04 February Knowledge and Technology (...entire...)

[Paul Terlemezian]

Drucker makes an interesting observation for our industry. He recommends a significant shift in the way that we organize the search and teaching of knowledge.

 

Once again the GPS provides us an example of how technologies have combined (satellite, automobile, device and human) to replace "learning" with the "application of learning."

 

Think about how you used to learn to drive to someplace you had not been before and how you organized your access to the information you needed in order to do so.

Were maps important?

Where did you store them?

How often did you update them?

 

When was the last time you bought one?

[Paul Terlemezian]

In the workplace our focus has always been on performance and yet we have focused on building content that is intended to prepare the learner to perform at a later point in time.

We have studied the task to be performed (task analysis) and have assessed the learner's aptitude and knowledge and then prescribed the content that the learner needs. This is not bad - it is just "not good enough" anymore. We are trying by making learning shorter or at the moment of need - and mobile has fueled our engines for this kind of thinking.

Technology is enabling the autonomous vehicle so that the occupants (if any) can do more useful things with their time than driving.

How can technology enable autonomous performance (not autonomous learning) so that the performer can do more useful things than what was done before the use of technology