Leveraging social learning technologies in corporate

environments

Robin Yap, Canada (www.robinyap.com)

Joost Robben, The Netherlands (www.joostrobben.info)

Download paper from:http://www.joostrobben.info/?p=135

Importance of trust• Fundamental to building

relationships and learning (Harris, 2002)

• Repeating factor as foundation for Social Capital

 "It is important to support collective

learning through social learning technologies by focusing on the group dynamics that are needed to organize

and coordinate learning" (De Laat, 2006)

Social learning technologies

Web as social platform with services that enable people to create content,

connect, and share with others

ProfileConnectShare

Social networking

Profiling•Employment History•Interests and

Expertise

Connecting•Recommen-dations

Sharing•Blogs•Microblogs

Networked learning"Learning in which

ICT is used to promote

connections" (Goodyear, et al. 2004)

 

Networked learning

  • Knowledge = Social• New possibilities for Social Web Technologies• Learning can take place in Networked

Environments• Communities of Practice

  

"People are increasingly sharing, discussing and negotiating knowledge through computer networks, therefore stressing the social nature of learning"

(de Laat, 2006)

 

Social capital        

Connections among individuals - social

networks and the norms of reciprocity and trust that arise from them.

(Putnam, 2000)

Why invest in social technologies?

• Need for organizations to be knowledge productive (Kessels, 2000)

  

The competitive advantage of organizations does not come from

knowledge itself but from the ability to make knowledge productive

(Stam, 2007)

Case studies

o Canadao Netherlands

 • Testing viability of the model

 • Interviews

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• Span from Low to High Affinity to technology• Corporate Roles: Individual Contributor to Management •Company size: 75,000•Business Unit : 350

Office Communicator (OC)Adobe Connect / Live Meeting WebcamsOutlook / Sharepoint

Discussion - WikiImmediacy - OCProfile – White pagesCommunication- Outlook

Initial Interview ResultsConnectingTechnologyParticipants

Yammer• High Affinity to Technology

• Corporate Role: : Individual Contributor to Management

• Company size: 130• Business Unit 55

Yammer • Profile• Communication

•

Recommendations

• Connect to everyone

• Trust as foundational• Credibility v Competition• Outlook as primary connection still• Lurker participants now are active collaborators• Initial connection established immediately

KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTIVITY

PROFILE

CONNECTSHARE

Insights

• Trust not an issue• Lurkers abound• “Literally more connected”• Real life connection• Distraction

Q&A