Tony Buzan: Brain play - the never-ending story

Mind mapping is a term I became familiar with while doing my CIPD course. We were encouraged to use mind maps to study and remember things. I have not yet used it but I sure plan to. So, this article / interview is of Tony Buzan, the guru of mind mapping. Read on to find out more about the genius himself.

It’s hard not to feel exhausted after talking to Tony Buzan, the brain-power guru best known for his Mind Mapping techniques, for Buzan is a man who never tires, who endlessly achieves and whose commendable positive attitude never fails - he is a veritable example of how to enjoy life to the full. Annie Hayes reports.

Life began for Buzan in the June of 1942. Born to English parents his mother noted from an early age that he showed ‘intelligence beyond his years’ yet it was animals and not the brain that was his first love. “I wanted to be an animal behaviourist to start with,” explains Buzan whose best friends were Paddy the cat and Pongo the rabbit until inevitably the sad day arrived when Pongo died. Buzan also showed an early interest in people and especially those who others ‘scorned’ as different or ‘stupid’: “My best friend was called ‘stupid’ but he could recognise birds and butterflies by their flight patterns alone and I began to think about what we meant when we said someone was ‘stupid’ and another was ‘smart’.”

These seedlings of thought began a life-long love and work with the power of the brain and a pursuit to find out the true nature of intelligence: “The traditional definition of intelligence is to do with mathematical and verbal powers but there are a whole host of other areas that denote our intelligence including our social, creative and spiritual powers.” And so it followed that he landed the job of Editor of Mensa, the journal of the international high-IQ society for a period of three years, 1968-1971. It was during this time that he had the time to discover more about the mind.

In 1973 the first public foray into his world-famous Mind Maps began when he was approached by the BBC who wanted to do a programme on them: “I mind mapped what they wanted and it grew and grew and the director said it looked more like a 10-part than a two-part series and while I was there would I like to write a book as well.” The series never happened but the Mind Maps took hold.

According to Buzan’s official website a Mind Map is ‘a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills - word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness - in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain.’ And according to Buzan it can be applied to every aspect of life to improve learning and thinking and at all stages and grades of life too. The Mind Maps nickname: ‘The Swiss Army knife of the brain’ is a fitting tag.

“It’s now used by half a billion people across the globe, in schools for teaching, note-taking and exam preparation and it has been developed with key words, more colour, images and codes and has been translated to the computer,” says Buzan who also tells me that it is used to plan weddings and by the Singapore Ministry of Education to communicate with its students.

It has also been of great benefit to special needs communities including those with Dyslexia as well as businesses that want to hone the already gifted or use it to solve problems: “It was used in 9/11 and by Boeing to design new aircrafts,” says Buzan.

I ask Buzan if he is comfortable with the label ‘guru’ that is so often attached to his name and goes seamlessly with his introduction: “I’m always complimented to be called guru but it really just means learner. I’ve put a lot of hard-work in, I’m approaching my hundredth book, I’ve spent nine months of this year travelling and I do a lot of charity and media work.” It’s hard to keep up with Buzan’s achievements which he says stem from a solid belief in the human race and its potential.

To add to the list, Buzan is a keen sportsman: “I’ve always loved physical exercise, when I’m back in England I row and I’ve helped coach the Olympic rowing squad. When I undertake long-distance exercise I find it’s a great time to think it helps me to be more productive. I love it and do it everyday.” Buzan says he emphasises the motto: “Healthy body, healthy mind” and stands by the acronyms GFGB (good food, good brain) and JFJB (junk food, junk brain).

Poetry is another love. To date he has written some 4,000 poems and says: “It is a tremendous mental exercise which ‘bubbles’ up like an eternal spring.” The creative gift comes in spurts and he laughs when he tells me he once wrote a whole series of poetry whilst travelling on Concord dubbing him the name ‘the Concord poet’.

So does he ever switch off? “Well I hope not because I’d be dead if I did (he laughs) the brain is still working at 80% capacity even when we’re asleep.” You get the feeling that Buzan’s is closer to 100%. He does admit, however, that whilst he ‘loves to challenge himself he also loves to relax’ and finds comfort in living as close to his values as possible which he lists at: “Honesty, creativity, persistence, learning from mistakes, taking appropriate risks, commitment, living by a positive approach, humour and enjoying his work.”

