnt want that job? Sadly its a somewhat imaginary role
suggested by de Bono in his keynote. When he came out on stage and started drawing diagrams on
an overhead projector, you could almost hear a pin drop as attendees wondered what he was doing
with this low-tech approach at a technologies conference. But his pared down presentation
techniques enabled us to focus on what he was saying and follow the logic of his lateral thinking
discussion. Within moments, everyone was hooked.
Dr. de Bono set the tone for what was a fascinating conference
programme with his session Meeting the L&D challenge with
smart, creative and innovative thinking. His influence was evident
in several of the sessions across the two days, particularly in what
was to become a key theme; that of challenging the status quo in
learning and development and trying to do things differently.
de Bono uses the term EBNE, which stands for Excellent But Not Enough. Whilst a lot of what we
are now doing in L&D is indeed excellent as witnessed by some of the results driven case studies
showcased during the event challenging the status quo and thinking differently can turn a merely
satisfactory idea into something extraordinary. Provocation is essential so that we challenge
ourselves to do things better. To do this, de Bono says organisations need to find time and space to
think creatively and generate new ideas to improve their approach to learning. He also suggests that
schools and universities introduce Professors of Thinking as its undoubtedly our most important
human skill. Real food for thought which created a great buzz to the start of the event. You can read
some thoughts from attendees of his keynote via the LT2012 group page.
Personnel Today also interviewed Dr. de Bono listen and read a review of the first dayhere.
http://www.edwdebono.com/http://www.edwdebono.com/http://www.edwdebono.com/http://www.nigelpaine.com/home/http://www.nigelpaine.com/home/http://www.nigelpaine.com/home/http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/01/26/58288/learning-technologies-2012-day-one-overview-lt12uk.htmlhttp://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/01/26/58288/learning-technologies-2012-day-one-overview-lt12uk.htmlhttp://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/01/26/58288/learning-technologies-2012-day-one-overview-lt12uk.htmlhttp://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/01/26/58288/learning-technologies-2012-day-one-overview-lt12uk.htmlhttp://www.nigelpaine.com/home/http://www.edwdebono.com/ -
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Kate Graham is a Director of Ascot Communications and the eLearning Network. She can be reached via @kategraham23 on Twitter or
Challenge
When asked by ChairmanDon Taylor, attendees agreed that aligning learning to the needs of the
business is their biggest challenge.Laura OvertonandNic Laycockpicked up on this theme in their
session on Business Aligned Learning. Overton used data fromTowards Maturityresearch to
challenge current thinking about learning and performance. She highlighted that we need to think
differently before we can actdifferently. Interestingly, attendees were challenged develop new ways
of driving behaviour that will impact time to competency and business agility and take some real
action when they got back to work. Its always great to be able to take action points away from an
event so I hope those in this session will see what they can do now theyre back at their desks.
Elsewhere,David Wilsonwas analysing the rise and fall of the corporate academyin the session on
Learning Infrastructures. Most of the corporate training academies set up in the past sadly no
longer exist, but a trend is emerging towards setting more of them up in the future. You can read a
research paper on the topichere.
Collaboration
At the same time,Donald ClarkandOke Eleazu were exploring Peer Learning. This was a great
session. Clark explored the influence of peerto-peer networking and collaboration through non-
workplace examples such as the Arab Spring in 2011. Meanwhile, Eleazu described how innovation is
*actually* happening in organisations such as Prudential and Bupa every day. Its often we hear a lot
about in theory but very little about in practice. Eleazu described how often employees in these
organisations are innovating what they do but not sharing it with anyone else. So transferring
knowledge across the workplace has become the focus. Hes worked withFusion Universal tosuccessfully facilitate peer-to-peer learning and supercharge other formal learning interventions.
Read the thoughts ofTraining Journalon this sessionhere.
