Redefining Online Learning
Categories: Technology
When computer-based learning was new the best model possible was disk-based learning materials which allowed a learner to progress through the materials at his/her own pace. The fancier materials even included some kind of assessment tools such as multiple choice quizzes. That time is long past. Today’s networked society affords an individual learner with access to unlimited learning materials as well as experts and peer groups. Why, with these resources available would companies insist on offering their employees today’s learning needs with yesterday’s approach?
One must wonder how an individual who has a smartphone in their pocket and a laptop connected to the social web feels about a linear, sequential set of learning lessons with only forward and back buttons. I have to empathize, though. When you’re used to designing this kind of training it can be difficult to imagine any other way.
Perhaps, the easiest way to imagine the possibilities is to think about the basic elements of learning that technology allows us to manipulate: space, time, and social. Let me explain.
Space: Learning isn’t constrained to a classroom. With the internet and wifi enabled devices, I can learn wherever I’d like.
Time: The internet is available 24/7 regardless of time zone or holiday. It’s always open and online materials are always available.
Social: Face-to-face learning limits us to who is in the classroom with us. Without technology we can’t bring outside experts into the class on a moment’s notice nor can we include a student who is halfway around the world.
Using technology to manipulate any one of these elements yields much more innovative approaches to learning. Let’s take a single-day classroom experience for example. A typical 8-hour day of classroom instruction with all the expected breaks results in six hours of learning.
Space: Using technology, such as a web conference (webinar) to hold the same sessions means that none of the participants needs to lose the time it would take to travel to one location. In addition, additional subject matter experts could be brought in to teach elements of the program at a lower cost which means there’s no settling when the choice of instructor is made.
Time: Rather than holding a learning session in a consecutive block of eight hours, learning online may mean that participants “attend” class an hour a day which means that the time in between can be spent applying the new knowledge or conferring with coworkers. If online learning is done asynchronously (ie, learners don’ t have to be online at the same time) with common tools such as discussion boards, global learning communities can be easily accommodated as well as work and family schedules. Yet, participants aren’t isolated and can still benefit from discussion and feedback from classmates and faculty.
Social: Online learning means that not only do faculty have time to respond to each participant one-on-one (which would take up too much time face-to-face) but it also means that participants can make use of the time to form bonds with one another, have conversations, and work together as teams on projects which simply couldn’t be accomplished in a single day’s program.
What new approaches might be possible in your organization if you experimented with one of these three elements? How has your organization already begun to manipulate these elements to improve your learning and development plans?
