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Road Hazard: Learning at the Moment of Need

Road Hazard: Learning at the Moment of Need

by on December 5, 2011 in blended learning, eLearning, performance support, Scenario-based learning

Last week I discovered that “learning at the moment of need” is perhaps not the most effective way to learn. In fact, it can be downright risky business and quite unpleasant.

On a recent trip to New York, my job was to provide on-the-fly navigational instructions using Google Maps. Two huge problems:

First, I didn’t know how to use my mobile Google Maps app well – at all. No problem. Right?

According to Alan Eagle (who holds a computer science degree from Dartmouth and works in executive communications at Google) in a recent New York Times article.

It [technology] is super easy. It’s like learning to use toothpaste,” Mr. Eagle said. “At Google and all these places, we make technology as brain-dead easy to use as possible.”

Not so fast, Mr. Eagle. While Google Maps technology might be “brain-dead easy to use,” it is not so easy that you …

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To Improve Learner Retention, Focus on the Dynamics of Forgetting

To Improve Learner Retention, Focus on the Dynamics of Forgetting

by on May 25, 2011 in eLearning, Instructional Design, Scenario-based learning, Training Development

When we talk about learning, the concept of retention is almost always an integral part of the discussion.  For example, we frequently talk about how and when to present information to optimize retention.   In fact, retention is almost synonymous with learning.  And, no discussion about retention can be complete without also discussing its opposite:  forgetting.

Until recently, I had never actually thought about the forgetting part of learning.  Then I came across this excellent Slideshare presentation from Charles Jennings.   (This presentation, by the way, would be an excellent primer for anyone in a corporate learning department looking to introduce the concept of informal learning to their colleagues).

In the presentation, Jennings refers to the Ebbinghaus “forgetting curve,” which illustrates how newly acquired information initially evaporates at an alarming rate, until the percentage of retained information eventually levels off at a discouragingly low level.  This concept was …

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