Tag Archives: attitudes

Learning Objectives and Salsa Dancing

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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salsa

Photo: iStockPhoto

On Tuesday night, my husband and I started Salsa dance lessons.

Starting class, the instructors didn’t state learner-focused performance objectives or list the conditions under which we were expected to perform. Instead, they demonstrated what we would (hypothetically) be able to do once we learned the steps. It was enough beyond what we would cover that day to be motivating, but not so advanced as to be demoralizing.

The guidelines IDs use to create objectives help us communicate clearly, but don’t help us motivate our learners. I’m with Michael Allen that we could do better… why not communicate objectives and simultaneously help our learners visualize what they will be able to accomplish, even what they will become, once they finish our training?

IMO, subject matter and delivery method are largely irrelevant; I’ve seen this same technique used in data entry training.

Your thoughts?

Training and Egos

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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I think the ego is a white elephant in the training world. I rarely hear this discussed and I have no stats to back it up, but hear me out.

By showing up for training, we admit to the instructor that we’re not experts. Before that, we have to admit the same to our bosses –– in fact, we often have to make a case for how un-expert we are and how it’s hurting the company. And even before that, we have to admit it to ourselves.

That could be tough on the ego, and if your corporate culture is ego-driven, such admissions may be unconsciously (or actively) discouraged. And what about if you’re in a profession in which being an expert is baked into the job description?

Do you agree? And as workplace learning professionals, is this within our influence?

Alice and Kev

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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What an interesting blog idea! Start at the beginning — it’s only about 25 posts right now.

alice and kev

Alice and Kev in their park home

aliceandkev.wordpress.com

It seems to me sometimes that the instructional design community has decided that elearning is good for knowledge transfer, but not for changing attitudes and behaviors. Why is this? If books and movies and theater can affect our emotions, and therefore affect our attitudes and behaviors, why can’t elearning?

When I play World of Warcraft, I feel something not only for my fellow human players, but for my pets — who are merely collections of ones and zeroes, nowhere near as interactive as Sims — and when I read Alice and Kev, I feel something for the Sims that connects me to the rest of the human experience. Why do people think elearning can’t do the same?