Learning Services

Another element which is important to understand is , with the emergence of technology and new generation mediums like e-learning or internet-based learning, there  is this problem of uni-directionality which has not yet been addressed. If we just look at it from a teacher-learner kind of a perspective- in this conventional model, there is a publisher and distributor of content and then there is a consumer, who has no say. So, that is a fundamental problem and definitely not right in the current environment where the challenges are measured, especially in terms of information overload. There are tons of information available to the learner by multiple mediums – whether it is from classroom instruction, virtual learning materials, e-learning materials, internet, or even from emergent media such as YouTube etc.

The other important thing we need to consider is the attention span of a typical audience in any medium, be it a website viewer, a viewer of a YouTube video or someone listening to an active lecture. Studies have shown that the attention span is actually going down. Even if you look at the average flipping time between television channels, you know it is a typical requirement that there be a minimum amount of attention-grabbing material so that we should be able to keep the eyeballs on the content that is being projected. Because the attention span has gone down, the challenge for the producers of content now is to get that awe factor or to interest factor from the audience.

So, if you just want to address this uni-directionality, just invert it. Instead of the learners being fed, let the learners decide what they want. That’s what is called the emergence of the “just-in-time learning” with a personal element. This will be discussed in my next blog post.