The Bicycle Story: Knowing is Different from Understanding - Workshop Tip #219

Check out this video about a guy trying to unlearn how to ride a bicycle. He found it extremely difficult to do. He began to realize that knowing how to ride a bike and understanding it are two different things. Sometimes, our minds prefer familiarity, a sense of order, or just keeping things the way they are. This rigidity affects how we behave towards change or learning something new.

For most people, change is a scary thing. The fear and the uncertainties of the unknown make people more apprehensive about changes. So, we stick to the status quo. We keep on with the same ideas and processes that may or may not have worked for us. No room for growth nor flexibility.

This mindset is well and good if the world is to remain in a rigid state. However, the reality is it constantly changes. In fact, we are currently living right in the thick of it and scrambling to make sense of the rapid transition required. As Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest or most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” The catchphrases of the moment - “Survive or thrive” and “Adapt or die” couldn’t be more fitting.

Change motivates us to ask questions, re-align the status quo, and view what we already know from different angles. As a result, we level up from “knowing” to “understanding.” Our knowledge, mindset, and skills grow and develop. Change opens up opportunities for fresh perspectives, breakthrough ideas, and new solutions.

You need to unlearn what you think you know, strip yourself from any biases and assumptions, and rebuild from the ground up to maximize the full benefits of new learning.

Change is neither good nor bad. It really is about choosing how to look at it and deciding what to do when it hits.

Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

How Stories Uplift Our Spirits During Coronavirus - Workshop Tip 218

What is your lockdown story? How do you find relief and comfort from the stress and anxiety of staying at home 24/7? As for me, just like the majority of people, I rely on social media and Zoom to stay connected with family and friends. I even do a Zoom party every Friday with a group of my very close friends. My wife checks up on her mother and siblings daily through Zoom calls. Virtual team tools are a great help too for our regular work meetings.

Somehow, this sudden disconnect from our usual and normal face-to-face interactions had us strongly craving the need to connect, albeit virtually.

Unconsciously, we are becoming better communicators and the quality of conversations is deeper and more personal. Why? Because we are naturally curious and we all have stories to tell. We ask our friends and families, “What’s going on with you?” “What’s new?” “How are you handling it?”

The common thread is sharing stories. With these uncertain and unprecedented times were having, we all can benefit from stories that inspire and boost our morale.

These are some of the stories that uplift our spirits.

SGN Graduation with Oprah, Steven Spielberg, Jon Stewart, and Malala

Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

Making Technical & Compliance Learning Engaging & Fun

Synthesis:
Develop fun and engaging technical and compliance elearning programs through approaches such as unbundling content adapted to the learner’s perspective, finding instant context and weaving context and facts through real-life stories. Identify “must learn” from “learn on need" content and discover application points.
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How many of you feel that your learning programs are like an interrogation process or bad medicine to be ingested?

Facts, theories, rules, legalese information are necessary elements in learning. However, these can be very unappealing, boring, unnerving and downright tedious to learners. Even as we understand the need for it, the key idea to keep in mind is this : unless the learner has some personal goals being achieved, such information do not become valuable to them. As a result, they tend to mentally wander instead of staying focused.

There are certain approaches that may help you create reality-based technical and compliance learning programs that enable learners to absorb learning points that impact job performance.

Identify the difference between these following approaches.

Studying Physics vs fixing A Car?

Networking Class vs Network Troubleshooting?
 The examples present a vivid contrast between :
• Theory vs. Hands On Training
• Academic Goals vs. Personal Goals

Learners latch on to what is real, that they can relate to very quickly.

Unbundling Content from the Technical View to the Learner’s View 

To make technical training engaging, we need to rethink and change content presentation from the technical specialist’s view (Engineer, specialized author or subject matter expert (SME)) to the learner’s perspective. The unbundling process allows us to efficiently recognize components or areas of the content that help the learners obtain better understanding that result to efficient and valuable learning.

“What does not have consequence to the person (positive or negative)
does not get attention. It does not impact their personal goals and lives."

Finding Instant Context
 
People's attention is drawn to content that they can relate to.

A company that we worked with provides a perfect example of how they realized a way for learners to discover context while learning instructions.

