is smac the corporate university of the future! by peter...

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IS SMAC THE CORPORATE UNIVERSITY OF THE FUTURE!

Is SMAC the Corporate University of the Future! By Peter McAteer

www.top5learning.com

mailto:[email protected]



SMAC refers to the Social, Mobile, Analytic and Cloud technologies that have the potential to revolutionize learning and education. Almost all conversations about reengineering our schools, designing massive open on-line courses, or building the ‘internet of things’ involves these concepts. Social media tools allow us to expand our ideas of community, co-creation and continuous learning. We can belong to multiple communities and share with teams of people without respect to geography and time. Communities can be built around formal training programs to enhance pre-work, allow for virtual teams and connect

colleagues everywhere. They also allow us to rethink our approach to informal learning so collaboration, co-creation and communication can be enhanced in all aspects of our work lives. For L&D professionals, specific tools include podcasts and screencasts, video posts, blogs and wikis, intranet sites and both open and closed social communities. It is increasingly common to see the line blur between a formal LMS and the company intranet since both now include hosting and database options, social engines, search features, content management for photos and videos, data visualization and reporting.

Mobile technology has become almost ubiquitous although many IT departments are still playing catch-up to the idea that a person often uses one smartphone for both business and personal reasons. In some companies, the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) concept is actively encouraged. As devices with different form factors become more common, we often see people with both small and large smart phones, tablets and minis and hybrid PC tablet combinations. Substantial visual information can be shared almost anywhere. Mobile learning is greatly enhanced with high bandwidth, and there is a constant flood of new development tools specifically designed to create mobile ready output.

Digital content creation and distribution increased 50+% in 2013. KPCB Analyst Mary Meeker forecasts continued 40+% year over year growth through 2016. Social media usage, video and image sharing will continue to dominate digital distribution.

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Cloud technologies have become more common and many learning management systems and content libraries are now only available as cloud solutions. Ease of use, transparent updates and the availability of almost unlimited storage means that mobile devices and tablets don’t have to carry bulky disk drives and the cost of mobile computing drops every year. SaaS (software as a service) has become the industry standard and security, backup and universal access allow learning to happen in offices as well as field locations, in store environments and factories. Almost every program from e-learning, distance learning, MOOCs, self-directed programs, performance support databases, and context sensitive help benefit from the big database in the sky.

Analytics are the ‘secret sauce’ that ties everything together. At the simplest level we get better reporting on courses, course completion and results. In newer situations like MOOCs, we can capture every interaction, every download and every post. We can measure the time people spend with each other, look for patterns in errors and common behavior and use the information to redesign courses on the fly. Learning can happen every day in almost every location as customer information, just-in-time support and on-demand publishing can all be driven by analytics engines that deliver custom information. Wearable motion sensors and informatics are revolutionizing the way companies can generate information from their products so L&D can create substantially more complex, and useful simulations about actual customer behavior.

For L&D professionals this is a revolution in terms of the opportunity to play an increasingly important role in your company’s success. SMAC is now viewed as a ‘business model’ by many companies and IT consultancies and core to the idea of creating an efficient, virtualized, distributed business enterprise. As consultant and author Arie De Gues once said, “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be only sustainable competitive advantage.” SMAC provides the platform by

Mobile devices are excellent for sharing visual and auditory information in combination which research shows can offer 6X better recall that just text information presented alone.

MOOC research has shown that video lessons of 8-12 minutes in length are ideal, but engagement and retention increase sharply if you pause and interject random questions about the content viewed.

Khan Academy delivers more learning lessons to more students in one month than Harvard University has done since its inception in 1636.

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which you can create, collaborate and share more rapidly then every before.

L&D professionals need to embrace SMAC as a model for redefining learning and enhance their own skills to take advantage of the changing times. As learning innovations such as social media sites, Google Talks, Ted Talks, Khan Academy, EdX, and various education labs have become common, we need to embrace the ideas that have allowed them to acquire millions of enthusiastic users.

Quick Quiz:

1. Are you conversant with SMAC concepts? 2. Does your L&D team understand how to use analytic tools? 3. Do you publish in HTML5? 4. Do you know the engagement statistics for social learning in your organization? 5. Can you rapidly develop new mobile ready content? 6. Is your L&D team capable of editing and curating new content? 7. Do you have a social media policy and was the L&D team involved in its creation? 8. Can you develop and publish short videos optimized for different form factors? 9. Does your team have the skills to manage communities of practice and social

networks? 10. How fast can your team capture, edit and publish new information? 11. Does your team have access to the latest research on MOOCs, learning and

retention? 12. Does your team actively experiment with new technologies, software and

educational methodologies?

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Top5Learning, Ltd. is a subsidiary of Corporate University Research, Ltd. These reports are developed for the purpose of helping clients and professional colleagues make more informed decisions. The information sis for general guidance only and does not constitute professional advice to members of our website. Specific investment or purchase decisions should involve more detailed due diligence.

THE AUTHOR

Peter McAteer is CEO of Corporate University Research, Managing Director of Top5Learning and Senior Advisor on product innovation to the Consensus Building Institute and Origin Learning. He specializes in helping firms assess and develop their talent and learning strategies, helps lead business transformation efforts and works with companies to find the best content and technology partners. Peter has worked in more than 50 countries around the world and is the former head of Learning for the United Nations Development Program and a former Managing Director for Harvard Business Publishing. A more complete biography can be found at: www.top5learning.com

Peter McAteer CEO - Corporate University Research Ltd. Managing Director, Top5Learning Ltd. [email protected] +1-617-945-8501



http://www.top5learning.com/



is smac the corporate university of the future! by peter...

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