Whether in everyday life or in a corporate environment, learning is an ongoing process. For knowledge workers, much of it happens online; in structured contexts, all of it happens online (or at a computer). Perhaps because so much of our work is done online, “learning” and “productivity” today are closely linked ideas. Many tools can be called learning tools or productivity tools, almost interchangeably.
What learning theories mean (in plain English)
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Any e-learning courseware designer knows about Bloom’s Taxonomy of the cognitive domain. (There are two other domains, which not everyone is aware of!) The taxonomy works as a theory that can directly be applied to e-learning. Others theories, like Multiple Intelligences, can be used to promote (or discourage) this or that learning system. Broader theories—like Humanism—look at people and learning in all their complexity, trying to arrive at How to Teach People.
Taking a conceptual look at the idea of "Social Learning", a string of ideas is apparent. Ease of access to information means that more people are on the network, and that information exists in more locations. This in turn causes more people to access information. At the next level: there is more interaction between people, and also, people and information have begun to interact. This in turn causes people to interact more with each other.
All this points to the concept of acceleration.
The value of training often needs to be declared in monetary terms before a programme begins. The value might need to be demonstrated after the training ends. Various members of an organisation—the training manager, upper management, the HR people, and others—can have different ideas about the ROI.
Given that there are many points of view, ROI in training can become a convoluted topic. What happens when we try to keep it simple?
Knowledge workers deal with larger amounts of information every year, and avenues of knowledge dissemination increase at a similar rate. The knowledge manager needs to ask more and more often: Is my training programme working? And, further: Are my training costs justified? Do I need to adopt a new training paradigm? I can’t retain all my employees, but can I retain their working knowledge?
This two-part white paper explores some possibilities and ideas in creating MCQs. In Part I, we look at:
This part of this white paper explores: