Marc My Words: New Roles for the Classroom

With all the technologicalalternatives to traditional classroom training, one wonders whether theclassroom has any future in modern learning and development strategy. Some havecalled for the end of classroom training. “Blow up the classrooms,” they say. Iam not one of them.

Sure, eLearning, virtuallearning, social learning, and other technological approaches dominate much ofwhat we do—and talk about—these days, leaving classroom learning—and instructors—fighting for air. And who can blame them? Classroom instruction isoften boring and frightfully expensive. So why don’t we just dump it?

Here’s why. There’s nothingquite like a great teacher, or learning with a group of people with similar interests and needs.But to find the right place for the classroom in the overall learning mix,where learners thrive and executives see value, classroom learning must change.

New approaches

We can’t continue to do whateLearning and other technologies do much more efficiently. Instead, classroomlearning must leverage what it does best and chart a new course (pun intended).Here are eight ideas about what the classroom can become, just by thinkingabout it a little differently:

1. A laboratory. The classroom can be aplace of experimentation and discovery; a place where new approaches are pursued,where failure is a risk-free growth opportunity, and where reflection aboutwhat just happened is eye-opening. Here, techniques like immersion and simulationwork well.
2. A think tank. Bringing people togetherto solve a problem or develop a new vision can not only be an intense learningexperience, but solutions that arise from this approach can also provide valueto the organization beyond the learning that takes place. Brainstorming,troubleshooting, and a singular focus on a specific problem are examples ofinstructional techniques that can be effective.
3. A town center. While social media holdsgreat promise for collaboration across distance, there is something to be saidfor using a classroom as a place for people to bypass distance and work acrossthe table, in the same room. A face-to-face event builds a bond that sometimescannot be achieved over a computer screen. And the networking that comes out ofthis time together can build relationships that benefit the learners long afterthe session is over. Live polling, small group discussions, shareddecision-making, and even some fun activities all work to build consensus, orchart a future direction.
4. A project HQ. You can effectivelymanage major projects online, but sometimes, getting the team together helpscommunication, builds a sense of shared purpose, and gives all members a betterlook along with the skills of the team. Kickoff, milestone, and after-actionmeetings are very helpful here.
5. A big event. Sometimes, the classroomcan be a place where something special happens, perhaps only once, that cannotbe truly replicated online. Meeting with a big customer, a selected vendor, arenowned expert, or the organization’s most senior leaders often calls forgetting everyone together to share the unique experience. The excitement of thebig event can be carried forward to other learning activities. Don’t forget torecord it for sharing and future reference.
6. A welcome wagon. For new hires, thefirst few weeks and months are critical. And while lots of people say thattechnology can bring orientation to people separated by time and distance, itmay miss one of the most critical onboarding success factors: a sense ofbelonging and an initial positive exposure to the organization’s culture. Here’swhere that much-maligned word “teambuilding” comes into play.
7. A game room. Using games andsimulations in a classroom setting can bring a sense of shared realism in arisk-free environment. This is especially true if person-to-person interactionsare vital to the experience. There’s a host of gaming and simulation toolsavailable, but sometimes a low-tech approach can be equally worthwhile if careis put into the design.
8. An “un-classroom” classroom. And whosays the “classroom” experience must be in an actual classroom? Bringing peopletogether where they work—on a factoryor sales floor, or in a call or data center, for example—can help learners immediately relate the instructional activity tothe actual work they do. Demonstrations and practice—with feedback—in the real world can work wonders.

What does all this mean?

I’m not talking about smallexercises or role-plays inserted between lectures and PowerPoint decks. I’mtaking about making these approaches the dominantinstructional strategy. This means that, in creating such courses, your needsassessment, instructional design methodology, media, and evaluation choiceswill likely change, sometimes significantly.

It also means that the role ofthe instructor must evolve as well. While retaining their subject matterexpertise, they’ll do far less presenting and far more facilitating, observing,coaching, and evaluating. If instructors can’t get over not being the smartestperson in the room, if they can’t sit in the back and let the learners do theirthing, they might not make it in this new world.

Finally, it means that althoughthe classroom experience is not as technology-centric as eLearning might be,the role of technology in this new learning process is still very important. Ratherthan asking how technology might eliminate the classroom, you might ask how itwould enhance it. Here are fiveinitial ideas to get you thinking:

1. UseeLearning, including microlearning, as a prerequisiteto the classroom experience. Give learners a baseline understanding of theunderlying content before they embark on their classroom experience.
2. Buildand maintain knowledge repositoriesof relevant content selected by SMEs, or created by the learners themselves,and make this repository available to everyone in the organization.
3. Usesocial media to build communities oflearners, before they come to class, that become communities of practice whenthey go back into the field. The social aspect of the classroom experience willgive learners the common bond they need to continue learning, with and througheach other, back on the job. Don’t let it fade away.
4. Usevideo to capture the best work of theclass, in formal presentations or simply by recording the work that transpiredin the course, and make your video repository available to all.
5. Useafter-action reviews, embedded inblogs and other tools, that provide a record of what happened in the classroom.These resources can prove invaluable as you seek to improve the classroomexperience, not to mention giving future learners the benefit of those thatcame before them.

The classroom is a precious resource—don’t blow it

Classroom learning is pricey, interms of development and delivery, but more so in terms of the time it takeslearners away from their productive jobs. So, think very carefully before youask them to spend time in class (and for their bosses to let them), and have theorganization pay for it.

It makes little sense toduplicate content in both eLearning and the classroom. So beyond just lookingat individual classes, when you think at a curricular level and you’re lookingat all your courses in a certaindomain, determine when the classroom experience makes sense and, above all, howclassroom learning and technology-based learning can complement each other.

Last month, I asked ifinstructional design is thriving or dying. The same can be asked about classroom learning. For it to thrive,it must evolve. We will all be worse off if it doesn’t.