The document discusses using social software to make blended learning successful. It describes Brandon Williams' background working for The Educe Group implementing learning management systems. The objectives of the presentation are to discuss blending social learning with industry examples, the Educe solution through a case study, using social software for employee onboarding and beyond, and key elements of blended learning success. Case studies of blended learning implementations at companies like TELUS, Virgin Media, and Bechtel are provided. The presentation encourages participation through Twitter using the hashtag #blendlrn.

1. TH306 - Using Social Software to Make Blended
Learning a Success
ASTD TechKnowledge 2014
The Educe Group
#astdtk14 #blendlrn

2. Introductions
Brandon Williams is an Associate for The Educe Group, where he is currently guiding learning
management system implementations for organizations varying in size and spanning multiple industries.
While he has spent time evaluating new learning technologies in the space, he has also worked
extensively with collaborative learning strategy and the technology to execute this strategy within Educe.
Prior to joining Educe, Brandon coauthored and produced a training program that affected national
compliance and sales audiences at Amerigroup Corporation. Brandon has also served as the system
administrator for cloud-based Customer Relationship Management platforms for seven years in addition
to implementing hosted learning and performance software. Over the course of his career, he has
supported recruitment programs for internships, leadership development programs, and full-time
employment positions. He has extensive experience in cloud technology and the strategy required to
implement and maintain that technology.
He has gained valuable experience both through business development for professional services
organizations and as a consultant working directly on HCM strategy and system implementations. He has
focused on learning management and social/collaborative technology within companies ranging from
2,000 - 55,000 employees, but he has also consulted organizations on a variety of other critical business
processes (system localization, performance management systems, mobile workforce issues etc.).
Brandon grew up in a remote region of the Appalachians and graduated with honors from the College of
William and Mary; he currently lives in DC and works in Bethesda.
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3. Introductions
I’ve always been a nerd and
love learning, so now I
implement systems that help
people grow and develop in
the workplace.
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4. Objectives for Today
Follow @BdotW and/or tweet your
questions to #blendlrn
“Online Portion”
 Blending in Social Learning (industry examples)
“Instructor-led Portion”
 The Educe Solution (case study)
 Social software for employee onboarding and beyond
 Process  identifying, implementing, adoption, metrics
 Key Elements of Blended Learning Success
“Post-Class Assessment”
 Wrap / Qs & As
4

5. Blended Learning at 40,000 Feet
Web-based/online training or pre-recorded session
5

6. Case Studies
 TELUS
 Virgin Media
 Bechtel
 Kaespersky
 Poll
6
Follow @BdotW and/or tweet your
questions to #blendlrn

7. Success Stories: TELUS
TELUS is a leading national telecommunications
company in Canada with 13.2 million customer
connections. TELUS provides a wide range of
communications products and services including
wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television,
entertainment and video.
Source: Dan Pontefract, Sr. Director and Head of
Learning and Collaboration at TELUS*
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8. Success Stories: TELUS
• TELUS
– Switched from 90% instructor-led to 60/40 for the year
• High costs for hiring external trainers
• 20% savings in flipping model
– Model supported learning through formal, informal, and
social
• Included networking, blogs, wikis, videos, communities, and
collaboration sites to foster knowledge sharing
• Flip cameras for field techs
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9. Success Stories: Virgin Media
Virgin Media
…provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and
broadband internet services to businesses and
consumers in the United Kingdom; it owns and
operates its own fiber-optic cable network, the only
national cable network in the United Kingdom. They
service approximately 4.8 million cable customers.
Source: http://gigaom.com/2012/02/13/the-lessons-ofvirgin-medias-flexible-working-initiative/
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10. Success Stories: Virgin Media
• Pilot of 5,000 users aimed to increase
productivity/agility and decrease email
overload/inconsistent materials
• Notable gains for B2B provisioning group
– touches many divisions for certain processes, so creating
a community to share the information more effectively in
one place served to “break down divisional silos.”
• Unintended results: Participants in the pilot showed
a six percent higher engagement-index in the firm’s
annual engagement survey
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11. Success Stories: Virgin Media
• Adoption of system itself involved blended learning
– Not all people are primed to adopt certain technology the
same way or at the same rate
– Their approach included 1:1 training, videos, and peer to
peer assistance through communities
• Identified evangelists to engage the rest of the
organization
– In line with best practices to encourage adoption of social
software organization-wide
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12. Success Stories: Virgin Media
“One of the big successes during the
pilot…was the amount of people who
started to self-help and help others.”
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13. Success Stories: Bechtel
Bechtel is the largest construction and engineering
company in the United States; as a global leader in
engineering, construction, and project management, it
operates five global business units and executes
projects around the world (including the Hoover Dam,
BART, and the largest airport in the world in
Damamam).
Source: Aniruddh Mukerji, Manager of Learning
Technology
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14. Success Stories: Bechtel
• “Boots on the Ground” CoP for safety/compliance
– Piloted with two members at a single location and grew to
500 across 50
• Access to relevant content at time of need;
immediate value and compelling content on day one
– Calling/emailing “experts” only helps a single person
• “Experts” get bombarded
• Marketplace of questions and answers
– Practitioners from project sites and experts together
– Share knowledge to be stored for later use
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15. Success Stories: Bechtel
• Mobile access to consume/develop
• Objection: Community Moderation
– Most platforms have ability to flag inappropriate or
inaccurate content
• As of report, Bechtel had only taken down 2 posts out of 300
• Adoption encouraged by specific planning
– Safety is a core value, and the responsible group is highly
engaged
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16. Success Stories: Bechtel
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17. Success Stories: Bechtel
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18. Success Stories: Kaespersky
Kaespersky is a Russian multi-national computer
security company that develops secure content and
threat management systems for over 300 million
users worldwide and more than 250,000 corporate
clients globally ranks; they rank fourth in the global
ranking of antivirus vendors.
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19. Success Stories: Kaespersky
• Objective: “constant learning”
– Needed also to be able to measure collaboration and
engagement among team members
– Traditional LMS: monitor compliance through certification
• Benefits: Decreased travel costs (virtual classroom
and blended learning)
– Also able to eliminate unnecessary/duplicate training
called out by community
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20. Success Stories: Kaespersky
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21. Questions For You…
Follow @BdotW and/or tweet your
questions to #blendlrn
Do you have an official on-boarding process?
If so, is all training web or document based?
Or, do you have an instructor conduct all of the
training?
If so, is your instructor in person or do you
conduct virtual training?
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22. Blended Learning Recap: On-line
Web-based/online training or pre-recorded session
• Accessibility
– New hires provided access to content on day 1
– Current employees can self-pace based on full time work
– Spans time zones/availability; engages and decreases cost
• By tracking in your LMS you can…
What are some
pros and cons of
training online?
– Prevent ILT registration until completion
– Add background/supplemental materials to ILT
– Create follow-up after instructor interaction
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23. Blended Learning at 40,000 Feet
Web-based/online training or pre-recorded session
Instructor-led training or face to face interaction
Knowledge assessment and evaluation
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24. Educe Case Study
• Company Background/Challenges
• Our solution
– Process
• From assessing organizational readiness…
• …to encouraging adoption…
• …to maintaining an effective solution.
– “The Blend”
24

25. Educe Environment
implement
HR technology
adopt
performance
content
development
plan
small
business
social networking
talent
= employee locations
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consulting
services
develop
vendor
selection
learning

26. Educe Environment
commercial
regulated
retail
health care
small business
global
financial
pharmaceutical
government
compliance
= employee locations
= client locations
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hospitality
US-based
manufacturing

27. Challenges: Onboarding and Engagement
• Week-long boot camp with
Partner or Principal
Expertise Dispersed
Office
Locations
• Document repository of
past projects and product
information
• Product knowledge
sessions:
Geographically
Dispersed
• Periodic deep-dive
• Twice yearly meeting
including
• OJT experience
Client Travel
• “Educe All” emails
Limited “Connectivity”
• Vendor WBTs
• Mentorship Program
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28. What really got the ball rolling…
In 2012, we got our first batch of new hires
straight out of college. A year later, we began
growing at a more rapid pace than ever before
in our 10 year history.
No longer were we able to build on prior
consulting or implementation expertise. With a
growing virtual team of experts combined with
a fresh batch of bright young Jr. Consultants,
the we knew we would have to do something
different than traditional training modules
launched from an LMS or boot camp sessions.
We were going to have to focus our strategy
and software on creating an open, collaborative
environment for all employees regardless of
geographical location or level of experience.
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29. Educe Objectives: Not Social
Speed of response + empowerment = “Accelerate
the effectiveness of our team”
• Improve access to organizational knowledge
• Reduce use of email as a method of knowledge
exchange
• Reduce dependency on “experts”
• Reduce new hire onboarding time
• Improve onboarding experience
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30. Our Solution: EduceConnect
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31. Implementation Steps
1
2
Seed Data
3
Consider
Search Strategy
- use lessons learned from other initiatives
4
Find Your
Experts
- enables everyone to be a contributor
- changes as employees gain experience
5
31
Understand
Organizational
Readiness
Deploy a Soft
Launch
- set achievable objectives
- understand challenges
- consolidate existing data
- provide examples to be followed
- ability to make corrections

