Starting the learning experience
Monday, November 6th, 2006As I’ve attended classes and presentations and conferences over the years, I’ve come to realize how poorly many learning experiences begin. Typically a learning experience starts with a brief welcome to those who are present and then jumps right into the first lecture or demonstration. Clearly no thought is given to how to set the tone for the event. Perhaps even more frustrating is the idea that the learning experience can’t start until everyone arrives physically in the same place. I’ve reflected on how much more valuable face to face learning experiences could be if we would put some thought into preparing our learners for the experience before they come together in person. Today I saw an approach to starting a learning experience that DID take these factors into consideration. To launch the Learning 2006 conference, Elliot Masie created a video-based orientation segment to prepare the learners for participation in the conference. Take a minute to look at this orientation and think about how much more effective a learning experience can be by taking the time to preparing learners ahead of time.
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There is no doubt that laptops computers have changed the way we think about learning. The idea of mobile connectivity has opened up doors for learning activities that we couldn’t even consider 10 years ago. However, laptops have their limitations too. For example, you still need a desk (or at least to be sitting down) to use one. Laptop batteries have limited capacity and the size prevents them from being carried around at all times. That was the goal of PDAs (palm pilots, balckberries, etc). The problem with PDAs is that they suck. Software limitations, connectivity issues, as well as major usability issues (thank you, Palm) rendered PDAs a great idea in theory, but a royal pain in the classroom.