When I first came to DFCI from MGH nearly 7 years ago, I was told that people here do not like eLearning. It was a surprising revelation. While eLearning courses certainly weren’t at the same saturation point as they are now, they were still in abundance across businesses. And who wouldn’t want to take a course on their own time, at their own pace?
As I started to dig in, I quickly discovered why DFCI staff didn’t like eLearning. I found one course that consisted of 80 PowerPoint slides where the learner had to watch, with absolutely no interaction. While it had lots of animation, which I suspect was meant to engage the learner, it required nothing of them. The course was for a commonly used system but gave them no hands-on experience. There’s no way I’d want to learn (and could be expected to retain) information that way.
Over the last several years I’ve worked hard to show what else is possible for eLearning – rich experiences that allow the learner to choose what they want to learn, such as free navigation within courses. I’ve investigated how people want to learn (demos, hands-on simulations), and I’ve tried to engage them through relatable stories and scenarios. While these generally succeed in wowing the business owner who requested the course, they still sometimes fail at getting staff to complete the course. Why is that?
In my last post I asked whether or not training manuals are extinct and I asked your preferences for getting information. Now I want to know more about how you prefer to learn. Do you prefer classroom or online training? If online, do you want a real-time synchronous course where you can ask questions of an instructor, or do you prefer a hands-on asynchronous course that you can complete at your convenience? What motivates you to take time to attend training, either in person or online? From any online courses you’ve taken, which stood out to you as memorable and why? Why do you think more people do not take online courses offered at the Institute?
I prefer self-paced eLearning. If a topic simple, then it can stand alone. The more challenging the topic, there may be a need to also provide an instructor or subject matter expert. I think that this method of training is growing in leaps and bounds, and you are correct about the importance of the format and presentation.
Recently 60 Minutes aired a story about Khan Academy, founded by Salman Khan. Kahn was using Yahoo’s Doodle Notepad to teach math to his cousin who lived in another part of the country. He then made it available on YouTube and got rave reviews. Eventually it caught the attention of Bill and Melinda Gates and the rest is history. According to Wikipedia, there are now more than 3,000 “micro lectures” available – all free.
These tutorials are even being used in formal classrooms where students can learn at their own pace. It can be set up so that the teacher can monitor how quickly a student is moving through the lesson, and can move around the room providing help to those who need it.
Here is a link if you are interested in reading more about this –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Academy
I am interested. Thanks so much for sharing Deb. Can’t wait to explore it! I know we still have a ways to go to mature our eLearning so it’s great to see what else is happening out there!
I saw that episode of 60 Minutes also and thought it was fascinating. The students do their learning at home and their “homework” in the classroom. eLearning can be isolating, so it’s important to me that I feel connected to the teacher (being asked to click on things, answer questions, etc). I always find your online tutorials to be engaging and helpful, Amy!
Growing up I always learned better in the classroom. I learned better if I could hear and see the material. After the class, I could skim the handouts and read the chapters and be ready for the test. I have found the DFCI online trainings to be just as good (and often better) than classroom training. The volume can be adjusted so you don’t miss what the speaker is saying because of the person behind you that talks through class. If you miss something, you can rewind. You have something to look at while listening to the speaker. The “test” is immediate so you know immediately if you absorbed the information. There are also often “notes” in the online trainings which give additional information from the screens and will also say the same thing in a different way. DFCI on-line training allows learing in the best way possible by touching on many different learning styles.
Annette, thanks so much for that thoughtful response. I am so pleased to hear you have had a great experience with eLearning here at DFCI. I also love the flexibility of being able to complete online training on your own time with the ability to rewind if you miss something. I think I’m also naturally more drawn to an instructor-led class, but eLearning has come a long way and can provide great experience.
Off to find an eLearning class to learn the new version of PhotoShop…