In what ways has approaches to learning to use technology changed in the past 5 years? What are the ways it remains the same?In what ways has approaches to learning to use technology changed in the past 5 years? What are the ways it remains the same?

In what ways has approaches to learning to use technology changed in the past 5 years?  What are the ways it remains the same?

Approaches to learning in general has changed drastically in the last five years.  Wide acceptance of the internet and digital books has changed the landscape of education.  Computers are now more mobile than ever with laptops, tablets, e-readers, and cell phones.   It used to be that if you wanted to learn how to do something you needed to go to Borders and find the book that told you all about it.  Recently Borders has filed bankruptcy and has gone out of business.  They failed to adapt to the change in how people take in information.  

Physical book sales are down and e-book sales are up.  Book sales overall are down though.  This tells me that people are increasingly using blogs, web pages, videos and other community-driven medias for learning  rather than purchasing a book.  The speed in which technology changes is too fast for current publishing techniques.  Once a piece of technology is created or significantly someone decides that people would buy a book on that topic.  The book then needs to be written, reviewed, published... etc.  By the time this whole process is complete there are already hundreds of posts on the internet addressing the same topic.  The information in the book is dated and will not be updated again until the technology has changed enough to support a new revision of the book.   The idea of books just doesn't work well for technologies that change daily.  


Sites like youtube.com have become a gold mine of information for technology professionals looking for cutting edge information and I think this trend will only increase.  We will see more sites like like this as businesses figure out how to make money by offering free or low cost articles and videos as opposed to whole books.

What are our responsibilities as merchants of change?

What are our responsibilities as merchants of change?

As someone who frequently promotes change on the digital front, I know that we have to be very careful about how we present these changes.  Getting the right people on board with the change from the beginning can make or break the initiative.  We need to be sure that the change we're pushing is well thought out and will not create an overall increase in the amount of work people will need to complete.  If it will create an increase in work it is crucial that the benefits of the change are able to outweigh the increase in work that it creates.  

Very good documentation is another important deliverable that needs to be included.  Documentation of the benefits, detriments, changes in processes and how it will affect people.  Documentation goes along with a larger topic that needs to be carefully thought out.  Communication of the upcoming changes.  People don't like to be told at the last minute that something is happening.  Allowing people to know how things will be changing is not always possible,  but should be done if it is possible.  

If you will be asking individuals for input on the changes taking place then you will need to take the feedback that you receive into account.  This is a big issue with many changes that take place.  When management asks for input and then disregards it people are very offended.  If the input that is given is not able to be implemented then people will need to know why.