In Learning & Technology LO18492, Kevin Wheeler asks about technology and
education.
Here's my short story on your question of education and technology:
Two weeks ago, I was invited to present a program on active learning
techniques for a business school in Denmark. Most of the faculty were mid
40's, predominently male (3 women in 70), and mostly business people who
served as Lecturers.
The session was led by the chair of the business school, who had seem me
present on Square Wheels and thought that an interactive discussion of
proven ideas for accellerating learning might be of interest. My
background as a disgruntled student throughout my educational "career" and
the Ph.D. and full-time teaching experience plus my work in personal and
organizational development seemed perfect.
But, right after his presentation on statistics (in one year, more than
half of their student base had shifted to internet-oriented distance
learning courses provided by his and other universities in Denmark) and
right BEFORE my presentation, about 25% of these professors walked out.
After my opening remarks and before getting started (mostly about my
background and about the goals of the session -- to interactively share
ideas among each other about alternative ways of presenting materials to
their students that had worked well for them - another 25% walked out.
My presentations are quite good, generally top-rated at conferences like
ASTD, Training, AQP, and the like. My sessions for people in Denmark went
quite well (invited back for my third series in November).
What was obvious was a TREMENDOUS resistance to change among this group of
"successful Lecturers." They were NOT open to new ideas -- even those
from their peers.
I think this speaks for itself. It certainly represents my personal
experiences working with many of these "professors" of all sorts, over the
years, who present themselves as experts and whose preferred delivery
technique is the Lecture. Is this resistance or is it merely a reluctance
to become objective about one's own perferred behavior and the fear of
allowing oneself to lose control (to gain effectiveness and impact).
There is no question that the internet and related technologies are a much
more effective learning technique that puts control of the fingertips of
the student. The ability to link to information of interest is fantastic.
Adaptable. Instantaneously updatable. Low cost. Responsive. All sorts
of applications and impacts.
--For the FUN of It!
Scott Simmerman Performance Management Company mailto:SquareWheels@compuserve.com
<www.SquareWheels.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>