This edition
can be referenced online at:
http://www.e-LearningGuru.com/articles/ezine/guru2_3.htm
HIGHLIGHTS:
*
Your thoughts on the value of ROI
*
Solutions to Metadata problems
* Link to glossary
Whoa!
Looks like I struck a nerve with the last
newsletter. Got more mail and more unsubscribes from
the previous newsletter than from all my previous editions
combined. Oh well, I guess some people didn't like Cory
Doctorow's language or my contrarian view on ROI.
Your
Thoughts on ROI
Richard Usmiller, RWD Technologies,
wrote:
From
your article, I don't believe you abhor ROI; you just
don't like bad projections. I'm with you on that, &
that's what you should have said in the article, rather
than "getting off an ROI bandwagon." That flies
in the face of any business reality I've ever come across
in my 20+ years doing & managing training.
Michael
Clouser, eCornell,
says:
I
would disagree and say that ultimately all investments
a company makes are for ROI purposes. But you are so right
in asserting that its the way its calculated that is the
problem. Organizational activity is dynamic, and its hard
to project ROI, especially using a bunch of spreadsheet-oriented
MBA's.
Bill
Burkholder, First
Midwest Bank
I
read your brief, but poignant article regarding ROI analysis.
It is about time that training managers recapture the
analysis of training from the bean-counters of the world.
There are so many factors, as you mentioned, that simply
cannot be measured on a spreadsheet.
It's
true I'm not completely against ROI (I teach it often and
use it in many of my own sales proposals) but there are
two important points.
First,
the more your e-learning inititaives support key organizational
initiatives the less likely you'll need to do an ROI.
Second,
what we should really be spending our time on is the much
harder control group studies that provide hard metrics on
e-learning effectiveness (more on this in a future article).
Solutions
for Inaccurate Metadata
Stephen
Downes, in OLDaily,
offered a brief but effective counter-argument to Cory
Doctorow's article on the problems with metadata.
Most
of the issues involve inaccurate metadata. This is why
I advocate third party metadata, that is, metadata provided
by neutral and qualified observers.
Doctorow
also points out that "schemas aren't neutral."
Agreed, and this is why we should always allow data providers
to select from a number of schemas.
What
Doctorow argues against is essentially what I also argue
against: the illusion that one standard metadata set will
put an end to the ambiguity and uncertainty of information
on the web. It won't happen. But we can devise ways to
adapt to it, just as humans have been doing for millennia.
e-Learning
Glossary
And an
"oops" about forgetting the direct link to the glossary
in the last issue. The link for one of the largest (and slightly
irreverant) e-learning glossary is http://www.e-learningguru.com/gloss.htm
Would
any of your colleagues or clients benefit from this glossary?
If so, please forward this e-mail to them and help
build the Guru community.
Here's
to living and learning,
-- Kevin
Kevin Kruse is the e-learning columnist for CLO,
Chief Learning Officer magazine, author of Technology-based
Training (Jossey-Bass), and Principal with Kenexa. He
can be reached at kkruse@e-LearningGuru.com.
~
~ ~ ~ Want Kevin Kruse to Speak to Your Group or Event?
~ ~ ~ ~
* Looking for an informative and energetic keynote for your
conference?
* Want to explore the future of e-learning at your next
user-group meeting?
* Do you want to ignite a strategy session for your training
department?
--> Drop a note describing your event to kkruse@e-learningguru.com.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ End Blatant Self
Promotion ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
|