For Buzan work is play and he holds great store by Hypocrites saying that ‘you’ll never see anything as serious as a child at play’. So what next for Buzan? As you might imagine 2009 is already packed with exciting new developments including a new book for the BBC, work with the Memory Championships, a whole new version of Mind Mapping for the computer, developments in language Maps and not forgetting his work with coaching the Olympic athletes for 2012. There’s also three new books of poetry to get to grips with.”

Do you ever feel overwhelmed, I ask. “When I do I think hmmm but it quickly passes and I think there is a way to do this, there’s always a solution.” Buzan never rests on his laurels and rather than pinching himself to think how much he has accomplished he admits he is always thinking how much more he has got to do. For his underlying wish is that, “Every brain on the planet is given the power to accelerate,” it’s a belief in the power of the human being however, ‘stupid’ or ‘smart’ that has never left him and has shaped his life, work and passion.

Seven Steps to Making a Mind Map:
1. Start in the CENTRE of a blank page turned sideways. Why? Because starting in the centre gives your Brain freedom to spread out in all directions and to express itself more freely and naturally.
2. Use an IMAGE or PICTURE for your central idea. Why? Because an image is worth a thousand words and helps you use your Imagination. A central image is more interesting, keeps you focused, helps you concentrate, and gives your Brain more of a buzz!
3. Use COLOURS throughout. Why? Because colours are as exciting to your Brain as are images. Colour adds extra vibrancy and life to your Mind Map, adds tremendous energy to your Creative Thinking, and is fun!
4. CONNECT your MAIN BRANCHES to the central image and connect your second- and third-level branches to the first and second levels, etc. Why? Because your Brain works by association. It likes to link two (or three, or four) things together. If you connect the branches, you will understand and remember a lot more easily.
5. Make your branches CURVED rather than straight-lined. Why? Because having nothing but straight lines is boring to your Brain.
6. Use ONE KEY WORD PER LINE. Why Because single key words give your Mind Map more power and flexibility.
7. Use IMAGES throughout. Why Because each image, like the central image, is also worth a thousand words. So if you have only 10 images in your Mind Map, it's already the equal of 10,000 words of notes!
Source: http://www.buzanworld.com/

Article courtesy: trainingzone.co.uk

Philip Rosedale on Second Life

Philip Rosedale is the creator of Second Life. He talks about living (and learning) online, and the shifts in society that are coming as more and more of us live through avatars. He sees profound changes coming in education -- and so do the TEDsters who've joined the discussion on this talk.



Video courtesy:Ted.com

Here’s an Easy Way to Create Learning Objectives

This a blog I almost regularly visit and I found this post to be valuable as an Instructional Designer. So here is the full blog post from the man himself, Tom Kuhlman - The Rapid eLearning blog.

All courses begin with an overarching goal. Assuming that the goal is clear, you build learning objectives to meet the goal. In today’s post we’ll explore a simple way to create objectives for your course.

It All Starts with Clear Goals
Make sure that when you work with your clients you have very clear goals. What do they hope the course will accomplish? From that conversation, you’ll be able to discern what the learning needs are. This helps you build your objectives.
The main area of focus is to understand where you currently are and where you need to be. Then map out the activities and learning experience to get from one point to the next.

Create a main objective
Start by creating your main objective and then use that to drill down to the additional content you need to meet it. Basically, your objectives are built on three critical questions.

• What needs to be learned?
• Who needs to learn it?
• What do they need to know before they can start?

What needs to be learned? What you teach should be linked to real performance. Essentially it’s all about what the learner is going to be able to DO with what they learn from the course. Avoid using words like “understand.” That’s not clear. Find the basis for understanding and then build your objective around that.

Here’s a common type of objective: Understand how to edit time cards.

This is vague because it is not aligned to a real measure. What does “understand” mean? A better objective is to state what the learner will be able to DO with the new information. If they understand something, how would you know it? Build a measurement around that.

Who needs to learn it? Who are your learners? Who is going to take the course? By including this in your objective you are able to qualify potential learners and tell your client who is being taught. Are they new employees? Managers? At this point you don’t need to do a full analysis of the learner. You only want to identify the audience for the course and what they’ll be able to do after completing it.