Joanne Jacobscontinued the theme of collaboration was in her session, Connection, Interacting and
Learning through Social Media. By now were all aware of the growing importance of social learning,
but Joannes session explored one of the trends most important aspects how we identify and
interact with key experts and influencers. Jacobs stressed that as humans we tend to make better
judgements together rather than individually but to collaborate and interact through social
networks we need to trust our contacts and their information. She put paid to the myth that sociallearning is in itself a panacea or makes things easier. Its actually a chal lenge to digest information
that comes to us via social networks and to build useful sources in the first place. But what it does do
is bring people together in a way that would not otherwise be possible. It enables us to question
things and look at what were doing from a different perspective through the eyes of our
networks. You can hear more from Joanne in the video section of this group.
Integrating social networks and peer learning into the workplace remains a challenge for many
organisations.Steve Wheelerstated that there are no realorganisational constraints to adopting
these new learning technologies. What we have are individuals within organisations imposing
barriers. He encouraged his audience to find ways around
https://twitter.com/#!/DonaldHTaylorhttps://twitter.com/#!/DonaldHTaylorhttps://twitter.com/#!/DonaldHTaylorhttps://twitter.com/#!/lauraovertonhttps://twitter.com/#!/lauraovertonhttps://twitter.com/#!/lauraovertonhttps://twitter.com/#!/alc47https://twitter.com/#!/alc47https://twitter.com/#!/alc47http://www.towardsmaturity.org/http://www.towardsmaturity.org/http://www.towardsmaturity.org/https://twitter.com/#!/dwil23https://twitter.com/#!/dwil23https://twitter.com/#!/dwil23http://www.elearnity.com/EKCLoad.html?load=ByKey/DWIN8E7E9Uhttp://www.elearnity.com/EKCLoad.html?load=ByKey/DWIN8E7E9Uhttp://www.elearnity.com/EKCLoad.html?load=ByKey/DWIN8E7E9Uhttps://twitter.com/#!/DonaldClarkhttps://twitter.com/#!/DonaldClarkhttps://twitter.com/#!/DonaldClarkhttp://www.learningtechnologies.co.uk/speakers/oke-eleazu/http://www.learningtechnologies.co.uk/speakers/oke-eleazu/http://www.fusion-universal.com/http://www.fusion-universal.com/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-peer-learning-will-take-centre-stage-in-the-future-says-ufi-member/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-peer-learning-will-take-centre-stage-in-the-future-says-ufi-member/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-peer-learning-will-take-centre-stage-in-the-future-says-ufi-member/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-peer-learning-will-take-centre-stage-in-the-future-says-ufi-member/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-peer-learning-will-take-centre-stage-in-the-future-says-ufi-member/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-peer-learning-will-take-centre-stage-in-the-future-says-ufi-member/https://twitter.com/#!/joannejacobshttps://twitter.com/#!/joannejacobshttps://twitter.com/#!/timbuckteethhttps://twitter.com/#!/timbuckteethhttps://twitter.com/#!/timbuckteethhttps://twitter.com/#!/timbuckteethhttps://twitter.com/#!/joannejacobshttp://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-peer-learning-will-take-centre-stage-in-the-future-says-ufi-member/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-peer-learning-will-take-centre-stage-in-the-future-says-ufi-member/http://www.fusion-universal.com/http://www.learningtechnologies.co.uk/speakers/oke-eleazu/https://twitter.com/#!/DonaldClarkhttp://www.elearnity.com/EKCLoad.html?load=ByKey/DWIN8E7E9Uhttps://twitter.com/#!/dwil23http://www.towardsmaturity.org/https://twitter.com/#!/alc47https://twitter.com/#!/lauraovertonhttps://twitter.com/#!/DonaldHTaylor -
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Kate Graham is a Director of Ascot Communications and the eLearning Network. She can be reached via @kategraham23 on Twitter or
innovation prevention in order to introduce these technologies
and tools.Nigel Painemeanwhile surmised theimportance of this
because, The old approach to learning and development has had it.
New learning is where were headed its based on need,its
business aligned, its a combination of social learning, informal
learning, knowledge management and other more formal
interventions all brought together in a blend. You can hear more
from both Steve and Nigel in the video section and check out
Steves presentationhere.
