The Five Myths of Informal Learning

Informal learning is emerging as one of the most powerful disciplines in our industry. The tools and methodologies that have been developed over the past several years are changing the learning landscape in amazing ways. But there are a number of misunderstandings about this critical approach. I’d like to share some myths I’ve encountered when trying to intentionally implement a successful informal learning strategy.

1. Informal learning doesn’t need structure.
2. Informal learning approaches such as social networks can replace training.
3. E-learning is informal learning.
4. An effective and thorough training program negates the need for informal learning.
5. It’s only informal learning if it’s immediate and embedded.

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10 Social Networks Aimed at Improving Enterprise Collaboration

Historically, social networks were designed for consumers to keep in touch with friends or find out what family members are doing. Friendster and MySpace were once dominant in social networking, but are now distant memories. Today, the king of social networking is Facebook, followed by Twitter, Google+ and many others, and social networking is alive and well. Perhaps that's why social networking is increasingly making its presence felt in the enterprise. On Jan. 14, Facebook launched a limited release of its enterprise social networking service, Facebook At Work. The offering is designed to allow companies to create their own social networks to improve productivity and efficiency. More importantly, the announcement puts Facebook in direct competition with a range of major competitors. Whether it's Microsoft's Yammer or Slack or one of the many other services out there that cater to companies' social needs, the corporate world is embracing the idea of collaboration more and more. Now, Facebook is playing a major role in that space. eWEEK examines Facebook at Work and several other social networks that take aim at the enterprise and try to help companies collaborate far more effectively.

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25 Ways to Make LinkedIn Work for You

LinkedIn is a networker’s dream: an easy way to learn about, and reach out to, millions of businesspeople and thousands of employers. Yet many LinkedIn users don’t take advantage of the site’s features even though the vast majority are free.

Here are my top 25 recommendations for getting past “Well, I’ve got a login” and making the site really work for you, whether you’re job hunting, hiring, growing your entrepreneurial business, or just seeing and being seen in the online branding arena.

You’ll start by creating your LinkedIn profile and adding connections. Then you’ll use LinkedIn’s fancier features to do such things as reach out to friends of friends, join a Group or a LinkedIn Answers conversation, or enhance your profile with apps.

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Info Nuggets - 20120817

LPG Cylinder Transparency

To make the supply of LPG cylinders for domestic use more transparent, the ministry for petroleum & natural gas has introduced an LPG transparency portal in collaboration with the OMCs -- Oil Marketing Companies.

About 130 million households in India use LPG cylinders for cooking.

OMSc supply 3.2 million cylinders per day.

The present subsidy on one LPG cylinder is Rs. 503.

The subsidy in 2012-13 is expected to be Rs. 43000 cr.

Those in power seem to be having high consumption rate of LPG cylinders in 2011-12. Mayawati, former CM of UP (91 cylinders subsidy of Rs. 31318); A. Raja, former minister for telecom (89 cylinders, while he was in Tihar Jail)

Use of tobacco: A study

According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted between October 2008 and March 2010, with 275 million tobacco users, India ranks second globally, very close to China having about 301 million users.

Chewing tobacco accounted for almost all of the smokeless tobacco consumption in India.At nearly 33 per cent, India has the highest male smokeless tobacco users.

With more than 60 per cent, Russia has the highest number of smokers, and is closely followed by China at 53 per cent.

With 6.1 mean cigarettes a day smoked, India has the lowest figure among the 16 countries.

While 23 per cent of men were smokers in India, in the case of women, the percentage of current smokers is 2.9, and figures as the fourth from the bottom of the 16 countries analysed.

But smokeless tobacco use among women In India is 18.4 per cent, second only to Bangladesh (28.7 per cent).

The prevalence of male smokers in the 15-19 age group in India is 5.4 per cent, much less than Russia’s 38 per cent.

The data from 14 low and middle-income countries that “collectively contribute to most of the disease burden attributable to tobacco use” was compared with that of the U.K and the U.S.

Website: Scientific Social Network

The website knimbus is designed as a dedicated knowledge discovery and collaborative space for researchers and scholars. It is active across 450 campuses in India which includes IITs, IIMs, Govt. research centres such as CSIR, DRDO etc.,

Website: Customer Education on Insurance

Insurance Regulatory ad Development Authority (IRDA) has launched the website www.policyholder.gov.in to educate the customers on insurance plans, provide tips on how to choose and buy plans, claim procedures, complaints handling, handbooks and so on.

Info-graphics: Global Map of Social Networking 2011

The Global Map of Social Networking 2011 is a great example of successful experimentation with combining multiple visualizations into one. The map is used well to show general location, but it fades into the background since it is not the most important information. The bar charts show great data about quantity, and the venn diagrams show how those quantities overlap each other. In addition, since there are so many venn diagrams, they can be compared to each other like small multiples. It’s wonderful when combinations go so well together!

See this info-graphics. Click on the info-graphics to enlarge.

Social Networks Will Change Product Innovation

Much is being written about the impact that new communication technologies and channels (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) have on traditional marketing. The deeper question is: Will these new communication channels actually force material changes not just in the way companies market their products but in the strategies and operations they use to develop and build those products as well? In my view, the answer is an emphatic yes. It's another instance of the proverbial medium that changes the content.

Read this HBR blog post