Learning Undefined

If you were to ask a student, a teacher,a university professor, a corporate trainer, and an instructional designer eachto define “learning,” would they offer the same response? Do you think thetools and strategies they use in their prospective learning environments areall actually geared toward optimal learning?

If your answer to either questionis “no,” then we have a problem.

Technology is advancing at such arapid pace that even a programmer living in the heart of Silicon Valley couldstruggle to keep track of the changes. Educators and trainers across the globerush to stay up-to-date, and they worry when they are unable to employ thelatest learning applications. But as educators and as learners, we don’t reallyhave a clear, shared objective of what learning is and how it should occur. Andwhile perhaps not commonly applied to the world of tech and educationalstartups, the old adage rings more true than ever: Just because we can, does itmean we should?

A shifting definition

As an elementary and high schoolstudent, my own perception of learning was largely dependent on the standardsmy teachers set. And their standards were largely dependent on my ability torecall facts at a predetermined date and time. My familiarity with my textbookand ability to regurgitate concepts in a slightly different way than what waswritten in textbooks often gave me a false impression of mastery with thesubjects.

From what I could tell, higher-edinstitutions and university professors also seemed pretty content with thisdefinition of learning. They do, after all, make their selections and providevalidation based on an individual’s proficiency in those types of assessments.The “Carnegie unit”and credit hours based on class attendance weigh heavily in thisinterpretation, with instruction often lecture-based and, therefore,teacher-based.

By the time of my ownundergraduate experience, I was a seasoned “learning” veteran. I knew all thetricks of the trade, how to read between the lines of a multiple-choicequestion and guess correctly, how to show up at each and every office hour toindicate my interest and diligent work ethic. I was an advanced “learner.”

So, as you can see, my subsequentdecision to become a teacher initially was not about a holistic understandingof learning. I found the subject of history fascinating and wanted to revel inthat forever with groups of students. It’s not that I hadn’t questioned themethodology behind my classroom learning experiences; I just accepted it. It’swhat I had to work with. It’s what our educational model is built on. And,given this model, I personally was finding success.

Then I was accepted to theTeacher Education Program at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education. I attended my first graduateclass, titled “Foundations of Education,” and there my instructors posed asingle question to an aspiring group of young student teachers: What islearning?

The instructors didn’t attempt toprovide us with definitive answers. They simply asked us to reconsider. Becausereally, how can we even begin to approach educating and training others unlesswe answer this fundamental question from the very start?

To say that this inquiry was aturning point for me would be an understatement, as it impacted all the majorcareer moves I would make moving forward. After graduating with a master’s in education,I began work as a schoolteacher at a progressive, project-based secondaryschool. Here, I had the freedom to really explore the apparent learningquandary I encountered as a graduate student. As someone accustomed to takingstandardized tests her whole life, and well aware of how objectives like thoseactually shape classroom experiences, I instead aimed to create assessments ina way that felt meaningful. The goals I worked to define as an instructor werelargely “competency-based,” and I asked students to practice and evidence awide breadth of skills throughout their learning. My approaches were certainlyimperfect and problematic in many regards, but I felt confident in thedefinition of learning that guided my instruction, and I consistently iteratedtoward that effect.

The constraint, however, was thatI could implement that only within my own classroom. And it was a lot ofwork. To craft experiences that take into consideration my students’ uniqueinterests, passions, and needs as learners, to account for their growth anddevelopment, to acquaint them with their responsibilities as contributors to alarger community, to really connect with who they are as individuals—it’sa lot to do. And at first, while I seemed to be arriving at greater clarity aboutmy definition of learning, I wasn’t too concerned about learning at the schooldown the road. I didn’t really have the time. And I gather the same is true formany educators in the K-12 world. We barely have enough time and resources tofocus on the students in our many classes. And even then, there are outsideforces at play and standards to be met.

Learning at large

After a few years as a teacher,after building a solid foundation of classroom processes and materials and notfeeling the pressure to reinvent the wheel at every turn, I began to wonder: CouldI pose this learning inquiry on a larger scale?

