Many of us have been to summer camp. We sleep in bunks in cabins. Swim in lakes. Row canoes down the stream. Take adventure walks through the forest. Eat meals family-style in log cabin lodges. Make lots of crafts. Our day typically ends with everyone sitting around a campfire as we tell stories and sing … [Read more…]
It all started in preschool and kindergarten. Every week, our teacher would ask us to bring something to class for show-n-tell. We would bring our beloved stuffed animal or a coin from a foreign country or a favorite toy or whatever caught our eye on the way out the door to school. The purpose of … [Read more…]
Learning at conferences is actually a fragile thing. Many things affect our learning. And those factors increase in a complex, content-rich, sensory-strong, ever changing, unfamiliar conference environment. Three Factors That Influence Our Learning Cognitive psychology researchers have shown that three major factors influence how much and how well we learn: ability, prior knowledge and motivation. … [Read more…]
Training is for dogs. Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m educating my dogs” or “I’m instructing my dogs.” Of course you haven’t. That’s because most training programs are for dogs. The Education Semantics Challenge Many people use the words training, education, instruction and learning interchangeably. However each conveys a unique message and meaning. Individually … [Read more…]
Quickly, name your five senses. That’s easy! Right? Sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Now, what percentage of information comes though each sense? That one is not so easy. Here’s another way to think about this. How much information do we gather from each sense in the same amount of time as compared to the … [Read more…]
Is your organization offering learning opportunities that are based on an outdated model? Or have you positioned your organization to offer learning opportunities that are proven to be successful today and align with your participants’ learning? No, I’m not just talking about the linear advancement of technology as applied to learning. Technology is a factor … [Read more…]
Is your organization still trying to make revenue from didactic forms of education and instruction? Are you using a hierarchical, top-down, command and control delivery model? Are you providing content that seems out of context in today’s every changing global market? If you are, you are showing your age. You are announcing to the world … [Read more…]
Your organization’s enduring competitive advantage rests on learning agility. It must be able to respond to new challenges, opportunities, threats and crisis. New, unprecedented complex challenges constantly present themselves. Learning At The Speed Of Change Experienced leaders used to claim that they had seen every problem several times in the past. That’s no longer true … [Read more…]
What does it mean to learn at a conference? What tools does it take for learning to be successful in that environment? Most people say that successful learning occurs when a speaker presents to an audience. It requires a subject matter expert (SME) or panel of SMEs, research, content and a lecture. It must have … [Read more…]
Speakers talk. Audiences listen. Let me rephrase it another way. Trainers talk. Learners listen. This is one of the most powerful learning beliefs in our culture today. We embrace it as truth. We create education programming based on this conviction. We pay for professional development grounded in this certainty. Our belief in this idea creates … [Read more…]
