Leading Links 2023 – Issue 4

We’re back again with a round-up of resources to help you boost the reach, revenue, and impact of your learning business. In addition to the links below, we want to make sure you know about the Webinar we will host later this week:

• How to Help Your SMEs Improve Educational Effectiveness 
  In this 30-minute session, we’ll take a look at key learning science concepts that your speakers and presenters should know and spotlight “Presenting for Impact,” a free presentation skills online course you can leverage to help your subject matter experts deliver higher-impact educational experiences. 

A quick request: If you find this edition of the newsletter helpful, please let us know. Just hit Reply, type “Helpful,” and click Send. That’s all you need to do. (Though if you are willing to elaborate on what was helpful about it, we’d certainly be grateful for that, too.) 

Now, on to the links. 

[Leadership] How Duolingo’s AI Learns What You Need to Learn
We include this under leadership because, in our opinion, it is essential for learning business leaders (at all levels) to understand what large, well-funded learning businesses like Duolingo – and, for that matter, Khan Academy – are up to and to start thinking about how the capabilities they are harnessing may impact your own trajectory. (And keep in mind that change will likely come sooner than any of us are currently planning for. Now’s the time to prepare to lead it.)

[Strategy] Porter’s Five Forces and Learning Business Competition
The “five forces” framework for competitive analysis developed by Harvard Business Business School professor Michael Porter in the late 70s has proven remarkable durable as a strategy tool. We have used it over the years to discuss the evolving competitive landscape for learning business and to capture an instance of that discussion in this week’s Leading Learning Podcast episode. As usual, there is a transcript, so if audio isn’t your thing, you can read. As with all of the episodes, we encourage using this as the basis for discussion with colleagues in your organization. 

[Portfolio] Should We List the Learning Objectives? 
“To objective or not objective” has been a question for a while now and we have previously referenced Will Thalheimer’s work on the topic. Christy Tucker references Thalheimer and other sources in this article to make the case that we should not be starting our learning experiences with “By the end of this course, you will be able to…” (There’s more to it than that, though, so definitely read the article.) 

[Marketing] If learning matters, make it a campaign
While this article from Training Journal is targeted at corporate L&D, the underlying concept most definitely applies to learning businesses. We’ve said for years that most learning businesses would benefit from thinking and acting more like marketers. Not only does doing so help drive more learners to your offerings, it also aligns with the fact that learning is a process not an event. 

[Capacity] If learning matters, make it a campaign
There are two obvious ways that AI can impact our learning business – in the creation and management of learning experiences and in our day-to-day productivity. Given how ubiquitous Microsoft Office is – not to mention the company’s big investment in OpenAI – it seems certain to play a major role in the latter and probably even in the former (think PPT on AI). In this article, Josh Bersin offer perspectives on the incorporation of CoPilot, a generative AI tool, into the Microsoft Office Suite. If it hasn’t already, there is a good chance this will come to your “office” soon.

<<<<  AI Watch >>>>>

We hope all readers are monitoring ongoing developments with ChatGPT and AI, in general. Here are a couple of items to consider:

Why You (and Your Company) Need to Experiment with ChatGPT Now
Substitute “Organization” for “Company,” if appropriate – the title still applies. In this Harvard Business Review podcast episode (with transcript), Wharton professor Ethan Mollick offers valuable perspectives on the promise and perils of AI. Mollick, by the way, is someone worth following to keep up with AI developments. 

There’s an AI for That
Pairs nicely with the above item. A site that currently lists 3,406 AIs for 952 tasks. Could be just the place to look for ways to experiment with AI.

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That’s it for this edition. Be sure to check out previous issues of Leading Links. There are bound to be valuable resources you missed or have forgotten about. We encourage you to use them as a catalyst for your own learning and for discussions with colleagues. And be sure to follow up on LinkedIn for ongoing resources.