RE-TRAINING: THE BETTER WAY
July 8, 2013
There are close to fifty tax-supported job training programs administered by nine different agencies in the federal government — and, yet, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has acknowledged that “little is known about the effectiveness” of the programs because half haven’t had a recent performance review.
Economists generally agree that a well-educated and skilled workforce is one of the key factors in economic growth. While nearly one quarter of the American population is over the age of 55, the key statistic lies in the projected increase of workers over 55, which is expected to increase by more than a third in the next five years.
Surely we all regard this development as positive — don’t we?!?
I have lived long enough to have seen this story before. “Re-Train America,” “Workforce Development,” and “Welfare-to-Work” training programs have been taxpayer funded for decades. All well intentioned. All with minimal positive results.
Why?
Because the same old textbooks, workbooks, written procedures — augmented with a few lectures — have been thrown at the problem. And, that hasn’t worked before. And, it isn’t likely to work now.
Today’s learning culture, for most of us, centers around the television screen and the computer/cellphone/tablet screens. And, that means full motion video and audio plus the animations associated with gaming.
Why must so many of us look, myopically, back to our own education and training as “the only way there is?” Why have we made our worlds so small that our own ability to embrace new possibility is so self-limiting?
New worlds of learning opportunity are out there. They’re just not traditional any more. And that, as I’ve pointed out in previous blogs, is because our new learning culture has already embraced additional paths for knowledge and skills acquisition that the “lecture/reading” crowd can no longer begin to imagine.
Bodies age but your minds and imagination can continue to stay young as long as your physical health allows.
Let’s start getting “more bang for our bucks” with these tax-supported re-training programs! “Re-train Americans” in their own learning preferences — full motion video and gaming!
More on Wednesday – – –
— Bill Walton, Founder
ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog// (Mondays & Wednesdays)
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com
“ THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN ”