Learning & Development Best Practices Archives

Context is Crucial to Learning

Posted on June 26, 2015June 26, 2015 by Joanne Deitsch

Kurhan (2010)

“We should make context choices first to stimulate learning motivation and second to assist learners in transferring their newly learned knowledge and skills to real-world tasks” (Allen, 2003, p. 198).

I had the pleasure to tour the simulation lab at USciences in Philadelphia during a recent PADLA meeting (padla.org). These labs are used to train and assess physicians during the course of their training. If you are expecting a traditional classroom, think again! The designers of this space probably don’t know Michael Allen but they definitely took his advice!

Below are pictures of simulated patients that are available for treatment: one in an ER setting, one delivering a baby and another that simulates lung and heart sounds. Click here to see even more photos of these labs in action. All of these patients help learners properly diagnose and treat patients in an environment were the only potential adverse outcome is grade related.

I felt like I was at my doctor’s office during the tour which, of course, is the entire point! The pictures really could not capture:

The spaciousness and high quality lighting of the learning spaces
The command center that controls the simulated patients well-being (or lack thereof!)
The video and audio pick-ups that allow instructors to assess their learner’s performance without being in the same room with them

The planners at USciences did an amazing job ensuring that the context provided to future physicians will properly prepare them for a smoother transition to the realities of their future workplace. Context is crucial to learning! What do you think?

REFERENCES

Allen, M. W. (2003). Michael Allen’s guide to e-learning. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Kurhan. (2010). Stock photo: Medical Doctor. Retrieved from http://www.freeimages.com/browse.phtml?f=view&id=1314903

Learning Success Redefined

Posted on April 10, 2015April 10, 2015 by Joanne Deitsch

“As one might expect, aligning training initiatives with strategic business initiatives is imperative” (Berge & Donaldson, 2008). This brought me back to Wick, Pollock, and Jefferson (2010) who write that “Business leaders want learning professionals…who understand their specific business, who can clearly and succinctly explain the business model of their company or division and its more important business drivers and challenges” (p. 31).

6Ds encompasses a set of tools and philosophy of partnering with business subject matter experts to develop effective learning solutions (Wick et al., 2010). 6Ds to me is like ADDIE on steroids. You are defining not just the learning solution. You are articulating the concrete outcomes that the business expects as well as how improved performance as part of participation will be measured (Wick et al., 2010). 6Ds also redefines participation to include not just the design/delivery of events or courses but also what should happen prior to and afterwards (Wick et al., 2010). Prior to participation in the training, we need involve the learner’s management and the learner’s themselves to set the stage for success. Afterward, we need to provide performance support tools to help learners take the training out of the classroom and apply it to their jobs (Wick et al., 2010). One final thought: “To date, companies around the world have been able to demonstrate that adding a transfer management system to a learning or development program enhances participants’ efforts to use what they learned, facilitates interactions with their managers, accelerates performance improvement, and increase the return on investment in the program” (Wick et al., 2010, pp. 189-190).

I hope this brief discussion of 6Ds inspires you to learn more at http://www.the6Ds.com.

REFERENCES

Berge, Z., & Donaldson, C. (2008). Cost-benefit of online learning. In W. J. Bramble, Panda, S. (Ed.), Economics of distance and online learning (pp. 205-224). London: Kogan Page.

Wick, C., Pollock, R., Jefferson, A. (2010). The six disciplines of breakthrough learning. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer

Top 5 Things I Learned from my Mastectomy

Posted on October 17, 2014October 17, 2014 by Joanne Deitsch

Image courtesy of the National Breast Cancer Foundation

October is breast cancer awareness month. I am not a survivor of breast cancer. I am not a victim of breast cancer. I am a breast cancer conqueror. In honor of this month, my October blogs are sharing lessons I learned from my mastectomy.

If you are a woman who has never had a mammogram, please visit http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month to create your early detection plan. A mammogram saved my life. A mammogram may save yours.

Spring 2014 Blog Recap

Posted on July 16, 2014July 16, 2014 by Joanne Deitsch

(Microsoft, 2014)

“Foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy – Philadephia!!” from the musical 1776 sums up my current weather situation. So it’s nice to look back to Pennsylvania’s two memorable weeks of spring by gazing at the picture of this lovely daisy. And, of course, we’ll look back at Spring 2014 blogs (more than 2 weeks worth!). I am taking a break from blogging to enjoy the rest of the summer. Thanks for reading! Talk to you again in September!

REFERENCES

Microsoft. (2014). A yellow daisy [Digital Image]. Used with permission from Microsoft. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=spring&ex=1#ai:MP900448619|mt:2|

The Power of the Repeat

Posted on June 13, 2014June 13, 2014 by Joanne Deitsch

(Microsoft, 2014)

How many times have you asked someone to repeat something? My lifetime total is in the millions.

