Learningatthespeedoflight
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The document discusses the differences between learning and education. It argues that while e-learning is effective for acquiring new skills, it does not provide the same outcomes as traditional education. Traditional education leads to a transformation in how people think and process information through immersion and interaction that challenges beliefs. It proposes a map showing that different learning models like asynchronous, synchronous, and classroom-based lead to different outcomes. While e-learning is valuable for job skills, traditional education provides a foundation for developing analytical skills and world views.
Learningatthespeedoflight
- 1. 1 Learning at the Speed of Light B Y J E F F C R E I G H T O N There is no question that web-based learning is having a profound impact on how we, as a society, acquire and master new skills and absorb informa- tion. E-learning technologies provide access to learning opportunities 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We now have the beginnings of a tech- nology revolution that will help futurists and management gurus like Peter Drucker realize their vision of the “knowledge society”, where what we know, both individually and organizationally, becomes the new basis for economic value. “The continuing professional education of adults is the No. 1 gross industry in the next 30 years, but not in the traditional form,” states Drucker. “In five years, we will deliver most of our executive man- agement programs online.” According to Doug Donzelli, the CEO of Pensare, “The core of eKnowledge, the Internet, will “democratize” learning, providing greater access at lower cost, ultimately improving quality.” So, at this point, I’d like to make a somewhat bold statement about my view on the future of distance learning; I believe we are years away from providing an experience that will deliver the same outcomes as those of the traditional class- room, and we may never get there. And we don’t have to. Both types of learning delivery will have a solid place in the education map of the future. Learning Vs. Education I believe that we have ill- defined expectations for e- learning, and have used these expectations as a comparison to traditional learning models. We are asking both to achieve simi- lar outcomes when both models should be used by individuals and organiza- tions to achieve different outcomes. I am going to attempt to differentiate e-learning, in fact all learning, from traditional edu- cation. E-learning can stand on its own as a powerful model to help individuals acquire new skills, and advance the skills they already have. E-learning will transform training in a way that we’ve never seen previously. In fact, it already has. “The eKnowledge market will enjoy explosive growth, reaching $53.3 billion by 2003 from $9.4 billion in 1999”, according to Merrill Lynch. But the skills acquisition that lends itself to the e- learning model leads to outcomes that are differ- ent from traditional higher education, and compa- nies have very different expectations on their training outcomes than do universities on their
- 2. 2 degree-based educational programs. Education, as I define it, goes beyond the acquisi- tion of knowledge and skills found in e-learning. Education leads to a transformation in the indi- vidual’s analytical skills and their world view. Education literally changes the person’s filter for processing information. I no longer just take in information, I analyze it, process it, and form opinions that will impact my decisions based on the education I have received. This type of educa- tion forms the foundation for all future learning. Today e-learning has not proven itself capable of leading to these out- comes, and I question whether it should attempt to accomplish these outcomes. This is the role that traditional education takes in our society, when we have the time and immersion required to truly change the way we view the world and our analysis of it. Most of us have completed this process by the time we’re in our early twenties. We’ve immersed ourselves in college, and whether we know it or not, we’ve come out a different person. While e-learning does not result in this type of transformation, it is incredibly valuable in deliver- ing high-impact skills acquisition primarily due to its “just-in-time” delivery. According to Merrill Lynch, the just-in-time nature of e-learning can lead to skills retention of up to 250% greater than that with classroom-based learning. The Education Map The education map displayed here identifies vari- ous modes of learning delivery and expected out- comes. Of course, within most models there are exceptions to the rule, but for the vast majority of cases, the mapping of learning delivery method to expected outcomes holds true. All learning begins with an individual’s funda- mental beliefs about the world in which he/she lives and operates. These fundamental beliefs form the basis from which all future experiences will be processed, analyzed, and stored. All future learning will be filtered through this core set of beliefs obtained through experiences and educa- tion. Up to this point, traditional classroom-based education has formed the foundation for an indi- vidual’s belief set that they will use to process all future learning. There are a number of reasons why this setting leads to these outcomes, and we could spend years studying the theories that sup- port these claims, but let me highlight two that I deem critically important; immersion and inter- action. Most of the educational “Ah Ha’s”, as I call them, that occur in our lives and form the foundation of our core beliefs happen when others challenge our beliefs. These interactions can occur between fac- ulty and student, or student-to-student, but they occur when our belief set is challenged. The fun- damental point is that people change our core
- 3. 3 beliefs, not technology. And this process takes time. Why do most universities require that CEOs stay on campus for two weeks of intense leader- ship development? It’s because these highly- respected executive education providers want to challenge CEOs’ beliefs about the world, business and leadership. They want to challenge core beliefs, knowing that all learning by that CEO will be improved in the future. Education providers understand that they can’t accomplish this through technology, but only through immer- sion and interaction. Christos Cotsakos, CEO of E-trade, has this to say regarding his traditional MBA experience, “My MBA taught me how to change the rules of engagement, and then, ulti- mately, change the game.” The closest online comparison to our traditional education model is what is known as synchronous learning, where an instructor is teaching online in real-time, and is available during that time to answer questions. Synchronous learning involves communication with students and faculty with no time delay. Synchronous interaction can occur via the telephone, chat, and Internet telephony. Synchronous