As we kick off another exciting year at Blackboard and on the Next Level Learning blog, we wanted to take a look back at 2011 to see which posts our readers liked the most.  Here is a list, in no particular order, of our most popular blog posts from the past year:

Capella U – A Case Study on For-Profit College Online Learning: A blog post examining one school’s successes in implementing online and continuous learning for its students.

Our recent blog post on the 5 Myths About Informal Learning generated a thought-provoking discussion on the landscape of informal learning in the workplace.  We want to elaborate upon that discussion here, since it highlighted some key points about the importance of different learning strategies used in today’s professional training environment.

Much of this conversation hinged on a question from a commenter who asked about our definition of informal learning.  He asked, if informal learning is defined as any learning that occurs beyond a classroom setting, then isn’t it just a normal part of our daily interactions, instead of it being a new strategy used by professional educators?  Is it really something that can be directed, quantified, and oriented towards a larger goal?  And can a LMS really aid this informal process?

I recently came across a thought-provoking article from Will Thalheimer’s Will at Work Learning blog.  The post, entitled The Five Failures of Workplace Learning Professionals, offers insights on how to improve some of the most significant weaknesses of on-the-job training. One of the most interesting points Thalheimer makes in this post is that “we forget to minimize forgetting and improve remembering.” In short, his point is that professional educators need to provide tools for memory retention so that knowledge gained during training can be used in the long term.

The article lists these three mechanisms that can help support remembering:

·         Aligning the learning and performance contexts

·         Providing retrieval practice

·         Utilizing spaced repetitions

As I recently wrote in a post on the benefits of informal learning, companies today have the opportunity to leverage popular technological trends, such as the use of social media, for professional, workplace learning purposes.  Despite this incredible potential for engagement in professional environments, however, misconceptions about the effectiveness of informal learning sometimes prevent it from being adopted by corporate trainers.

Here are some of the most common myths about informal learning, followed by discussions that demystify the concerns they reflect:

Myth #1: It’s too unstructured Some may argue that informal learning may be a distraction from the goals of a training session, or may go off-topic due to the organic nature of the conversation it generates.

However, when informal learning comes with clear instructions and desired outcomes are explained ahead of time, learners will be more likely to stay on task and work towards the goals set out during training sessions.

Myth #2:  Learners will not retain the information they need

This week, Blackboard’s ProEd team will be on hand at the CLO Breakfast Club in Washington, D.C. The topic for Chief Learning Officer’s stop in the nation’s capital is Learning Innovation: Development for a Changing Environment, which will be moderated by Kimo Kippen, the Chief Learning Officer of Hilton Worldwide.

As organizations deal with a slow economic recovery, global competition, and the general challenges of keep staff engaged and growing, the topic of innovation is particularly timely.  This is because organizations often look to technology to help create a setting for their employees that embraces and encourages professional development and learning.

Please join us on Thursday, September 8, at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City for an outstanding half-day conference put on by CLO Media. Go here to register online. Hear from industry influencers Rick Crowley of ACS, Kimo Kippen of Hilton Worldwide, Mike Prokopeak from MediaTec Publishing, and others. Hope to see you there!