Can Social Media help you Learn?

That was a question posed by some of the top learning professionals in the CPA Profession at a recent meeting where I was asked to present  the State of Informal & Social Learning.

So I did some homework and found lots of great resources (via social media) and shared our journey with social media at the Maryland Association of CPAs.

First, social and informal learning showed up as one of the top five training trends for 2010 in several key sources, indicating that this is the beginning of a signifcant trend and opportunity.

This blog post is intended to demonstrate how social media tools can support and enhance learning (Here is a copy of my preso on slideshare) by including resources and encouraging dialog via comments.

We started with the overview of the trends in social media using Eric Qualman's Socialnomics video & website (from Youtube).

Then we looked at the twitterstream from a conference I had just came from (CCH User Conference) and another from the Accounting Today Growth & Profitability Conference(#GROPRO). Both of these show how particpants in a learning event can share insights and resources (note the links in many of the tweets). This is also known as the "backchannel" and a great tool to increase engagement and particpation.

Here is my handout with lots of resources on social media policies & governance and a recommended reading list Download The State of Social & Informal Learning - handout

As you can see, my preso was loaded with resources found via social media and shared via social media. I find Twitter and blogging the most powerful tools for learning and these are amplified by integrating with social networks like facebook and Linked-In.

Here are some great resources on Social Media & Learning:

See latest presos, resources, and training resources here on our BLI page

From CPA Success - Social Media posts

MACPA Social Media Policy- tied to AICPA Code of Conduct (for CPAs)

Self-directed learning for social media www.cpalearning2.com

Videos

• The Academic Twitter study showing increased engagement and .5 increase in GPA
• A Vision of Students Today (a real wake-up call for me about students today)
• Learning Executives discussing Social Learning at ASTD 2009 (real examples from major companies using social technologies to support learning)
• Seth Godin & Tom Peters on Blogging(why everyone shoudl be blogging - especially leaders!)

Social Learning Thought Leaders (Books, Blogs & Twitter)

• The New Social Learning, Marcia Conner & Tony Bingham
• Social Media for Trainers: Techniques for Enhancing and Extending Learning, Jane Bozarth
• The 2020 Workplace , How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow's Employees, Jeanne Meister & Karie Willyerd
• Grown Up Digital - How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, Don Tapscott
• The Corporate Blogging Book, Debbie Weil (from our friend and blogging coach who helped us get started - a must read if you are thinking about blogging!)


Here are their Blogs & Twitter handles

• Marcia Conner - Learnativity         www.twitter.com/marciamarcia
• Tony Bingham - ASTD Blog            www.twitter.com/tonybingham 
• Jane Bozarth                                www.twitter.com/janebozarth
• Jeanne Meister                            www.twitter.com/jcmeister
• Karie Willyerd                              www.twitter.com/angler
• Don Tapscott                               www.twitter.com/dtapscott
• Debbie Weil                                 www.twitter.com/debbieweil

 You can also follow my Learning-Development list on Twitter

CPA Profession Thought Leaders (Blogs & Twitter)

• Rick Telberg - CPA Trendlines            www.twitter.com/CPA_trendlines
• Bill Sheridan - CPA Success                www.twitter.com/billsheridan
• AICPA CPA Letter Daily                      www.twitter.com/CPALetter_Daily
• AICPA Journal of Accountancy            www.twitter.com/AICPA_JofA
• AccountingWeb                                 www.twitter.com.accountingweb
• Accounting Today                              www.twitter.com/ATInstitute

So what do you think? Can Social Media be a useful tool for learning? What is your biggest insight from this post? Share in the comments and let's continue the dialog...

Comments

[Jane Bozarth]

Tom, thanks so much for helping to spark innovative thinking about social learning within the CPA community. One thing that concerns me about all the recent evangelism is a fear that the idea of social learning is being perceived as "new". Every worker understands intuitively that the way we learn to be successful at work comes not from sitting down in a formal classroom setting, but through conversations with more experienced coworkers, coaching from supervisors, asking for help with a task ("Hey Joe, can you show me how to...?") and talking things over at the water cooler. We're just finally able to articulate the uses and forms and advantages of social learning a little bit better, and at last have good, engaging, truly useful tools in the hands of the learners. (Quite literally, when you consider accessing them from an iPhone, Droid or Blackberry.)

One reason "social learning" is not always recognized as such is that most of us don't recognize the moment at which we are "learning": we recognize it as the moment we are able to solve a problem. Thanks again for the support and the kind words about my new book. Please keep your readers updated on things as they evolve in your world!

Best,
Jane

[ChitownMichelle]

Tom, I loved your presentation at EDMAX and was inspired to finally open a Twitter account. While it's not yet part of my everyday routine, I have found some great people to follow and am learning a lot.

The trick now is to convince my firm's leadership that we can allow freedom to use these tools for additional ways to get informal learning. You've provided great examples for me to use to influence them. Thanks!

[Tom Hood]

Michelle,

Thanks for your great feedback and comments. Two places to start - this post and the CPA Profession examples.

1) This post is a living example of how twitter and blogs can connect and further learning - notice how the author of the book mentioned, weighed in on this blog by comment and the tweets and comments on twitter hit thousands of users. This is how learning can continue and be enhanced with social media.

2) The FASB, AICPA, IRS, GAO, SEC all have twitter accounts and are active participants in the social media realm. If they are out there, shouldn't our professionals get access to the breaking news and information that they are distributing.

[ChitownMichelle]

Great additional info in your last comment. Thanks Tom!