Web 2.0. Social networks. Twitter. Facebook. Mash ups. Wikis. Social feeds. Widgets. Blah, blah, blah…

Huh?

These are all a new language to the “digital foreigner” (those of us born before 1980) and Generation X and above. But for the “digital native” (born after 1980) and much of Generation Y, they talk about this in their sleep. Add to this iPods, personal communicators and mobile phones that we are all so familiar with and you have new means of communicating and learning.  It is amazing the changes technology has and will affect the world.

So what is all of this driving? It is driving a fast paced, information hungry society that wants variety, “everything now” with a very limited attention span. It may also be driving a different way of learning for the “Digital Learner.”

In a recent study “Living and Learning with New Media” by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, November 2008, the following was discovered: “New media allows for a degree of freedom and autonomy for people today that is less apparent in a classroom setting. People today respect one another’s authority online, and they are often more motivated to learn from peers than from elders or leaders. Their efforts are also largely self-directed, and the outcome emerges through exploration, in contrast to classroom learning that is oriented toward set, predefined goals.”

So how should learning be addressed? First let us describe learning platforms. “Formal learning’ is classroom. “Informal learning” is peers, friends, family, on the job. Together it gives you Workplace Integration learning. Workplace integration means you cannot separate training from work as you should constantly be learning. So the combination of the two is integral.

What needs to be done is to utilise the new technology platforms and social trends (Web 2.0, social networks) with effective learning platforms (Workplace Integration). How? Short and sharp programs (2-3 hours in length vs 8 hours) that can be done in a classroom environment (with peer interaction)supplemented by E learning (as E learning is difficult on its own), digital games (for FUN!) or on social platforms (peer to peer) and peer to peer interaction in the office and at home. This would cater to the attention span of the Digital Natives (and the Digital Foreigners who are bored with the same old programmes), would give them the ability to “learn in chunks,”would give themfun/new engaging environments (yes FUN!), and would allow them to learn from their “switched on” peers, too.

Now that is what I call TRUE blended learning!

Isn’t it time we started doing things differently? Isn’t it time for a change to adapt to the new world? The learning space needs a drastic overhaul to cater to the ”bored” learners and ot the new Digital Learners, who are today’s and tomorrow’s decisionmakers.

(For those of you interested, I suggest the book “Born Digital” by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser which explores the behaviours of digital natives in today’s society).

Trip Allen The Egyii Team