The Learning Circuits Blog Big Question for December is 'what did you learn about learning in 2008?' Keeping true to my new belief in the benefits of procrastination, I have managed to leave this until the very last day of the month; and, because I have not yet posted any retrospectives for 2008, I thought I'd combine the two. So, here goes, a selection of postings I've made this year, which might throw some insight into how we all learn:

January

Communicate with gamers using the tools and methods with which they are most comfortable, i.e. gadgets, games and gizmos.

Sometimes one has to say difficult things, but one ought to say them as simply as one knows how. A mathematician's apology.

People cannot easily be categorised as gamers, boomers, or whatever. I must be a Booming Gamer or a Gaming Boomer. Can't Put Me in a Box.

Digital video is the new medium of choice, although it's a delusion to believe that really simple videos are really simple to produce.

Those who right lists and keep notes will be less anxious than those who don't, because their short term memory isn't cluttered up with things to remember. Getting Things Done.

February

Motivations to learn: acquiring the knowledge and skills that enable us to better relate to other individuals; acquiring the knowledge and skills that are expected of the groups to which we belong; acquiring the knowledge and skills that enable us to compete/stand out in the specialisations of our choice. No Two Alike.

All conscious learning is to some degree stressful, even when it's voluntary and not work-related - and particularly in the classroom. So learners prefer the classroom? Are you sure?

More independent learners may be quite capable of managing on their own, using their own resources to reflect, rehearse and practice with the material. Page turners? Yes please.

Learners are individuals and want to have control over how and when they learn, including which technologies they use. What they don't want are organisations - educational or otherwise - telling them how it should be done. In their own words.

A ninety minute daytime nap helps speed up the process of long term memory consolidation. Lars is Learning.

March

Inductive e-learning works best but is not well supported by rapid authoring tools. Whatever happened to inductive learning?

Multimodal learning is 21% more effective when used to address basic skills and 20% more effective when addressing higher order skills. Multimodal learning through media.

April

Most of us do not have the luxury of working in order to learn, because we are more concerned with working to earn; and let's not forget that learning is work - you have to put effort into making it happen. Work at learning, learning at work.

You're much more likely to use Web 2.0 technologies, sims and games to learn if you're in Asia. It's all happening in small financial institutions in Asia.

Want kids to communicate - get them online.

May

"Learning is change. It is change in ourselves because it is change in the brain. Thus the art of teaching must be the art of changing the brain" Or, more accurately, "creating conditions that lead to change in a learner's brain." The art of changing the brain.

June

It's the instructional method, not the delivery medium, that makes the difference. When web-based instruction and classroom instruction that have similar methods (feedback, practice, etc.) are compared, there's little or no difference in outcomes. It's the method, not the medium.

E-learning is not necessarily perceived by the user as just another goal-orientated web activity. Who is to say individuals cannot adjust into a lean-back mode when they are e-learning? E-learning: an oxymoron?

Ideas are important, but they need to be backed up by concrete examples; they also need to be thoroughly explored to ensure their validity and their relevance. That requires debate, discussion, reflection, experimentation and feedback. Too many ideas and all you get is cognitive overload - most likely you go away with nothing. Cutting the pie.

July

What is it that HR people really want from a formal learning experience? Apparently they like their learning very practical / case study-based and modular, in short pieces - much like most other people in fact. Even HR people can like e-learning.

Brain-based learning: fad or breakthrough? More the former it seems. My brain hurts.

When we say blended learning, we usually mean blended teaching. Is everything a blend?

A blended approach is most likely to be appropriate when the learning requirement is complex and multi-faceted; the learning need is sizeable and the intervention is therefore likely to be prolonged; and the target audience is relatively heterogeneous. The argument for blended learning.

A blended learning solution mixes social contexts for learning with the aim of increasing learning effectiveness, and/or mixes learning media to increase efficiency. So what is blended learning?

August

Learning styles don't exist.

Most education and training programmes are designed to minimise the chance of the student making errors; yet without the opportunity to experiment, fail, reflect and try again, we are severely restricted in our ability to learn. No time for errors.

"When should you take your learners on a journey of discovery and when should you take them for a short stroll around the garden?" The treatment matrix.

Simulation seems to me to sit somewhere between the observation of expert performance and trying out those skills for yourself on the job, however well supported. It enables learners to experiment, make mistakes, experience successes, obtain feedback, reflect and hypothesise. Simulation and skill development.

We need to find the right balance between serving up knowledge on a plate and helping learners to construct their own. Balancing top-down and bottom-up approaches.

September

Synchronous e-learning can be more effective than the classroom. Synchronous e-learning myths #2.

If you're finding it hard to get Learning 2.0 under way, you could always try Learning 1.5. Norman's lament.

Organisations can't be re-engineered because they're organic, they're made of people. Frogs and bicycles.

You'll do something if you believe there's a strong  chance that this will lead to something you want; what this means is you feel capable of doing it, and you have confidence that the reward will be forthcoming. Victor Vroom lives!

October

Present neither too little nor too much (and other PowerPoint tips). Clear and to the point.

Online communication is not second best.

When e-learning goes wrong, you can be sure that the only reason it was introduced was to save money. There's also a strong chance that the project was put in the hands of a small group of specialists working with outside contractors and that the rest of the training department was alienated as a result. Same old story.

November

If you have a really bad teacher, you'll never learn however long the experience lasts, because you just give up. Why it's not worth paying peanuts.

December

Blended learning can integrate informal learning methods; it can also act as a bridge to true informal learning; well beyond the scope of the formalised training course, in that area of our lives where real work gets done. Recipes for second generation blended learning.

"An appropriate blend of online, self-directed learning with face-to-face, coaching and other techniques seems ideally suited for management development." Blended learning for management development.

Gen Y is the least of our worries.

"A shift is taking place from training - an instructor-led, content-based intervention - to learning, which is a self-directed, work-based process leading to increased adaptive capacity." When is a trainer not a trainer?

Happy new year!