One of the main reason nonprofits don't do a very good job at offering professional development for staff is that they don't have the money in their budgets to do so. However, as technology gets better and better, more and more opportunities for free professional development are cropping up through Web 2.0 and online learning. Yes, nonprofit staff can learn how to do their jobs better without having to travel to attend a conference or sit for three hours in a classroom! In fact, it may be in our best interests to start utilizing Web 2.0 and online learning as a catalyst to do away with traditional forms of learning as nonprofit leadership makes the turn from baby boomers to the next generation of the nonprofit workforce.
Why Online Learning?
Online learning opportunities are great alternatives to, and can even be a better return on staff time than traditional learning through a class or conference. Via Beth Kanter, there is fantastic screencast about online learning from Stephen Downes at the National Research Council in Canada. In the screencast, Stephen outlines three important components that make online learning effective:
- Interaction - social contact enhances learning
- Usability - needs to be simple and consistent
- Relevance - online learning should be relevant to you right now
Other advantages to online learning versus traditional learning are that:
- Learning from resources on the Internet is free, which eliminates the cost barrier to nonprofits to provide ongoing learning for staff. There are also no set time constraints in terms of availability or length of engagement. The resources are available anytime to nonprofit workers, accessible any day of the year. In the classroom, there is no back button! Once you make the time commitment and pay your fee, you're stuck whether you like the class or not.
- Often classroom content applied to many different levels of learners ends up being either too simple or too advanced for participants. On the Internet, nonprofit workers can browse for the topics that are most relevant to them and that are presented at the appropriate learning level.
- According to Dr. Rhonda Egidio at Michigan State, online learning is also friendly to diversity. Many learners think quickly on their feet and can participate with ease in discussions, but for some, time to reflect without pressure is a major learning advantage of on-line learning. This time to compose one’s thoughts internally before adding to on-line discussion has favored women, cultural minorities, and people with disabilities.
So How Do We Get Started With Online Learning?
Online learning can come in many forms: blogs, podcasts, screencasts, wikis, social bookmarking, list-servs, discussion boards, etcetera, etcetera. There are unlimited resources in each of these areas, and each one could take up their own blog posting just to try to do them justice. But here, I will just speak broadly about blogs because they are a simple resource area to start with and I have had very positive experiences with learning from blogs to further my own professional development. We'll talk about blogs in general and share some examples that nonprofit employees can explore to learn at their own pace and do their jobs better.
What's a Blog?
A blog is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log. A blog comprises text, hypertext, images, and links (to other web pages and to video, audio and other files). Blogs use a conversational style of documentation. Often blogs focus on a particular topic. Blogs are usually (but not always) written by one person and are updated pretty regularly. Whole blog communities have sprung up around some of these topics putting people into contact with each other in relationships where they can learn, share ideas, make friends with and even do business with people with similar interests from around the world. (From Problogger)
Why Blogs? How Do You Find Relevant Blogs to Read on Nonprofit Topics?
Due to the informal nature of blogs, they are a very accessible entry point to begin learning about particular fields and topics using a non-intimidating Web 2.0 tool. Blogs are a fantastic alternative to traditional classroom learning because most bloggers are publishing content that is on the leading edge of the field, not old techniques found in outdated textbooks. Readers are getting the best, real-time information on a topic with the opportunity to further engage the blogger through comments or email to learn even more from their expertise.
There are a growing number of blogs about nonprofit issues in every area you can think of - communications, marketing, fundraising, philanthropy, technology, etc. A good place to start perusing is the Nonprofit Blog Exchange, with its listing of over 150 nonprofit blogs. Some blogs are good for all staff to read on general nonprofit topics like Give and Take from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Other blogs are more specific to staff roles such as Donor Power Blog which is a great resource for fundraisers, while Nonprofit Communications may apply to marketing directors.
To be sure you can keep up with the blogs you want to read on a regular basis, it's best to
subscribe to them in a reader such as
Bloglines that keeps you up to date as new blog entries are posted.
My Bloglines feeds are public, and listed here as an example and a resource. Bloglines also allows you categorize your blog feeds and save interesting items as well as email articles to colleagues. Rutgers University has a simple how-to on
how to set up a Bloglines account and subscribe to blogs.
Update: Another way to explore quality blog postings about nonprofit topics is through the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants - a weekly blog roundup that keeps you informed of the resources offered by bloggers who care about nonprofit issues.
So How Can Blogs Help Nonprofit Staff Fulfill Professional Development Goals?
Hopefully, your nonprofit has already given some thought to professional development and each staff member has some idea of what they want to learn to get better at their work. If not, that is the first step. For instance, a development director may decide that she needs to learn more about donor-advised funds and heads over to Tactical Philanthropy to join the discussion. After reading a few related blog posts, she may send an email to Sean asking a specific question that will help her implement this fundraising method in her work. Voila - instant gratification on a particular learning issue that provides immediate value to the organization. Of course, this kind of learning success and progress can only be achieved if staff can clearly articulate their learning goals.
Also, given the nature of online learning, some nonprofit staff are more likely to engage than others. For example, nonprofit IT directors and communications staff may already be familiar with blogs due to their job descriptions. Other staff may not know about them at all. So how would a nonprofit implement online learning that all staff could participate in, even if some folks are afraid of new technology? Here are some ways to ease the idea into your organization:
- Create and distribute a listing of blogs related to your nonprofit's mission and staff roles. Depending on the level of familiarity of staff, to start out, it could just be a simple hyperlinked Word document with a bulleted list of blogs to email to staff to explore. Or you could make up a public organizational Bloglines page to share with everyone at the organization. I see how this could be especially effective with incoming employees who need an orientation to your nonprofit and the learning culture.
- Schedule regular "knowledge jam sessions" where staff get together to talk about what they learned from blogs that week. It could be a half-hour meeting on Thursday or Friday mornings with folks going around the table sharing their one nugget of wisdom they received from engaging with a blog. This practice would encourage more blog exploration, broaden the resources among staff, and spread the knowledge from individual to the group. I think this would also help institute the kind of culture of learning you want at your nonprofit, especially if that is not currently the case.
No matter how you choose to introduce and spread the practice and benefits of reading blogs for professional development, it's important that your nonprofit delves into this area of Web 2.0 tools. We are quickly moving toward a world in which new knowledge is being created constantly. Millions of times a day, our assumptions and current ways of thinking and working get reframed and rejiggered by people all over the world. In the coming years, it's going to become more and more important that nonprofit workers find easy ways to tap into this ongoing transfer of knowledge so that we can stay on top of the trends and tools to help us fulfill our missions.
This week's Friday Four is all about self-empowerment, a compilation of four posts to inspire you to take charge of the path your life will go, in career or personally. I'm out the door early today to get a headstart on the long weekend and boy, does it feel good! Enjoy yours and here's to feeling more empowered when you come into the office on Tuesday morning.