I briefly considered a moreadvanced degree in education, my instinct still very much beholden to ourunderlying degree-based educational system. I even decided to move across thecountry to attend classes at one of the most prestigious teaching universitiesin the nation. But after only a few months, I diverged from the traditionaleducational model that had afforded me so much opportunity. It just didn’t makesense anymore. Would pressing on through several more years of tuition andfocused research result in real change? Instead, I looked to a new learninglandscape, where the opportunity for immediate effect seemed more promising,and the possibilities endless.

Ed-tech startups and onlinelearning companies are teeming with former teachers. Stepping into the techworld and away from the classroom was, to say the least, an eye-openingexperience. At first, it felt constraining not to be able to simulate theimmediate contact and personalized feedback you are capable of in aface-to-face learning environment. As teachers, we spend hours, even days,designing lessons, projects, and frameworks. But we also know that once classbegins, everything we designed could go right out the window. As studentsrespond to situations and the learning experience unfolds, so too do we adjustand facilitate accordingly. It’s in-the-moment, hands-on, and adaptive.

On the other hand, withtechnology, we can design for learning experiences that reach beyond the wallsof a single classroom, to the school down the road, to the college student in aneighboring state, to an aspiring professional at the other end of the world.With technology, our reach is magnified, as is our ability to analyze theefficacy of our instructional approach. Theoretically, we should be on theverge of a “learning renaissance,” a flowering of opportunity for individualsand employees around the world who require effective training and learning toimprove their lives.

So, where do we find ourselves?

From students to universityprofessors to instructional designers, we have not yet solidified ourunderstanding of how learning experiences should be crafted and how standardsshould be set and met. Instead, many online learning companies rush to buildtechnology to meet a definition of learning that’s comfortable, to align toinstitutions locked into an educational framework dating back centuries.

Instructional designers andtrainers often feel pressured to accommodate a definition of learning that theygrew up with as students, a definition that gauges basic fact retention andsorts us by our potential, rather than our “actual.” As regulatory bodiescontinue to push on quantitative measurement, we easily neglect the growth ofalternative methods for measuring learning and performance.

In 2014, eLearning was estimatedto be a $56.2 billion industry. The demand is huge, but many of the offeringsare so much less compelling, barely scratching the surface of their reach. Evenwith the buzz that massive open online courses (MOOCs) garner, for example,they continue to retain a framework for learning that fundamentally does not buildthe skills and competencies the market requires. We use technology to optimizean understood model, yet we do not consider that model’s efficacy from thestart.

What now?

Rather than a series of bulletedaction items, I’d like to offer a one-word recommendation for your work as aneducator and learning professional:

Reconsider.

With each new strategy you employin your instruction, with each new technology you adopt and develop,reconsider.

Look at your definition oflearning and how it came to be through your own educational journey. Throw itout, start fresh, and see if you come to the same result.

Ask yourself the followingquestions in your reconsideration:

• What skills do your learners need to acquire?
• Is your objective the comprehension of content, or competency and the practical application of concepts?
• Does your definition take into account any cognitive science and research?
• How is technology present in your learners’ everyday lives, and does your instruction weave seamlessly into their experiences?
• Are learners taking the content they absorb and applying it in a meaningful way?
• Are you measuring the things that matter?

Rather than shy away from theintellectual challenge of defining and measuring learning, tackle it head-on.Craft instruction in a way that directly, intentionally, meets the needs ofthose who seek and require learning.

For many educators and learningprofessionals, there may seem to be little incentive to veer from anestablished workflow and enterprise. But when traditional definitions oflearning clash with new approaches, take a moment and reconsider. What value dothese new solutions have to offer? Leave room for the possibility of adaptationand growth in your own definition.

Today, I am grateful to work fora company that sees education and economic opportunity as intertwined. We canconnect individuals and their passions to relevant, meaningful instruction. Wecan create platforms and use data to understand where learners are coming from,what they need, and where they intend to go. We can provide a critical missinglink by designing learning experiences that directly serve industry needs.

The opportunity feelsmassive.

This opportunity drives me, and those with whom Iwork, to take a close look at the learning experience and to do everything inour power to get it right. It means constantly challenging our assumptions,evaluating and reevaluating how we can design for optimal learning. And it isthe type of intellectual inquiry that I wish for every learning professional.