32. 1: Understand Organizational Readiness
Things to Consider:



Start with a group that already collaborates, and secure buy-in with the
experts in that group
Launch with a limited set of functionality. Add on as adoption takes hold.
Understand your organizational challenges
This has me
written all over it.
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- History of collaboration
- Comfort with technology
I hope she’s
not looking
this way…

33. 2: Seed Data
Things to Consider:



Drive initial system use with a library resources that can’t be accessed in
any other system
Demonstrate how the system will consolidate disparate information
repositories
Set an example for how you want data to be entered and tagged
I have no idea
when I last
backed up my
laptop…
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- What data has no home?
- What repositories can be replaced?
My email is over the limit
again. We’ve got to get this
thing going.

34. Why will employees use it?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Saves time
Reduces rework
Lessens dependence of geography
Lessens dependence on standard work hours
Lessens learning curve for new employees
Motivates members
Call me when I can
find something useful
on this thing…
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Wow. She
really just
said that.

35. Informal Learning Activities + Methods
Activity
Method
Problem Solving
“I’m receiving an error message
– anyone know what to do?”
Discussion, Chat;
Workspaces; Issues
Requesting
Information
“Does anyone have the most
recent SoP template?”
Discussion, Chat
Seeking
Experience/Advice
“Has anyone dealt with this
situation?”
Discussion, Chat
Creating
Knowledge
Repository
Sharing links, files, tips and
tricks
Resources;
Discussion; Skills;
Impressions
Vetting New Ideas
“Check out the new mockups.
All feedback welcome!”
Ideas; Ratings;
Discussion
Networking
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Example
“I’m going to ASTD TK14.
Anyone else?”
“Following” People;
Profiles; Workspaces

36. Model “Ideal” Entries
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37. 3: Consider Search Strategy
Things to Consider:





- Company Terminology
- Existing Applications
Structure/ tag information to allow users to quickly locate what they need
Think about SharePoint, document repositories, or other past experiences
Avoid creating silos of information
Consider pre-populating tags for people to select
Think about how and when different audiences will use the system
Vendor, year, document type,
client…we need as many tags as
possible…
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38. Tag Strategy
User Search
Filters
Access Experts
and Assets
Simultaneously

39. 4: Find Your Experts
Things to Consider:




Ensure all experts are findable
Require all employees to complete their profile
Employ competencies, certifications
Encourage experts to post resources using various incentives or establishing
contribution goals
Expert
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- Who are your “experts”?
- Can this definition be expanded?
Expert
Expert

40. Profile Management
40
Self
Others
Contributions

41. 5: Deploy a Soft Launch
Things to Consider:




- Early Adopters
- Current Company Initiatives
No need to “create” activities, use the real thing
Focus on evaluating your process, not the technology
Use the first phase to solicit feedback before structure becomes more complex
Initial group will naturally aid the data input process
This is one of our top
priorities this year.
41

42. Adoption Process
Newcomers explore
the site and peruse
existing resources
and discussions
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Make
connections by
“following”
others; build
own profile
Add links and
files; leave
ratings and
impressions
Establish
appropriate
level of
governance

43. Existing Employees and “The Blend”
• Advanced product knowledge sessions/deep dive
– CoPs can track info added over time/software versions
– Able to limit group access to segment product lines etc.
• Reduce use of email as a method of knowledge
exchange
– Allowed individuals to share and comment on best
practices organization-wide for the benefit of others
• Full search capability increased adoption
• SME feedback = “informal” experts
– Immediate feedback across all levels increased adoption
43

