THE LEARNING WORLD MOVES ON
July 20, 2016
There’s a long standing definition of an academic lecture that goes something like this, “That which passes from the notes of the professor to the notes of the student without engaging the minds of either one.”
If one listens to opinion-radio or watches the opinion-cable news networks one might restate that definition this way: “That which passes from the mouth of one person to the ears of another without engaging the minds of either one.”
So it is with e-Learning today. Those organizations that continue to transport PowerPoint presentations and written procedures into an e-Learning environment are guaranteeing that few minds will be engaged.
Consequently, precious little learning will occur.
Rather, the workforce will be bored, disinterested and, worse of all, will not complete the lessons you have assigned.
Statistically, more than 75% of e-Learning lessons rooted in the written word are never completed. And, why?
We live in a visual media culture today. Smartphones, tablets, computers and television are as much a part of the learning culture in our twenty-first century world as magazines, newspapers and books were a half century ago.
Yet, too often today, the decisions regarding e-Learning are made by an organization’s leaders who, themselves, are often unaware of the learning culture evolution and the power behind well designed visual media instruction.
Since more than 40% of our workforce does not comprehend anything written above a 4th grade reading level, throwing reconstituted PowerPoint and written procedures at those individuals is destined for failure.
Video, graphic animations, optional full audio, music and sound effects are the necessary components of effective e-Learning.
And, the results are, often, even greater than they were in the days of that older learning culture — the one that dominated when I was a kid.
More on Monday – – –
— Bill Walton, co-Founder, ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Mondays & Wednesdays)