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Use learning to improve your business results!

With the speed of change ever increasing and threatening to snowball into an avalanche, education and training is struggling to keep up. There are some statistics that have been discussed in the media lately that the information that a college student learns in their freshman year will be obsolete by the time they graduate. It may seem like a daunting task just to keep up. I focus on coaching trainers and educators on how to use Story Centered Learning, Learning by Doing, and Performance Support and Technology to improve the retention of new information by the learners.

Story Centered Learning

Stories have been used to teach for thousands of years when traditions were passed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth. In a Story Centered Learning the learner plays a key role in a story where they have to use the skills that are being taught. The learner has to make decisions and take actions to advance the lesson. Correct choices advance the lesson and incorrect or sub-optimal choices usually result in coaching to correct the misconception that lead to the incorrect choice. When the learner makes a mistake they have to think about what happened and this is when they are open to coaching to help them see where they made a mistake and what the correct option would be. When the lesson is successfully completed the learner has demonstrated an acceptable level of competence of the skills that the lesson was designed to teach.

Learning by Doing

Story Centered Learning is a form of Learning by Doing. People learn best when they have a chance to practice what they are learning. Lessons can be designed to give the learner a chance to practice in an environment where the are able to experiment and make mistakes. The learner can see the results and implications of their actions.

Performance Support

Performance Support systems are used to give people access to little used information and procedures. When a learner has a questions about what to do next they can use Performance Support as reference and help that will supply information to the learner.

Learning using technology

Technology is a tool that can be used to deliver learning and support. The increase of mobile communication makes this an emerging area for bringing information to the learner when and where the learning is needed. The web can be a very useful tool to create a learning environment for sharing knowledge. Podcasts or Netcasts, blogs, and wikis are great for the possibility of learners to share their knowledge. Learners are able to record or write about their experiences.

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