The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/21494
The least explored of those elements to date is social media — that’s a new arena for trainers to share insights. We can really learn from each other about how to assess the culture of one’s firm with social media, and then leverage it effectively within that framework. I also think a good area of focus would be increased self-reliance. In the past, some training and support personnel encouraged users to go through them to get answers, but the sheer range of information and limited firm resources should steer us away from that slightly patronizing approach. We should continue to encourage and foster independent problem solving via Web information. Rebecca: In my own e-learning, I recently listened online to a debate at Oxford on the topic of how to leverage the rapid growth of the smartphone. One of their interesting observations was the explosive growth of smartphones over the past 10 years. So I think one of the future trends will be leveraging this amazing tool that’s so readily available to the majority of our users. E-learning has to branch beyond just technology to even more learning within the firm — from new hire, to human resources, soft skills training and much more. Let’s daydream a bit. In a perfect world — without budget/ hiring constraints or cultural barriers — what would you do to create the perfect learning environment? Michelle: Oh boy, wouldn’t that be fun! l would have short how-to modules for absolutely everything that our helpdesk could link to users. We could assign these modules based on calls received, and also use them to train our support people. I’d have finished wikis — if there is such a thing. We’re currently working on an attorney processes wiki where pages are one-stop shops for all information on a particular topic, including workflows, policies, contacts, FAQs and training materials. Also, we’re going to do an administrative business processes wiki. And as we talked about earlier, I’d love to have some social media pieces in the mix. In addition, I’d like to be able to offer a full catalog of highly interactive webinar courses with built-in quizzes and surveys that people could attend at their desks with headsets. This, I think, would be a great asset for our foreign and smaller offices and for attorney training. Ideally, we’d have webcams or other forms of video that could be used where there is no trainer — such as for new hire training. And of course I’d want to have enough people to handle creating and supporting all of this, including one or two dedicated full-time instruction designers and trainers who don’t work in level-one support roles. Tony: For my part, I’d love to see a personal training resource in every office, available to those who really need personal interaction. I’d love to see comfortably full classes where 24 www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer people have a culture of saying that they know there’s a better way to do something and they want to learn how do that — where it’s okay to ask that question. I hope that in every building design there will always be a training room with both personal resources and the technology that allows us not only to reach across the aisle, but also to share and collaborate across offices. I would love to see community-created content where you have not only the formal event, but then a discussion afterwards to give learners the opportunity to say what they learned there and then bring that knowledge back to share in their own offices. I’d also love to transfer the same kind of spirit and resources ILTA members enjoy — the e-groups, the webinars, conference, etc. — to our own offices. Honora: The specifics could vary — the balance of e-learning to live training, for example — but first and foremost, I think it would be a strong partnership with the learners. A truly successful training program is built on relationships and engagement. Fostering such a culture takes the whole village, especially firm management. Rebecca: In a perfect world, I have to say more hours in the day and a bigger budget. That’s not really going to happen, but if I had more trainers — and even if I don’t get them — I would hope we can continue working to improve the quality of the learning experience with a larger focus on the individual needs. So a good training environment, or dare I say a perfect one, engages users and makes the training environment informative, interactive and fun — well, as fun as a mail merge can be. ILTA “Many of life’s failures are [people] who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” —Thomas Alva Edison Podcast: visit the ILTA website under Recordings | Podcasts and find “In The Perfect World.”