What do they need to know before they can start to learn? All elearning courses require some prerequisite understanding or experience. By identifying what that is, you avoid some assumptions about the learner. You can either require it prior to starting the course or you need to create the additional content to get the learner to the prerequisite level.

Think of it this way. I give you a map and tell you to go to Seattle. First you locate Seattle (your goal) and then you figure out where you’re at (prerequisite) so that you can chart your course. You can’t reach your goal, if you don’t know the starting point. In the same sense, it’s difficult to teach your learners without knowing where they’re at.

Once you have your main objective, you can start to drill down. What assumptions does your objective require you to make? Those assumptions become the foundation for your sub-objectives. Let’s look at the example below.

You know who is going to learn (front line managers), what they’ll learn (edit time cards), and what they need to know to learn it (ACME payroll system).

Editing time cards assumes that the learner knows how to use the ACME payroll system. Thus, if you want your learners to be successful at editing time cards, they need to know how to use the payroll system. So you can create another objective that includes learning to use the ACME payroll system. From there, the prerequisite might be that the person knows how to collect the time card data. Or perhaps they need to understand the company’s timecard policies.

The key is to continue to drill down and ask what the learner needs to know prior to learning this new information. At that point, you determine if you make it a requirement to take the course or if you’ll teach the additional content in your course. Once you have your objectives, you can begin to collect and sort your content to meet them.

You have a lot of latitude in how you write your objectives. You’re not stuck in any particular model. What’s critical is that the objective is performance-based and that who the learner is and what she needs to know prior to starting is clear.

By following the approach above, you’ll align your course objectives with the overarching goals. You’ll also communicate to your client what the course accomplishes. And your learners understand what’s in it for them. Once you have your learning objectives, you can begin to build the course.

Article courtesy:articulate.com/rapid-elearning

Blended learning is bunk: Informal learning the future

Jay Cross, the man who coined the term 'elearning', believes the web is revolutionising the way we learn. Not through the kind of elearning of the 1990s but via the explosion of online communities which effectively democratise the way we learn. Cross believes the era of traditional course-led training is coming to an end and that informal, social learning is the way forward.
Mike Levy interviews the guru of new learning approaches.

Jay Cross has been described as a visionary, world-renowned learning strategist and believes he is the man who first coined the term 'elearning' on the web. Now the California-based guru thinks that learning heaven has arrived in the shape of Web 2.0. The CEO of the Internet Time Corporation is currently writing a book on informal learning, which is his passion. Informal learning, says Cross, happens without any pre-set curriculum. "It is the way we learnt before schools were invented to fry our brains," he says.

Cross is angry about the way business is trapped by traditional forms of training and learning. He is enormously excited by Web 2.0 and its ability to put people in touch with one another so that they can learn in communities.

He bristles when the term 'management of learning' is used. "That means someone has decided what you should learn. Real learning happens when you have a need for it and when you are ready to do it." The man who thought of elearning on the web is scathing about the way computers have been used to offload knowledge on to people who haven't asked for it. "Informal learning happens spontaneously in response to a need. It occurs without any pre-planning or prescriptive menus."

Cross reserves his greatest derision for terms like 'blended learning'. "I don't believe in it – I think it is bull****. It is usually about blending what we already have. We should not be talking about blended learning. It arose when people were naïve enough to think that all learning could be done on computer. Blending adds very little to the way we learn."

Cross's vision of the future is one of 'un-conferencing' (one which is focused and run by participants) and where people are their own 'personal instructional designers'. Cross is working on ways to create an electronic meeting place where expertise, ideas and knowledge can be shared.

Cross says: "The question is not; which course do I go on? But of all the many options for learning, which one do I choose : do I work with an expert, do I want to find it on Google or talk to my friends in the pub, or social network? These are all valid ways of learning."

According to Cross, the power of Web 2.0 with its wikis, blogs and social networks is that people learn as they would through natural conversation and dialogue. This democratisation of learning does mean a perceived loss of control by those who control the training purse strings. Cross finds that many businesses are nervous about the power of informal learning. As he says: "I've been talking to a group of senior corporate executives who were worried about informal learning styles. 'Does it work?' they ask. 'Of course it does, how did you learn to talk, eat or walk'."

