CEF Took Over Chairing of the learn4dev Network
CEF is an active member of the learn4dev, a network of more than 25 bilateral aid agencies and international organizations involved in learning for development. On June 15-17 we attended the network's annual meeting on Innovation in Learning and Learning Technology that this year took place in Rome, Italy. It was hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in co-organization with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
Jane Hart, a well-regarded international speaker and writer on approaches to workplace learning and Founder of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (C4LPT), held a key note address on Learning in the Modern Workplace. Technology is playing an increasingly important role in learning. According to C4LPT list of the annual Top 100 Tools for learning, the number one tool in the last seven years in a row is twitter. With new technology people are confronted with overload of information; however according to Hart there are no information overload only filter failures indicating that in the new environment personal knowledge mastery (PKM) is becoming vital. PKM includes seeking information from various sources and then reflecting and connecting information and only then sharing them. People should take half an hour a day on their personal learning.
At the meeting Jana Repanšek, CEF Deputy Director was elected for the new chair of the network. She highlighted that even though the technology is becoming increasingly important in learning, learn4dev is above all about people (with a purpose) and relationships among them. We should constantly look for innovations and trends in learning and knowledge sharing around us. But we should also understand that many answers can be found within the network’s membership. It is our collaborative spirit that can inspire and empower us to collectively search for answers and be innovators at our own right.
The CEF is also active member of the network`s Knowledge Management / Knowledge Sharing and Organizational Learning expert groups and covers the network’s communication activities. At the meeting our learning and communications experts Tina Žagar and Polona Sirnik co-leaded a thematic clinic on Social Media for Learning Together with FAO and presented how we use visualization techniques to support learning. We also covered the meeting from communication point of view by making a digital story on the event that can be accessed here.