Learners: Adjusting expectations about learning events
Amid all of the subtle changes and additional work piled on the instructor, take a moment to sympathize with learners facing these challenges: unfamiliar technology, a new learning paradigm that pushes them out of their comfort zone, and management that fails to appreciate the benefits of Learning 2.0. At best you can assume a passing familiarity with the technological tools you are asking your learners to use.
There will be hesitation and uncertainty, even from younger learners. While they are familiar with some Web 2.0 tools, do not assume any kind of proficiency in an educational setting. Their former teachers and schools are also struggling with how to integrate these new tools. In addition to intimidating technology, we are asking learners to participate in a classroom very different from the one most familiar to them. Stepping out of that comfort zone is a clear breach of one of the basic adult learning principles.
Adults learn best in a safe, inclusive, comfortable environment that accommodates different levels of self-direction, and in which their opinions are respected, their learning has practical applications, and there are opportunities to share experiences. Learning 2.0 addresses many of these requirements, some better than a traditional classroom. Clearly, Learning 2.0 facilitates different levels of self-direction better than traditional classrooms. Supporting inclusiveness is fundamental to Web 2.0. And sharing experiences is straightforward and relatively easy in the multi-channel Learning 2.0 environment. But the unfamiliar Learning 2.0 experience can be threatening, and not just to the technology-adverse. Interacting with other learners via blog, for instance, will not be comfortable for learners unless they already have experience blogging.
These technical challenges are just half the battle. As we have discussed, Learning 2.0 is more than tools and technologies – it is as much about attitudes and about expectations, the latter being the very thing you need to set and regularly revisit with your learners. Be sure to discuss the expectations of the coursework early and often. Unfortunately, learners have been subjected to passive classes for so long they will need constant reminders to participate. Start slow, with carefully designed guided exercises to introduce the technology first and the information later. Remember Hersey-Blanchard's categories and scaffold accordingly! Learners must have at least a passing level of comfort with the tools and the expectations before they can begin to learn the concepts or skills. Build their comfort level, and before long they will be learning without realizing they are learning.
The other part of the adult learner equation is management. As much as we need to communicate the new expectations of Learning 2.0 to our learners, we must spend equal time educating managers on the expectations and benefits of this new learning style. Managers are accustomed to losing a day or two of productivity when sending their people to training. As formal course time is shrinking, managers need to expect the frequency of work interruptions to increase even though the duration is decreasing. Managers must appreciate the advantages of learners staying engaged with the topic longer. Workers may be back at their desks, but the learning continues. It is up to us to communicate this value to managers.
Here’s an example: a week after her training class, Manager X discovers Josephine Learner reading a blog entry from a fellow classmate about the technique discussed in class. Will Manager X be supportive? Or will Manager X instead feel Josephine Learner is wasting her time and should “get back to work”? What if Jo Learner was reading an e-mail with the same content? Would this be more acceptable? The effect is essentially the same, except the conversation can ensue in a public forum that is searchable and accessible.
We must educate the Manager X types about the benefits of continuous learning to the business as a whole, and we must help them understand that frequent practice of new skills is the key to changing behavior. Better yet, incorporate Learning 2.0 into your management development programs – let managers encounter the power of Learning 2.0 for themselves and create advocates for this new way of learning. The best way for managers to understand the power of Learning 2.0 is to experience it first-hand.
Putting it all in practice
Let’s tie all of this together with a real-world case illustrating how this shift in instructional paradigms plays out for all three groups. This is about a course designed to expose trainers to various Web 2.0 tools and encourage thinking about how to incorporate those tools into learning events.
Over nine weeks, learners meet once a week for one hour via teleconference. (It could be via Web conferencing tool, but let’s keep one foot in the 20th century for now.)
- Prior to the start of each weekly session, the instructor writes an entry on his blog to focus discussion on the tool.
- He then reads the participants’ blogs, leaving comments to encourage or correct as needed.
- He also spends some time searching the Web for any changes or new information about the tool to be discussed in the upcoming session.
During the first part of each one-hour session, the class reviews the content covered in the previous session and discusses the previous week’s blog entries. The instructor invites participation from the Level 2 and Level 3 learners.
The second half of the session is devoted to the next tool. The instructor covers the basics, providing both a framework of knowledge and links to additional information to flesh out that framework.
- The instructor provides detailed instruction on processes or procedures as needed.
- The learners start to provide the context during the discussion.
- The session ends with the standard assignment: actively use a Web 2.0 tool, blog about their experience with the tool, continue the context discussion in their blog, and post comments on at least two classmates’ blogs.
The blogs and comments continue the discussion beyond the teleconference, enriching the conversation.
- The instructor is able to gauge participation and check for confusion with a review of the weekly blog posts.
- With the learners’ managers aware of the format of the course, the learners are expected to spend some of their work day thinking about the new tools and how to apply them to their current projects or courses. This practice, along with the workplace context, is important to facilitate transfer to long-term memory.
- The blog posts and comments provide cognitive rehearsal and reinforcement. The learners are opening themselves to a check for understanding and remediation, either from the instructor or from the Level 4 learners who are picking up on the new content quickly.
Conclusion
Learning 2.0 may be a fancy and nearly overused buzzword right now. But the maturity of the technologies, the evolving business environment, and the embracing of the read/write/share mind-set by users everywhere creates a moment of acceptance for this new instructional model. The Learning 2.0 value proposition is compelling: pervasive learning, a shorter path to the content, utilizing the multiplier effect of technology, and low-profile support needs. Designers, instructors and learners will all encounter novel experiences which will challenge them and stretch their abilities. But with some patience, a little bit of skill, and lots and lots of communication, Learning 2.0 offers genuine benefits to all of us.
References
Gartner’s Hype Cycle. Understanding Hype Cycles. Retrieved July 6, 2009 from http://www.gartner.com/pages/story.php.id.8795.s.8.jsp .
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2000) The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. London: Little, Brown and Company.
Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth. (2007) Management of Organizational Behavior (9th Edition). New York: Prentice-Hall. (For a summary, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hersey-Blanchard_situational_theory )
Heuer, Barbara P. and King, Kathleen P. "Leading the Band: The Role of the Instructor in Online Learning for Educators," The Journal of Interactive Online Learning, Volume 3, Number 1, Summer 2004, http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/PDF/3.1.5.pdf.
O’Reilly, Tim. (2005) “What is Web 2.0?” http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-Web-20.html.
