Wow! Our team has been working away on some very impressive projects that are recently or soon to be released, and we've already won awards for some of them. We can't say which ones yet, but soon! Let's suffice it to say that I'm not the only one who recognizes what a brilliant group of learning professional we have assembled here in SLS.

One of the challenges we're working on is how to make it easy for people to find the information and acquire the skills they need when they need them. This has led to a couple of new learning platforms, led by Charles Beckham's team. One of those platforms is is Sun Learning eXchange (SLX), which has been up and running for a while, but has its official grand opening this week. Essentially, think of a secure YouTube-like environment, with the ability to post all types of files or media, Web 2.0 features such as rating and tagging, and fixed categories for the traditionalists. Why is something like SLX needed/important?

No training function can develop and provide training for all the topics that people need to know in order to perform their jobs. Prioritization happens. Reality sets in. But what if we could unleash the power of open source knowledge, and allow experts to share with others, and let the community create content? Of course this would require training functions to let go of control of all content, and instead create a learning platform. If things really worked out well, would we even need a learning department?

Absolutely! Albeit in a different role. The learning department can then focus on performance standards, setting achievement goals, testing against those goals, and developing learning products that are strategic to enterprise goals. We can authorize content developers as super-users, or adjunct faculty, spreading our capabilities across an army of volunteers.

Is there some risk here? Yes. People could post information that is wrong or misleading. But that happens already, especially with outdated files. With a platform that allows comments, rating and tagging, (think of your Amazon buying experience) the first person that finds the information is questionable can comment and rate the learning nugget, and others will be forewarned.

Is there some benefit to the learning function? Yes. We'll be able to watch the tag clouds, such as the one below from Wikipedia on the topic of Web 2.0, and see what postings are getting lots of traffic, and in a way, have one more input to a corporate-wide needs analysis. It will be an interesting journey of innovation, and one reason why I love working at Sun.