Language is the ultimate instructional technology
There are many simple truths that seem to have escaped the radar screen of instructional designers and HR people:
A (poetically inclined) author once wrote: ''A subtle conversation, that is the Garden of Eden.''
Unfortunately, learning is not very subtle today. Knowledge is, more often than not, treated as an object to be 'managed' (hence, the term 'knowledge management').
And learning is treated as a process to be made as efficient as possible through technologies. Hence, the term 'e-learning.' There is so much industry-generated hype about e-learning that people often forget that true learning is not electronic, but verbal: the best learning occurs when two people are talking to one another, honestly and frankly and with utmost respect for the other person's reception and interpretation of the message.
This is not a new finding. As kids, we learned the most important things from our parents: how to behave, how to be disciplined (and why it's important), how to work hard, how to respect other people, etc.
Trust, bonding, mutual respect, etc. are all important aspects of learning important things. Yet they are mostly absent from most e-learning applications and programs.
E-learning should be called for what it is: e-transfer of information.
Learning is something else. It is the acquisition of knowledge, and knowledge is the ''capacity for effective action.'' (According to Peter Senge).
The highest form of learning occurs as a conversation between a master and an apprentice (very much like a Jedi master and his Padawan).
When the conditions are perfectly right -- for example, when a master senses that the timing is right to transfer a specific and incredibly important piece of knowledge, and when a learner is faced with a situation that completely bewilders him and is therefore most open to masterly guidance -- language becomes the ultimate and most effective means of teaching.
But this requires that the master be not only a master of technique, but also a master of words, so he can properly convey, in the minimum amount of words, the maximum amount of wisdom (which, hopefully, should last during the entire lifetime of the apprentice).
Unfortunately, such masters have become a rarity in today's society.
We have lost much of our language skills, and perhaps the consequence is that we teach the young with less effectiveness at a time in history when the dangers are many and the threats keep multiplying. Equally alarming is the fact that we respect language and words less and less, in today's image-driven world of 24-hours-a-day news on TV, the Web, etc.
Perhaps a solution would be to provide opportunities for people to rediscover the magic of words and the transforming power of language, when used skillfully, as in story-telling.
- Learning is so important today that it MUST happen as often as possible.
- This means that learning must be designed around an activity or human capability that people do naturally and can do well while deriving pleasure from it.
A (poetically inclined) author once wrote: ''A subtle conversation, that is the Garden of Eden.''
Unfortunately, learning is not very subtle today. Knowledge is, more often than not, treated as an object to be 'managed' (hence, the term 'knowledge management').
And learning is treated as a process to be made as efficient as possible through technologies. Hence, the term 'e-learning.' There is so much industry-generated hype about e-learning that people often forget that true learning is not electronic, but verbal: the best learning occurs when two people are talking to one another, honestly and frankly and with utmost respect for the other person's reception and interpretation of the message.
This is not a new finding. As kids, we learned the most important things from our parents: how to behave, how to be disciplined (and why it's important), how to work hard, how to respect other people, etc.
Trust, bonding, mutual respect, etc. are all important aspects of learning important things. Yet they are mostly absent from most e-learning applications and programs.
E-learning should be called for what it is: e-transfer of information.
Learning is something else. It is the acquisition of knowledge, and knowledge is the ''capacity for effective action.'' (According to Peter Senge).
The highest form of learning occurs as a conversation between a master and an apprentice (very much like a Jedi master and his Padawan).
When the conditions are perfectly right -- for example, when a master senses that the timing is right to transfer a specific and incredibly important piece of knowledge, and when a learner is faced with a situation that completely bewilders him and is therefore most open to masterly guidance -- language becomes the ultimate and most effective means of teaching.
But this requires that the master be not only a master of technique, but also a master of words, so he can properly convey, in the minimum amount of words, the maximum amount of wisdom (which, hopefully, should last during the entire lifetime of the apprentice).
Unfortunately, such masters have become a rarity in today's society.
We have lost much of our language skills, and perhaps the consequence is that we teach the young with less effectiveness at a time in history when the dangers are many and the threats keep multiplying. Equally alarming is the fact that we respect language and words less and less, in today's image-driven world of 24-hours-a-day news on TV, the Web, etc.
Perhaps a solution would be to provide opportunities for people to rediscover the magic of words and the transforming power of language, when used skillfully, as in story-telling.
posted by Super Peter at 11:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home