Tony Karrer's eLearning Blog on e-Learning Trends eLearning 2.0 Personal Learning Informal Learning eLearning Design Authoring Tools Rapid e-Learning Tools Blended e-Learning e-Learning Tools Learning Management Systems (LMS) e-Learning ROI and Metrics

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Tools and Strategies for Personal Learning

I just saw Harold Jarche's post: Adult Learning - pressing issues and where the field is headed, in two sentences. His two (actually three) sentences:
The overwhelming majority of the learning needs of Canadian adults are not
addressed by formal training and education. In this post-industrial era, adults
today require self-directed learning skills to thrive in the unstructured work
environments outside of school. Efforts should be focused on the development of
practical tools and strategies for adults to learn in a networked information
society.

I tend to agree that while day-to-day I focus on formal training and performance support solutions, the real need is to help develop "practical tools and strategies" that help us learn. However, I feel like we are failing miserably in this area.

We (learning professionals) don't seem to know how to use these tools ourselves: Do Learning Professionals Make the Worst Learners? and More Questions on Making Learning for Learning Professionals More Effective.

And I have see lots of examples of tools out there, but I don't see lots of adoption nor do I see the practical strategies.

We need more pragmatic suggestions like I was trying to do in:
Personal Learning for Learning Professionals - Using Web 2.0 Tools to Make Reading & Research More Effective

What else are you finding that's helping you become a better learner in this "networked world."
If you have thoughts on this, I’m a regular reader so I’d love to see more blog posts on these tools and strategies.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree that as learning professionals we certainly ought to be better models of our craft. There is no space for "this is the way it's always been done" in learning. In sports training we say: if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got. That presupposes a constancy of factors that does not exist in the field of learning. For the working person, the tools we use, the environment in which we work, the skills we require, the market we address are all in a state of flux. While aspects of yesterday's learning will still be useful, it will no longer be a perfect fit.

And to think it used to be the IT industry that said you have to run to stay in place...

professoraloha said...

I liked your new buzzword.."Personal Learning Network." I think this topic is clearly on the cutting edge as we now cope with rapid technological changes. As Gary Small states in his "iBrain" book... the modern mind is adapting. Does everyone have a modern mind? Not at all, so we have to ask.."why wouldn't an educator want to have a modern mind?" I think this issue is complex and involves lots of subtopics such as motivation (financial, emotional; fears); funding for the equipment needed to have a modern mind; time needed and especially important---why should I, my mind works just fine?