learning is moving in the direction of achieving similar outcomes to traditional class- room-based education, but has yet to achieve these outcomes due to lack of the immersion and quality of interaction needed to truly challenge a person’s core belief systems. The remaining parts of the education map are comprised of asynchronous learning and self- paced learning. Asynchronous learning involves student-to-student and student-to-teacher com- munication that is “time-delayed”—separated by minutes, hours, even days. Correspondence courses and e-mail are asynchronous forms of e- learning. These are particularly adept at helping the student hone current skills, or learn new ones. Corporations are quite successful in employ- ing these models extensively to provide employees with “just-in-time” learning opportunities that are directly applicable to the job at hand. At the base of the education map is the Internet itself—the new information medium for the com- ing age. At the core of the Internet is informa- tion. And information makes up a key source of learning capital. The Internet is to our society what the printing press was to the middle ages; a complete information revolution. The Internet will drive our learner-centric society into the future. But information and education, although not mutually exclusive, do not share all of the same properties. I believe that the most interesting developments in education delivery are the hybrid offerings, combining the power of e-learning with the immersion and interaction of the traditional class- room. Many of these programs have been devel- oped in our prestigious universities. They have intense residency requirements where students are working together on campus over a period of weeks. The students then return to their jobs and lives. They continue in their studies and interac- tion utilizing the power of the Internet for com- munication, research and submission of assign- ments. These programs are fairly new, and we have yet to see their results in developing the
- 4. 4 analytical skills of more traditional delivery meth- ods, but all indications are that these programs will be successful. The Measurement of Learning Vs. Education If we accept that education and learning are dif- ferent in the ways I have defined them previously, we can better develop models to measure the effectiveness of each. Learning and e-learning can be measured by their ability to meet certain objectives, either set by the organization sponsoring the learning, the individ- ual, or learning providers themselves. Many income/outcome assessment models have been defined to measure the effectiveness of these types of programs. The fundamental approach is to base the value of learning on its ability to teach the skills defined in the course objectives. Skills-based learning is easily measured through post-course testing that determines whether the student mas- tered the skills identified in the course. The challenge occurs when we attempt to apply these same income/outcome assessment models to education programs such as undergraduate and graduate degree programs. These education pro- grams deliver outcomes leading to problem solv- ing and analytical skills. If we attempt to use this singular income/outcome assessment model, what we end up receiving on behalf of employees is not a paradigm shift to a new way of processing infor- mation, but a new or enhanced set of skills. And for many organizations paying the bill for their employees’ degrees, this is an ample model for measuring the effectiveness of these programs. Unfortunately, if we apply this model as the defin- itive benchmark for educational offerings, we end up with degrees at a distance that are nothing more than skills-based training programs, deliver- ing on the course objectives but fostering no para- digm shift for the employee enrolled in the pro- gram. Patrick O’Boyle, a 39-year-old account manager for Parabon Computation who finished the coursework for his bachelor’s degree at an online program had this to say about the success of his experiences; “I can say without reservation that every course I took turned into dollars for me in business.” So what should we measure? We should measure that which we can measure. The primary argument for measuring our educa- tional investment is the concept that education as finite. All degrees represent a series of courses intended to transfer a common body of knowl- edge. All accredited MBA programs, for example, have a common body of knowledge, being finance, marketing, accounting, and economics. Mastery of these topical areas is measurable. Companies will develop Education Return On Investment (EROI) tools around what is measura- ble on a quantitative level, and on a qualitative level. The goals of the corporation and the university delivering an MBA are the same; to develop bet- ter managers with the skills to lead people through change. The most effective way for cor- porations to measure the return on education is to employ an input/output assessment that covers the quantitative and qualitative aspects of an effective manager. Here are the basic tenets of the EROI model as it should formulate itself within corporations: 1. Quantitative Measurements The quantitative aspects of an MBA program (e.g. accounting, marketing, finance, economics, etc.) can be measured before a participant begins an
- 5. 5 MBA program using a test that encompasses these skills. The employee is tested before and after the MBA experience, and the change, or delta, repre- sents the effectiveness of the institution in deliv- ering these skills. 2. Qualitative Skills The qualitative aspects of the program are more difficult to measure, but not impossible. These include management soft skills, leadership quali- ties, and an ability to analyze problems. Many companies could begin to measure these attributes using current 360 feedback processes. This can be accomplished through an assessment of the per- son’s management skills by his peers, subordinates and bosses. This assessment should be done on the front end of the business program, and again 6 months after the individual has completed the program. The difference between these two assessments gives a benchmark for the effective- ness of the program in delivering on these quali- ties. In conclusion, stakeholders in the future of e- learning should continue to measure those aspects of programs that can be measured, including assessing the outcomes achieved. Today, these are primarily skills outcomes, which are well suited for the e-learning modes of delivery. E-learning is not yet delivering on the immersion or interaction required to change a student’s para- digm for future learning, developing analytical and problem solving skills. These attributes are best developed through more traditional classroom- based education, although a number of hybrid e- learning/classroom programs have evolved to try and bridge the gap. Jeff Creighton is the Chairman of iQ Enterprises for Telanetix, the premiere provider of managed lead generation for universities.