Taking Social Learning to the Next Level
submitted & written by guest blogger and Enterprise Learning! Summit speaker Marcello Hunter
Today, the technology industry is challenged with delivering talent development, training and certifications to evolve the current workforce to meet the demands of tomorrow and to shrink the global technology skills gap.
As sophistication of the network increases, the skill requirements for network professionals are also increasing. Traditional positions within the network such as network architects, engineers, and administrators require employees with more specialized skills and greater levels of experience. At the same time, new job skills related to security, voice, wireless, and remote office work are becoming critical to the functionality of the network.
The industry needs to take a holistic view of how to address the need for technical talent worldwide for organizations, their customers, partners, and other technology professionals by providing the educational training, certifications, communities and consulting services necessary to accelerate productivity, opportunity and growth.
Prior to the introduction of the Cisco Learning Network, learning resources and communities at Cisco were decentralized on the web, with significant resources spread across websites and communities. It was clear that this traditional web approach (Web 1.0) to presenting information about certifications would not be adequate for training Cisco’s employees, partners or customers.
In order to increase talent development efforts, a virtual team was created to develop a social learning network site that uses Web 2.0 tools and online content to empower employees as they start or enhance their careers. This online community is open to all Cisco employees, partners and customers regardless of certification level.
The site is the technology industry’s first social learning network. The online community uses Web 2.0 tools to expand information sharing and collaboration among networking professionals related to certification programs. Employees can draw on real-world experience to help support relevant enterprise needs. The site contains a mix of newly developed and legacy content migrated from existing Cisco certification webpages and prep centers.
Since its launch on June 24, 2008, the Cisco Learning Network has seen explosive growth from its employees, customers and partners, with more than 79 million page views and more than 500,000 registered members from 230 countries.
This article is copyright © 2013