Tag Archives: Facilitation
Addressing On-Demand Learning and Performance Needs #LCBQ

Addressing On-Demand Learning and Performance Needs #LCBQ

by on May 9, 2011 in performance support

Each month, Tony Karrer at The Learning Circuits Blog posts a “Big Question” for the learning and development community (Twitter hashtag #LCBQ). The questions prompt quite a lively and interesting discussion among online community members. This month, it is time for me to stop lurking and throw in my two cents.

The Learning Circuits Big Question for May is:

How do we need to change in what we do in order to address learning/performance needs that are on-demand?

 OK, so this is not about the easy questions. This is about envisioning the path ahead while the landscape changes with every step.  Too bad my crystal ball is in the shop for repairs, but I think we can muddle through.

We all know that, in today’s world, change is a constant companion. Maintaining the status quo is no longer sufficient if we, as learning and development professionals, want to stay relevant to the …

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Collaborative Learning Lessons from Wikipedia (and Small Insects)

Collaborative Learning Lessons from Wikipedia (and Small Insects)

by on February 15, 2011 in Informal Learning, performance support, social learning

One thing that has always struck me as particularly fascinating about social learning is how it is often at its most effective when its direction is provided by the learners themselves.  Just as water will always find its own level by the path of least resistance, individual learners, working in collaboration and unhampered by the precepts of authority, tend to do an excellent job of finding and sharing what they need to know efficiently and effectively, even if they don’t necessarily know what they are looking for to begin with. 

A remarkable example of this phenomenon can be found in Wikipedia, a completely user-driven Collaborative Knowledge Support System (my own term) that has become not only the most all-encompassing compendium of knowledge in world history, but increasingly the resource of choice for information on current events. 

A truly excellent article by Matt Thompson, titled An Antidote for Web Overload, …

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Moving from Teacher to Facilitator

Moving from Teacher to Facilitator

by on January 25, 2011 in Classroom Learning, Facilitation, Informal Learning, Training Development

As a leader and teacher in the classroom and online for over 15 years, I still face the challenge of making content “real” for learners. Even with the help of the newest technology tools to communicate and educate including social media, wikis, and Google, we still need to transform our ILT classrooms and training sessions into integrated blended learning environments. So how do you keep it real? Move from being a teacher to facilitator.

It’s in your mind

One of the pioneers of adult learning theory, Malcom Knowles, explored the role of adult education and facilitation (andragogy) versus the traditional style of teaching children (pedagogy). Whereas the traditional teaching approach emphasizes the role of the teacher as the holder of the wisdom, facilitation puts the onus on the participants to become involved in their own learning process. The facilitator’s role is to introduce subjects of discussion, encourage a blend …

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