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E-learning: The ability to go beyond your skills at your fingertips

E-Learning_tip of fingers
Nader Daou, VP papillon MDC
Nader Daou, Vice-President, E-Learning Programs and Design, Papillon MDC

 

“No one learns as much about a subject as one who is forced to teach it”

-Peter Drucker

Although the word “forced” may suggest negative connotations, it does not necessarily mean that one is forced by an external agent. Athletes often “force” themselves beyond their comfort zone to improve their capacities: time, muscles, reflexes, speed, etc… When you force yourself beyond your ordinary, you become extraordinary… until that becomes ordinary again, to you!

Force yourself to go beyond your skills and you will find yourself learning a new one, mastering it even, and teaching it to others. This is the story of our next guest blogger Denise Boyer, e-training and learning specialist at Novartis.

But… wait, did I say e-training and learning? Yes, many still doubt that an electronic learning format actually works. Except that we’ve been doing it since the first TV broadcast. At the beginning we learned about the news and the weather, then educational programs started being more instrumental. Several broadcast companies experimented with different formats, some traditional, some progressive, and some more successful than others, depending on the audience.

E-Learning is an extension of our curiosity

Still skeptical? In this insane age of the Internet, have you ever “googled” how to fix some settings on your mobile phone and ended up reading or watching a “how-to” video? This is one of the most “invisible” forms of e-learning. Unstructured, unassuming, in the moment, with immediate evaluation… You pass if you ended up fixing your phone!

Of course, e-learning in a more formal setting would be more structured, would be part of a succession of related and probably scaffolding skill building exercises. However, it would not be much different in form than that YouTube video you watched to learn how to boil a perfect egg, or to take a shot at understanding quantum entanglement. It would be available anytime, anywhere. “Tune” your browser to the right URL and the “broadcast” begins just for you. You learn at your own pace, you repeat as many times you want, and you evaluate yourself and your skill retention. And… YES, the keyword here is “YOU”. E-learning depends on YOUR willingness and YOUR action. But it is also very flexible to accommodate your time and your availability!

Borrowing from J. R. R. Tolkien, Bilbo tells his nephew:

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

But we all know Bilbo would have had it no other way!

Learn more about Nader Daou

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