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Is it 'Learning' or is it 'Work'?
A worker in the finance division of a government agency receives an urgent email from an agency director, who asks about international travel approvals. The worker, let's call him "Scott," vaguely recalls hearing about such approvals while attending an internal training session last year, but cannot remember the details. Scott consults his online knowledge portal, which presents two e-learning courses that might have the answer to the question. However, Scott does not have the luxury to sift through course content. A search through the department's frequentlyasked-questions or FAQ database fails to yield an answer. Scott sends a broadcast instant message to 24 of his fellow workers. Within minutes, Scott receives an answer to his request and sends the director a response.
However, the story does not end here. One of the people who received Scott's instant message was Lori. She is a designated subject matter expert, whose responsibilities are to ensure that the finance community has the right tools, information, and training needed to do its job. Lori is aware of an upcoming policy change that will likely increase the number of questions, such as the one Scott received. She convenes a 30-minute online virtual meeting to review the pending changes. This session will be stored for future reference by new community members and anyone not able to attend the meeting. Lori also updates the FAQ list with the answer to Scott's question. Lastly, Lori reviews the e-learning courses to ensure that the subject matter is adequately addressed.
The scenario on page 37 illustrates how employees will "learn" in the near future. For many reasons, the age-old model of "learn-then-do" is being replaced by a newer "learn-while-doing" model. And this is not about a shift from traditional classroombased learning to e-learning (Scott did not have the time luxury to get his answer from a course-e-learning or otherwise). This scenario is about embedding learning into the work process.
Define embedded learning
Embedded learning is defined as "learning that is based on the premise that the more contextual learning is to the job or task, the more an individual is motivated to learn." If organizations can make critical learning available at that moment of need, they create an inherent...