Thoughts on “Change 2.0: How Does e-Learning 2.0 Affect Organization Culture?”

(NOTE: Requires membership with the Guild to access PDF of the article)

Mark Oehlert’s recent essay found in the eLearning Guild’s publication Learning Solutions is a thorough reference for where Web 2.0 impacts organizational learning. Highly recommended for those looking to get their feet wet or to get a better understanding of the whole 2.0 buzz.

High points of the article:

• The inevitability of 2.0 technologies and collaborative approaches/philosophies
• The necessity of rethinking how we create and deploy learning within the parameters of 2.0
• When selling benefits of 2.0, move beyond buzz and product/service names (i.e. “Twitter,” “Flickr” etc.) to talk about the learning benefits resulting from these collaborative technologies

Low points:

• Perhaps too much time spent on introductory exposition of the 2.0 world (this may be a bias of mine, whereas other “newbie” to the issue may find it invaluable)
• The essay, when all is said and done, leaves a dissatisfying conclusion for me. It’s another in a long line of treatises pointing to the inevitable (if not obvious) emergence of web and collaborative technologies and approaches (“2.0”), which then proclaim that we better jump on board or risk being left behind. Good advice indeed, but what’s more crucial at this junction, is a discussion of tangible, realistic approaches and methods to successfully implementing 2.0 in our learning, i.e. the how.

Overall, though, this is a good—albeit lengthy—article that can jumpstart the conversation. As such, I’ve invited several colleague bloggers here at Allen to read the article and comment on it. Look for those in upcoming days.

In the meantime, I invite you to post your thoughts and reactions to the article and the whole concept itself.