In this issue:
1. TRENDS Interview with Michael Gelb
2. Warp Speed for Optimal Learning
3. A Reader Asks...
4. Resources for Your Continuing Education
1. TRENDS Interview with Michael Gelb, High Performance Learning Center
As a kid, Leonardo da Vinci was his hero. So it was only natural for Michael Gelb to study and learn from da Vinci's genius. Now you can, too!
Trends caught up with Michael Gelb, the New Media Instructional Design Symposium's special session presenter, to bring you this interview. La dolce vita!
TRENDS: What message will you be bringing to the participants of the New Media Instructional Design symposium?
GELB: History's greatest genius. It all begins with the idea that the brain is greater than you think it is. It doesn't come with a manual, so that is why I wrote the book [How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci].
TRENDS: How can instructional designers and technologists benefit from thinking like Leonardo da Vinci?
GELB: Instructional designers and technologists can benefit by understanding the seven principles, and practicing the specific exercises for embodying those principles:
1. Curiosita - An insatiable, curious approach to life, and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
2. Dimostrazione - A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.
3. Sensazione - The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience.
4. Sfumato - A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.
5. Arte/Scienza - The development of the balance between science and art, logic, and imagination. "Whole-brain" thinking.
6. Corporalita - The cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.
7. Connessione - A recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena -Systems thinking.
TRENDS: What do you see as the biggest opportunity/biggest obstacle for developers and providers of instructional content?
GELB: The biggest opportunity is applying what we know about the brain in all instructional design work. Do you realize that we have learned 90% of what we know about the human brain in last 20 years? For example: knowledge of different learning styles, knowledge of how memory works. Instructional designers need to design learning so the learner will be able to understand AND remember the lesson.
The biggest obstacle is technology's speed of change. If you are not an accelerated learner yourself, you won't be able to keep up in your own field. Apply to yourself the principles of learning which you apply in your design work.
TRENDS: How has learning changed since 1519?
GELB: In some ways, real change is the evolution of the second da Vincian principle - learning from experience and thinking independently. We are still trying to catch up with this second principle. The major difference in da Vinci's time was a scarcity of information. Now there is too much information.
In 1519 the challenge was to get hold of books and materials, to get outside your culture. In 2000, we have global options in terms of content. We have amazing access to knowledge and information. The danger then was ignorance. The danger now is cynicism and people shutting down to the overwhelming content that exists.
The Fundamental challenge remains the same: to think for oneself. Da Vinci is the greatest role model for doing that.
To achieve maximum benefit from Gelb's experiential special session at New Media Instructional Design, read his national best-selling book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci in advance. You'll be able to take in his session at a greater depth. Then you'll probably want to re-read his book afterwards. Gelb says, "I tried to fill the book with plenty of opportunity for people go deep into self-discovery. The idea is to enjoy the pursuit of learning/knowledge." If you like to listen to music while you read, check out the just-released Koch Record's CD which contains the top 10 classical selections, hand-picked by Gelb. CD, book, and workbook can be found at http://www.amazon.com.
Gelb's session is just one example of the high-quality learning events at the 4th Annual New Media Instructional Design Symposium. Register now at http://www.influent.com/nmid2000.
2. Warp Speed for Optimal Learning
by Judith Blair, Vice President, Maresh Brainworks
How do we ensure the highest possible quality of learning when we convert classroom instruction to web-based training? How do we assure no degradation of training impact when the delivery of instruction moves from traditional to new media?
These are big questions for training managers and curriculum designers who are asked to do more with less. The situation may be familiar to you: online or e-learning is seen as a cost-cutting way to reduce salaries, expenses, and lost work time. Yet the demands to improve workplace performance are greater than ever. Employees need to know more and receive more instruction, more frequently than ever before. How can learning leaders upgrade training effectiveness if the pizzazz and action of the classroom are so hard to replicate on a CD ROM or from the web?
Design integrity must take a quantum leap forward to provide interactivity, personalization, and a depth of relevance that will make the training memorable. After all, a classroom instructor can throw a koosh ball to a sleepy student, while our e-Learner may be studying at home only after the kids are asleep!
An accelerated learning or whole brain learning approach is easily transferable to new media curriculum design, and creates an excitement for the material learned. These methods utilize the brain's natural abilities to process information and create long-term memory, ensuring retention.
Low band-width or budgets are no excuse for lifeless electronic courses. The challenge is to create training that is interesting, compelling, and completed by students.
Learning leaders can create instruction that makes use of the latest brain function research, and apply these findings to all training. Without it, the improved performance needed from new media instruction won't happen and the investment to convert delivery methods will have been wasted.
Catch all of the sessions with Judith Blair and Nancy Maresh at the 4th Annual New Media Instructional Design Symposium October 31-November 2:
- "Using Templates to Compress the Creation and Accelerate the Learning," a pre-symposium workshop
- "Converting from Classroom to New Media," a concurrent session
- A special session: "Nine Kinds of Smart," which will lead participants through an interactive experience of the "Multiple Intelligences" theory.
For complete symposium details, visit http://www.influent.com/nmid2000.
3. A Reader Asks...
We have a client that is interested in training management systems that integrate with CD-ROM courses. I understand that there is an industry standard out there for this integration, whereby user info, progress, and quiz info can be transferred from the client to the training management system server. I believe systems like the Saba system comply with this standard. We create a custom solution, but have the need to know what else is out there. Can someone please send me information about these systems?
A.B.
Do you have an answer or information that will help A.B. with this problem? If so, please send your response to Rosie Smith at mailto:rsmith@influent.com
4. Resources for Your Continuing Education
New Media Instructional Design Symposium
October 31-November 2 Symposium, Workshops on October 30 and November 3
Washington, DC, USA
The fourth annual New Media Instructional Design Symposium focuses on thinking outside of the box to discover ways to create faster, more effective training using new approaches and tools. There is special focus on using Web technologies to deliver training. The concurrent sessions provide practical solutions for the issues and problems facing instructional designers and technologists. The symposium offers intense learning, active networking, provocative case studies, in-depth content, and real life solutions that you can apply now. Keynote speakers are: Dr. Allison Rossett, Mr. Michael Gelb, and Dr. Michael A. Allen. For complete program details, visit http://www.influent.com/nmid2000.
WBT Producer Conference & Expo
April 18-20, 2001
Anaheim, California, USA
Presentation proposals are now being accepted for this event. For information on how to submit a proposal, visit http://www.influent.com/wbt2001.
