- Register here for the Melbourne Learning Cafe UnConference to be held later this year
- To receive a copy of the position paper “Near Future of Learning in Australia” register for the Learning Cafe Blog weekly newsletter on our home page (right had top corner).
50 experienced learning and development professions descended on the Australian Technology Park for the inaugural Learning Cafe UnConference to discuss and share thoughts on some of the big issues and trends in the L&D profession.The participants came from a cross section of organisations and industries included Ernst & Young, Australia Post, AXA, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, Kiama Community College, Blake Dawson MSC Mobility, Angus Knight and many more.
After welcoming he participants.,each of the stream leaders then framed the conversation and introduced the stream sessions.The real action began with the stream session. There were 20 stream sessions to choose from (maybe too many) and the discussion was intense.
The open session (essentially a soap box), was an opportunity for participants to raise issues or express their opinion.
- Geoff Rip shared some research on learning transfer and asked why learning transfer does not happen more naturally.
- Peter Kopanny outlined some the challenges that he faces in deploying e-Learning in an organisation where many employees have limited access to computers. Some possible solutions were discussed.
- Helen Zwicker talked about the learning being provided by the Kiama Community College
- Scott Raymond outlined how a generation change at the company is impacting how learning is designed and delivered.
- David Morrison stressed on the importance of partnering with IT to make reduce and surprises for the deployment of e-Learning.
- Lydon Lovell talked about his journey in completing a master’s degree in learning while holding down a full time consulting job.
The Good
- “Great concept and execution”
- “Very enjoyable day. !”
- “Great group of people”
- “God platform for learning.”
- “Loved it”.
- “Great Format/Concept”.
- “Great fun overall”.
The Not So Good
- “Disappointed that there was not more technology used or demonstrated.”
- “20 mins (for sessions) seemed too short”.
- “Sessions were to crammed and sessions were too short”.
- “Going over time was predictable but no one likes to miss the summation”.
- “More time needed on a smaller range of topics to get most value from discussion”.
- “Open sessions went for too long”.
Analysis of Feedback
Shown below is the “happy sheet” feedback from 14 participants. 1 is “Not Good” and 5 is “Very Good”
- The Concept/Idea of UnConference a average rating of 4.78, which is great news and affirmed the viability.
- Value for money and the venue was rated highly.
- All other parameters also rated above a 4 except “Professional Development Value” which got a rating of 3.8.
- It is a worry that the “Professional Development Value” was rated the lowest, as this was a major motivation for the UnConference.
Snapshots