Initially, this was the learning option chosen: Focused on Instruction

However, they realized that this was a more effective approach:
Focused on diagnosis, problem solving




The key change to be considered is the shift from Instruction-focused to the Application- focused method in content preparation. Whenever you have content, you relate the factual area to a real-life situation.

Here is a vivid example.

How do we organize content to make it application focused?

The Tractor Story

Share specific solutions and related stories to diagnosis and research. Instead of starting from steps 1 to 10, begin with different situations. In that way, we draw the learners into the content.

Also carefully consider the impact that various technologies, particularly software application have on the study experience.

Weaving Context and Facts

Weaving individual stories into traditional context removes the mere technicality of the subject. When your programs have too much of technical, factual and legalese information, people lose interest.

Weaving “Real-Life” Stories: Structured Learning vs Design by Context
A test is usually more on memorization instead of application. Doing too much memorization tests depreciate the application value of a compliance program you have. Yet when you use stories interwoven with technical content , the learner’s experience and involvement dramatically changes. So is their learning level. Tests now take on a more substantial form.

There may be more than one event within a story; you may end up with few experiences and circumstances which lead back to the same process that becomes more driven towards reality rather than theory.

Here are some examples:

Challenging technical subjects can be discovered through the presentation of real-life situations that instruct the value of investigating factual information and encourages learners to understand, apply, appreciate and maintain the worth of technical knowledge. Click here to view "Would Maria Qualify as Spouse?"

Instead of enumerating the reasons of why you need to wash your hands, it would be better to bring learners into the reality of the need to do this on a day to day basis. Click here and watch the vignette for “Washing Hands”.

The “Must Learn” and “Learn on Need”

Click here for the enlarged view

It is essential to identify “must learn” from “learn on need” content. Research consistently and come up with a decision on “what is really essential in this content?” which the learner can use to improve on the job. What value can be added? What mistakes must be prevented? What difficulties or challenges in the workplace must be addressed by the content? Initiate the thinking process when you look at your content.

Features and Functions Training

If you ask subject experts on what is important, they will definitely tell you that it is everything . This can be a problem. We tend to be too instruction focused because what is really important has not been pinpointed.

When I wrote the book “3 Minute eLearning”, research showed that instructional design tend to develop a program but will focus - step by step - on the technical content. Clients are looking for “what they must learn” to perform on the job. What I have discovered is that the content that is really important is what you call value to improve or commence performance now. With the difficult content, they still need to learn how the difficulty should be conquered.

Discover Application Points

How do you discover application points?

Accentuate on real-life events and applications; rather than facts overload.

I want to share with you a very interesting example of an “Application-Based Scenario”.


It will show you how to weave real life information together in such a way that you go in and out of points. It will help you see how theory is transferred into application through following instructions. Observe how weaving of applications and the functions are applied here. Note how you could relate, view pictures which are powerful for your imagination, the technical product and the hammer effect. Click here and watch “Evernote”.

Summary:
Learning technical and compliance information can definitely be fun and engaging. Applying the varied approaches and methods available and the careful consideration with regard to software usage can help learners connect with facts through stories. Focusing on application rather than instruction is key in content preparation. Identifying “must learn” versus “learn on need” content is crucial as well.

Related Posts: 
Making Facts Stick With Stories - Jiggling Atoms
How to Embed Learning Goals in Stories
Instant Learning: How it works and how to make it happen?

Creating Learning Peaks with Scenarios

Synthesis:
Creating thought-provoking scenarios stretch the learner’s imagination and help them journey through varied emotions until they reach their learning peaks.
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When and how are learning peaks achieved?

When ideas become actual experiences for learners then it triggers a recall of a previous experience.  This, in turn, creates a connection to a new experience.

Learning also peaks when it spurs the learner to action beyond the process of thinking.  Imagine what usually happens when wood drops to the floor after it has been sawed off.  What happens when trees tumble to the ground after it loses the battle with wild, howling winds?

Learning is also achieved when learners begin to have conversations with themselves.  They ask themselves questions and also answer them along the way.

Likewise,learning peaks occur when one is overwhelmed by positive feelings of joy, ecstasy and exuberance over a new insight.

When one receives a feedback for his or her action, it usually signals the impact of that idea  on others.

