Although the article, “Simulations: The Next Generation of E-Learning” by Sarah Boehle is more than a decade old, many of her observations are still relevant today. While there is no hard research to prove the following quotes, logic will tell us that, in spite of the shaky percentages used, for most learners her conclusions are probably accurate: “ . . . The experts generally agree that simulations boost learning retention rates dramatically. ...
Too many people have forgotten the goals of “Skills Training.” Information transferal has begun to blur the lines. And unfortunately, the real losers will be those workers who need to learn the necessary skills their organizations require. The distinction between Education and Training has been clear for centuries. While “Education” is difficult to pin down, generally, the accepted definition revolves around the acquiring of Knowledge for one of a variety of purposes. ...
“Protecting academic freedom is the AAUP’s core mission. Academic freedom is the indispensable requisite for unfettered teaching and research in institutions of higher education. As the academic community’s core policy document states, “institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free...
“PROBLEM-SOLVING IS A UNIVERSAL JOB SKILL THAT APPLIES TO ANY POSITION AND EVERY INDUSTRY. WHILE EVERYONE IS TASKED WITH SOME FORM OF PROBLEM-SOLVING IN THEIR WORKPLACE, NOT ALL EMPLOYEES ARE GOOD AT IT.” (from “What are problem-solving skills and why are they important?” in CareerBuilder) So much for the general description. Let’s look at the issue from an industrial skills training point-of-view. The ultimate test for instrument technicians, electricians and electronic technicians,...
“A learning objective should describe what students should know or be able to do at the end of the course that they couldn’t do before. Learning objectives should be about student performance. Good learning objectives shouldn’t be too abstract (“the students will understand what good literature is”); too narrow (“the students will know what a ground is”); or be restricted to lower-level cognitive skills (“the students will be able to name the...
Today’s post is going to focus on a new concept in public school education that, actually in many ways, reflects much of what we have been advocating for almost a decade. Burying the old “lecture/reading/testing” model will liberate many more learning possibilities. Emphasizing collaborative learning and project-based learning will open doors for so many of our young people. And, while I have also emphasized multi-media instruction as well as bite-sized learning on-demand,...
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” (Malcolm X) Yes, the word “Education,” like the word “Peace,” conjures up a positive response in our minds. Yet, I would maintain that, today, higher education is destructively flawed. American colleges and universities are no longer as dedicated to the liberation and development of human potential. They are no longer as interested in challenging the...
Media-based online training has the potential to change the world of learning. And, we should all look forward to the impending fall of the wall between business and education. That wall has separated the two sectors for many years, but the pressure of global economic competition is leading many to plan for that barrier’s demise. The historical separation between business and that sector of the educational system responsible for the 75% or...
Imagine my surprise when I recently read a long-established training vendor’s new press release. Omitting the organization’s name, I’m going to quote from the release: “(Company X) conducted a survey of its clients to determine the effectiveness of online training. Comparing over 100,000 pre- and post-test scores, (Company X) found that clients using (Company X’s) courses significantly increased their trainees’ technical and safety knowledge. After reviewing the tests results from a large...
A couple of weeks ago, I discovered one of the more interesting articles I’ve read this year. Marilynne Robinson’s essay in the current issue of the “The New York Review of Books” is drawn from her new book, What Are We Doing Here?. which will be published in February. Robinson is an American novelist and essayist and has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, the 2012 National...
In previous posts, I have listed the salient features that are most often found within effective e-Learning designs. I have, also, emphasized learner-control and increased retention as important goals of properly designed e-Learning. Now, let’s look at the other side —- the e-Learning design elements you should avoid when buying or producing e-Learning. The following items are some of the “no-no’s” to avoid when committed to improved on-the-job performance and retention. Unfortunately,...
Why is Education So Important in Our Life? “It helps us build opinions and have points of view on things in life. People debate over the subject of whether education is the only thing that gives knowledge. Some say education is the process of gaining information about the surrounding world while knowledge is something very different. They are right.” (by Kafoumba Doumbia, Columbia University EdLab BLOG) Skill acquisition is important to a...
Those organizations that desire to get the most out of their training initiatives will routinely begin with an appropriate Skills Assessment! Unfortunately, few organizations commit to that practice — and, that is to their detriment. If you don’t start every training initiative with a valid skills assessment, you are seriously wasting your organization’s money. Some of the trainees you are forcing into a “one size fits all” training approach, already possess many...
No one wants to spend money on training! That’s not a purchasing decision that is very popular with corporate management. Why should it be? Shouldn’t the company’s workforce already be equipped with the necessary skills — ready to perform their assigned tasks? So why, then, do you have to develop or purchase training programs for your workforce? The answer is not very complicated. We only purchase training programs when we want to...