Below are “two instances of new or renewed learning practices in [my] organizational context.”
Key definitions:
New: “having recently come into existence”; “having been seen, used, or known for a short time”; “being other than the former or old”; beginning as the resumption or repetition of a previous act or thing”; “different from one of the same category that has existed previously”; “of dissimilar origin and usually of superior quality” synonyms: recent, modern, novel, unfamiliar, fresh (all quotes from Merriam Webster dictionary)
Renew: “to make like new: restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection”; “to restore to existence”; “to make extensive changes in”; “to do again”; “to begin again”; “to grant or obtain an extension of or on”; synonyms: regenerate, revive, rebuild, repeat, resume, replace, replenish (all quotes from Merriam Webster dictionary);
Learning practice: something that enables or supports learning (e.g., problem, prototype, method, tool)
Organizational context
Learning practice #1: Read and agree online compliance training
One client and one potential client have both recently complained to me about the current state of their compliance training. In its current form, their compliance training consists of e-learning modules where content is copied and pasted from a word document into a PowerPoint document. Learners must click through each slide to reach the end of the module, at which point they need to acknowledge, using a digital signature of some kind, that they have been provided with the information and agree to follow the directions provided within it. Though the e-learning modules cover off organizational compliance requirements, they do not encourage actual learning of the material.
There is an opportunity to improve the learning that occurs during online compliance training. Specifically, the learning practice would be integration of interactivity into the learning modules. The learning practice could be considered new (other than the former way of doing things, different from the same category that exists) or renewed (make extensive changes).
Learning practice #2: Deliver technology training in person
A client recently requested I develop an instructor-led training course for field-based workers, which would show them how to use new software required as part of their job. The instructor-led format led to sub-optimal results for a number of reasons, one of which was that learners kept skipping ahead with their laptops, wanting to go at their own pace rather than follow along at a slower pace with the instructor. Based on this experience, I suggested to my next client that technology training might be better delivered online. I recommended that it would be easier to incorporate the business context with the technology in an e-learning module than attempt to incorporate the technology with the business context in a classroom. Most clients default to classroom-based training because it is what they know.
There is an opportunity to shift technology training from classroom-based to on-demand e-learning, for the benefit of learners. Specifically, the learning practice would be integrating business process and technology training using an online platform. The learning practice would mostly be considered new for my client (recently come into existence, other than former delivery methods, different from former technology training, of dissimilar origin and (hopefully) of superior quality), but it could also be considered renewed, since they have previously delivered technology and process training to their workers, and this would simply be a change in how it is delivered.
Reflection
While I think learning practice #1 would be more manageable for the scope of this assignment, as the focus is solely on interactivity, I would benefit greatly from exploring learning practice #2, because it is a real-world situation I am facing at the moment, and the assignment could be used to strengthen my recommendations and actual deliverables for my clients. I have also already completed an assignment on compliance training so would like to stretch myself with a new topic.
I am concerned the learning practice I identified is a bit fuzzy. Is the learning practice about content integration (ie., connecting two pieces of disparate content), or about training delivery (ie., moving offline content online)? Technically it is both, but for the scope of the assignment I will need to narrow it down. I will noodle on that a bit before deciding.