LinkedIn Supports E-Learning

LinkedIn.com is an online database of members to connect professionally with one another and through each other. Similar to facebook in a sense that it is a repository for individual information and a portal to stay in touch with people whom you select and invite and with whom you mutually agree to be "linked in", its basic premise is to connect with on a professional and expertise level. As of September 2010, there are 80 million members of LinkedIn from all over the world (LinkedIn, Frequently Asked Questions, 2008). It is a site that is designed to capture your credentials, job experiences and qualifications, of value for people to learn more about you and important for job searches in today's market. Not only can prospective employers find you, but you can conduct research on interesting positions, by viewing people's profiles who are in the same field or subject matter experts, or find out more details about companies that interest you from the Company Pages. Through connections, you can go one step further by asking to be introduced to someone of interest and having an informational discussion with that contact. It is completely acceptable to reach out to a stranger through a common friend for the purpose of career progression! As a business getting off the ground, linkedin can be a platform for marketing, locating business partners, identifying service providers, and post employment opportunities. Finally, it is a place where people can "gain new insights from discussions with likeminded professionals in private group settings" (LinkedIn.com, About Us, 2008).

Connectivity and networking are important elements today in e-learning as team-based projects rival individual efforts (Robbins & Judge, 2011). We see this in the advent of other e-tools that facilitate partnership and group learning, such as wikis, skype, and (the dreaded) googledocs. But the networking components are merely conduits. Let's examine how LinkedIn facilitates additional learning online. Through the polling feature, members can obtain valuable data. One member used the poll to gather ideas for a webinar and then marketed the webinar on LinkedIn to connect with the members who worked in her industry or were interested in the topics (LinkedIn, Success Stories, 2008). Post a question in the Answers section of the website and your connections and people within the entire community respond. Theoretical, practical, subjective, objective queries are free-game. Find experts who are hosting a webinar or keynoting a conference of interest and contact them to gain their insights or subscribe to their training or tools. With the discussion forums, people can help worthy causes. After visiting India, one woman wanted to help the children there. She started a discussion on LinkedIn which resulted in the creation of a "wish list" on Amazon.com, from which LinkedIn members purchased books for the children in India (LinkedIn, Success Stories, 2008).

I am personally testing the Answers section of LinkedIn for a school paper on tenure. In addition to compiling research, I have posed the following question to some of my connections. "Why was tenure originally established at the elementary and secondary school levels? I can appreciate that tenure at higher levels of education give professors intellectual freedom to explore/research topics that may not always be popular, but when and why did tenure become firmly entrenched in Americas early years of education?" I will blog further about the result. I am also working with a non-profit organization, womenthrive.org, and I noticed that they do not have a "group discussion" going on LinkedIn, unlike many of their counterparts. So, I suggested that they increase their band-width on this website, particularly now as they are working on Capitol Hill to have IVAWA (International Violence Against Women Act) passed and they need to get their message distributed and people writing to their Senators. They use Facebook and Twitter, but they are not as active on LinkedIn. Being a professional community, support coming from a business perspective through the LinkedIn network will surely help the cause.

To learn more about LinkedIn, watch the quick video: http://press.linkedin.com/about.


PS. Within 4 days of my question on LinkedIn, I had 4 answers, 2 of them with valuable information and 1 of them with a link to a useful article.