Some research suggests that up to 80 percent of learning in the workplace occurs on an informal basis. Even with this being the case, most corporations spend over 80 percent of their training budget and effort on formal training. This keynote will address the issues and methodologies surrounding understanding and effectively delivering informal learning, including e-communities (forums and synchronous environments), electronic performance support systems (EPSS), and new classroom models outside of traditional instructor-led classrooms. See how some emerging and nontraditional methods are stepping up to fill this much needed training opportunity.

Learning Objectives

• Integrate informal learning techniques into existing learning models
• Recognize the types of learners that are best served by informal learning and plan programs accordingly
• Obtain the buy-in for informal learning

Our employees and customers are ready for a different model of learning and training. The world is flatter, with more global enterprises, rapidly changing (and created) content and new expectations from learners. Elliott Masie will present a thought provoking call for dramatically evolving our learning strategies:

• Fingertip Knowledge - Learning in the Age of Google
• The End of Memorization!
• Rapid Development and Informal Learning.
• Global Models for Content and Knowledge Sharing.
• Learning as a Tribal and Social Process.
• From ROI to Impact Evaluations.
• Evolving Technologies: Web 2.0, Video Conferencing and Content Democratization.
• From e-Learning to Smart Content!

Elliott's presentation will be interactive and draw upon his work with the 250 global companies in his Learning Consortium and the experiments in their Learning Lab.

Due to retiring baby boomers in the European Union and the United States, more than 75 million positions will become vacant by 2011, of which 40 percent will be those in management roles. This is happening just as the work becomes more demanding. Global competition, emerging business models, higher customer expectations, the continued paced pace of mergers and acquisitions, and accelerated technology are driving the need for more so called tacit work - work with complex interactions that require a high level of judgment.

The consequent war for talent means workers are recruited from a shrinking base and recent employees in the global labor pool must master new capabilities and knowledge more quickly and efficiently. Also, the most compelling strategy in the attraction and retention of critical talent is their confidence that they have access to cutting-edge opportunities to learn and develop valuable skills.

A perfect storm encompassing the demand for talent in a dwindling global pool, the complexity of work, and an unrelenting period of enormous change, coupled with generational differences have all propelled Learning & Development to the forefront of organizational strategies to attract, recruit, develop, deploy and retain talent. This requires new, fresh, technology-enabled, just-in-time and high impact Learning & Talent Development perspectives and approaches.

When was the last time you felt your heart pound online? Do you remember feeling anticipation, excitement, camaraderie, commitment, engaged or responsible during your last online learning experience? Have you ever laughed out loud at anything online?

Video games and online virtual worlds can be immersive, exciting, fun and a catalyst for wide range of emotions - that's what keeps the eyeballs glued to them in swelling numbers.

There is a groundswell of interest to tap into these environments for training, collaboration, communication, connecting with consumers and much more and many organisations including Reuters, BP, IBM, Sun, Vodafone, MTV, BBC, Toyota, Dell, General Motors and Cisco are jumping in.

Serious Virtual Worlds are enabling rapid generation of realistic interactive 3D environments that enable organizations to train, plan, rehearse, communicate and collaborate just as they would in the real world.

In this session we'll explore:

• Second Life, the phenomenon growing at rate of a quarter million users a week
• MTV's Laguna Beach, a bespoke virtual world
• Serious virtual world training applications
• Virtual world trends and future directions

A case study based on the experiences of Lovells, a world-leading law firm, as they moved from a traditional learning culture to embrace a wide variety of new learning technologies, new approaches and new methods.

When Claire joined Lovells, 100% of IT training was instructor led. The same IT training modules had been run for years. Potential delegates had moved on but the courses hadn't. There was no regular dialogue with internal clients to find out where people were struggling and what exactly they needed. The only IT training available online was quick reference cards which tied back to the five specific learning points permitted in each module.

There was a one size fits all approach to IT training. The exercises and examples used were generic and of limited value. In reality only secretaries attended the IT training modules. There was no global consistency. A small number of offices had an IT trainer but for the majority, the bulk of IT training was provided in the form of trainer visits, which could be over a year apart.

Over the course of 3 years, Claire implemented a number of additional learning technologies, including virtual classroom and webinar tools, just in time performance support tools, in-house and off-the-shelf elearning courses. Learners globally now have a choice as to how and when they want to learn. The focus for online offerings expanded from IT training to compliance, legal and legal skills training and language training.

Claire will describe the approach she took to get these new learning technologies and offerings in place and will highlight some of the key challenges she faced. Claire will also talk about plans to implement and use additional formal and informal tools to deliver learning and knowledge.

Lovells is today widely recognised as being one of the most advanced learning organisations in the legal and professional services sectors.

This presentation will focus on the use of metrics to manage the learning and develop function and move it in the right direction. Context and background on the business case for metrics within L&D as well as the process for practical measurement will be presented. A case study will then be presented that discusses how metrics are used within a corporate L&D function to gather information ranging from satisfaction to return on investment.