ECLO :: E-Learner No 2

The E-Learner

Issue No. 2

1^st November 1999

Published by

Welcome to the second edition of The E-Learner, ECLO's electronic newsletter for members. The E-Learner complements our existing hardcopy newsletter that will continue to carry articles and information of interest to ECLO members.

As always, we welcome contributions from members, as it is impossible to keep on top of the wealth of information on the World Wide Web on topics of interest to you all.

For your ongoing reference The E-Learner will be archived in the members' zone of our web site.Editor: Mike Kelleher
New members

This month we welcome three new members: the City of Linköping, Sweden represented by Lena Rydin-Hansson;Maria Maunsbach who represents the Industrial Development Center in Gnosjo Ltd, Sweden; and Hans F. van Aalst representing KPC Groep, The Netherlands. The KPC Groep is the first to take advantage of our new 3 year GOLD MEMBERSHIP.

Call for presentationsWe are delighted to be working in partnership with the Munich Chambers of Commerce (IHK) and Allianz in the preparation of our 7^th annual conference. We are pleased to announce that the call for presentations for ECLO2000 is now available on the ECLO web site. Please note the deadline of December 10^th. As in previous years we will be seeking practical case studies, empirical and / or theoretically based papers and experiential designed workshops.

Sharing

By now you will have received your password to access the members' only zone of the web site. Our aim is to create a knowledge map of members' contact details, their expertise and their interest areas relating to learning organisations. You will see that some photographs are available already and it would be good to maximise this option to us. Could you please send a copy of a photo of yourself to the ECLO office (either electronically or hard copy) and we will post this on to the site to aid our networking. It is also our intention to make your web site addresses available to all members. This will support and extend the sharing of your expertise to colleagues as well provide additional web-based data on your organisations. Please send us details of your URL so that we can make that available too.

SoL InternationalSoL is organising a 3-day conference to take place in Bordeaux from 15-17 November. Keynote speakers are Peter Senge, Goran Carstedt and Arie De Geus. The conference is designed as a combination of keynote speakers and pre-planned parallel workshops. In addition, Open Space is designed to stage a modus for individual collaboration and networking. More details can be found on the SoL International web site. One of our Board members, Daniel Belet, will attend the conference to represent ECLO and Mike Kelleher will be attending a pre-conference meeting that is designed to explore the ways in which this emerging global community can interact.

From the TrainingZone

The Association for Management Education and Development (AMED) are co-organisers of a European conference on mentoring practice, which includes plenty of case studies and practical ideas. The one-day event takes place in Edinburgh this November.

Jack Gordon explores the rapidly growing importance of knowledge management - and suggests that thi will be made to the implications on vocational training delivery, institutions and systems from the learning

organisation perspective. It is hoped that papers from this workshop will be available as soon as possible.Schools that Learn

Art Kleiner is seeking possible contributions to an important new publication being developed by the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook team. Two groups of possible contributors are being sought:

"Students (junior high school, high school, or university) who have had some experience trying to change their schools for the better. (For example: A lot of students are feeling the pressure of overwhelming amounts of homework, not necessarily with any increase in learning. Has any student succeeded in raising this issue in a way that made a difference for the better? Or in changing schools in some other way?)

Classroom teachers (K-12, or university) who have directly used the "learning disciplines" popularised by Peter Senge in their work -- either in the classroom, or in trying to change the school for the better. These are Systems Thinking, Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Shared Vision and Team Learning."

If you know of anyone interested in contacting Art please pass on this message.

Virtual conference

You may be interested in participating in the following on-line conference. There is a fee for participating as well as the time commitment. If anyone does take part, we would welcome some feedback about its value. The organisers say that:

"Collaborate '99 is a global virtual event, designed to facilitate interaction among practitioners of organisation development and organisational learning from around the world. Participants will experience traditional conference venues in a non-traditional way - participating in keynote presentations and concurrent sessions; meeting favourite authors; leading individualised topics in a virtual open space forum; sharing a virtual cup of tea in the Collaborate Cafe; and accessing a wide range of resources, including links to White Papers, Interviews, Summaries of Sessions, Newsletters, an Online Bookstore and a Participant Directory for networking in the virtual hallways of the event."
Executive development

The efmd European Directory on Executive Education 2000 is available to ECLO members at 175 Euros. Please state your ECLO membership.According to Warren Bennis: "Best Practices in Leadership Development is the most comprehensive and useful collection of case studies on leadership development today. The book will become one of the top resources for designing, implementing, and learning about leadership development programs." If you would like more information, the example of SmithKline Beecham can be examined on-line.

New bookCharles Handy published a new book this month. Peter Honey reviews `The New Alchemists'.

ToolsThe Learning Organisation Benchmark Questionnaire by Phillip Rosengarten and Checkpoint a self assessment development tool by Bernard Donnay are available through the ECLO web site

Event from Kynesis Paul Foley and his colleagues in Kynesis, Glasgow are organising an event to support the development of learning organisations. The event is from 21 - 26 November. Contact Paul directly for more information.

Ever had this experience?

Upon her husband's return home from a meeting, the fond wife asked: "How
was your talk tonight?" "Which one?" he retorted. "The one I was going to give, the one I did give, or the one I delivered so brilliantly to myself on the way home in the car?"