The promise of powerful new learning approaches via the web isn't something that fires the average company. Cross sighs, "Most corporations don't think about any kind of learning – all they are interested in is how much we can make in the next quarter. There is an incredible short-term focus in business. It is less so in Asia than in the UK and USA. I took a poll of organisations and half agreed with the statement: 'we are too concerned about the present to do anything about the future'. Three quarters of respondents said that 'if we continue with our present mode of learning and development, we will not be prepared for the future'. The sad thing is that the future is 10 minutes from now - we are far too reactive."

Cross's conversion to the web as a learning platform came more than 10 years ago. "When the web arrived, I thought, the world will not be the same from now on. I kept saying that the web would be the future of education. I was so excited at the new opportunities and became one of the very first bloggers." Cross took a week on a remote Caribbean island to think about what the web meant for the future of learning. He came back and founded Internet Time Group to explore the convergence of learning and communications technology. "Later I started to use the term 'elearning' and people looked at me like I was from another planet. But it started to catch on."

Cross believes that elearning has not lived up to its early promise: "My definition at the time was to create an environment where you were connected to other people and knowledge resources. Six months after we went public, everyone was selling elearning which often meant a helpline to a call-desk or downloading a book."

Even the forward-looking businesses can be slow at taking up these new learning opportunities. Cross points to the Intel Corporation who may be leading edge with their chips but their training department, he says, is totally old style. "They are, like many other businesses, worried about the unsupervised nature of democratised learning and their IT departments have many other priorities other than building online learning communities. Organisations I talk to say that informal learning is too much and we don't have time to think about the future."

To address this last objection, Cross has assembled a formidable team to create an IT platform, Togetherlearn.com, a template for businesses who wish to develop online learning communities tapping into all the Web 2.0 tools. "We had thought about giving this away but this means that business wouldn't take it seriously. We spend three days with the user of this service to make sure it is properly supported with community champions and make sure it is kept alive. That is vital to make online learning communities work well."

What of the role of trainers and coaches in the future. Cross is sanguine, "There will be a role but not necessarily what they are accustomed to. There will be coaches and mentors but the 'sage on the stage' – their days are numbered." His message is simple: with the web, we are all sages now.
Jay Cross is a keynote speaker at the Learning Technology Conference at Olympia in January.

Article courtesy: trainingzone.co.uk

How to cheat multiple-choice questions

An interesting pdf by Donald Clark which throws light on the assessment design of the MC questions.


Article courtesy:elearningnetwork.org

The rise and rise of elearning

Why has elearning seen such phenomenal growth over the past two decades? After starting out clunky and chunky, it has successfully adapted to meet today's business needs, says Chris Parr.

Traditionally, elearning was notorious for simply putting manuals online. In its infancy, elearning was characterised by a rather unintelligent 'just in case' usage, centred on a desktop computer. It had a very long way to come before it began to wow its audience.

So what changed? Nowadays, elearning is tuned much more to engaging the learner and providing a positive and rewarding environment. Modern day elearning allows the classroom to come alive. Lessons are packed with sights, sounds, quizzes and games.

A student in the elearning environment can now become part of the class through the interactive nature of online learning. Employees can not only learn but explore through visuals as well as text. It is also more accessible to international students, as it touches on all the senses, particularly sights and sounds.

Less chunky
Once presented in relatively large chunks, elearning in its early days did not help the learner to remember information. It did not motivate the learner to complete the course either. In fact, it had a negative effect on the learner, daunting them with the sheer amount of material they had to learn in a one-off session.

"Previously, elearning courses were designed for desktop computer use, confining the learners to the classroom. Now, after a long wait, elearning 'on the move' has arrived."

The popularity of elearning has grown because the learner is now placed at the heart of learning. And so they should be! The individual is ideally situated to know what they want to learn and in what format. To cater for the needs of the student, elearning materials have become available in smaller chunks, increasing the range of contexts in which content can be used. Elearners can digest the content more easily and with increased flexibility.

