Knowledge Management

A talent development professional needs to create a training program on compliance to labor laws for an organization. The talent development professional has an existing course in mind that is someone else's copyright but is likely to be very useful for the organization and plans to check the legality of using this course. What kind of content can the existing course be best classified as?

• Public domain content

• Subject matter expert (SME)-generated content

• Third-party content

• User-generated content

Answer explanation

The existing course can be classified as a third-party content because it was created by someone else. To use this content, the talent development professional should check the legality of using the content and see how it needs to be modified to fit the organization's needs. User-generated content is generated by the user. While this course may have been reviewed by a SME, it fits the description of third-party content the best. Since the course is someone else's copyright, it is not public domain content.

What is an example of user-generated content in an organization?

• A group of learners exchange SME-authored blog-post references.

• An instructional design trainer shares a link to an online presentation with learners.

• A human resources manager shares the company's policies with the employees.

• Software developers post their ideas on a learning portal for feedback.

Answer explanation

Software developers posting their own ideas on the learning portal for error minimization would be an example of user-generated content. Company policies are drafted by certain individuals within the organization on behalf of the organization and cannot be termed as user-generated content. Presentations available online and SME-authored blog posts are examples of public domain content.

A talent development professional bookmarks various websites while researching content for a learning module on stress management. In the context of curation of information, what has the talent development professional done?

• Applied information

• Shared information

• Stored information

• Transformed information

Answer explanation

When bookmarking websites, the talent development professional is storing the information so that it can be used later, as needed. Storing information is one of the actions that any curator of content undertakes. Since the talent development professional has not done anything with the content yet, the remaining options are incorrect.

What is the difference between inspiration and aggregation?

• Inspiration is a personal curation process, whereas aggregation is how people individually manage knowledge on a day-to-day basis.

• Inspiration is formal and personal, whereas aggregation is informal and more relevant to the organization.

• Inspiration is how individuals blend new learning experiences with existing thoughts, whereas aggregation is how individuals apply new insights in the real world.

• Inspiration is curation by other people on one's behalf outside a formal learning environment, whereas aggregation is done in a formal learning context.

Answer explanation

Inspiration is the curation that is done by other people on one's behalf, outside a formal learning environment. Aggregation is the same thing but done in a formal learning context. Integration is a more personal curation process; it is how individuals blend new learning experiences with existing thoughts. And finally, application is how individuals apply new insights in the real world and manage knowledge on a day-to-day basis.

If a talent development professional has a curation mindset, what characteristic is the talent development professional likely to possess?

• Annotates to understand instead of attempting to add value

• Shares as part of insight instead of sharing as an afterthought

• Welcomes comments instead of inviting comments

• Understands by reflecting instead of understanding by communicating

Answer explanation

Sharing as part of insight as opposed to sharing as an afterthought is a characteristic of a curation mindset. The other options are characteristics of a learning mindset

Identify a characteristic of the curation mindset that is distinct from a learning mindset.

• Sees networks as a bonus as opposed to building and living in networks

• Aims for collective understanding as opposed to wanting to understand as an individual

• Focuses on the individual as opposed to focusing on the learning organization

• Creates understanding as opposed to creating meaning

Answer explanation

Aiming for collective understanding as opposed to wanting to understand as an individual is a characteristic of a curation mindset. The other options are characteristics of a learning mindset.

A talent development professional has been tasked with creating a new onboarding training module for an organization. The talent development professional believes that there is value in curating content for portions of this module rather than creating new content. How can the talent development professional convince senior management that curating is a good idea?

• By highlighting that curation often reduces cost and delivery time

• By highlighting the importance of building a robust knowledge management system

• By explaining how unique the organization's current content needs are

• By explaining fair-use laws to senior management

Answer explanation

Embracing a culture of curation means moving from working in permission-based silos to working in the open. Content can be curated from both inside and outside the organization. With the increasing quality of online educational content, it is no longer necessary to create new learning content each time. Blending resources from the outside world with a selection of resources from within the firewall can decrease the time to delivery and cut costs dramatically for the learning and development department. Unique content needs are likely to reduce the possibility of curation and, therefore, do not build a case for it. Explaining fair-use laws will only highlight that curation is legal; it does not highlight what the organization can gain from it. A robust knowledge management system will enable curation but does not highlight its benefits.

A talent development professional wants to instill the curation mindset in a team of trainers. Which skill is the talent development professional most likely to promote?

• Welcoming ongoing dialogue

• Using annotation to understand the content better

• Gaining understanding through solo work

• Focusing on the individual

Answer explanation

Welcoming ongoing dialogue from learners is a characteristic of a curation mindset, as against accepting isolated dialogue. The other options are characteristics of a learning mindset.

A talent development professional is building a course on process optimization for a manufacturing company. While researching for this project, the talent development professional selects expert-reviewed articles and identifies presentations that can be useful for this course. The talent development professional also takes inputs from the organization's managers and employees to decide how to customize the learning for them. What type of curation is the talent development professional using in this scenario?

• Integration

• Aggregation

• Inspiration

• Application

Answer explanation

The talent development professional is using aggregation to develop the course on process optimization. Aggregation involves using insights gathered from both inside and outside the organization as a baseline of content to develop new courses.

What is the best example of the storing of information by a content curator?

• Retweeting the Twitter feed of a SME on social learning

• Modifying a course on search engine optimization to suit specific needs within the organization

• Bookmarking sales-pitch videos for the sales team from a video-sharing website

• Creating a list of blogs on supply chain optimization in an Excel spreadsheet

Answer explanation

Creating a list of blogs on supply chain optimization in an Excel spreadsheet is an example of storing information by a content curator. The other examples are of transforming and sharing content.