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Pins have been popping up everywhere, if you ever check your Facebook or Twitter account.  It seems that photosharing has caught the popular interest and doesn’y seem to show any signs of slowing.

Will Pinterest be a new staple like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn?  Or, do you see this more of a flash in the pan?

If you are trying to figure out what Pinterest is all about or how to just use it better, I have included an infographic that should help.  Please pin it:

1.3 million visitors a day is a tremendous 1st act.  Does Pinterest have the staying power to rank among the leading social media services?

What do you share on Pinterest?

Jeffrey A. Roth
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Jeffrey.Roth@Interactyx.com

Interactyx Limited
interactyx.com

“Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once and awhile, you might miss it.” - Ferris Bueller

OK, there may be better quotes, but anytime I get to work in that quote, I take the opportunity.  I think you get the point.

Learning technology has changed quickly, but it is important to remember its roots.  The infographic below, created by Rasmussen College, charts the vast changes in learning systems starting all the way back to the first known ‘distance learning’ course conducted via standard mail.

While I understand that this infographic is designed to show the changes in eLearning technology, I am surprised that there is not mention of the impact of mobile devices have on learning, in the collage sense as well as in the work-place.

iPads and other tablets are change the face of learning.  Social networking resources added into the learning process (social learning) is dramatically effecting the entire online learning experience and allowing for a new tier of informal knowledge to be leveraged like never before.

I think we can safely add some items to this historical infographic as we have already seen the impact and know some recent advancements are here to stay.

What would you add to this infographic?  What are the most impactful changes you are seeing in learning management technology?  What do you still want to see change?

Big questions, I know.  Please mail your answers to … oh wait, we have come a long way in a short time… just comment below.

Jeffrey A. Roth
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Jeffrey.Roth@Interactyx.com

Interactyx Limited
interactyx.com

It’s that time of year to vote for the best-in-class learning management systems (LMS).

We are asking for your vote.

In its 7th year, the Best of Elearning! Awards are the exclusive reader’s choice awards program for e-learning products and services. No short lists of products. All, 100% of the nominations, are reader nominated and selected.

Readers and users of e-learning solutions nominate and vote for solutions across 26 different categories.

TOPYX social LMS has been honored with Best of Elearning! awards in 2009, 2010 and 2011.  Help TOPYX be recognized again in 2012!

Please cast your vote at: http://www.b2bmediaco.com/fileadmin/php/ballot.php

The most relevant categories where we would appreciate your vote are:

1.Best Learning Management System
(SaaS, Cloud-based, or open-source only)

16. Best Social Learning Solution

Note: Please make sure to use your business email account as submissions from general emails will not be counted.

Thank you for your support!

Industry Recognition

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The infographic above and the article below are from our friends at onlinecolleges.net.  As always, if you are interested in meteoric growth in social learning, you may want to review our social learning management system (LMS) TOPYX to see how you can start using the latest tools to increase collaboration and help you reach your learning management goals.

We hope you enjoy the infographic and these tips and resources to get more out of LinkedIn:

Tips

Whether you’re a LinkedIn newbie or just need to become more effective on the site, these tips offer great ideas for LinkedIn networking as a new grad.

• Use it: Too often, students and recent grads shy away from LinkedIn, preferring to use Facebook or Twitter instead. That’s a mistake: LinkedIn is the online destination for professional networking, and you’ve got to be on it to get connected.
• Create a complete profile: Don’t just give a tiny bit of effort when it comes to your profile; actually take the time to fill it out completely so that you’ll be more likely to connect with others that share your interests.
• Connect with your classmates and professors: Leaving school doesn’t mean you have to leave all of your connections behind. Bring them with you by reaching out and connecting with classmates, faculty, and friends on LinkedIn.
• Find a mentor: Use LinkedIn to find alumni, professors, or industry greats that can help you out as you navigate in your new career.
• Use introductions: If you share a connection with someone you’d like to meet, simply use the introduction form to request that your connection passes it along and helps you grow your network.
• Connect with all of your past employers: Yes, all of them. You never know which connections can pay off for you, so really take advantage of your full network.
• Take advantage of resources just for new grads: LinkedIn has recently spiffed up profiles for new grads, allowing users to list projects, honors, organizations, and even courses that you’ve taken in college, all relevant experience that can help you stand out and get connected with more people.
• Ask for recommendations: Check in with former employers, professors, colleagues, and classmates to greatly improve your LinkedIn profile with recommendations from those who know you in your college/professional life.
• Be a connector: If you know two (or more people) that should know each other but don’t, take a moment to introduce them to each other on LinkedIn. They’ll appreciate that you thought of them and recognize that you’re valuable as a person who offers assistance and great connections.
• Don’t neglect keywords: Although you’ll likely connect with people you know, and people they know, others (including recruiters) will find you simply by searching. The best way to get found is to include relevant keywords throughout your profile and summary. Remember to highlight and repeat key phrases and words that do a good job of explaining what you’re all about.
• Go public: Although you may be concerned about privacy, keeping a private profile is not the way to go on LinkedIn. Open your profile up publicly to connect with new people, and just be careful about what you share.
• Make small connections: LinkedIn’s co-founder, Reid Hoffman, says that it’s a great idea to do “small goods” on the site, offering congratulations, “likes,” and other little ways to let people know you’re listening and you care.
• Join groups: This one should be a no-brainer. If you want to network on LinkedIn, one of the best ways to do so is to get connected with others through industry and career groups.
• Establish yourself as an expert with Q&A: Check out the LinkedIn Answers tool to stand out as a resource in your industry and area of interest. You’ll attract new connections and show potential employers that you’re well-informed.
• Personalize your connections: When requesting connections on LinkedIn, take a moment to change the template request from “I’d like to add you to my professional network” to something that actually identifies you and why you should be connected with that person.
• Network in person, too: Use LinkedIn as a way to get connected with people and events that you’ll spend time with in person, deepening connections and finding more resources within your network.

Groups for New Grads and Job Hunters

Join and participate in these groups to get connected with relevant new contacts, find resources for new grads, and more.

• Your alumni network: Take advantage of your college connection and get active in your alumni group on LinkedIn.
• Young professionals groups: There are countless groups on LinkedIn dedicated to young professionals in a variety of different interests. These include those that are industry-based, like Young Professionals in Energy, and location-based, like Chicago Young Professionals.
• Professional organizations, interest groups: Perhaps the most valuable groups you can join are the ones that cater to your specific career, interest, and industry. Search to find the right one for you, and dive in to become an active member.
• New Grad Life: Join this group to find discussions on interviewing, job posts, networking, and more.
• Students and New Grads: Become a part of Students and Recent Grads to get connected with people who want to hire new grads, learn about entry-level jobs available, and find out about news that matters to recent graduates.
• College Graduate Job Hunters: Find great new jobs, lively discussions, and great connections, all aimed at new graduates searching for jobs in this group.
• College Recruiting Central: Get insight into how human resources professionals and recruiters are finding new grads like yourself by joining and participating in this group.

Helpful Resources

Further explore the ways you can use LinkedIn for professional networking as a new graduate with these blog posts.

• LinkedIn Tips: Getting More from the Social Networking Service: Check out this post from CIO.com to learn how you can get more out of networking on LinkedIn.
• Oops! What NOT to Do When Approaching a Recruiter on LinkedIn: Thinking about connecting with a recruiter? Tread carefully, and watch out for these mistakes.
• LinkedIn Recommendation Tips: Chris Brogan’s post explains the fine art of sharing and requesting recommendations on LinkedIn.
• 9 Steps to LinkedIn Networking for a Job: Follow the steps in this post to increase your chances of finding a job through LinkedIn networking.
• Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn: This resource is more than five years old, but Guy Kawasaki’s advice still rings true as he explains several ways that anyone can put LinkedIn to work for networking and more.
• 5 Reasons to Use LinkedIn: Geared toward freelancers, this article is great advice for anyone who needs to better understand why and how they should ramp up their LinkedIn networking.

Do you have any additional tips and tools that you use help you connect with others via LinkedIn?  Please share.

TOPYX offers a compete, award winning social learning management system (LMS) with no per user fees, no additional fees for bandwidth and storage usage, free implementation, free branding and outstanding customer service included for a low, flat fee subscription.

Learn more about LMS pricing.

Stop overpaying for an under-performing LMS!  See how the TOPYX social LMS can help you better reach your goals with a free, personal demo.

Fill out the short form below to get started:

With the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) International Conference and Exposition (ICE) taking place in Denver, CO  just a few days away (May 6-9, 2012), make sure to contact us directly to set up a time that works best for you to experience a live demo of the award-winning social learning management system (LMS), TOPYX® at the show.

We understand that your schedule will likely be very busy at the event, which is why we would like to extend the opportunity to secure a time to get your social learning and LMS software questions answered in person.

Just email us at information@interactyx.com a time during the show that will work for us to meet at the Interactyx Limited booth #1503 (view map).

We also have another reminder: Become eligible for a 10% discount of TOPYX®.

Since Interactyx Limited is proud to be a Bronze Sponsor of the event, we would like to offer a 10% discount to the already low flat fee subscription of social LMS TOPYX.  This offer is only available to those who stop by our booth at the event and decide to move forward with their own instance of TOPYX before June 30, 2012.

If you are looking for an award-winning social LMS, this will be the best time to get started with TOPYX!

The 2012 ASTD ICE event is one of the largest events in the training industry. This year, ASTD is expecting over 8,000 workplace learning and development professionals from more than 70 countries. These professionals manage all aspects of learning in their organizations.

Will you be there?

Let us know you are going to the event by clicking ‘Join’ on our Facebook event page or our LinkedIn event page and we will send you a free chapter of The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations Through Social Media which was written by Tony Bingham, the President and Chief Executive Officer of ASTD, and Marcia Conner, a Partner at Altimeter Group.

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

Jeffrey A. Roth
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Jeffrey.Roth@Interactyx.com

Interactyx Limited
interactyx.com

Test

Student engagement and how to make your social media “learning” environment secure in academia

We are often asked what benefits social media “learning” brings to an academic environment?  Where are the boundaries between learning and distraction?  If students are using social media to post photos and chat with friends, is this really learning or just another social distraction from academic studies?

Many Professors might be sceptical about ‘encouraging’  their students to further engage in social media, seeing it as purely a distraction from their studies.

Social media in its traditional sense might be just that ‘social’: it allows people to connect and chat together.  As seen in How the Social Network is Enriching the College Experience infographic below, there is a suggestion that some of the more engaged students will be setting up events, and responding to RSVP invitations on social media platforms such as facebook.  Some students will even ‘make friends’ with their Professors and/or become a part of an academic community page or group.  It goes on to mention that the less engaged students are seen to be playing more games, and “chatting”. So like in real class there is a catchment of students there willing to learn, and they are in social media terms looking for ways to logon and do something useful.

This is where “social learning” answers questions.

Social learning management system (LMS), TOPYX®, addresses some of the learning concerns but at the same time it offers the benefits of connectivity to other academic peers via groups.

What is a Social Learning Management System?

It is a software platform that can be deployed by Universities (or other corporate institutions) to exercise control over learning assignments, grading, and reports.  With TOPYX®, students still post wall photos, chat and make friends like other social media. They can link out to a number of social media sites (if the academic institution chooses to turn these options on). The benefit to Universities however is that this social media site is a secure environment where students learn together  - a “safe”,  “non-violent” place that has all the “likes” of other social media sites.  Still a fun place to be, but governed under the University umbrella just as your University campus website might be.  Students log on, connect, and interact.  Simple.  They can engage in events together, join groups and take classes together.

For the course, Tutor it eradicates this common fear that social media might be purely a distraction or pollution for students’ studies,  “…so better not promote it!”  With the learning management system , Professors can truly exercise control over what quizzes, assignments and video material gets cataloged.  Both the learner and the instructor can track progress in a reports section.  Perhaps the real learning happens when students see their grades posted on the reports chart.  Like on twitter®,  there is an emerging trend happening that suggest some students are quite willing to be friends with their Professors but they are not necessarily interested in seeing their holiday snaps (and vice versa). What students want quite simply is to be recognized as a member of the Instructors ‘group’ in an social academic community where they might just even learn something new.

Do you currently use a learning management system that uses social learning tools to keep students engaged?  If you are ready to see how a social LMS will work for you, request a free, live LMS demo of TOPYX.

Jodi Harrison
Vice President, Business Development
jodi.harrison@interactyx.com

Interactyx Limited
interactyx.com

Read on and shake your head and if you are one of those who have lost your phone the rest of us really do feel your pain.  We have all become so dependent on technology; it is so very helpful (most of it) for our everyday lives.

We have become a society with access to an incomprehensible amount a data right at our figure tips, as long as we keep or hands on our smartphones.  This is evident in how we can now even provide formal and informal education via mobile devices.

Think of how many apps there are for education from children to adults from formal to informal; it really is amazing.

Two years ago Fast Company magazine predicted smartphones and handheld computers would be moving into classrooms worldwide and that we would be witnessing the start of an educational revolution.  Interactyx also thought that when we launched our learning management system (LMS) TOPYX in 2008 for training from the desk-top to mobile – from traditional learning to social learning.

How do you feel about the possibilities of mobile learning? For or against?
Can you live without your smartphone?  How did we ever get along without it? Don’t let it slip through your fingers to add to the stats!

Jodi Harrison
Vice President, Business Development
jodi.harrison@interactyx.com

Interactyx Limited
interactyx.com

When I work with businesses to assist them in developing learning and development programs, I am shocked to discover how many organizations are stuck in an old-fashioned mindset. They’re focused not on building networks to share information but instead are concerned about losing productivity and controlling the message when employees communicate with each other and the community.

