The Lifelong Learner

If you had only 140 characters to say something to those who were listening, what would you say? 

That’s the idea behind twitter, the micro-blogging site that has received unprecented growth and media attention over the past few months. Lately, it seems like everyone has jumped on the twitter bandwagon. Congress, President Obama, news organizations, teachers, students, radio DJs all twitter.  Even NASA’s Mars Phoenix Lander regularly tweeted updates and scientific findings during its mission.

Since its recent growth, twitter has also received its fair share of negative publicity with some recent headlines like “Twitter blamed in Jennifer Aniston, John Mayer breakup”, “Twitter gets you fired in 140 characters or less” and “Skittles Twitter stunt backfires spectacularly”. Closer to home though, some of the most common criticisms of Twitter I hear are “It’s a waste of time”, “I don’t care what people ate for breakfast”, “I just don’t get it” and “It’s just a trend”. The way I see it, nearly all of these, and other objections as to the value of twitter, exist for one simple reason: Who do you follow?

If you’re not getting any value out of your twitter experience, it’s likely because you’re not following the right people. That’s right, YOU choose who to follow and that’s what makes twitter so powerful. Think about it, if you follow your old college buddies who tweet about their most recent meal or the awesome keg stand they did last night, well then of course you’re going to see it as a waste of time. The trick is to follow people who contribute content (quotes, comments, suggestions, reflections, links, etc.) that you find valuable. Of course, the “right people” are different for everyone. For example, if you’re a Human Resource manager, you can use twitter to follow other HR professionals to get real time insights, opinions, references and feedback all which could help you improve your performance and efficiency on the job. On the other hand, if you’re a sales rep, you might choose to follow other sales reps or sales managers to share best practices, tips, and techniques.

As an instructional designer, I use twitter to follow other instructional designers, training managers, learning department directors, training and performance consultants and professors. Many of these same learning professionals follow me giving me access to a growing network of instructional designers, training managers, learning department directors, training and performance consultants and professors that I can reach out to for advice on best practices, suggestions on readings or feedback on concepts.

I find twitter to be revolutionizing the way in which we connect with other people, share information, find jobs, conduct business, and learn. The more you contribute content of value, the more likely you are to attract followers seeking your insights. This mutualism between you and your followers opens up the potential for shared experiences and expertise like we’ve never seen before.

If you would like to follow me on twitter, click here. I welcome your comments and perspectives.

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For Christmas, my wife got me an iPod Touch. Best gift EVER…. for two reasons. First, it’s great because my commute into New York City is around 2 hours so its perfect for those long train rides, inevitable delays and the girl sitting next to me who takes the call from her friend asking for advice because she caught her boyfriend cheating on her…seriously. And second, ever since the iPod Touch first came out, I’ve been drooling over its potential use for learning so I just had to get my hands on one.

Since Christmas morning, it hasn’t left my side. I’ve downloaded more podcasts in the last 2 weeks than I have in all of 2008. The device is incredible! It’s perfect for Open Yale courses. If you’re not familiar with Open Yale, check it out here. I’ll talk more about it in a future post but basically Yale University provides lectures and other course materials to the public free of charge via the internet. The courses span the full range of liberal arts disciplines, including humanities, social sciences, and physical and biological sciences. I’ve downloaded the entire Intro to Astronomy course because I’m a nerd I’ve always been fascinated with Astronomy. Now I get the chance to learn more about the science for free on my own schedule! You know, I thought about becoming an Astronomer… but then I discovered Calculus… and that was the end of that.  

The portability of the iPod Touch combined with its engaging interface and seemingly unlimited applications make it the perfect device for mobile learning. 

Do you have an iPod Touch or iPhone? How are you using it as a mobile learning device?

Mobile, iPod Touch iPod Touch, Mobile Learning

Instructional design, with its foundation in cognitive science and behavioral psychology, helps us to answer the following question:

How does one best teach these kinds of students about this kind of stuff in this kind of situation?

When people hear that I’m an instructional designer, their eyes glaze over and they stare at me as if I’ve just spoken Greek.  I think Bob Slydell from the 1999 classic, Office Space, said it best when he asked:  “What would you say ya do here?”

To be perfectly honest though, I can’t blame them because to most people, the role of an instructional designer is about as mysterious as a PC Load Letter error. What’s its purpose? Consequently, there exists the very real question of what it is exactly that we, as learning professionals, bring to the process of designing instruction. The way I see it, the value instructional designers bring to the process of designing instruction is the systematic process itself. 

When you hear systematic, you think systems; a set of independent but interrelated parts all working together towards a defined goal. To determine if its desired goal has been reached, a system uses feedback. Think of the heating and cooling system in your home. This complex system consists of individual parts such as the actual heating and cooling unit itself, fans, duct work, coils, a condenser and, of course, a thermostat. The thermostat is important for two reasons. Not only is it the interface between the user and the system, but the thermostat triggers the system to turn on or off through the feedback loop. Other systems such as the banking system, automobile system, and a stereo system all have multiple parts working together to achieve a defined goal. Each systems consists of smaller sub-systems. For example, the automobile system contains a cooling system, a heating system, a breaking system as so on.

This systems way of thinking is important because the instructional process itself can be viewed as a system composed of learners, instructors, materials and learning environment; the goal of which is to bring about learning, an outcome. Not surprisingly, the instructional system is probably one of the most challenging and complex systems because it deals with the learning and motivation of human beings. As a result, the design of the instruction, the conditions under which it is delivered and the manner in which it is assessed must be aligned with the intended outcomes. 

Welcome to the domain of the instructional designer.

Anyone can put together a PowerPoint presentation, stand in front of a group of people and call it training. Often times, that ”anyone” is the subject matter expert chosen for their understanding of the content and overall credibility. Yet content is only one part of the equation. Asking the right questions on how to identify, group, deliver and assess on that content is the other critical part. With their comprehensive understanding of learning theory, principles and models the instructional designer is uniquely suited for the job. To do this, instructional designers ask questions like:   

• Can the problem be solved by an instructional intervention?
• What is the goal of that instruction?
• What would the learners be doing if they performed that goal?
• What are the specific objectives (measurable & observable) of the instruction?
• What will you accept as proof that the learners have mastered the content?
• What are some of the characteristics of the learners?
• How many learners are there?
• Are the learners geographically dispersed?

We can design instruction but we cannot design learning. To create the right conditions under which learning can occur, takes the skill of an instructional designer.

Instructional Design Instructional Design, Learning

Since 2008 is almost over, I’ve decided to get a head start on my New Year’s Resolution for 2009 which is to stop drinking so much coffee become much more active in the Blogosphere. I’ve always believed blogging to be a great way to share ideas, stories, capture thoughts, connect with new people and hear different perspectives. It’s those different points of view that really help us to grow and to learn. Heck, if nothing else, it really helps you to become a better writer and since I’m not Dan Brown, how can I say no?

I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season and here’s to 2009!

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