Whenever I ask my kids “how did you learn that?” they inevitably point me to YouTube. What started out as more of an online version of the television program “America's Funniest Home Videos”—and the go-to place for cute cat videos or viewing the latest stunts gone horribly wrong—has become a sophisticated network of channels, programming, audience-generated content and pure entertainment. The best feature offered on the site is search, which puts any cable system's channel guide to shame.

Non-Traditional Resources

For the insurance world, a few searches can secure access to presentations delivered by industry experts; keynotes of recent conferences; a vast chronicle of industry advertising; and dedicated channels by insurance carriers, universities, and consulting organizations. With access to this broad and deep content for just the price of an Internet connection, an enterprising training manager can design a DIY curriculum of videos and build an assessment to track knowledge transfer and retention.

Let's start with a few scenarios where we first define a role, skill gap, and then the learning requirement. Next we conduct a few YouTube searches, watch a few videos, consider the application in the field, and finally think about how we might assess the impact on the learner. Using just this website we are able to implement a no-cost, almost instantly accessible, truly DIY approach to advancing knowledge in your organization. (See “Now Playing” for a sampling of the currently available YouTube videos that can help create a learning curriculum.)

YouTube is a great resource but also is mammoth library in scope; it varies greatly in quality, validity, and value of the videos available. As a result, training managers will need to wade through many videos to validate that the training is appropriate and unbiased. Much of what you may find with the term “accident” represents attorneys fishing for clients, and when you search “insurance adjuster” you will often find advice on what not to say to the carrier agent or adjuster. Using the term “training” will invariably produce a plethora of technical school marketing videos, and “loss” runs the gamut from hair and weight loss to bereavement counseling. However, targeting your search terms to key phrases and industry terms and sifting through all these links will result in at least a few gems. Distribution can be easily accomplished by forwarding directly to a prospective student or via the “share link” function to a team Facebook or LinkedIn group.

Knowledge Transference

Now that you have found the perfect learning tool and provided the lead-up and intended outcome to your target audience of claims professionals, you must consider a means to assess the transfer of learning and its resulting impact on the job.

One simple method may be to engage the learner or manager with a weekly diary of actions to identify when they have used the newly acquired skill(s) and the resulting outcome. A common training maxim is that if you perform a task repeatedly for 21 days, it is likely to become habit. That repetition might be a workable model if the tasks are appropriate for the audience. Another option is a brief Web poll or survey that can be sent directly to the learner at prescribed intervals; www.surveymonkey.com is one of many sources for such surveys. This method is very trackable, and the data outputs to an Excel spreadsheet that can be manipulated to produce meaningful reports.

Now, if the goal is to establish a more academically based curriculum model that can reflect high-quality content from a branded academic institution such as Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), consider a massive open online course (MOOC), which is a gathering of available courses from respected institutions available for free or at low cost to the online public. This is a developing area of education, and many of the early aggregators are establishing libraries from which to select learning options. One such aggregator is Coursera. Its 200-plus courses are designed to help learners master the material by watching lectures taught by world-class professors. The online delivery allows students to learn at their own pace, test their knowledge, and reinforce concepts through interactive exercises. Other programs with greater focus on science and math are offered by Udacity, a for-profit with Stanford roots, and edX, a not-for-profit run out of MIT and Harvard.

More On MOOC The courses offered in these environments shift from YouTube's more practical and technical elements defined for application in a position such as property claims adjuster to more of a management development or theoretical focus. A quick look at titles available under the business category of Coursera presents programs from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business on Foundations of Business Strategy and Corporate Finance offered by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, among many others.

The MOOC concept is evolving. It is likely that the delivery technology will advance along with the volume of available courses. Eventually, it will mature to a set of common standards and the completion of these programs will convey an accomplishment for the learner and a recognized value among employers. The current environment is a growing source of quality educational experiences, allowing training managers to design a program from a selection of topics and institutions representing a credible alternative to traditional offerings.

The world of user-generated content and open networks has created a true opportunity for those willing to engage in a little DIY learning. An investment in time, a bit of ingenuity, and a commitment to engage learners can establish an environment of continuous learning for an organization with limited cost and effort.