Let's start shaking things up!
The use of scenarios and games have also made elearning much more popular, allowing for experimentation and reflection, encouraging an environment in which mistakes are allowed. Why should learning be dull? Flexible material tailored to the learner allows for a non-threatening learning space, where students can progress at their own pace and can actually enjoy the experience.

More confident learners are produced, achieving the qualifications they truly deserve. Elearners with basic IT skills can also experience the world of online learning on fun, user-friendly
platforms.

Discover through elearning
In its early years elearning was presented as a 'tell and test' activity. Employees would be told the content that they must learn and then they would be tested. Learners were unable to discover new information: this was seen as a huge downfall!

The learner nowadays can be part of a 'try and see' process, where learning is presented as a route to discovery. This method is 100% more motivating as it builds on prior knowledge. Exploratory questions are provoked, therefore spurring on discussion between the learner and online tutor. This is just as it should be: active learning environments are places where questions should be asked and answered.

Elearning designers have cleverly introduced character simulations that engage the online learner in a social experience where a 'real person' guides the pedagogical delivery. These characters take on personality through their visual impact, choice of language and even voice. Given all the advances that gaming and social technologies have made in recent times, why shouldn't elearning incorporate some of these engaging and interesting components?

Beyond the classroom
Previously, elearning courses were designed for desktop computer use, confining the learners to the classroom. Now, after a long wait, elearning 'on the move' has arrived. Available on mobile, tablet-form computers, modern elearning caters for those employees that live life on the move.

Being able to use handheld technology, employees can dip in and out of their training whenever and wherever convenient. This supports the current lifestyle of today's learner. These days, most of us are permanently attached to our mobile phones and laptops, and are accustomed to accessing what we want, when we want it!

Elearning for the digital generation
The increased popularity of elearning has also come about because of a change in the types of materials presented. The digital natives of the 21st century seek blogs, discussion forums and web pages that allow them to initiate their own styles of learning. These online pages provoke thought and debate, allowing learners to explore their understanding.

With the use of network technologies to deliver and facilitate learning, 'anytime anywhere' learning is rapidly growing in today's business world. Elearning gives people the competitive edge to lift performance, raise standards and guarantee best practice. Ultimately it facilitates a modern and forward-thinking approach.

Article courtesy:trainingzone.co.uk

Informal learning

This topic interests me a lot and I found a lot of information while studying recently too. This article sheds more light on the topic which is still blurred for many people.

Informal learning - the next big thing?

Richard Straub explores the rise of informal learning in a culture of change, and considers the new tools and attitudes that will shape the future of learning.

IBM has a tradition of taking the pulse of many CEOs worldwide every other year. Earlier in 2008, more than 1,100 CEOs were interviewed about key challenges of the present and future. This study provides important insights into what keeps them awake at night.

Bombarded by change?

A key finding from this study was that the CEOs feel their organisations are bombarded by change and their ability to keep up is diminishing. The gap between expected change and the capacity to manage it has tripled since the 2006 CEO survey. On the other hand, the CEOs view more demanding and informed customers as an opportunity.

"Informal learning is currently at a tipping point – not of being 'formalised' but of becoming more effective, through the use of new ICT tools and capabilities."
Nearly all CEOs are changing and adapting their business models: two-thirds are implementing extensive innovations. The CEOs pinpoint market factors, people skills and technological factors as key drivers of change. More than 40% are changing their enterprise models to be more open and collaborative.

Challenges ahead

This tells us something about the challenges that the learning function is currently facing. L&D professionals are coping with change and enabling change by helping management and employees to learn in 'real time'. As we've known for a long time, most learning doesn't take place in formal settings (traditional education activities) but informally, on the job. This is happening at the level of individuals, teams and communities.

Learning in this context means dealing with new challenges, such as finding new answers to emerging customer requirements, adapting existing plans to new opportunities, improving process implementation based on real-time feedback from stakeholders, and exploring innovative business models.

Conscious v incidental learning

Some of this informal learning occurs between employees, and between employees and business partners, as well as clients. Some of it is incidental, so that those involved don't even notice they are learning, but an increasing amount of it is becoming conscious and deliberate, through embedding an active reflection element into the process.

"The new generation coming to the workplace (Generation Y) seem to have this 'learning mindset' in their DNA. Others will have to make a deliberate effort to overcome the protective and possessive attitudes of the past."

