Digital Bridges for Unified Learning

In today’s professional development world, robust online learning is a non-negotiable for associations.  There are multiple avenues for eLearning:  webinars, workshops, courses; MOOCs — massively open online courses, apps, discussion boards, communities of practice, blogs, social sites, and more.

The competition is stiff for member minds and hearts much less their eyeballs. Time reported in December of 2015, that on average Americans check their smartphones 46 times a day.  In the United Kingdom, the Daily Mail, reported an average of 85 smartphone checks per day.  Moving deeper into the digital tool choices, members can learn via Lynda, a subsidiary of LinkedIn.  They can tap world-renowned institutions of higher education such as the Harvard, M.I.T., UC Berkley, etc.

So what’s an association to do?  Build digital bridges and here are three tips.

1. Play to your strengths. Associations are all about P2P connections.  The root word in association is associate.   Two of the main reasons that millennials join associations is for networking and professional growth.   Grow your communities of practice, keep discussion boards active, and ensure easy, one-stop P2P and organizational access.  Ensure that your professional learning is multi-platform (including mobile) and multi-sized — full plates to bite-size.
2. Promote content expertise.   Your organization is filled with experienced, expert resources — your members, stakeholders, and staff.   You create and curate content out of that expertise.  When you share relevant content, you promote your brand as well as the value and quality of your services and programs   More importantly, you promote learning and professional growth. Give members and others opportunities to engage and learn through content marketing — which is a dynamic digital bridge.
3. Unify learning. When an organization commits to quality eLearning, the foundation for success is unified learning.  The unified system is your most important digital bridge.  It really is the digital infrastructure, an absolute necessity for success.  We must make eLearning easy to access, efficient to consume, and, of course, professionally valuable.   A unified learning system, is totally committed to helping you design, develop, and sustain eLearning, webinars, virtual conferences, and more.

Members are the reasons for associations.  Without members, there is no association. Associations must actively engage their members to create a meaningful sense of community, networking, and learning.  Smart use of digital tools can bridge content, people, and eLearning.

Explore Digital Bridges for Unified Learning during the next live webinar in the Unified Learning Design Studio:  October 11, 3:30 ET.    Guest consultant, Jo Lynn Deal, myMarketing Cafe, will join Lance Simon, iCohere, and me for this important discussion.   See you there!