Practice, Practice, Practice.
Nov 21, 2011
By
Bruce Graham
Would be interested here, or at my blog (http://wp.me/p13NYZ-2M) discussing how far we, as Instructional Designers, can/could push the limits of this concept.
Practice is more important to performance than "learning" or talent.
The implications for much of what I see in the workplace "learning" environment are huge, especially in terms of how much learning should be done BEFORE a "training" event.
I am a long way from knowing the answers to the discussion, however I would really like to know how other people, especially in "corporate-land" address these issues, if at all.
Thanks
Bruce
2 Replies
Bruce,
GREAT topic. I work for an insurance company that is philosophically as "inside the box" as you can get. They almost mandate that our courses are click & read, no-frills, info dumps. I've only been a developer here for six months but I'm slowly trying to ease our SMEs into the idea and importance of being able to put into practice immediately that which we have expected them to learn in a risk-free environment.
So far what I've been able to do is very simple, just using scenarios and examples. I'd love to hear if someone has found a "rapid" way to build a simulation, especially when it involves proprietary, in-house software.
Dale Hargis
Most of what I do involves software training and I'm a believer that practice is imperative. I just think about what I need when I'm learning a new software. If all I do is watch a video tutorial, it will help. I'll get an idea of how things work. But I NEVER retain anything until I get in and do it. Maybe it's narcissistic, but I figure if I'm a software trainer and I need to practice, the end-users probably do too.
With that in mind, I build as much practice as I can within the courses. And it comes in many forms- hyperlinks, scenarios, knowledge checks, guided practices in the "sandbox".
Is practice MORE important? I think it comes down to do how much do you want them to truly learn and retain. If you just need to check the box to say you "trained" your people, then practice isn't necessary. If you truly want them to walk away feeling like they know how to do something, I'm not aware of how to get there without practice. At least not until we can download info straight to our brains Matrix style (if only).
I've gone to "training" events without seeing anything before or have any opportunity to apply it immediately afterwards. All I walked away with is another binder to put on my shelf, a certificate of completion and MAYBE a vague memory of some overall concepts and terminology. I didn't learn diddley.
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