44. Assessment
• Completed online courses or read and
acknowledged documentation
• Conducted ILT to provide additional face to face
information and clear up questions
• Last step: assess to ensure learning has taken place
– In our case, we value our reputation far too much to have
this come through in the form of client commentary
• Vendor Certification
• Mentor/Manager Checklists
44

45. Assessment: Checklist
45

46. New Hire Program and “The Blend”
Before…
• Read/understand product
documentation without Q&A
Everyone
• Vendor training andcontributes
assessment
• Email exchange b/t multiple
senior team members and
interested consultant
Wherever,
whenever
(based on availability)
• OJT training
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After
• Can discuss product
documentation w/ experts and
follow
Extensivecurrent IRL scenarios
• profile through issues
Walk
encountered during vendor
training among cohort
• Review discussions of lessons
1st day
learned
access for by those who came
before
new hires as well as
• …able to post questions and
get feedback in real time

47. Outcomes
1
Understand
Organizational
Readiness
2
Seed Data
3
Consider
Search Strategy
4
Find Your
Experts
5
Deploy a Soft
Launch
47
- consolidated multiple systems into 1 application
- designed a phased approach
- provided guidelines for creating ideal entries
- prepopulated tags to select from
- allow employees to create new tags
- everyone set up as a contributor
- new hire onboarding
- client-specific sites

48. Measurement
Resourcing
Response
Administrative
Tasks
Time to Deployment
Product Questions
RFP Information
Contacts
Opportunity
Response
Client Satisfaction
Client Issues
Templates
Time to Fly Solo
Time to “Expert”
48
Document
Examples

49. Metrics
Speed of Response
Employee Empowerment
External
Internal
 Average client response time
decreased from 2-3 days to
less than 1 hour
 Elimination of email
distribution lists
49
Educe Group Confidential
 Employee retention – still
engaged from home office
 Time to deployment reduced
from months to weeks
 Increase in overall
collaboration

50. Questions For You…
Follow @BdotW and/or tweet your
questions to #blendlrn
Do you use both web based/written and
instructor-led sessions?
Do you track any of this activity in an LMS?
Do you use social/collaborative tools to facilitate
interaction during this process?
50

51. Blended Learning Recap: ILT/Assessment
Instructor-led training or face to face interaction
• Face to face interaction could be…
– Lunch and learns/brown bag lunches
– Yearly gatherings/“State of the Union”
• Or more traditionally…
– Internal instructors/facilitators
– External instructor-led courses
What are some
pros and cons of
face to face
training?
• Assessment of knowledge/understanding
51

52. Blended Learning at 40,000 Feet
Web-based/online training or pre-recorded session
Instructor-led training or face to face interaction
Knowledge assessment and evaluation
52
Social/informal
interactions or
mechanism for
continued
interaction

53. Questions for You…
Follow @BdotW and/or tweet your
questions to #blendlrn
To the Twitter
machine!
Have you seen this in the upper right corner of
previous question slides?
53

54. Takeaways: Key Elements for Success
• Recruiting
– Collaborative, self-directed, and eager to learn
– Millennial generation and tech expectations
• Cultural Assessment
– “Blended” learning requires a blend
– Shift happens, but it doesn’t have to be negative
• Instructors who otherwise would have had to fly around the
country can find new ways to interact online (virtual/WBT/social)
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55. Takeaways: Key Elements for Success (con’t)
• “Creating the Blend” – tools of the trade
– WBT/online
• Instructional design tools
– ILT/VILT
• Basic
• Standard
• Advanced
– Assessment
• Can be inserted at any point for knowledge check
– Social/informal
• CoPs, PLNs, etc.
55

56. Blended Learning at 40,000 Feet
Instructor-led training or face to face interaction
Web-based/online training or pre-recorded session
Knowledge assessment and evaluation
56
Social /
informal
interactions
or
mechanism
for continued
interaction

57. Questions for You…
Do you think social is core to the success of a
blended learning project?
As you’re going down that path, how many are
going to consider social components?
57

58. Q’s and A’s
#blendlrn if we don’t get to chat
Educe Group Confidential

59. Thank you for your interest!
Contact Us
Brandon Williams
Email: bwilliams@educegroup.com
Twitter: @bdotw
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