All the aforementioned brings forth the essence of how learners climb the learning path of scenarios.

It is the journey of discovery that learners take when brought through well-thought scenarios – the kinds that possess the right characteristics. Learners are allowed to go through a gamut of emotions – the unknown, uncertainty and finally a sigh of relief or joy when they arrive at a discovery.

If a scenario is obvious, it does not allow the learners to imagine, contemplate or reflect. Good scenarios must be able to stretch the learner’s imagination and provoke thinking. It is as Jim Whittaker, the first American to climb Mt. Everest described it – “an ultimate burst of emotion.”

Learning peaks in real-event scenarios then become moments of emotions.

When an individual discovers something – possibly a truth, solution or answer – they spring to action.  The learner has now conquered, achieved or arrived at a learning peak.

Related Posts:

Surgical Insertion of Micro-Scenarios that Beautify and Fire Up Your eLearning

Is it spoon-feeding or discovery scenario learning?

Ray Jimenez, PhD
http://VignettesLearning.com

See more eLearning stories: Story Impacts eLearning System

http://try.storyimpacts.com

"SMACK THE LEARNER ON THE FACE" - Learning from failures - best learning ever

Synthesis
Allowing learners to fail or realize the possibility of failures enable them to earnestly pursue learning as they analyze, think through or contemplate on the circumstance and discover learning points that help them arrive at solutions and/or behavioral changes.
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I just read Roger Schank's book on "Teaching Minds".

Paraphrasing his thoughts, Schank says that our school and corporate educational systems are basically focused on academic objectives and not on the learners' life objectives. As a consequence, we hardly remember or use 95% of what we studied in school or even  in business training and learning programs. I believe that this is a lot of waste.

Furthermore, Schank is convinced that failure is the best way to learn. He says that we tend to change our behaviours as we experience mistakes and do trial and error in our actions and decisions. This becomes a recurring cycle of incremental learning.

With this in mind, I produce the vignettes as learning tools. Through them I try to present learners with instant reminders of situations where we fail. Alongside that, learners are allowed to think this failure through. The learner then asks: "What must I do differently?" "How do I avoid this next time?" Why did I behave in such manner?"

In the vignette "The Angry Project Manager", this is exactly what we aim at.
Ask yourself. Have you ever lost your cool? What happened when you did? What did you learn ?

In designing learning that revolves around experiences and stories, "SMACK THE LEARNER ON THE FACE"  and put them on the spot, to make them pay attention to learning from failures.

Click here to view "The Angry Project Manager".  Here below is a short description.

"The Angry Manager" vignette shows us that in a fast-paced work environment, anger may not always be avoided . But if you are to deal with a very angry person, what would you say or do? View the  vignette and consider the options presented. After contemplating on all the options, click to the next scene and witness  how anger can overtake someone. Can you see yourself reacting in a similar way? Click here to view "The Angry Project Manager".

How to Use the Vignette

Although the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics, including conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. This vignette is very useful for eLearning sessions that require your learners’ undivided attention, especially those that deal with specific situations that need to be resolved in a timely manner. Use it as part of your lessons or as a post-training test. Face-to-face, eLearning or webinar, this vignette is a sure way to push your learners to the EDGE. Vignettes are captivating and highly effective learning tools that can power up your classroom training, eLearning activities and social learning communities. Click here to view "The Angry Project Manager".

Join us  and tell us what you think about the vignettes and share with us if you have had similar experiences. Your feedback and insights are highly valued. Also feel free to send in your suggestions, comments, improvements or topics that are of interest to you. This can help us greatly in coming up with better vignettes, especially on topics that are of great relevance to you.

Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

"Why Exaggeration Works in Learning"

Synthesis
Exaggeration is a potent method of bringing attention to an important or critical message. It’s humor and sarcasm underlies the objective of helping the learners discover the embedded learning content in the midst of a lighthearted approach.
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More often than not we associate exaggeration with comedy films. We also use it as a way to cope with and lighten up an otherwise serious agenda.  Whichever way, it calls people’s attention.

