THE ECONOMY OF LEARNING - How do a workers within your organization
indicate they need and desire to learn something or to acquire knowledge? What are
the actions that a worker takes when they discover that they have a knowledge gap or
a need to learn a new skill? We know that there is an informal process, where people
reach out to their peers, work neighbors, or supervisors for immediate information or
knowledge. But, what if the knowledge gap is larger than an informal conversation.
Then, we know that the learner might go "shopping" for a class or course, in the
classroom or online. But, what if the list of available courses does not contain the
right stuff for the learner? In those situations, how do learners "post" or "declare" their
learning or knowledge requests? The MASIE Center is investigating how the
"economy" of learning is playing out in organizations - on the "demand" side. Most
of the action in Learning Systems (LMS and LCMS) is focused on the "supply" side.

Elliott Masie imagines a feature that might appear on people's workstations that
would allow them to "submit" a learning or knowledge request or demand. This
could be categorized by the content area (e.g.. Manufacturing information), the type
of knowledge requested (e.g.. procedure, examples, or opinions) and even the level
of urgency. These could either be received and acted on by a learning desk, by an
automated function or other process. "We have to reach across the line from
e-Learning into Knowledge Management," says Masie, "to view ways in which we
can leverage these two fields together for the learning benefit of the workforce."
Send ideas to: emasie@masie.com

STRONG ROI FOR e-LEARNING AND e-BUSINESS - Nucleus Research
Inc. recently issued a report that indicates that this year IT investments in both
eLearning and e-Business have a strong return on investment (ROI). Other areas,
says the report, like customer relationship management (CRM) and content
management, have been less successful. The reasons why, according to the report,
are that "modest" eLearning investments can show savings from reduced travel costs
and human resources overhead; e-Business integration returns savings from building
on existing IT investments and streamlining operations. CRM projects, however,
are typically multi-year initiatives, and many companies "overbuy" what they need.
Both are factors that work against a positive ROI. For the complete article see:
http://www.idg.net/ic_944536_1794_9-10000.html (ComputerWorld, 4 Sept 02)