The Power of ‘Single-Minded Focus’

Training Challenge Number Four: “The failure to provide focused e-learning that is designed to meet the learning culture of the twenty-first century”

The first thing we must acknowledge is the amount of garbage being disseminated today under the guise of e-learning. Page-turner programs, PowerPoint presentations and reconstituted written procedures all do much more harm than good. In fact, they almost totally ignore most modern workers and their needs. They lack the winning focus – an emphasis on the user of today and their attendant twenty-first century learning environment.

E-learning does indeed offer the most comprehensive educational and training tools the world has ever known. If applications producers treat the Internet (both inside and outside the firewall) as another communication tool that can deliver effective learning – learning, incidentally, which also happens to be multi-sensory, measurable, and more consistent – then, “The Learner” will win without being sacrificed on the altar of technological whim.

“Single-Minded Focus” is a phrase that exemplifies successful individuals. Our single-minded focus must be on the user. It cannot be on the technology. If our users learn, we win. If our programming fails to work because of antiquated infrastructure, we lose. If our programs reach effectively to those many individuals who do not “learn by reading,” we win. If we reach only those individuals who are fluent readers, we lose. Our single-minded focus must be directed toward the many – and, variety of – users we encounter.

— Bill Walton, Founder of ITC Learning
bwalton@itclearning.com

“AMERICA WILL CONTINUE TO BE BUILT BY THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”