Did someone say Kreeo (www.kreeo.com)?

It has been more than a decade that technology held sway in the field of learning. The dictum ‘People will learn where they spend most of their time’ pushed the courseware to go computer-based and then online. Internet, the information hub where people met and interacted, became the new playing field for learners and those who made them learn. As the technology moved from Learning Management Systems to social networking tools, a whole new paradigm came into play. Although the premise of learning where most of the time is spent still didn’t change, how learning is to be offered in the wake of Web 2.0, Web 3.0, and beyond demanded many changes. Some experts and thought leaders floated the concept of un-everything with strong socio-economic reasons specially the changed business scenario, internet generation and learning being available on a click of the mouse—not just elearning content but also talking to peers, learning from experts in a boundary-less technological space and mechanisms to capture and store all that happened on the learning trail for future use. The boundry-lessness also led to the uneasiness that came with lack of control. Both groups, supporting open, free learning and un-everything that existed in the past and those who advocated learning as a controlled activity where learning providers wished to ensure that people took classes, scored properly and received certificates, have formidable reasons and logic to favor their idea or reject the other. Between free-for-all learning playing field and strictly held principles of reporting the outcomes, we see a huge mass of elearning courseware created and sold, both customized for the specific need of a company and catalogues offering just-in-time, modular learning capsules. And despite huge disenchantment against it even from those who swore by the concept, it continues to flourish albeit with reduced vigor.



So where does this learning post-postmodernism lead us? What are the trends in the learning industry? If we were to plot a trend, two clear transformations come to fore. First, “e” enablement of learning and training has become a reality but despite many ROI tools to show that it has a desirable impact, there is a clear lack of a body of research to prove that it always works across the board. Second, people are using social networking tools to connect to teachers, peers, experts and reservoir of knowledge. Here again, there is no absolute data to show that it is the only way for new-age learners across the board and that it always leads to desirable results. Though there are many ideas and expression around the trends in the field of learning, a careful analysis would show that things have not dramatically changed. From the Chinese proverb “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand” to today’s instructional technology, principles of pedagogy and their application have not really changed. Classroom learning still constitutes a huge chunk of learning and training. elearning courseware continues to be developed and put to use in many organizations and institutions while there are many which are yet to join the bandwagon. A lot of people can be found doing a lot of their learning over the web using search engines to reach and access the relevant resources. By the same token, more and more people are seen using the social networking tools to achieve the same.



So there is hardly a model for learning that is generally accepted for individuals, educational institutes and corporate businesses. However, we have reached a state of consciousness and a stage of technological progress where a consolidated effort is required towards developing such a model. Did someone say Kreeo?

E-Learning Outsourcing: Go with Your Eyes Wide Open
Published on Chief Learning Officer magazine (CLO Media.com)
January 2007 By S M Nafay Kumail and Anupma Bakshi
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templates/clo_article.asp?articleid=1653&zoneid=77

One more...
Outsourcing Learning: Industry is all for it!
March 2007 by S M Nafay Kumail and Bhupendra Bahadur Singh
Published on Trainingoutsourcing.com
http://trainingoutsourcing.com/EliteSponsorRight.asp?id=2826

Yet another...
Outsourcing Learning: Choosing the Model for Success—Published on Chief Learning Officer magazine (CLO Media.com)—June 2004 issue.
By Gaurav Chandha and S M Nafay Kumail
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templates/clo_webonly.asp?articleid=534&zoneid=37

Another one....
Finding the Client-Vendor Balance—Published on Chief Learning Officer magazine
(CLO Media.com)—April 2005 issue.

by SM Nafay Kumail & Gaurav Chadha

http://www.clomedia.com/content/templates/clo_article.asp?articleid=919&zoneid=77

Link to one more published on clomedia.com

Effective Context Building: Critical for Training’s Impact on the Business

Published on CLO Media (November 2007) By S.M. Nafay Kumail & Anupma Bakshi
http://www.clomedia.com/features/2007/November/1996/index.php?pt=a&aid=1996&start=3391&page=2

Here is the link to our new article on CLO Media.com

Do We Always Need a Course to Learn? June 2007 SM Nafay Kumail and Bhupendra Bahadur
Within adult education, the structure of traditional training can be a big burden. Although it is nearly impossible to think of learning without structured courseware, a lot of post-college education is actually happening through self-paced, multichannel learning.