Engagement
Another key theme that emerged from the conference was one of learner engagement. Mark
Berthelemydid a great job of engaging attendees in his session. Initially we all had to turn around
and talk to each other about some challenges were currently having with engagement in our
organisations. He then played a short video which grabbed our attention and truly did engage the
audience. It was good to see the topic being demonstrated live! You can view a SlideShare of the
presentationhereas well as a short interview with Marks thoughts following his session in the video
section.
Complementing Marks session was theCambian Groupcase study which showed just what can be
achieved with e-learning when engagement is part of the strategy. Theirs was a programme of
learning that was carefully branded with an identity aimed at engaging learners, creating a
connection and encouraging adoption. Within six months of launching their new e-learning content,the Group had a 90% uptake. This impressive feat won the Group a Gold E-Learning Award and Id
encourage anyone to read their case studyhereas its inspiring to see what they achieved.
Ben Hinesprovided a very different perspective on learner engagement in
their Transformational Learningsession. Using the emotions and creativity
that music provides, they provided a metaphor for learning and how teams
work together in organisations. The parallels were demonstrated by a live
five piece wind quintet who visually and audibly demonstrated the
importance of being in tune with one another, listening to colleagues and
also being engaged emotionally with what youre trying to achieve.
Whether thats the performance of a piece of music or the execution of a
business critical project. Hines states that if we want people to change or
learn new skills, theyneed to want to change and emotionally connect to
it. de Bonos influence was in evidence as they used creativity to break
learners out of established patterns to look at things in a different way. Here
are some more thoughts on this particularsession.
https://twitter.com/#!/ebasehttps://twitter.com/#!/ebasehttps://twitter.com/#!/ebasehttp://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/digital-learning-futureshttp://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/digital-learning-futureshttp://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/digital-learning-futureshttps://twitter.com/#!/berthelemyhttps://twitter.com/#!/berthelemyhttps://twitter.com/#!/berthelemyhttps://twitter.com/#!/berthelemyhttp://www.learningconversations.co.uk/main/index.php/2012/01/18/lt2012uk-conference-presentation-engaging-the?blog=5http://www.learningconversations.co.uk/main/index.php/2012/01/18/lt2012uk-conference-presentation-engaging-the?blog=5http://www.learningconversations.co.uk/main/index.php/2012/01/18/lt2012uk-conference-presentation-engaging-the?blog=5http://www.cambiangroup.com/http://www.cambiangroup.com/http://www.cambiangroup.com/http://towardsmaturity.org/elements/uploads/Towards_Maturity_Cambian_case_study_Final_Jan_2012.pdfhttp://towardsmaturity.org/elements/uploads/Towards_Maturity_Cambian_case_study_Final_Jan_2012.pdfhttp://towardsmaturity.org/elements/uploads/Towards_Maturity_Cambian_case_study_Final_Jan_2012.pdfhttps://twitter.com/#!/movinper4mancehttps://twitter.com/#!/movinper4mancehttp://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-music-can-be-a-powerful-learning-tool-says-moving-performance-director/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-music-can-be-a-powerful-learning-tool-says-moving-performance-director/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-music-can-be-a-powerful-learning-tool-says-moving-performance-director/http://www.trainingjournal.com/news/articles-news-music-can-be-a-powerful-learning-tool-says-moving-performance-director/https://twitter.com/#!/movinper4mancehttp://towardsmaturity.org/elements/uploads/Towards_Maturity_Cambian_case_study_Final_Jan_2012.pdfhttp://www.cambiangroup.com/http://www.learningconversations.co.uk/main/index.php/2012/01/18/lt2012uk-conference-presentation-engaging-the?blog=5https://twitter.com/#!/berthelemyhttps://twitter.com/#!/berthelemyhttp://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/digital-learning-futureshttps://twitter.com/#!/ebase -
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Kate Graham is a Director of Ascot Communications and the eLearning Network. She can be reached via @kategraham23 on Twitter or
Technology
The closing keynote speaker on the first day explored future technologies
in The Web Within Us: When Minds and Machines Become One.