Exaggeration works because we pay attention to exaggerated events in our lives. Let’s analyze your day. What situations call your attention?  What events or priorities gets you focused?  What urgencies arise that mobilize you to take action? Why do we call it “fire fighting”? This is not because people are negative. It is simply because we choose to focus on what impacts our lives at the moment and for the time being. We begin to reflect on the consequences. The bigger the consequence, the more we pay attention to it. This means we become attentive to what matters.

In the same manner, learners constantly focus on what matters to them too.  These are often high impact points in the learning process.  However, we appear to label them as "exaggerated" because there is a lot of emotional investment. There is a personal impact at stake.

In this video courtesy of the Xerox company,"Symptoms of Info Overload",we are offered valuable insight into the usage of exaggeration to bring across an important message to its audience. It is humorous and exaggerated, yet it draws the learners' attention to what impacts their lives. It helps them discover the embedded learning content underneath the lighthearted approach.

Click here to view the vignette.  Here below is a short description.

The vignette,"Symptoms of Info Overload", is a wacky illustration of a serious matter that's creeping into the work environment. You see, when a person begins taking in information beyond what can be handled by the brain, information overload happens. This vignette presents the stress and damage that Information Overload Syndrome, or IOS, brings upon one’s work and business. When this happens, then it is no longer funny.

Are you suffering from IOS? Do you know someone who is? How should you manage information and save yourself from IOS? Click here to view "Symptoms of Info Overload".

How to Use the Vignette

Although the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics, including conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. This vignette is very useful for eLearning sessions that require your learners’ undivided attention, especially those that deal with specific situations that need to be resolved in a timely manner. Use it as part of your lessons or as a post-training test. Face-to-face, eLearning or webinar, this vignette is a sure way to push your learners to the EDGE. Vignettes are captivating and highly effective learning tools that can power up your classroom training, eLearning activities and social learning communities. Click here to view "Symptoms of Info Overload".

Join us and tell us what you think about the vignettes and share with us if you have had similar experiences. Your feedback and insights are highly valued. Also feel free to send in your suggestions, comments, improvements or topics that are of interest to you. This can help us greatly in coming up with better vignettes, especially on topics that are of great relevance to you.


Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

Are Trainers Still Needed?

Synthesis
Learners are taking control of what they learn and how they learn. And trainers face the challenge of rethinking their roles, create innovative learning environments and discovering and experiencing new tools to help learners learn better.
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Informal learning, social learning, or learning based on the learners’ choices or options are certainly redefining the roles of trainers, learning specialists and even learners themselves. As they take more control of their own learning on their own terms, this becomes a frightening scenario to many learning specialists.

"Letting go of control" pushes trainers to rethink their roles in the learning process. However, rather than balk at the prospect, it is about time that this becomes an open issue. Years ago, letting go of control was like committing suicide where trainers are concerned.

Truth to say, we trainers, never had total control. We’ve always felt, thought and convinced ourselves that we control learning because we instruct and teach knowledge.  However in reality, learners choose to learn based on their own personal goals. So, this openness about losing control is not entirely novel news. It should no longer be a surprise.

Consequently, it is now acceptable or in certain instances imperative to review and reconsider our perspective of our jobs as trainers.   Since we were never really fully in control, in the past and more so now with informal learning, what should we do differently?

First, let's assess which part of the learning process can we best contribute to. I suggest that we carefully process learning. Roger Schank in his new book "Teaching Minds" suggests that we help learners learn by guiding and allowing them to gain insight from failures and/or experiences.

Let me offer some suggestions:

1. Set up learning situations, scenarios, real-life simulations  that enable learners to do, act and even fail, but eventually learn from the experiences.

2. Rethink how to modify, discard or reject, replace and invent new tools.

Classrooms, learning objectives, curriculum, slideshows, games and exercises are common tools that we use to control learners. An innovative approach is to explore, reconsider and discover new tools that not only engage learners but make it possible for them to have control over their own learning (Wikis, Blogs, Searches, RSS, story and experience sharing, peer-to-peer learning, etc.).

However, the greatest drawback is that trainers are not comfortable with these new tools simply because they have not even started to delve into or experience them. This is where the dilemma lies.  How do you, as a trainer/learning specialist, begin to help learners leverage these tools when you have not tried them out yourself?

