Curated Industry Content for the Week of 01/11/16

Every Monday we curate a number of articles and blog posts that have relevance to members of the eLearning Guild Community, and to the learning and performance field as a whole. Each piece of content that we share includes a brief introduction from the member of the Guild Community sharing why they think the content is important.

Here’s the content for this week:

The New York Public Library just uploaded nearly 200,000 images you can use for free by Andrew Hawkins
Images are a huge part of elearning, but purchasing the rights to use these assets can be costly. Many elearning designers have a collection of bookmarks to free content, and here’s another great one for that list. As Shana Kimball, manager of the library’s public programs and outreach wrote: “No permission required, no hoops to jump through: just go forth and reuse!”. -David Kelly

Does E-Learning Really Work? Not So Well, When it Comes to Leadership and Soft Skills. by Josh Bersin
This article looks closer at the impact of elearning (courseware) in various areas of skill development and performance improvement highlighting research into areas related to leaders and relationship building soft skills. It’s articles like this that may help us redefine what elearning really is, which is much more than click-n-learn courses. –Mark Britz

When You Should Worry About Failure, and When You Shouldn’t by Art Markman
We often praise the value of failure in learning, and rightfully so. But is all failure created equal? This article explores different types of failures, and what each type means. –David Kelly

How Southwest Airlines turned social media into social business by Shareen Pathak
Southwest airlines has often been viewed as the Zappos of airlines. It’s progressive approaches and focus on the customer has enabled it to be a leader in airtravel and customer satisfaction. But reaching, reacting and responding to customers extends well beyond the gate. They are putting social at the top of their strategy with lessons for us all and “making clear that social media and social listening aren’t just going to be a brand communications function, but for everyone in the company.”  –Mark Britz

The Most Important Design Jobs Of The Future by Suzanne Labarre
Where is design going? Fast Company asked designers at Google, Microsoft, and more about the future roles of designer, and the answers give a glimpse into the types of experiences people will engage in in the near future. – David Kelly

Three Big Mistakes I Made by Nick Shackleton-Jones
Nick looks at three things he has learned through his education and experience in the learning field. A simple theme of simplicity appears throughout as well as how individuals and their motivation matter most  –Mark Britz

What are you reading?

If you have an article, blog post, or other resource that you think we should consider sharing in a future Curated Industry Content post, please feel free to send a link to the resource to David Kelly along with a few sentences describing why you think the resource is valuable.