I had a project where we were developing an asynchronous (i.e., on demand) E-learning course. We had some subject matter experts that joined the project late into the development. They objected to some repetition we had built into the course. Cognitively, judicious repetition in learning is a good thing. Here are some starter ideas for building repetition into your learning solutions:

ASSESSMENTS

In synchronous events, this could be in the form of thought provoking questions to start the cognitive ball rolling. In asynchronous events, this could be in the form of quizzes to test for understanding. Per Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan, & Willingham (2013) “testing… improves learning” (p. 29). Performance improvements ranged from 14% to 44% when using a practice test (Dunlosky et al., 2013). Anyone who has benefited from using flash cards or taking an online practice test before the real thing should already be a believer.

POST TRAINING JOB AIDS

This is repetition where it does the most good, over time rather than during a one time learning event (Dunlosky et al., 2013). “The term distributed-practice effect refers to the finding that distributing learning over time (either within a single study session or across sessions) typically benefits long-term retention more than does massing learning opportunities back-to-back or in relatively close succession” (Dunlosky et al., p. 35). When you are back at your desk, trying to actually apply your learning to your job, post training job aids help the learners reuse & retain this information thus acting as another repetition of course material.

What other ways can you think of to build repetition into the design of your next learning solution?

REFERENCES

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from Cognitive and Educational Psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. doi:10.1177/1529100612453266

Microsoft. (2014). Stars rainbows on blue pattern [Digital Image]. Used with permission from Microsoft. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=pattern&ex=1#ai:MC900441110|

Winter 2014 Blog Recap

Posted on April 3, 2014August 25, 2015 by Joanne Deitsch

It’s 60 degrees here in PA. If you missed any of our winter blogs, check out this 5 minute Pecha Kucha to catch up. Happy Spring!

REFERENCES

Microsoft. (2014). Winter [Digital Image]. Used with permission from Microsoft. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=winter&ex=1#ai:MP900425259|mt:2|

Is business partner a question?

Posted on March 10, 2014March 22, 2014 by Joanne Deitsch

(Microsoft, 2014)

Too many times in my experience working as part of a Learning and Development organization, we tend to focus on being order takers. The business wants something and we don’t necessarily agree. Do we push back? Do we say “You know what? This isn’t really training, this is a culture adjustment that can’t be solved through a single training initiative.”

Generally, I didn’t push back and you know why? Because when you are in Learning and Development, you want to be accommodating, it’s in our nature. You are there to support the business and that is an understood part of the paradigm. They are paying your paycheck because you are supporting their initiatives.

But did that make me a true business partner?

So I started with Merriam-Webster’s (2014) online dictionary and my eye was drawn to one particular part of the definition “one associated with another especially in an action” (para. 5).

I have taken a lot of action in my time but was it the right action? Wick, Pollock, and Jefferson (2010) write that “Business leaders want learning professionals…who understand their specific business, who can clearly and succinctly explain the business model of their company or division and its more important business drivers and challenges” (p. 31).

This is a challenge for me (and, I hope, for the reader) to open our horizons further than the next learning project to a wider world where we understand the challenges the business faces and work to “discover the highest value needs or opportunities that training and development could help fulfill” (Wick et al., p. 35). This first step helps us to turn partnership from an item in question by the business towards making partnership a statement of fact.

REFERENCES

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. (2104). Partner [Web Page] Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/partner

Microsoft. (2014). Group of businessmen huddled on a football field [Digital Image]. Used with permission from Microsoft. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=strategy&ex=1#ai:MP900422756|

Wick, C., Pollock, R., Jefferson, A. (2010). The six disciplines of breakthrough learning. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer

3 Benefits of Articulating Educational Approach

Posted on February 12, 2014March 22, 2014 by Joanne Deitsch

(Microsoft, 2014)

Corporate learning and development organizations can realize three benefits by articulating their educational approach:

Measure Learning Effectiveness

As discussed in the last blog post, the first benefit of being able to articulate our educational approach/theory/pedagogy is for the purposes of measurement. “Success is defined by the sponsors (the persons who control the budget), and only by the sponsors” (Pollock, 2010, p. 62). However, there are times when the sponsor may be unwilling or unable to define what success looks like. In these cases, L&D professionals should be able to stand in the gap to provide the measures for learning success from an educational standpoint. This is impossible without first being able to articulate for each learning solution/project what underpinning theory/pedagogy will be used for development.