The world is changing. Both employees and customers prize instant and transparent communication – and they resist strict corporate control and boilerplate responses. They want better. Organizations who remain focused on control at any cost are losing the opportunity to learn and adapt to changing demand with social media tools.

Here are five simple reasons organizations should unblock access to social networks and embrace social tools:

1. Save time. Posting a question on external networks like Twitter or Quora or on internal tools like learning management system (LMS) TOPYX,  means employees aren’t just limited to who they can find down the hall – they have a limitless network of people who can help them access the right information, right now.
   
2. Save money. Using social networks and LMSs to connect employees can render many of your in-person meetings and training sessions obsolete.
   
3. Improve teamwork. Enabling employees to use social networks makes it simpler and quicker to connect to one another – reducing the friction associated with scheduling meetings, organizing shared space and making introductions. Companies who welcome some informal, social connections in their workplace social networks often find that they build a better sense of camaraderie and connection within their employee community.
   
4. Improve employee satisfaction and engagement. Employees who have access to social networks at work are more satisfied and engaged in their profession and their organization’s goals.
   
5. Improve sales. Finally, encouraging your organization to embrace social tools will enable you to connect more closely with your customers – which is useful for more than just the sales team. A better understanding of customer needs is useful for the development and production teams, and organizations who respond to customers on social networks have better customer satisfaction ratings.

In summary, social discussion of problems, whether horizontally across different industries or vertically within one organization, enables people to ask for help, find answers quickly and develop relationships that support ongoing and future success. This is your chance to make the most of what you’ve got in your organization.

Kelly Meeker is the Community Manager at OpenSesame.com, the world’s elearning marketplace, where she creates, curates and shares with the elearning community. You can connect with her on Twitter at @OpenSesame.

We are less than two weeks away from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) International Conference and Exposition (ICE) taking place in Denver, CO USA on May 6-9, 2012. Interactyx Limited is a bronze sponsor of this event and we have a special offer for you.

Let us know you are going to the event by clicking ‘Join’ on our Facebook event page or our LinkedIn event page and we will send you a free chapter of The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations Through Social Media which was written by Tony Bingham, the President and Chief Executive Officer of ASTD, and Marcia Conner, a Partner at Altimeter Group.

We look forward to seeing you at the event! And, we have a deal for everyone that will be there:

Stop by booth #1503 to become eligible for a 10% discount of TOPYX®
(view map)

Need a pass to get in? Register today for a free Expo Only registration or for $100 off a Full Conference registration, courtesy of Interactyx.

Use Invite Password: 2603

We appreciate your interest in TOPYX and social learning. If we can help answer any of your questions, feel free to reach out to us for any reason at information@interactyx.com or visit us at http://interactyx.com.

There are many great articles below and more on our Social Learning Blog. Enjoy this month’s edition of TOPYX Topics, the social learning newsletter!

According research conducted by Elearnity, a European learning and talent analyst firm, at an April 12, 2012 symposium, “… many multinationals say that implementing a new learning management system (LMS) is a critical priority in the coming year.”

“Companies such as Shell Oil and Lloyds Banking group still regard creating an LMS as critical to maximizing their existing learning solutions and managing their resources in tough economic times,” according to David Wilson, Managing Director of Elearnity.

Wilson continues, “It seems the LMS is still viewed as a solution that is going to help organizations through this challenging period. And now there has been a clear shift in the systems to encompass business areas like employee performance, talent and succession planning as well as learning, their value to organizations appears to be increasing.”

Read the full article

We included short videos highlighting key features, screenshots, some good collateral pieces and more so you have all the information handy to make the best decision regarding your training and learning management needs.

Let us know what you think!

Visit the toolkit

Does that mean nonprofits are ready to leverage these tools in a more comprehensive, branded and secure way to encompass learning, training and collaboration as well with social learning management system software? I think so, but let’s review the current trends.

Here are some of interesting points:

• 8% have a Facebook page with an average community size of over 8k fans.
• Average Facebook and Twitter communities grew by 30% and 81%, respectively.
• Average value of a Facebook Like is $214.81 over 12 months following acquisition.
• 73% allocate half of a full time employee to managing social networking activities.
• 43% budget $0 for their social networking activities.
• The top 3 factors for success are: strategy, prioritization, dedicated staff.

Read the full article

It would be easier if all traps had a sign like the image to the right.

What are the some of the most prominent traps you should avoid in implementing social learning? How do you overcome them?

1. Scarce resources

2. Wake-me-when-it’s-over syndrome

3. Too many cooks …

4. Data overload

5. Increased development needs:

Read the full article ]]> http://interactyx.com/social-learning-blog/topyx-topics-april-2012/feed/ 0