Fredrickson Communications eZine - February 2009

by J Hruby, Director of Marketing

In this edition of the Fredrickson eZine . . .

Tapping into the Wisdom of the Crowd: Making it Work

Part two of a two-part series
by Josh Welsh
Fredrickson Communications Usability Analyst

In part one of this series about online collaboration I wrote about several Do’s and Don’ts to keep in mind when using wikis as collaboration tools. I covered these key points:

• You can’t expect large numbers of collaborators to solve everything.
• You will need to provide structure for your collaborators.
• Eighty percent of the work will be done by twenty percent of the contributors.

Now we’ll take a look at three ways to help structure online collaboration in an enterprise environment. I found these principles in Steven Weber’s The Success of Open Source, which describes the open source software movement from its origins in the development of the UNIX operating system in the early 1980s. Weber offers several principles for collaboration. I find the following three to be especially relevant for large-scale organizations interested in using online collaboration tools:

• Make it interesting.
• Make it meaningful.
• Make it transparent.

Read more . . .

Let Fredrickson help with the small stuff – Don’t let the technical hurdles stop you

by J. Hruby
Fredrickson Communications Marketing Director

The current economy places a lot of pressure on organizations of all kinds these days. This means the learning groups that serve these organizations are also under pressure.

Learning groups need to develop and deliver effective learning programs that improve performance now—when it’s needed most. And they need to do so quickly and efficiently. They also need to keep their learning organizations running smoothly and to be recognized for delivering a high-quality, valuable services to the organization.

But Learning Management Systems need maintenance and support, older eLearning courses need to be kept current, and new learning products need to be developed quickly and with fewer resources. All this comes at a time when staffs are shrinking and technical skills may be in high demand and short supply.

Many of our clients know Fredrickson can help with larger-scale projects, but we can also provide many individual technical services to help your learning group keep pace. We can:

• Develop individual Flash interactions to fit within eLearning courses
• Design and develop online job aids or process tools
• Update eLearning courses
• Fix broken eLearning courses
• Troubleshoot LMS issues
• Provide an LMS administrator or back-up administrator
• Convert eLearning courses that were developed using obsolete tools or technologies
• Add LMS wrappers to existing courses
• Update or modify intranet sites
• Set up processes for source file control
• Create asset libraries to organize sound and image files used in eLearning courses

Could these or other technical services help you? Contact us and we’d be happy to discuss how we can help.

Networking Opportunities – Real life and virtual ways to connect with your learning and communication peers

by J. Hruby
Fredrickson Communications Marketing Director

One of your most valuable career resources, in good times and bad, is your personal network. Whether it’s a virtual network of online peers, or a group you meet face-to-face, these are the people who can help you by answering questions, sharing experiences, or introducing you to others who can help you in your career.

Here are just a few of networking organizations both in the Twin Cities and online that I think learning and communications professionals will find helpful:

• PACT (Professional Organization of Computer Trainers) – No longer just about computer training, this is a unique organization for technical training professionals in the Twin Cities. Find out more at the PACT website.

• Corporate University Roundtable – An organization dedicated to the needs of those who hold leadership or management positions in corporate learning organizations. Learn more by visiting the Roundtable’s website.

• Learningtown – A very active virtual community for learning professionals.

• Intersect: Where public-sector communications and technology professionals meet. Intersect is a form for those in public sector communications and related IT roles in Minnesota. Intersect members come from all levels of government to discuss issues related to using technology to communicate. See the Intersect web page for more information.

• LinkedIn – There are many learning-related groups that are part of the networking mega-site LinkedIn. You need to be a LinkedIn member to join the groups.
  My favorites are:
  – Learning, Education and Training Professionals Group
  – Workplace Learning and Performance Forum
  – Training Professionals