We fail to realize that the best way to redefine, re-align and innovate our roles as trainers is to take action now. Dive in. Eat, dream, sleep and imbibe how learners control their own learning. Gain the emotional experience. Do not attend a class and learn the theory. Do it.

I’m including  a vignette " Are Trainers Still Needed?"as a provocative discussion point. The pace, selection and retention of learning content are controlled by the learners’ needs, goals and interests.  Trainers are challenged to step out of their comfort zones to explore approaches that will to help them keep in step with their learners.

Click here to view the vignette.  Here below is a short description.

In this vignette “ Are Trainers Still Needed?”, a seasoned trainer is short of being told that what he is teaching is outdated. He used to be sure of himself all the time but now he suddenly isn’t. Not used to this kind of situation, he sticks to his dated information, risking the ire of his learner. What consequences will this trainer endure? What should he do? Click here to view "Are Trainers Still Needed?". 

How to Use the Vignette

 

Although the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics, including conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. This vignette is very useful for eLearning sessions that require your learners’ undivided attention, especially those that deal with specific situations that need to be resolved in a timely manner. Use it as part of your lessons or as a post-training test. Face-to-face, eLearning or webinar, this vignette is a sure way to push your learners to the EDGE. Vignettes are captivating and highly effective learning tools that can power up your classroom training, eLearning activities and social learning communities. Click here to view "Are Trainers Still Needed?". 

Join us and tell us what you think about the vignettes and share with us if you have had similar experiences. Your feedback and insights are highly valued. Also feel free to send in your suggestions, comments, improvements or topics that are of interest to you. This can help us greatly in coming up with better vignettes, especially on topics that are of great relevance to you.

Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

"Learners Don't Know What They Don’t Know"

Synthesis: 
Leaders/trainers tend to assume that learners lack knowledge and therefore it is imperative that they must be taught everything.  To the surprise of non-believers, learners are able to discover learning on their own if they are allowed to.
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In a lot of instances, we hear leaders/trainers say, “Learners don’t know what they don’t  know”.  The tendency is to assume that learners lack knowledge or do not know a lot. As a result, learners are inundated with knowledge from leaders/trainers rather than being allowed to go through the process of discovery. 

The challenge I pose to us today, is to acknowledge that we don’t have a monopoly of knowledge. We don’t know everything. There will be opportunities to learn from our learners, too. We must let go of our mistrust of our learners.  Begin to guide them through a process of discovering learning content. 

Using micro-scenarios and story interactions allow your learners to journey through simulated real-life events that help them to relate to it and uncover the embedded learning content. Preview the vignette featured here and reflect on how micro-scenarios  and story interactions effectively enable you to enhance the learning process.

This vignette helps provoke a discussion on trusting and allowing learners and team members to discover solutions to problems. In many situations, trainers and leaders fail to recognize that team members and learners know better since they do their jobs. In training, we tend to dampen and discourage the learner when we kill their enthusiasm and their desire to discover solutions. 

Click here to preview the vignette.  Also read the explanation below.

In the vignette for the week - “Learners Don't Know What They Don't Know”, George, a team manager, is furious because Linda, a team member, did not strictly follow his instructions. George predicts the team will lose a client and blames her for it. The next day, the client calls and congratulates George for having Linda in his team. Too bad for George, she now wants to quit. What do you think went wrong in this situation? What should George do to straighten out matters? Click here to view “Learners Don’t Know What They Don’t Know".

How to Use the Vignette
 
Although the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics, including conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. This vignette is very useful for eLearning sessions that require your learners’ undivided attention, especially those that deal with specific situations that need to be resolved in a timely manner. Use it as part of your lessons or as a post-training test. Face-to-face, eLearning or webinar, this vignette is a sure way to push your learners to the EDGE. Vignettes are captivating and highly effective learning tools that can power up your classroom training, eLearning activities and social learning communities. Click here to view "Learners Don’t Know What They Don’t Know".

Join us and tell us what you think about the vignettes and share with us if you have had similar experiences. Your feedback and insights are highly valued. Also feel free to send in your suggestions, comments, improvements or topics that are of interest to you. This can help us greatly in coming up with better vignettes, especially on topics that are of great relevance to you.


Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"