This presentation by George Siemens puts learning and technologies in context, especially in light of the fact that migration to social media is accelerating.
Kevin Jones in his blog Engaged Learning is in the midst of a series of posts on how Enterprise 2.0 tools can be used in organizations to increase learning. His focus is primarily on objections and barriers to accepting Enterprise 2.0 solutions and how to overcome them.
In addition to Kevin's writings there is a long conversation occurring on the Enterprise 2.0 Conference discussion site. The title is Barriers to Adoption of Enterprise 2.0 Initiatives. Some of the points are similar.
Law firm education does need to improve in China, as is indicated in a post from the Law Blog - WSJ.com : Notes From China: Legal Education Playing Catch-Up, in a Hurry. As I have researched the capabilities of Chinese companies to participate in the a global economy, it is remarkable how deficient the legal education system is. International Law firms entering China have a difficult time hiring good attorneys and companies willing to make investments find it difficult to find firms with the expected expertise.
Many CFOs are concerned about the the credit crunch and the reduction in consumer demand caused by higher prices.
The British Library has published research that shows ‘Google Generation’ is a myth". The link will take you to a press release about the findings of the study. To put it simply all generations are adopting electronic media and libraries must accept that a "digital mindset" is required to connect with people seeking information.
The British Library and JISC commissioned report Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future conducted by the Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (CIBER) at UCL was launched on 16 January 2008.
In a recent post in Leading Blog: Building a Community of Leaders Michael McKinney discusses the fact that healthy work environments attract healthy people. So building a high performing team and retaining talented people means working on the culture and environment in which people perform. I especially liked the quote by Bruce Wassertein the CEO of Lazard, which was cited from Giving Great Advice:
We have to want to attract a network of stars—people who communicate and cooperate but are entrepreneurial and stand out as quality individuals, who are not the cogs in a corporate machine. Quality people must be managed with customized approaches. The idea is to create a hothouse where young talent is nourished by our culture and people are encouraged to think creatively, think deeply, think about the long-term client relationship—but above all, think. I want them to reflect on what they are doing and why, and then wonder, “Can we do better?”
Management’s role is to help them. It’s an iterative process. Create an atmosphere where we can all teach one another and stimulate the imagination. Ideas are not hierarchical—they come from all levels—so allowing the talent of younger people to bubble up is our imperative.
MIT was the first to publish lectures, lecture notes, reading lists and syllabuses for the courses in the University. Now, Universities across the Globe Offer Free Open Courseware in a trend that opens knowledge to everyone. I don't find the indexing of all this material extraordinarily useful, but the catalog of courseware is becoming robust.
This is a great slide show on enabling communities in a web 2.0 world. Thank you to Collaborative Thinking for pointing out this document.
