February 2008
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TD Magazine

T+D Profiles Allison Rossett, Professor of Educational Technology at San Diego State University

Monday, February 4, 2008

Rossett has devoted her career to the development of training and technology professionals with a focus on e-learning and needs assessment. She is a consultant in training and technology-based performance. Rossett received ASTD’s Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award in 2002. She recently wrote Job Aids and Performance Support: Moving from Knowledge in the Classroom to Knowledge Everywhere. She also has written The ASTD E-Learning Handbook.

Q: Where do you envision e-learning going in the future?

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A: The future of e-learning is movement out of the classroom and into the workplace. Many studies show that the classroom is less central to training and development today, and is growing ever less so. For example, in some cases, the classroom has moved online. I see three distinct areas for the future of e-learning. The first is via technology. We will gather more data from more sources in more targeted and smaller gulps. That's a convergence of analysis and evaluation. The second is blended learning, which involves a combination of approaches to reach a goal: teaching individually or in a group, in a classroom or while employees are at work, with an instructor, or via technology. Learning is growing more employee-centric, which is both glorious and dangerous. The danger occurs when the employees don't look things up in the knowledge base, don't bother with e-learning modules, and don't take advantage of an e-coach. It is glorious because of its closeness to work, its targeted nature, and because it's multi-modal. The third area is performance support, a technology-based guidance system that wraps around people and helps them answer questions and make better decisions without going to school on the topic. The classic example is the GPS. Performance support helps us act as if we know more than we do. We must ask whether we want to invest in moving knowledge inside people or invest in assets (resources) that people use when in need. I see us moving from knowledge in the classroom to knowledge everywhere.

Q: What are your proudest contributions to the field of workplace learning?

A: I'm most proud of the graduate students with whom I've worked at San Diego State University. Many have gone on to amazing careers and happy lives. I've also been lucky enough to teach in other venues, such as government agencies, corporations, and in Brazil, Scotland, and India. I'm also proud of some of the ideas I've developed in areas such as performance analysis. I also have struggled to rethink instructional design in our speedy, competitive, and technologyrich world. In business, outcomes are king, and performance is what matters. Idiosyncrasy and politics typify academic learning, but planning, regulation, outcomes, and data are the hallmarks of instructional design in the workplaceor they should be. The other area in which I am working is the convergence of analysis and evaluation. Data gathered for insight into an ethics program or product rollout has implications for both planning and judgment, as well as for analysis and evaluation. Technology presses us to do data collection. Every time an employee is involved with e-coaching, an e-learning module, a blog, or a performance support tool, data should be gathered in swift and small bites. Was this useful? How could it be more useful? What other questions linger? Who else would benefit from this? Obviously, those questions are both analysis and evaluation.

Q: How has the web changed learning?

A: It has changed everything. Think of dating, health, and travel. Basically the web has made resources, education, information, and various points of view available to us wherever we are. It gives all of us the potential to be producers and creators of lessons, stories, and modules. This is much more democratic. In the past, experts went to work at a university or research center to deliver and disseminate their expertise. Not any more. The web removes middle people and threatens middle organizations. Anyone who has something to say can get it out there. Will your message compel attention? That's up to you.

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Q: What was your first job and what lesson did you take away from it?

A: My first job was as a shelf reader at a college library. I had to make sure all the books were in the proper order based on a long, nonsensical number. I was not at all interested in the numbers on their spines because I preferred reading the books. I was fired. The head librarian told me that I did not have a librarian personality. That taught me how important the job-person match is. It's hard to work upstream against human nature. I also learned that you can and must learn from your mistakes. Real learning is personal and active. Mine was and still is.

About the Author

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is a professional membership organization supporting those who develop the knowledge and skills of employees in organizations around the world. The ATD Staff, along with a worldwide network of volunteers work to empower professionals to develop talent in the workplace.

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