Informal learning is currently at a tipping point – not of being 'formalised' but of becoming more effective, through the use of new ICT tools and capabilities. The development of Web 2.0 has given us a set of tools and applications with the potential to radically increase the productivity of knowledge workers in our organisations by enhancing informal learning.

Web 2.0 has given us new ways to find experts who may help in particular situations, allowing us to tap their knowledge and experience. It provides new ways to create operational content in global virtual teams; share experiences from recent projects; and access knowledge from outside the enterprise through vertical peer-networks.

New openess required

But we need more than the mere tools to take advantage of these new opportunities. A new openness and an active learning mindset is required from management and employees. It is not enough to solve issues on a case-by-case basis and leave it there. It is becoming essential to reflect on what has been learned and what might be reused, added to and shared with others.

The new generation coming to the workplace (Generation Y) seem to have this 'learning mindset' in their DNA. Others will have to make a deliberate effort to overcome the protective and possessive attitudes of the past, where the aim was to keep knowledge to yourself because knowledge is power.

"We are on the threshold of a paradigm shift in learning. We have new learning environments and tools that enable us to access knowledge more effectively and to share and collaborate in better ways."

With these things, and an open mind that is keen to learn every day, we are starting to address the challenge that Peter F Drucker has set out for 21st century management: achieving a quantum leap in the productivity of knowledge work, similar to the productivity increase in manual work achieved in the 20th century.

Although I firmly believe that informal learning is becoming the 'next big thing' - enabled by Web 2.0 and new personal learning environments and fuelled by a new lifelong learning culture - traditional formal learning will continue to have its importance and will by no means disappear.

We will still need to learn concepts, methods, knowledge required for our profession, regulations for compliance, etc. This will be provided through formal approaches, some of it in the classroom, though the share of classroom work will further decrease. Meanwhile, the 'dark side of learning' (i.e., the less visible one) will become more apparent and will propel the productivity of knowledge to new levels.

Article courtesy:Trainingzone.co.uk

We don't need no education: A profile of the revolutionary Roger Schank

I found this article very interesting for the fact that it throws light on how to design effective learning modules in a subtle way.

Mike Levy interviews educational revolutionary Roger Schank, a world authority on learning theory, and finds that he hates courses, traditional teaching methods, oh, and old-style elearning as well...

Talking to Roger Schank can be exhausting. One of the world's leading figures in artificial intelligence, learning theory, cognitive science, and the building of virtual learning environments, he thinks and talks at broadband speed.

"I am currently doing three or four new things at the same time", he says with the customary enthusiasm of a grandchild with a new toy. The analogy is apt – one of Schank's latest ideas is the online product 'Grandparent Games'.

"My grandson is thousands of miles away from my home in Florida so I designed a set of fun interactive activities that helps kids learn to read, do math, history and geography." The learning comes out of the virtual conversation between a grandparent and child, it develops naturally.
Learning, says Schank, should be organic. "Whatever it is that interests him, I can turn into something else, something new to learn." Learning through 'conversation' and the harnessing of natural interest seems to be the core of Schank's learning philosophy.

Building meaningful and natural online learning comes naturally to this distinguished John Evans Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University. Traditional learning and training is one of Schank's bugbears. "The problem with school and the problem with training is the same: people are usually employed to tell you stuff. That is a waste of time - people just do not learn that way. The question is: how would you do it some other way?"

That other way, Schank believes, is through the same learning conversation that appeals so much to his three year-old grandson: "You learn by having someone help you talk through something – help you reflect, consider new things about the topic, offer challenges... A trainer should never be an imparter of information."

Schank's reasoning is based on a lifelong study of the learning process that has revealed that spoon-feeding information based on a pre-digested menu of trainer-led topics simply does not work. What we teach people by this old method is quickly forgotten. Why do we still do it then? "Because," says Schank, "we slavishly follow the methods designed by old universities to teach their next generation of professors. This is such a broken model."

Schank has a recent example to show his frustration with the old ways of learning. "I had a corporate client call me and ask for an online course in management accounting. I asked them, 'why would anyone possibly want a course in this subject?' They said, 'well it's very important for our people to learn management accounting.' Their people, it turned out, were guys who were going to be running a burger concession. I asked them if they would not prefer their people to learn how to run a burger bar? Of course, there will be financial issues that come up with the running of a burger bar but this isn't the end product." His end product was a long-running online simulation that taught people how to run a business, not just do the accounts.

