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Five questions...for Elliott Masie

By Lisa Neal / March 2007

TYPE: INTERVIEW
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Elliott Masie is one of the best-known figures in the e-learning field, running his own conferences and keynoting at many others. He heads the MASIE Center, an upstate New York think tank on organizational support for learning and knowledge, and leads the Learning Consortium, a coalition of over 230 Fortune 500 companies focusing on learning strategies.

Lisa Neal: How is the popularity of social networking sites impacting e-learning?

Elliott Masie: Actually, it is more informal and covert than obvious. Most organizations are still testing the water for how they will enable social networking in an age of compliance and litigation. We are seeing a lot of interest in peer-based ratings for content, however, and it is impacting the use of on-line books and other informal reading stuff.

LN: How has e-learning been impacted by Web 2.0 and what do you think the future (Web 3.0) will bring?

EM: The impact is in the change in content preferences. People want content that is shorter, more focused, less formal, and more actionable. We will also see significant changes in the ways in which LMS and other learning systems may be leveraged and upgraded.

LN: What is the most interesting job someone in the e-learning field can hold?

EM: Learning Feeds and Community Facilitator.

LN: What is the most interesting e-learning course or program you have come across recently?

EM: I saw a collaborative course run by folks that were being laid off from a large manufacturing company. They built a community of content and support for themselves.

LN: With the so-called flattening of the world, what do you see as the role of culture in e-learning?

EM: Democratization of content is driving (and is required by) a world that is changing faster than matching curriculum can be developed, and with more differentiation than can fit into a traditionally authored course. Also, context is pushing against content as the king or queen of learning.



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ADDITIONAL READING

    Lisa Neal
  1. How to get students to show up and learn
  2. Q&A
  3. Blended conferences
  4. Predictions for 2002
  5. Learning from e-learning
  6. Storytelling at a distance
  7. Q&A with Don Norman
  8. Talk to me
  9. Q&A with Diana Laurillard
  10. Do it yourself
  11. Degrees by mail
  12. Predictions for 2004
  13. Predictions For 2003
  14. Just "DO IT"
  15. Five questions...
  16. Formative evaluation
  17. Senior service
  18. Blogging to learn and learning to blog
  19. My life as a Wikipedian
  20. The stripper and the bogus online degree
  21. Five questions...for Lynn Johnston
  22. Five questions...for Tom Carey
  23. Not all the world's a stage
  24. Five questions...for Karl M. Kapp
  25. Five questions...for Larry Prusack
  26. Five questions...for Seb Schmoller
  27. Do distance and location matter in e-learning?
  28. Five (or six) questions...for Irene McAra-McWilliam
  29. Why do our K-12 schools remain technology-free?
  30. Music lessons
  31. Learn to apologize for fun and profit
  32. Of web hits and Britney Spears
  33. Advertising or education?
  34. Five questions…for Matt DuPlessie
  35. Learner on the Orient Express
  36. Back to the future
  37. Serious games for serious topics
  38. When will e-learning reach a tipping point?
  39. Online learning and fun
  40. "Spot Learning"
  41. Q&A with Saul Carliner
  42. In search of simplicity
  43. eLearning and fun
  44. Everything in moderation
  45. The basics of e-learning
  46. Is it live or is it Memorex?
  47. The Value of Voice
  48. Predictions for 2006
  49. Five Questions...for Christopher Dede
  50. Five Questions... for John Seely Brown
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  52. "Deep" thoughts
  53. 5 questions... for Richard E. Mayer
  54. Designing usable, self-paced e-learning courses
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