Ray Kurzweil is an American scientist, author and futurist. In his address,
he explored the inevitable growth of computing power and the coming
singularity as he calls it i.e. when computers have the same intelligence
as humans. Naturally his thinking has its critics but the future he discussed
sounded exciting rather than terrifying and that the progress technology
will make is entirely positive. It was a thought provoking session that had the audiences imagination
buzzing with the concept of artificial intelligence and just what the future might hold. Joanne Jacobs
has gathered a useful summary of Kurzweils thinking and his sessionhere.Henry Stewartalso
provides his thoughtshere.
The second day of Learning Technologies 2012 began with a keynote fromJaron Lanier, the writer
and computer scientist who coined the term virtual reality. He continued the technology theme
from Ray Kurzweils session the previous day by exploring Are we at the beginning of the rise of
post-human machine intelligence?Laniers pared down presentation style (no slides, no
PowerPoint, just him on the stage) and his quite amazing experience and connections had the
attendees intrigued throughout. He urged us to take a long hard look at how we fit in with some of
our own technological developments. His stance is that the technology is nothing without human
input and that we need to be careful with the technology that is evolving around us. We must
control it not let it control us.
Personnel Today provides more insights and a review of day twos proceedingshere.
Learning Technologies eXchange
A new initiative this year was theTowards MaturityeXchange. This
brought conference speakers into the mix on the exhibition floors to
answer questions and speak to attendees about their specialist
areas. It was good to see the experts coming to work through some
of the challenges and questions of the exhibition attendees.
Pictured here is Bob Mosher ofOntuitivesharing his experiences.
Its a great concept and one I hope continues at Learning
Technologies 2013.
Exhibition
In comparison with previous years, the focus on the conference has been less on individual tools and
technologies and much more on the big picture. The sessions examined the strategic use of
technology in learning, and feedback from attendees was that this had been both valuable and
thought provoking. Meanwhile, in the exhibition, more immediate and practical solutions were
available. The stand out themes from over 200 exhibiters this year included mobile learning, cloud-
based technology, gamification and a noticeable shift from learning management to performanceand talent management solutions.
http://www.kurzweilai.net/http://ow.ly/8K0Lbhttp://ow.ly/8K0Lbhttp://ow.ly/8K0Lbhttps://twitter.com/#!/happyhenryhttps://twitter.com/#!/happyhenryhttps://twitter.com/#!/happyhenryhttp://www.learnfizz.com/happyhenry/ray-kurzweil-the-singularityhttp://www.learnfizz.com/happyhenry/ray-kurzweil-the-singularityhttp://www.learnfizz.com/happyhenry/ray-kurzweil-the-singularityhttp://www.jaronlanier.com/http://www.jaronlanier.com/http://www.jaronlanier.com/http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/01/27/58292/learning-technologies-2012-day-two-overview-lt12uk.htmlhttp://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/01/27/58292/learning-technologies-2012-day-two-overview-lt12uk.htmlhttp://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/01/27/58292/learning-technologies-2012-day-two-overview-lt12uk.htmlhttp://www.towardsmaturity.org/http://www.towardsmaturity.org/http://www.towardsmaturity.org/http://ontuitive.com/http://ontuitive.com/http://ontuitive.com/http://ontuitive.com/http://www.towardsmaturity.org/http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/01/27/58292/learning-technologies-2012-day-two-overview-lt12uk.htmlhttp://www.jaronlanier.com/http://www.learnfizz.com/happyhenry/ray-kurzweil-the-singularityhttps://twitter.com/#!/happyhenryhttp://ow.ly/8K0Lbhttp://www.kurzweilai.net/ -
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Kate Graham is a Director of Ascot Communications and the eLearning Network. She can be reached via @kategraham23 on Twitter or
There was a noticeable increase in the size and stature of some of
the stands too, indicating a certain buoyancy in the market and that
despite wider economic trends, the market for learning technologies
continues to prosper. In terms of attendees, numbers were
evidently up. The crossover with Learning Without Frontiers also
seems to have brought in a mix of attendees from the education
sector as well as the corporate world.
