by Alan Nelson
All the work we do at Nelson Croom is focused on meeting the personal and professional development needs of adult learners. Over the years, we have noticed that one way to annoy these people is to try to teach them stuff they already know. This creates a challenge for us because the users of any particular course all arrive with differing prior experience and knowledge.
This entirely obvious fact seems to have passed most e-learning companies by and lies at the heart of my dislike of much e-learning they produce. The reliance on a linear approach underlines the developers’ obsession with teaching remotely.
When I learn things at my PC it is almost always through a process of discovery: I have found something out. I don’t want to be taught: I want someone to help me learn. I’ll decide where to start and if I make the wrong decision I’ll change it. That’s why right from early days of Nelson Croom, we have focused on how we can use the internet to help people learn. With its vast library of resources, and facilities for enabling people to collaborate and build communities of practice, it offers the possibility of liberating learners from the tyranny of the teacher.
We have learnt of course that people need help in using the freedom we give them, so we make sure they always know where they are and have created a range of simple tools to help people plan their engagement.
So as soon as I see the message “Screen 1 of 23” my heart sinks and I look elsewhere for enlightenment. And so should you.
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