Schank's point is that purchasers often do not fully understand what it is that their learners really need. They provide trainers (or the trainers offer) a prescribed menu of options which, thinks Schank, is usually more miss than hit. "People get caught up in designing courses", says Schank with more than a sneer in his voice. Courses, he thinks, maybe for horses but not for people. "Courses are designed to suit the teacher not the student. I am very happy to run a three-hour per week course for my undergraduate students. That may make their professor happy but it doesn't teach them anything." Yet the course-model is slavishly taken up by corporations, says Schank.

I ask if this is not a question of savvy trainers second-guessing what their clients need or providing a big enough menu of training courses. Surely one will be right? Schank dismisses this notion, "We have to re-orientate people – learning is not about a menu of courses that don't relate to each other. Learning has to be within the context of where we are and what we need." He also might add, 'what really interests us.'

Schank is fond of the learner driver analogy. "We don't teach learners the physics of the combustion engine – we get them behind a wheel and they learn by practice, and making mistakes." To Schank, making mistakes is an essential feature of learning. So is practice, and progress built through ever-more complex challenges to the learner. "You make things harder and harder".

Why are the old ways still well entrenched? Schank is sure about his answer: "We all went to school and remember how we were taught. Having a teacher-led set of courses seems the obvious way to do things. What we don't remember is that this archaic teaching method was designed for the elite of the elite of the elite – not for the ordinary person." In other words, we have been following a learning model designed to train professors of Latin or philosophy.

Yet Schank is equally damning of the modern computer-based course. "The corporate world is not getting the message. They are falling for the purveyor's line that ‘we have a great computer learning programme – just give us your content and we will stuff it in. What you get is elearning which I used to think was a good thing, but do not any longer. Putting a book on a computer is not any kind of advantage."

Isn't this the man that wrote 'Designing World Class E-Learning' though? Ahh, but here's the rub, there's a difference between just putting something on-line and calling it elearning and really making it work, he says.

"Elearning has not been done properly and has reverted to text sent to a person in a new way. I still like the idea in principle, of course - the revolution will not happen anywhere but on line."
Many years ago he devised some elearning which helped trainees deal with a large string of typical customer complaints for a British water company. The key, says Schank, is that they had real experiences and plenty of opportunities to practice (he actually is fond of repeating that word three times). Practising 'real' situations and giving people plenty of repeat situations, is the key to success.

"We have a lot of success with people practising skills in writing business plans and strategies. The important thing is to make it real and give opportunities for plenty of repetitions. That doesn't take a lot of computer memory – what is essential is that the trainee gets lots of online support and advice. It can all be on the web."

Schank's view of learning is that it is a journey and the trainers role is as guide and explorer. "What is the real outcome – and how do you teach people without telling them the answer?" In other words, training should be exciting, learner-led and at times, damned difficult. An exhausting thought.

Article from trainingzone.co.uk

Instructional designer's nightmare

Video courtesy: elearning network ( designers only group) - Clive Shepherd

M-learning

I found this article on m-learning pretty interesting. A conference I attended earlier on in the year highlighted mobile learning and successful case studies were also presented. This is an area I've always been interested in and have been keen to know how it all works.

Read this article and decide for yourself how suitable is m-learning within your organisation? Is it feasible for you to design keeping in mind m-learning.

http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=187317

Second Life

I've been hearing quite a bit about Second Life since sometime now. I do have a fair idea but not sure if I've fully understood it or how it aids in learning. There have been case studies and some great examples of the use of Second Life, recently at a meeting someone mentioned how an organisation used Second Life to implement a change and see if it worked and then would implement it organisation wide. So,I guess there is scope but till we fully grasp the essence it might be difficult to implement it or even put it into good practice.

Down below is a link which was posted on the eLearning Technology blog. It shows videos which aid in learning. An interesting insight. I read about it on the eLN and thought would share.

http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2008/06/second-life-learning-videos.html

Rapid E-learning

The recently attended eLN conference on Rapid Development(RD) - Dumbing down or Gearing up? was an interesting event all through. The event started off by an hour discussion by Clive Shepherd on RD and an exercise of what should be important when designing content in a rapid way.

