I like to talk to people about what systems, structures, and platforms they use to help their teams collaborate, learn, and problem-solve. It doesn't really matter if I'm talking with trainers, consultants, or educators. I usually hear something like this: "We have our (training) courses inside of ( INSERT NAME OF LMS HERE) . And, then we collaborate every week on ( INSERT ZOOM, SLACK, GOOGLE MEET, ETC) " When did we start thinking / saying this? Was this a prevalent phrase pre-pandemic? I don't remember hearing it then. (Perhaps I wasn't listening.) It's certainly a common paradigm now. More importantly, what impact does its arrival have on the way we structure our team's environments? For starters, it brings up a few odd questions. Aren't we naturally better learners when we collaborate? Aren't we better collaborators when we're learning along the way? Don't we do one better when we incorporate the other? When we think of the syst
We welcome feedback, questions, and insights on the piece below. We learn best when we learn together. Everyone is familiar with "form follows function". When architects design a building, they begin that process by understanding the function - the purpose - of the building. So,it begs the question: What are the outcomes (the functions) we want from the learners who take part in the learning experiences we structure? We all know the typical answers to this question. "We want learners who..." take action by applying knowledge collaborate with others, sharing ideas and feedback feel part of a team who can learn from each other are accountable to themselves and others for learning and sharing Yet, it's ironic that we structure isolated learning in platforms that are largely content repositories, storing videos and PDFs mixed in with an occasional quiz. It's time we re-think how we deliver learning. We need to re-think our concept that learning and collabora