Establish Professional Credibility

Our clients, our subject matter experts are educated professionals; as are we. While we do not want to alienate our clients by drowning them in “edu-speak,” we should be able to intelligently answer their questions if they desire to explore the underlying educational approach we are applying to learning projects in more detail. This happened to a colleague of mine a few months ago. The fact that she could not articulate her approach clearly caused strain on the learning partnership and did nothing to enhance our organization’s credibility.

Provide Clear Guidance

As learning professionals, we should be able to articulate our educational approach be it andragogy or pedagogy to each other. Every profession or practice has its unique vocabulary. This vocabulary allows for complex concepts and frameworks to be concisely communicated and understood. This is true in education as well. The entire learning development team should have a clear vision of what educational approach will be taken. Theory and pedagogy/andragogy can provide that guidance.

Corporate learning and development organizations can realize these benefits by taking advantage of existing theory and pedagogy. Finding more hours in the day to learn/develop or even just articulate this is hard to find, I know. But the benefits are worth it.

REFERENCES

Microsoft. (2014). Road being covered with a tunnel of trees [Digital Image]. Used with permission from Microsoft. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=road&ex=1#ai:MP900427595|

Pollock, R.V.H. (2010). What drug development can teach us about measuring learning. SPBT Focus (Winter) 61-64. Retrieved from http://www.the6ds.com/resources-1/MeasuringLearningFocusMagazine2010.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Should Corporate Learning and Development Organizations have to Articulate their Pedagogy?

Posted on January 30, 2014January 30, 2014 by Joanne Deitsch

(Business Quest, 2012)

Should learning organizations have to articulate the epistemology, theory and pedagogy they use to develop learning solutions? In my humble opinion, I feel we should.

Part of my educational approach encompasses andragogy. I have used this approach in my own practice and have seen the positive results that can result for learners. However, I do see where pedagogy can also have a place in the development of learning solutions for adult learners.

Kanuka (2008) brings me to the first point of how this ability can be beneficial to corporate learning and development organizations. Kanuka (2008) urges us to articulate pedagogy in order to be able to effectively measure the success of e-learning projects or programs. I humbly submit that this articulation could also help us measure the success of instructor lead solutions as well.

There are other benefits we’ll explore in future posts. Do you see any value in evaluating the success of your learning solutions against the yard stick of pedagogy? I look forward to hearing from you!

REFERENCE

Business Quest. (2012). Articles [Digital Image]. Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~bquest/2001/pedagogy1.htm

Kanuka, H. (2008). Understanding e-learning technologies in practice through philosophies in practice. In T. Anderson (Ed.), The theory and practice of online learning (2nd Ed.) pp. 91-120. Athabasca, CA:Athabasca University Press. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/99Z_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf

e-Learning Always Needs a Partner

Posted on January 21, 2014March 22, 2014 by Joanne Deitsch

(Microsoft, 2014)

One of the things that drives learning professionals, including myself, crazy is understanding what is meant by the term e-Learning. I have found over time that the term e-Learning, just as with ballroom dancers, is no good on its own. This term always needs a partner.

In order to truly capture all things that eLearning encompasses, the definition must be broad:

“e-learning is the delivery of education (all activities relevant to instructing, teaching, and learning) through various electronic media” (Koohang & Harman, 2005, p. 78).

“e-Learning … refers to education that uses the Internet” (Moore & Kearsley, 2012, p. 2).

“E-learning (or eLearning) refers to the use of electronic media and information and communication technologies (ICT) in education” (Wikipedia, 2014, para. 1).

I was talking with a colleague a few weeks ago. She was telling me about a live (i.e., synchronous) learning event that was held and recorded using a virtual learning environment. My practice has primarily been with creating asynchronous courses that are delivered via a Learning Management System. A few minutes into the conversation, we were both confused.

Why? It was due to the fact that we were both using the term e-Learning to describe two different types of learning events. Yes, we were both using the correct term. But we were confused because it was two different types of e-Learning events under discussion.

I am guilty as the next person of saying e-Learning when I actually mean e-Learning course. Consider taking the challenge, along with me, to ensure that the term e-Learning is always used with at least one partner, if not more.

REFERENCES

Koohang, A., & Harman, K. (2005). Open source: A metaphor for e-learning. Informing Science: The International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline, 8, 75-86. Retrieved from http://inform.nu/Articles/Vol8/v8p075-086Kooh.pdf

Microsoft. (2014). Couple ballroom dancing [Digital Image]. Used with permission from Microsoft. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=computer&ex=1&AxInstalled=copy&Download=MP900422409&ext=JPG&c=0#ai:MP900422409|mt:2|

Moore, M.G., & Kearsley, G. (2012). The distance education student. In Distance education: A systems view of online learning (3rd ed., pp. 150-174). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth CengageLearning.

Wikipedia. (2014). E-Learning [Web Pag. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning