Posts From: Kaliym Islam

In August of 2012, I began a series of blog postings about the experience that The DTCC Learning Group had while implementing Agile as a development methodology for training programs (click here for a link to those posts). For those who are not familiar with the term, Agile is a software development technique that supports frequent releases of product features and functionality to customers. Agile accomplishes this by reducing the amount of administrative overhead typically associated with product development, focusing on human interactions more that on tools and processes, delivering working software as opposed to product documentation, collaborating with customers as opposed to relying on legal documentation, and responding to change as opposed to being restricted by a plan.

Read More

Web video, as a means to deliver educational content, is clearly an idea whose time has come.

Read More

In my recent blogs, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about two seemingly different training topics 1) leveraging Agile as a development process for training programs and 2) the benefits of using video as a learning solution. On the surface these topics appear to be geared toward totally different audiences, with questions and comments about Agile methodology directed at the training manager or executive, and discussions on how to become more efficient at video production bending in the direction of the learning content developer. Together, however, both topics help to address a problem that continues to plague all training professionals: How do we quickly deploy relevant, accurate, valuable, effective learning solutions that can keep up with the rapid changes that are occurring in business today?

Read More

Few training professionals would be willing to make the following argument: "Knowledge acquisition is not a major component of performance improvement." The truth is, if employees don't learn (or acquire knowledge of) how to do something (or do something better) then there's no way that they can improve their performance in that area.

Read More

There is no shortage of optimism among learning professionals about the positive impact that today's new technologies are having on the learning and development profession. Chris Pirie, chairman of the ASTD Board of Directors, asserts that now is probably the best time to be a learning and development stakeholder. He suggests that a combination of the proliferation of smart mobile technology, such as iPads and Galaxy phones, the maturing cloud infrastructure and the increased use of natural user interfaces like XBox Kinect have "changed the game" for learning professionals, and that teaching and learning are forever altered.

Read More

Close your eyes for a second and visualize a relay race. The runners get set in their starting blocks. The gun goes off. The contestants begin running, batons in hand, racing to get the baton to their anxiously awaiting teammate. The baton is passed from runner to runner until the "anchor" or last runner on the team, crosses the finish line.

Read More

It’s almost impossible to attend a training conference, read a training magazine, participate in a training-based discussion thread, or even have a lunchtime meeting with a training professional without the topic of what it will take for training to get a “seat” at the table coming up. Well, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned catastrophe to put the role of training in perspective, and to illustrate why training will never sit at the table that too many of these professionals are trying to get a seat at.

Read More

In October of 2007, I co-authored an article for Training Industry, Inc. titled "The Training Value Gap." The thesis of the article was that delivering small nuggets of learning incrementally, rather than waiting until the entire learning program was completed (before delivering anything) would allow learners to quickly obtain at least some of the required knowledge and skills and rapidly translate those skills into incremental performance improvement. This would result in the organization receiving the benefit of the improved knowledge and skills much earlier than it would have if the training organization would have waited until the entire program was complete before delivering the program.

Read More

In August 2012, my team at DTCC Learning (DTCCL) reconfigured our organizational structure and adopted Agile as our approach to developing learning solutions. We did this in order to address client expectations for instant access to information, frequent updates and flawless performance of the learning solutions that they interact with.

Read More

Imagine that you wanted to lose weight so you decided to start an exercise program. One way to begin could be to research and study all of the best exercise practices and then interview exercise experts after which time you could visit all of the gyms in your area, write down the positives and negatives of each, and then schedule time to negotiate the membership fee, choose the appropriate trainer and finally schedule your first workout. The effort described might take months. In the meantime, you would not have lost a single pound. Another approach to losing weight might be to simply (after getting the OK from your doctor of course) begin some (any) type of exercise program, monitor the results after about two weeks and then make the appropriate adjustments.

Read More