YOU, THE BUYER

PART THREE — “The A/V Review”

Confucius is credited with the following:

“I HEAR AND I FORGET,
I SEE AND I REMEMBER,
I DO AND I UNDERSTAND.”

So it is with modern media training. While the “doing” is mostly vicarious, the learning results are close to ideal.

That is, if the programs you are evaluating for purchase have the right mix of audio and visuals — with a minimum emphasis on the written word. (And, as I’m sure you know by now, the written word will mostly fail to communicate with half of your workforce.)

Let’s start with audio since in today’s e-Learning world it is the most important. The operative phrase is, “OPTIONAL full word-for-word audio!” Optional so that fluent readers can turn the audio off and move forward at their own learning pace. However, for the half of your learners who do not learn well from reading, they will not be cheated if you require a full word-for-word audio track in any media training programs you buy.

The visual side of e-Learning is a little tricky. So many organizations and corporations either do not have big enough “pipes” to effectively pass compressed video or the IT people do not want compressed video gumming up the works.

So, you’re looking for animations, simulated video, brilliantly designed graphics or stills in order to convey the “doing” part of the training.

All of this is designed to facilitate that “do.” It’s what we mean when we discuss effective skills training. Education may teach us theory, facts, opinions and intellectual understanding. Training makes it possible for us to do things better and to acquire new skills.

As Thomas Jefferson once said, “What we learn to do, we learn by doing.”