E-Learning--The Human Factor--Part I

As we move into the future at a fast pace, we have to ask the question:

"Is technology getting too far ahead of us to the point where the contributions to the development of e-Learning have become just a set of computer routines and sub-routines?"

By advancing the technology at the present pace, are we losing sight of the human capabilities for innovation, creativity as they can be applied to human learning? Have we become the servant to the technology instead of its master? Consider the advances dealing with "smart technology" as it now applies to the home and even the vehicles we drive; who is guiding who? We also have opened the "Pandora's box" of AI technology which also adds another dimension that will test who is really in charge.

More importantly, when it comes to e-Learning, are we using the science of learning and the principles derived from present research as the drivers for what we do as instructional designers or is this just an after thought? As we are restricted in many ways by the Covid19 pandemic, these questions have become even more important for the employees of business organizations as many now must work from home. Also, it must be said that we have not done ourselves any favours by labelling this as "remote learning" because immediately we face all the baggage ascribed to the term "remote" which is often associated with such adjectives as "impersonal", "isolated", and even "irrelevant". It is akin to saying that compliance training is a fun activity. If we consider that many business organizations consider team work as an essential, how does this type of labelling help?

Sometimes, we become so entrenched in routines, that we can't think beyond them and yet we need to because there are many practices in designing e-Learning for the training function that need to change. Obviously, now under the present conditions of the global pandemic, change in business practices when it comes to the whole training regimen, needs to happen if business organizations are to survive. It is no longer an option but a survival requirement.

Human Learning in a Stressful World

The conditions brought about by the restrictions of the pandemic have resulted in a whole new level of factors that need to be considered if we want to train employees to improve performance in the areas of your business which are crucial for your business to move forward rather than stagnate or even cease to exist. It can be summed up in one question:

" How is human learning affected by the change to learning away from the business location and also under the new stresses brought on by this drastic change?"

One of the common complaints that we hear about e-Learning within the business training function is that it was a failure or it was a horrible waste of time. The question to ask is what made this experience unprofitable for the business?

Consider the following possibilities:

• It was the first time that the business had tried e-Learning and it was not properly prepared to carry out the business function in a totally online environment. Planners took short cuts by trying to do business as they had always done business.

Credit: Ryan Hamilton

• Before trying e-Learning, did our training group follow an important business maxim that when you want to engage in something new in a completely unfamiliar business environment, learn first from those who are already excelling in this area and setting an impressive standard? Consider the learning environment of businesses that are at the top of the business food chain such as Google and Apple. Did we ask the right questions in order to move in the direction that they are going?

• Did we make the mistake of allowing our fascination with new technology to blind us to the fact that how adults learn under the present stressful environment should be the driver and in fact should dictate what technology will achieve the greatest improvement in performance. The Zoom technology has been adopted as the go to technology for business needs under the restrictive environment of the global pandemic but does Zoom help people learn what they need to learn so that they can retain and apply their learning to the business area that they are engaged in? It is an understatement to say that the global pandemic has been a financial windfall for the creators of this type of presentation and conferencing platform. This could also be said of Microsoft's entry in Microsoft Meeting and even Google Hangout but to a lesser extent.

Does Zoom have limitations when it comes to effective learning, retention and repeated application of skills learned for the employee? Has the quality of employee performance improved as a direct result of the adoption of Zoom as a training platform?

In seeking to answer these questions in a clearly forensic and objective manner, we should not lose sight of our ultimate goal of having employees who are engaged enough in their skill development and learning that they see themselves as stakeholders in the health and success of the business organization. We want to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation, not bury them!

So, we come back to our original question as to what impact is the Covid19 pandemic having on the ability of employees to adapt and pursue their learning of new skills that can be maintained even under the present conditions? In an excellent book by Clark N. Quinn titled: "Millennials, Goldfish and Other Training Misconceptions" (ATD Press, 2018), Quinn does look at an important factor affecting learning called "attention span". Quinn suggests that with the increasing number of distractions that it has become much easier to shift our attention away and with the increase of distractions we become more "finicky"(sic) about how long we are willing to devote our attention to the task at hand. Prior to the pandemic, the use of technology itself and the need to constantly re-learn changes in technology made it difficult to maintain focus on what needed to be learned and retained related to upskilling for employees. Add to this poor learning experience design and the constant use of the "sage on the stage" approach to delivery, people being trained eagerly sought any type of distraction.

This also brings us back to Zoom and its use for employee learning. A question to consider is:

"Does Zoom help or hinder employee attention span when focusing on a task?"

To answer this question we need to look at neurology and what exactly happens with the brain when people are involved in Zoom sessions. The term "Zoom Fatigue" is a new term used to describe very real symptoms that are being observed in sessions using Zoom. Alice Wnuk, a Science writer for Brain facts.org, published an interesting article(Sept.23, 2020) titled: "This is Why You Get Zoom Fatigue" in which she looks at physiological evidence dealing with this problem. An even more revealing study and article (Oct 1, 2020) written by Kendra H. Oliver of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, titled: "Are You Feeling Zoom-ed Out? You are Not Alone" also suggests how to alleviate this cognitive load burden that Zoom meetings produce. This is especially helpful when productive team work on a task is needed.

When Covid 19 hit and into the distraction mix we added concerns about family, lockdowns, permanently working from home and even the fear of catching the virus to the mix of distractions it roved to be a frustrating hindrance for employees trying to adapt to tasks that need to be done and at the same time trying to upskill to meet new challenges to change in their areas of employment.

So for people whose task it is as instructional designer to produce engaging learning experiences for those who need to upskill to meet the challenge of the changing conditions of the business organization, what needs to be done? Will Thalheimer's research on work learning presents valuable insights is how to obtain valuable feedback that can guide an organization in how to develop effective learning interventions for employees, even under the stress of living in a time of global pandemic. In his proposed model called: "Learning Transfer Evaluation Model (LTEM)", the emphasis is on improving learning outcomes.

Establishing an effective base for gathering information on business learning needs to be a starting point and then the driver for developing engaging and effective learning keeping in mind the scientific principles for modern adult learning.

Since I understand about the need to alleviate cognitive load on learners and readers of my articles, I will continue this line of thought in Part II of the article which will look at such vehicles for organizational learning as mobile learning, micro learning, and the use of immersive problem solving scenarios for groups.