Learning When You Need It

Classroom training, education, and eLearning don’t really accomplishwhat we’d like them to accomplish. If we’re attempting to teach someone how toperform a task, then after the class or the training we’d like them to be ableto perform the task on their own. So we load them up with all the informationwe think they’ll need in advance of needing it, by which time they’ve forgottenhalf of it. Ideally? It would be better if we could look over their shoulderand prompt them what to do, when they need to do it.

Driving in Ireland

I travel to Ireland on a fairly regular basis and when I do, I rent acar. Now, when anyone travels to another country and intends to drive whilethey’re there, the first question they have is “On what side of the road do youdrive?” In Ireland they drive on the left—in Canada (just in case you’veforgotten) we drive on the right. One other thing? They also have roundabouts—whichnot everyone, even in Ireland, understands very well.

The above paragraph is intended to deliver information—just like many instancesof classroom education and eLearning. It communicates some knowledge that thestudent (you in this case) might needin the future. It does transfer knowledge (e.g., in Ireland you drive on theleft), But like most classroom courses and much of eLearning, my well-meaningparagraph doesn’t transfer a skill.

To acquire the skill of driving on the left hand and traversing aroundabout (boundaround?) safely, requires that we both intend to drive on the left and rememberto drive on the left. When we’re actually driving and while we’re looking outfor pedestrians, commenting on how green it is, andstaring in awe at the amazing scenery. What we really need is someone toremind us while we’re driving—that weneed to be on the left hand side of the road. (Those of us who drive with theirspouse as a passenger, have addressed this need.)

Learning at the instant of need

That’s the point of the strange symbols in the graphic at the head of this article. We learn bestwhen we’re given the training at the instantwe need it, and not earlier. The five symbols in the graphic refer tothe Five Moments of Learning Need—first indentified by Conrad Gottfredson and Bob Mosher.

	When we learn something for the firsttime (New)
	When we expandon what we’ve learned (More)
	When we attempt to use what we’velearned (Apply)
	When problems occur (Problem Solving)
	When change happens (Change)

What exactly do we mean when we talk about a moment of learning need? Fora good example we’ll head back to Ireland. When I last rented a car there, Iimmediately noticed something peculiar. On the top of the dashboard was a strangelooking sticker. It read as follows:

That didn’t make much sense to me untilI looked up and noticed the reflection in the windshield—right where I neededit—as I was looking at the road I was about to drive on. (I’ll let the readerfigure it out what it said.)

The windshield-reflected stickerprovided a very simple heads-up display (HUD) of a useful reminder at the veryinstant I could make best use of it—as I was looking at the road. Just as some firstresponders have “Ambulance” in a mirror image on the front of the emergencyvehicle. You hear the siren, look in your rear view mirror and see “Ambulance!”

Performance support

This is the key idea of performancesupport. Present information to the user only at the instant they need it, nomatter when or where they’re doing it. It’s the idea behind the success of navigationsystems powered by GPS. Turn left now(if you want to get to Montreal, which is still 345km away)—no need foradditional information at this point, no need to learn the route before youleave the house. Training when you need it.

The challenge of course, is how do wedesign systems (not training) to respond to the user’s needs when they need it?

Sometimes it’s easy. Design theelectrical plug so that we cannot insert it incorrectly. Design the gas tank sowe cannot put regular fuel into a diesel-powered car without going out of ourway to accomplish the ruination of our vehicle. Design the coffee grinder (withthe nasty whirling blade) so that it won’t grind if the top is not properlysecured.

Other times it’s just a little bit moredifficult … design the email program so that if we write, “I’mincluding/attaching/sending you the file” in the body of the text, then the applicationwill ask us when we go to send the email, if we really want to send it withoutattaching the file. (Not that I’ve ever done that. Too often. Today. Much.)

Simple,but not easy

Then it gets really difficult. Designthe computer system so that we can ask it, in common everyday language, how todo something we’ve never done before. For example? “Computer? I want to add afew lines at the bottom of every email I send out…”

At which point the system figures outwhat we want to do, and then guides us in the doing, just like the GPS navsystem in the car … do this now, and then do this, and then enter what you needto enter, etc. Until the task is complete—no training required. Justinformation when we need it.

Here’s the challenge facingevery organization: Training doesn’t work as well as we’d like. What worksbetter is when the information we need is available when we need it. Whileachieving this is difficult, it’s not as difficult as we might think. The last “difficult”example is a case in point. There are tools that allow us to add thatcapability to almost any modern computer system. They exist. They’re available.So? I’ve done the “!” part—introduced (for some) a new idea. The next part, “→,”is out of my hands.