This past year has presented many advances culminating into products that are changing the perspective and scope of learning in big ways. We are excited about these changes and look forward to what the next year will bring.
Along with the new comes a responsibility to offer customers the best, up-to-date quality choices for business and academic learning. Brindle Waye is continually anticipating and preparing for the future of elearning and the changing perspectives of education in the U.S. and beyond. (more…)
This New World
Changes are occurring because of new technology which has enabled the ability to rapidly acquire massive amounts of information on any topic. These changes have affected not only how organizations train their employees and how the role of teachers will change, but have also created differences in thinking in the individual. There has been a lot of debate and speculation about how everyone constantly being “plugged in” to so much information and communication all the time is affecting our lives. (more…)
It’s About Time
“Three pounds of nerve tissue underneath the skull are capable of perceiving, thinking, and acting with a finesse that cannot be matched by any computer.”
It isn’t like we haven’t tried to match it. Computer “intelligence” is modeled after the brain, or at least the workings of the brain as we know it. Without a doubt, development in the field of computer technology and artificial intelligence has been impressive. The thing is, there is a lot we don’t know. And it is what we don’t know that keeps us searching to learn more. (more…)
Why Ask Why?
You see it everywhere, not just in business–how to accomplish, how to sell, how to use the formula to solve the math problem. What’s missing is why.
Procedure…Goal…Expectation. Is it necessary to know why?
Does it make a difference in sales…production?
It’s not that we need to ask the question why for our every move, but to ask the why of our actions as a whole. We may ask why we are in engineering, food service, software development, retail, education…but perhaps what is even more relevant–why is what I am doing important to me? To others?
I helped run an academic conference hosted by the Society for Interdisciplinary Studies of Social Imagery a couple months ago, and in the process attended a lot of the sessions. One of them particularly intrigued me. The speaker explained his research into learning techniques and described how traditional classroom learning is not very effective because it defines ‘passing’ but does not reward improvement appropriately. The analogy he used was with sports. If a very unskilled baseball player has a .15 batting average and through work doubles that average, he is praised highly for that improvement and is considered a good player. But if a very underachieving student makes a 20% on an essay and then works hard and doubles that score, he is still failing and gets no praise. Think how much better your worst employees would be if they doubled their job performance. Would they be the best employees in your organization? Maybe not, but I bet they’d become very good employees. This speaker at the conference advocated achieving this improvement by rewarding progress, instead of just for reaching a particular goal.
We’ve all heard about the importance of communication in business. Good communication skills are pushed in classrooms, reiterated in workshops to improve business performance, and sold by vendors in almost all disciplines as the one change that will fix your problems. The reason for this is simple: it really is important. Of course you probably figured I was going to say that, but let me explain before you roll your eyes and decide I’m selling something.
‘Aoccdrnig to a rsearch sduty at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcauseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.’ (from PositScience website.)
The brain is an interesting body part–the extent of its capabilities still mysterious and largely unexplored. Thinking about this mastermind reminds me of a speed reading course I took a very long time ago. My intent in taking the course was to lessen the time for reading requirements in college, allowing more time for other studies–or at least that’s what I maintained. While I did not learn to devour War and Peace in 5 minutes, I did manage to come away with a much greater respect for brain function.
Whew! There are a lot of thoughts on the subject — the difference between training and learning…or if there is a difference. A lot of thoughts, but not exactly set in concrete yet.
Among several definitions for the word, learning, in the online Free Dictionary, it is defined as the “act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill.” A few other sources tend to agree. Training, on the other hand, is considered “the process of bringing a person to an agreed standard of proficiency…by practice and instruction.”
Being right may seem to be the ultimate attainment in business and personal achievement. Yet, standing on the lofty mountain of rightness may find one …alone.
Where does right get you?
Right is an ambivalent word, full of innuendos, connotations, and meanings. It is, most assuredly, overused. However, despite its diverse meanderings in our language, it remains a potent force in communication as well as an integral part of cultural philosophy.