The Long Tail of learning – The Learners!

Found this well known graphic in an August 2008 briefing by Dr. Mike Prevou (US Army retired)- but I had never really seen it labelled this way. With the long part of the Long Tail being names LEARNERS! Well this should make people thinka little harder, why we spend so much effort choosing, selecting and agonizing over the formal learning decisions (i.e. which LMS to purchase, which Operating System to run it on, how often to run offsite backup, which brand of compliance testing should we use) — when in fact, the long tail value in the equation is the information learning – self-directed by the Learners themselves!

Give your staff access to Google Docs, Webspiration, some wki and blog software – remove their limits on email box size, let them share information, reports, contacts, bookmarks…Drive space is so cheap, install a Raid 5 array of USB Sticks if you have to!  Let the staff chew on, crunch, mash, recombine and create information, ideas and knowledge – and just maybe, we might see some innovation sparks as a result. Maybe even our Learners will get the learning that they so desire.