This weekend, I celebrated Mother's Day by taking my mom to Pella, Iowa for their annual Tulip Festival.  It was a wonderful trip and a great little vacation just for the two of us.  

Since I've been trying to convince my mom to get an iPhone for a month now, I urged her  to toy with the phone the whole trip.  As we drove along, our conversation would naturally lead to questions we couldn't answer.  For instance, as we drove near Madison County, there was a sign directing you to the covered bridges nearby.  We wondered if the movie "The Bridges of Madison County" was based on (or filmed near) Madison County, IA (and it was).  So, during the whole 4 hour drive, she Google'd and Wikipedia'd away to find answers to our questions.  She text message'd, updated my Twitter, and Facebooked the whole way.

I am quite proud that my Baby Boomer mom is so technologically savvy.  She not only understands that my generation lives in an on demand world, but knows how to use technology to get answers and help on her own.  She "gets it."  My dad isn't always as quick with the physical use of technology (he'd rather have you do it, and tell him the answer), but he totally sees the value and necessity for technology.  He knows my generation wants answers and solutions now, and will not tolerate having to rely on anyone else to do the work for them.  He has always been ahead of his time with regard to technology.  He proposed live web streaming cameras to catch traffic, monitor golf courses, and even traditional and doggy day cares about 10 years ago!  He definitely "gets it."

I'll even go a step further...my 80ish grandfather even emails me every once in a while.  He knows how to send Hallmark eCards, watch YouTube videos, and check the weather online.  Recently, I offered to scan in old pictures for him and clean them up with PhotoShop, but he insisted I teach him so he could do it himself.  Isn't that interesting?  My grandfather "gets it." 

So, why is it that so many people in the corporate world don't "get it?"  It amazes me when trainers and HR execs shy away from eLearning and Social Networking as if it's a fad that will go away if ignored.  Is it out of fear of being replaced, lack of understanding, or a generational difference that causes this hurdle?

The Baby Boomers are retiring and as Gen X/Gen Y are moving into leadership roles, we are in serious need of training and coaching, but are we receiving it in the medium that we want it?  In many ways, the use of On-Demand/eLearning platforms has to do with learning styles associated with personality type (Myers-Briggs  Type Indicator preferences), but to a greater extent there is an implication for generational learning styles.

The Google/Wikipedia/Twitter Generation does not want to wait to enroll in a course and have information spoon fed to them.  I bet that if you tell someone who is Gen Y/Gen X that they are going through an MBTI® assessment workshop next week, they will have already soaked up all of the information they can find on the web before they enter the classroom.  In the immortal words of Queen, "I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now!"

So, what do you do when your HR/Training department doesn't "get it?"  How do you convince someone who didn't grow up in an On-Demand world why eLearning it's a trend, it's a standard? 

Check out this study posted by Bersin & Associates (via Read Write Web) on the likelihood of Baby Boomers using Web 2.0.

"All ages and levels of white collar workers agree that new technology and software applications have made it easier to:

• Get up-to-the-minute information (95% agree)
• Improve productivity (90%)
• Manage information (87%)

But, when you start to look at social software, the statistics begin to diverge.

• 62% of Gen Y reports accessing a social networking site from work; versus only 14% of Boomers.
  
• 47% of Gen Y access Internet bulletin boards and forums from work - versus 27% of Boomers
  
• 44% of Gen Y access multimedia sharing web sites from work - versus 24% of Boomers."

Perhaps the issue isn't that they don't "get it" but rather, that they don't know WHAT to do with it!  There is a wisdom that comes with the experience of these tools that isn't being translated to those who haven't engaged the tool itself.  It's like the old saying "you don't know what you don't know."  Those of us who live and breathe web 2.0 must act as tour guides to the rest of the world.  We must learn to bridge the gap of knowledge by helping others see the value rather than rolling our eyes at the unknowing "outsiders."

On the topic of eLearning,  my suggestion is to help them understand how to blend the On-Demand/eLearning with face-to-face training/coaching.  For instance, CPP, Inc recently released a brand new On-Demand eLearning platform called the Myers-Briggs® ThinkBox.

 The trainers  I am speaking with already "get it."  They are devising ways to use this portal to help individuals satisfy their own self-development needs, while exploring how to initiate critical developmental conversations based on the videos/articles viewed on the platform.  In other words, the Myers-Briggs® ThinkBox isn't the "end" of the learning, it's the medium that facilitates the deeper conversations and in-the-moment coaching.  

Instead of pushing changes on a generation that hasn't experienced growing up in an on-demand world, try building a bridge to bring the two worlds together.  The same thing goes for tools like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  When someone doesn't intuitively "get it."  Sometimes you have to help them into the shallow water, instead of tossing them into the deep end.  It's too easy to look at something like Twitter and not see immediate value.  Active Twitterers know that the tool only becomes fun and helpful when you follow and are followed by many people.  So, help the individual build that network and nurture their learning.  Remember that not everyone "gets it" as easily as you do.  

We can all take a step towards the other side to create a collaborative solution.  In a way, we are all trainers/educators.  We just teach different courses!

Remember:

 "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty."  ~Henry Ford