E-Learning : If it doesn't work - continue!

E-Learning is by definition of it's flexibility and ease of acces, is seen as a major enabler for lifelong learning in the 21st century especially among SMEs, which account for around 99% of all businesses and employ over 70 million in Europe alone.

E-Learning is surely not unknown to almost everyone, although recent studies carried out in Europe have shown that it has had little or no impact on SMEs in Europe due to several reasons, including the lack of planning of a training in culture in the majority of cases, attitudes of senior management to E-Learning and technical problems such as ba

ndwidth limitations in some areas.

On one hand we have ideas of technology being embraced as THE way forward for training and learning and on the other an almost complete disregard of individual learning goals, aims and objectives. 

Broadly put, E-Learning is a nice buzz word that sounds modern, technological and convenient but the outcomes are often debatable. 

Senior trainers must remember the nervous flutter in the stomach at the advent of the CDROM - The trainer is dead, long live the trainer. 

Broadcast statements were uttered as to how the CDROM based learning would replace trainers. A similar opinion was (is still, in some cases) spouted about E-Learning - how easy it is to learn on-the-go, cutting down on absenteeism and travelling expenses as people would no longer have to leave home or the office to attend training and learning events.

What has often been underestimated is the need for self-direction in learni

ng that E-Learning can surely encourage - if it is already a feature of the learner's make-up. E-Learning does n

ot create self-direction, it often stifles it in place of reliance on the content.

Yes, it can in some cases capitalise on down-time and it can be carried out in the time that the learner travels to the seminar. 

However, we can't guarantee that this will be the case and it is often that a learner partakes of E-Learning when they have nothing better to do but not necessarily at their peak-learning period. 

How can we explain the dramatic drop-out rates from E-Learning courses? 

The courses that are established with the best will in the world but gradually peeter out in time? 

Learning must be perceived to be useful in order for any learning to occur, it cannot be used as a stop-gap to eat up lost time. 

It must be attractive in order to attract learners and must also provide opportunities for 'success' and not failure or Game Over! 

The materials must be pertinent, realistic, authentic and answer a real need whilst remaining thought provoking and engaging in order to foster active learning. 

Modules must be set-up to guide learners and help them to track their progress and to help them to objectively self-evaluate their progress and to continuously improve learning experiences and outcomes.

E-Learning, in all but some isolated cases, cannot be seen as a stand-alone entity. 

Effective E-Learning must be well situated within a structure and more importantly, within a blend whilst enabling knowledge sharing, collaborative learning and teaming.

E-Learning cannot be deployed as a famous fast-food hamburger - Cheap, Quick, Convenient as it is not always appropriate ---- but we will also see the bad effects of the "snacking-learning" culture in years to come.

E-Learning need not be all-singing, all-dancing, bells and whistles if it doesn't address real learning needs - but often this is the case.

Perhaps this accounts for the volume of 'e-drop-outs' in companies today and the vast ammonts of money wasted on E-Learning packages that ammount to little more than a standard bookcase of content online.

What do you think?

Do you have experiences of E-Learning that you would like to share?

Lined paper - the n° 1 memory killer?

Ever used Mindmaps? Know what they can be used for? Ever heard of Mindmaps?

Mindmpas are a great tool for quick and dirty brainstorming, especially when faced with complex problems to solve that may present several solutions at the outset and even more as you go through the thought process.

Mindmaps can be used for as many tasks as you want - from brainstorming problems and isseus right down to improving memory.

You know the scene, language learners who scrabble to write down gems of information as they cascade from a learning session - anything from individual words to idiomatic expressions. All thrown into a basket of crabs that is a notepad. Some put translations into their own language - Table = Table (french & English although the spelling doesn't show that straight away). When the learner needs to use the word / expression, the first thing that comes to mind is the translation that they wrote in their own language - if they are lucky they may then, after a lapse of time, find the translation into English but all hope of any spontaneity have flown rapidly out of the window.

So back to the scene - a list of random and unconnected words / expressions taken down as they occur. If the learner is 'organised' they will then write them up again (good for the memory for visual learners? - maybe). I often ask learners how they have worked since the last sesion / seminar and 99% state that they have worked on or revised their vocab that they have learnt - great! or maybe not.

If I were a real sceptic, I could think that their 'revision' ammounted to little more than reading through an unconnected and often disconnected array of random words that held little meaning at the time they were written down, and after a couple of days (or more) mean even less that when they were written.

Luckily I am not a sceptic and my optimism is illustrated in my belief that everyone finds their own way (sooner or later).

How about trying something different - if you aren't already converted to Mindmapping?

Using visuals, space and connected ideas that stimulate discovery and stay organic, unlike the 20 or so lines on a sheet of A4.

Often learners can explain how idustrial textiles are made, how an aeroplane cockpit is put together, how SAP is deployed in a company and what purpose it serves. Get them around a table talking about their likes and dislikes can pose a few more stumbling blocks, get them suggesting and recommending food and wine to their foreign colleagues and .........

The simple ways are often the best - try taking a food catalogue (Internet or otherwise) cut out the cuts of meat and vegetables etc. and start a Mindmap:

Meat - Cuts

Poultry - Types

Ways of cooking - steamed, fried, grilled, etc.

Fruit etc. etc.

the simple act of finding the picture, cutting them out and arranging them on a Mindmap gives a strong underpinning to the memory - then the 'revision' will have a lot more meaning and will be active!

Here are a couple of examples - you are only limited by your imagination and the application that you want to use the Mindmaps for.

If you use Mindmaps - How do you use them and what for?