Go back to school: Applying K12 Strategies in Corporate Training

Urbie Delgado, Instructional Designer at Connect the Dots explores some learning strategies that are mostly implemented for K12 learning but can be utilized for workplace learning as well. Here is our take on it:

• 20% Time Learning or the Genius Hour

This strategy was ironically developed by one of the world’s leading corporate organizations – Google. Employees were encouraged to devote 20% of their time at work to explore and innovate on something that really interests them. This cultivated the streak of innovation and gave the employees a reason to work with passion. This was a very successful business policy and a successful education policy as well. It makes students more committed to learning – all the while keeping up with the requirements and standards of the curriculum. In fact, as a result of the 20% time policy or the Genius hour, as it is called in many schools, students now are more focused and have a better direction for learning. Genius Hour has been a driving force for success and has helped students realize their area of interest – making them better prepared for college and their chosen profession.

Similarly corporate learners can also implement the 20% time policy to find their own learning path and pursue topics which truly would be beneficial for their work. Most corporate learners are aware of what they need to learn in order to excel at their workplace. Creating rigid boundaries around the learning curriculum can thus be restrictive. By proving extra reading links, documents and suggested activities within the course, the learners can be encouraged to explore more about the topic than strictly necessary. While this may not gain them extra points or merit badges, it will ensure that they are involved more in the learning process and sustain their interest in the topic being taught.

Passionate Learning Design:

A teacher has to be passionate about the subject, be adept at the mechanisms of teaching and have a core personal passion to deliver learning to the best of his or her ability. In the corporate learning scenario, more and more organizations are relying on technology-aided learning than on the traditional means of classroom delivery by an instructor. So, in the absence of the instructor, it is the instructional designer (ID) who needs to inculcate the passion in learning. To present the content well, the ID should have in-depth knowledge about the subject and about various design strategies. The ID should also be able to motivate to create the best learning experience for the learner group.

Knowledge about the topic is often extracted from subject-matter experts, but the ID should make adequate efforts to understand the topic before embarking on the process of creating e-learning content. The ID should also make efforts to know the audience and its requirements to fulfill the other two ‘passions’ – design and learning experience. A one-size-fits-all approach is not a ‘passionate’ approach to learning, and the majority of learning experts now sees the merits of personalized or adaptive learning. For this, passion in learning is a must for IDs.

Flipped Learning:

We have talked about the merits of flipped learning for corporate learners. In the K12 scenario, the flipped learning model makes online lectures available to students. It was first introduced to help absent students catch up faster instead of taking copious notes from friends that often made no sense to them! It was soon realized that the concept could be utilized to provide entire lectures online. Teachers could then use the face-to-face classroom time for interactive exercises like discussions, queries and other activities that encourage concept mastery.

In corporate learning too, the flipped learning model can help learners get access to video or audio lectures before the classroom session. Additionally, short learning nuggets can also be provided that help learners refresh the learning gathered in the classroom.  This creates a model blend of online and classroom learning that utilizes the strengths of both to the hilt. Online lessons are short and hard-hitting in order to provide the learners a background or refresher. Classroom sessions are then utilized to debate and discuss with peers as well as instructors.

In this age of perennial learning, exploring new strategies to suit the modern learner is a must. Having said this, re-hashing older concepts and giving them a suitable garb for workplace learning is also a time-tested and successful strategy! For more eLearning strategies, write to in**@gc**********.net