Comments on: Learner-centered, or…

By: Max H Cropper

Max H Cropper — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 01:58:33 +0000

So the progression of effective approaches could from learner-centered, to learning-centered, to performance-centered, to task-centered, each of which could be better at achieving desired performance than the previous one. Merrill argues that the task-centered approach is efficient, effective, and engaging. Learning with real-world tasks is generally engaging, and even fun!

By: Max H Cropper

Max H Cropper — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 01:48:10 +0000

I agree with Guy. Performance-centered is stronger than learning-centered, which is much more meaningful and appropriate than learner-centered. The performance-centric approach is strengthened even more by using real-world whole tasks for demonstration, application, and integration, based on M. David Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction. When we teach effectively with real-world tasks, the learners should be able to perform those real-world tasks on the job and in the real world!

By: DUDave

DUDave — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 18:08:52 +0000

Agreed! This, like many things, is something that sounds fine in concept but is also easy to see how actually *doing* it that way could lead to poor practice since the statement is so broad. Feel like that’s where a lot of things get started that end up getting twisted and turning into zombies that haunt us for years, right?

Doesn’t it also feel like if we as an industry put more focus on learning-centered practice, many of the zombies would go away? That’s where I really agree with you, it’s *not* the same thing because learnER-centered puts the focus on the myths that we know don’t work. LearnING-centered seems to involve the stuff we say as a way to counter myths.

By: Ralf Olleck

Ralf Olleck — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 09:02:41 +0000

Great point, Clark!
I see myself currently faced with people claiming “learning should be like netflix”, which is in this in this absolute nature wrong, I believe. Learning can be fun, but it does not have to be and fun is not its main purpose. Learning (or operating learning technology, which is rather my place) can be as easy as using netflix, but not as an end in itself. Netflix is primarily trying to engage people, and not to teach people / make people learn.
L&D should stand by the fact that learning can be (hard) work and should not be too afraid of the learner’s happy sheet.
Moving the focus from “learner-centered” to “learning centered” is a very good re-focus, I’d say!

By: Matthew MacDonald

Matthew MacDonald — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 17:15:41 +0000

Learner vs learning … I feel like your argument holds, if emphasis is placed on the “process” of learning – we can achieve progressive results by focusing on the elements you listed and that fits nicely within existing models of quality instruction like Gagne.

A focus on the learner can risk too much content to arrive at a simple outcome.

By: guy wallace

guy wallace — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 15:27:55 +0000

Agree. And if the learning is Educational Learning, then learning-centered is okay. But in an Enterprise Learning context, I’d prefer Performance-centered, or Performance-centric.