Case studies of successful implementation of rapid development were presented by Nick Shackleton-Jones from BBC, Benjamin Short from PWC and Hanif Sazen from Safforn Interactive. They shared best practices and few methods and points to remember. The important tips mentioned included deciding the structure of the course/ module/ program, a well planned project sheet, working out the format & quality and having a clearer picture of the process.

Steve Rayson from Kineo talked about the most commonly used tools which were - Mohive, Atlantic Link,Breeze, Lectora, Flash, Captivate and Articulate. He also mentioned that there were many tools being developed every minute and any tool can be used to create content depending on the availability and requirement. This was followed by a healthy debate - the motion before the conference was " We believe that rapid design and development processes represent as much a threat to the eLearning community as they do an opportunity." Arguing against the motion were Steve Rayson and Mike Alcock. Arguing for were Phil Green and Richard Naish. The debate culminated with the delegates votes and it went in favour of against the motion.

A fascinating argument throughout the day was that for rapid development you don't always require IDs, the SME is equally efficient and sometimes even better. A point, which concerned me.

Finally the icing on the cake was a pre recorded webcam conversation with Tom Kuhlmaan followed by a live interview. He discussed how rapid development is gaining importance and the success of his blog amongst many other topics. The point worth considering was his mention to be cautious that the e-learning community doesn't become an elitest group but a group which mingles with the other processes of creating effective learning.

My conclusion: RD is definitely useful for creating certain content and in certain situations however it is not an answer for all e-learning. SME's are very important people in driving the project forward but to say that an ID is not necessary is a point I would have liked to seek some more clarification into.

Learning and Skills Group conference

The follow up conference by Learning and Skills Group held on 30th May was brilliant. It focussed on topics I was interested in and could relate to. The conference was held in an unconventional style with following sessions:

Speaker sessions
Café sessions
Practical workshops
Theoretical workshops
Interest groups

I attended 1 speaker session on 'Appropriate mechanisms for peak performance' by Jonathan Kettleborough , 2 café sessions ( Creating and designing effective e-learning by Patrick Dunn) (The role of the brain in learning with technology by Tamas Makany) and 1 Practical workshop on Association- episodic instructional design by Neil Lasher). Very interesting examples and ideas were discussed, some thrown at us to have a play with. The speaker session was interactive as well.

I enjoyed the conference which again provided me an opportunity to network, discuss and share ideas.

Elearning event

Today was indeed a day well spent. I just got back from an eLearningNetwork event on "building learning communities".

The speakers had the experience of building learning communities and maintaining the same. The event was focussed on the importance of having a learning community and many spoke of how it can be achieved.

Case studies were presented by the Royal Carribean Cruise ( training team), National College for School Leadership,Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London Gifted and Talented, Barry Sampson and the event closed with an interview of Laura Overton.

I agree to the importance of having a learning community but am much too aware of the issues involved in implementing it. Another hurdle will be to keep the community live and going. The community will work very well in organisations focusing on learning or imparting learning in any way but to get it started elsewhere will be a challenge. However, I shall try and do my bit and only time will tell how successful I've been.

Any comments/ discussions more than welcome.

Second time- lucky, woohoo!!

I had heard that you normally don't get lucky the second time or rather don't get things better the second time. Well, at least for me it was proved wrong at the 2nd and last day of the conference.

I totally loved it and the speakers ( to name a few) Jane Hart, Clive Shepherd, Nigel Paine, Dr. Ltiel Dror were just as good as yesterday. The topics covered today were all too 'cool' ( not a term I would have chosen to use, but then it's my blog.....)

All good things must come to an end, sadly........but I just hope this is a beginning to many more good events in learning.

I wish I get to attend next year too.

My 1st Conference

What can I say about today! It was 1 of the best days of my life- attended a conference for the first time. It was learning technologies 2008. It was an awesome experience and listening to some of the e-learning experts like Jay Cross, Patrick Dunn, talk made it all the more special for me.
I even had the opportunity to have a brief chat with a very famous e-learning guru who had flown in from the U.S.