The free seminar programme was well
attended with theatres full whenever I crossed the floor. It seems the
suppliers embraced the concept of trying to present more innovatively
with interactive polls and the live creation of mobile apps. Some
resources from the seminars can be found on the LT2012 group page.
The Chairman of the eLearning Network, Rob Hubbard, even took his shirt off as he launched the
newCampaign for Effective Elearning. Some people will do anything for publicity! If you missed the
presentation you can listen to a recordinghere.
AndTrainingZonecollected some thoughts from the exhibition floor on innovation in e-learning
here. You can also view some other thoughts of exhibitors and attendees in the video section.
The event also provided a lively backchannel and Id like to say thanks to everyone for all the tweets!
Martin Couzinshas provided a great analysis of the tweetshereandDavid Kellyhas curated afantastic list of resources from the backchannelhere.
Inspiration and perspiration
The feedback from attendees was one of overwhelming inspiration. It seemed the keynotes moved
them to think differently about how to achieve their goals within their organisations, and took
encouragement from the case studies which show what can be achieved within a corporate setting.
This powerful motivation was complemented by the solutions and services provided by suppliers at
the exhibition. There is an enthusiastic and passionate drive among vendors to demonstrate the
effectiveness of their solutions and move on from click next e-learning. There was a sense of
wanting to provide practical help for attendees inspired by the conference, but knowing there will
be a lot of hard work to do once theyre back at their desks. Finding time and space to be creative in
our day-to-day roles may be a whole other challenge. But, the conference message is that it is one
which is worthwhile addressing. Don Taylor nailed it in his summary when he said We have to
challenge the status quo because things are moving forwards so quickly - not just technologically,
but in terms of expectations, skills requirements and the resources available to do our jobs. And the
alternative of not challenging the status quo could be L&D becoming seen as unnecessary to
organisations in the future.
And you can check out the videos and other resources on the Learning and Skills Group website.
http://www.elearningnetwork.org/content/campaign-effective-elearninghttp://www.elearningnetwork.org/content/campaign-effective-elearninghttp://www.elearningnetwork.org/content/campaign-effective-elearninghttp://www.elearningnetwork.org/content/eln-learning-technologies-2012http://www.elearningnetwork.org/content/eln-learning-technologies-2012http://www.elearningnetwork.org/content/eln-learning-technologies-2012http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/learning-technologies/video-elearning-making-most-innovation-pt1/170007http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/learning-technologies/video-elearning-making-most-innovation-pt1/170007http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/learning-technologies/video-elearning-making-most-innovation-pt1/170007http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/learning-technologies/video-elearning-making-most-innovation-pt1/170007http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/learning-technologies/video-elearning-making-most-innovation-pt1/170007https://twitter.com/#!/martincouzinshttps://twitter.com/#!/martincouzinshttp://itsdevelopmental.com/2012/tweet-analysis-for-learning-technologies-2012/http://itsdevelopmental.com/2012/tweet-analysis-for-learning-technologies-2012/http://itsdevelopmental.com/2012/tweet-analysis-for-learning-technologies-2012/https://twitter.com/#!/LnDDavehttps://twitter.com/#!/LnDDavehttps://twitter.com/#!/LnDDavehttp://davidkelly.me/2012/01/learning-technologies-2012-conference-backchannel-collected-resources-lt12uk/http://davidkelly.me/2012/01/learning-technologies-2012-conference-backchannel-collected-resources-lt12uk/http://davidkelly.me/2012/01/learning-technologies-2012-conference-backchannel-collected-resources-lt12uk/http://davidkelly.me/2012/01/learning-technologies-2012-conference-backchannel-collected-resources-lt12uk/https://twitter.com/#!/LnDDavehttp://itsdevelopmental.com/2012/tweet-analysis-for-learning-technologies-2012/https://twitter.com/#!/martincouzinshttp://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/learning-technologies/video-elearning-making-most-innovation-pt1/170007http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/learning-technologies/video-elearning-making-most-innovation-pt1/170007http://www.elearningnetwork.org/content/eln-learning-technologies-2012http://www.elearningnetwork.org/content/campaign-effective-elearning