Each year I meet quite a few people who work in the eLearning field, usually they’re developers or eLearning creation is part of their L&D role. Most are newbies to eLearning and we come together in a classroom setting to get them started on their eLearning development journey. At the beginning of each session I like to find out a little about each person – such as their background, their experience – and while most people are brand new to eLearning authoring usually there’s at least one or two who have been experimenting with the tool or they’ve watched some ‘how-to’ videos on YouTube or they’ve read some articles on websites/blogs or they’ve asked questions in (or visited) the eLearning communities.
However, there’s one thing that these people do have in common, and that is they all finish their introduction with:
“but I haven’t had any training”
These people still learn from the sessions but they can do a lot more than they give themselves credit for. The classroom setting for learning (at least in this case) is still valuable especially for novices and even those who have basic experience learn a few things they didn’t know prior. Plus, they can ask questions specific to their context, get answers straight away as well as being able to interact with and learn from other people in the room. But, there’s two things I find troubling about the above statement.
Firstly, they seem to put a much higher value on formal training events for learning as opposed to learning something via other more informal means. It’s like they don’t quite trust the information that comes from a blog post, a website or a YouTube video. They seem to need the security of an “expert” in a room to tell them. I’ll let you in on a secret, I’ve had no formal training in creating a WordPress site or in blog writing and yet here I am…
The second, and more concerning aspect of this situation, is that these same people who “haven’t had any training” are working in the learning area within their organisations. This leads me to believe that a reason why the default response for many L&D folks to always create a course is because they themselves only see courses as a way to truly learn something. There’s also another (perhaps bigger) issue – if they only see formal, instructor-led learning as a necessary requirement for their own learning, then they’re probably less likely to embrace blogs, videos, just-in-time resources, curation, communities and working out loud/ showing your work to either supplement, support or perhaps replace some formal learning ‘events’ within their organisations.
The course mentality that is so prevalent in L&D won’t change until the very people charged with improving workplace performance get past the ‘formal learning is the only way to learn’ mindset and start to see the value in and embrace other options. Perhaps if they put a higher value on other sources of learning for themselves they’d be more likely to introduce other methods into their workplaces and create conditions from which it can flourish.
While I do believe that formal, instructor-led courses have their place to improve performance there are many other options available to L&D practitioners. We’ve been conditioned throughout our lives that real learning only comes from structured learning events so we tend to stick with what we’re comfortable with. The problem is that one-off events take people away from their work but people need to learn and have tools and resources available to them in the flow of their work – at the point of need.
So, if we are to move forward, things need to change starting with our own how to learn something mindset…
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Comments
5 responses to “Valuing all Sources of Learning”
I very much agree with you, and believe that it is true for every aspect of learning. More is learned outside the classroom than in. I particularly appreciate this paragraph: “The course mentality that is so prevalent in L&D won’t change until the very people charged with improving workplace performance get past the ‘formal learning is the only way to learn’ mindset and start to see the value in and embrace other options. Perhaps if they put a higher value on other sources of learning for themselves they’d be more likely to introduce other methods into their workplaces and create conditions from which it can flourish.” It is the same for teachers in classrooms.
Thanks Norah and yes this could be applied to classroom teachers as well.
This reminds me of a story from the late Russell Ackoff, an influential academic in the US. The American Statistical Association surveyed their members to list the four living statisticians who contributed most to the field of statistics. Not one of the four selected had ever taken a class in statistics. They learned it because they needed to do something with stats.
I contend the focus on formal training is a result of most people (in the West at least) spending somewhere between one and two decades sitting in a classroom for the first phase of life. This becomes the model for L&Ders and their stakeholders. It’s a hard view to shake.
Speaking of formal training in general: Most of it is pretty poor. Think about what a lot of its missing: learning by doing, spaced practice, retrieval, reflection, opportunity to fail, realistic contexts, access to a mentor, etc.
Speaking of L&Ders and their formal training: Just a few years ago I took ‘training and development’ as a subject in my HR degree. It included VAK learning styles. We had to do a test to understand our own preferences. It was a load of bollocks. I learned nothing that made me better at what I do and it could have been detrimental had I given VAK any credence.
Speaking of learning and the general workforce: There’s a lot of industries ripe for disruption. If you’re a truck driver you’re screwed. Amazon is coming to Aus and will shakeup the landscape. There’s the internet of things, the sharing economy, flying things delivering things, etc. If people aren’t continually developing and expanding their competence then they’re going to find themselves on the scrapheap along with a lot of other people all fighting for jobs. Formal education isn’t producing job ready candidates in my estimation. I see billions of dollars being sunk (and wasted) into this sector. People need to realise they’re on their own and it’s up to them to manage their development. I think the first step is to stop thinking formal training is the model for learning.
Thanks for your comments Ben, you’ve hit lots of nails on the head!
The grip on formal comes from many years spent in a classroom setting and this can be a hard mindset to change but we need to keep chipping away. Much of the formal tends to lack the areas you mentioned – spaced practice etc. and ends up being nothing more than a one-off content dump that does little in the long run to improve performance.
If someone starts talking the importance of learning styles their credibility goes out the window and I tune out to what ever else they have to say…
This topic’s pretty tricky I think. My thoughts on it have changed over time – and that’ll likely continue! Let me explain…
A couple of years ago, I heard Don Taylor present, and he questioned whether courses were the way to go, which made sense.
But then I saw this video by Marie Forleo (7 mins). In it, she answers the question “Why would anyone pay you to teach something they could learn for free online?” And she makes some great points.
I’d add that when learners piece together their learning from different sources, they waste mental resources (and often tons of time) trying to make sense of it all. Not to mention being distracted by the varied formats and approaches of all the material. And perhaps the biggest drawback is it’s hard to access an expert to ask questions.
I’m not advocating old-style, long-form, “lecture-style” courses. Instead, I believe modern, task-focused, short-form courses, videos etc that are designed to work together (with chances to practice, ask questions, etc) will make it much quicker and easier for people to learn.
But as I said at the start, I’m open to persuasion!