Tag Archives: learning

Digital Learning Transformation Choreography: A 9-Step Rhapsody

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Digital learning is about transforming the Learning Culture and any expert would tell you that any transformation process is never a solo activity but a waltz. One might argue that it’s more of a community group dance where the final outcome is dependent on every person in the group playing their part to perfection. Even so, the overall performance is dependent on your ability to understand your interfaces, interdependence, strengths and weaknesses, the scope and most importantly read those subtle signs you get to change the momentum. Just an added complexity – you will be required to constantly change your partners, like in a community social dancing event. Also, there are many more attractive, talented and eager alternatives, who would continue to pull your partner away from your waltz! Don’t despair yet, as in waltz, this transformation can be easily accomplished, one step at a time.

Here’s a possible 9 step digital learning transformation steps:

1. Scope the transformation process

To start define your digital learning goals/vision, specifically in terms of it’s scope, inclusions and exclusions. Digital learning requires an established communication path and orchestration across teams. It depends on collaboration and bringing data, process and people together. It is very important to define the learning paths and processes clearly outlining the transitions needed at each component of learning design, deployment, delivery and demonstration – the 4D’s of digital learning

2. Acknowledge and accept the current status

Take a realistic stock of your current e-learning. Assess what you have done well and determine areas that need improvement. Acknowledge the existing culture and people, identify who needs to adapt, and communicate why. This is a critical part of transition which when done objectively can ensure that the past (data and content repository), present (the people and the processes) and the future (desired outcomes) are well aligned.

3. Reassess and validate your present

How far have you progressed in the digital learning process? Do you have a process in place? Are the processes defined and streamlined to suit the current to deliver the current outcomes? Are they how they should be or just been running because no one assessed/evaluated them? Does it allow for automation, data capture, flexibility and growth?

4. Explore, Experiment and Discover

Identify your innovators and early adopters in the diffusion curve. Encourage questions like “why are we doing this this way?” if important create isolated learning labs. Offer a “safe” place to explore and experiment with learning approaches, tools and techniques, exchange experiences and ideas and most importantly discover the realm of digital learning.

5. Run the entire value creation and consumption chain

Digital learning rests entirely on its ability to offer value to the end learner on their terms within their defined value metrics. It is important that a clear connection to the learners’ pains and delights are mapped to actual action taken. Go deeper to understand the underlying dependencies, idiosyncrasies, insecurities and competency gaps. An unequivocal conviction in the digital transformation vision across the ranks and files is a critical ingredient for success.

6. Walk the baby steps first

Remember the old Chinese proverb – “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Digital transformation is a marathon, don’t try to sprint across the finish line. Take small steps keeping your focus on achieving small outcomes. Successes, most insignificant ones, add to the conviction and paves the way for major transformation minimizing resistance. Just a few more of those and everyone is convinced of the path to take.

7.Put yourself in the firing range

Be ready to bite the bullet and take every fall. The leadership needs to be directly involved and communicate clearly to the team that they hold the responsibility of failure. It is critical that the team trusts and rallies with the leader to push the digital learning transformation process. At the same time, beware not to become the bottleneck and be ready to step aside when needed. The sooner the team achieves the intuitive mode of execution themselves, swifter the transition.

8. Build the entire technology ecosystem

Digital learning thrives on an ecosystem that provides the smooth conduit for the idea to take a form and get delivered efficiently and effectively to the learners. While this process is tool/technology agnostic, you can’t ignore them either. The strength of a digital learning environment is the strength of the weakest technical link there. It could be hardware, software, connectivity, user devices, tech-support team or a third party media service provider.

9. Glorify successes and learn from the failures

Recognize the smallest success and let the biggest failures pass. In either of the cases be sure that you have learnt the underlying triggers of success or failure. Be positive and be optimistic, the success of the transition would draw and at times challenge most severely your belief and faith in the digital learning value. Be bold, objective and progress oriented while you celebrate every successes and failures.

Just as a well choreographed and well rehearsed waltz would always standout in its performance, a well planned and executed digital transformation process would deliver you the value goals with irrefutable evidence. When they look back at the journey, everyone would realize how beautiful your digital learning dream truly was.

Learning Quarters

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Learning is probably most seminal aspect of any life. If one believes in the evolution theory, you can attribute the emergence of Homo sapiens entirely largely to the process of learning. The question that one can ask is – if learning is built into our very genes, why this hullabaloo about education? As the most evolved being (even if by our own admission!) there is a need to bring the finer aspects of this process to the fore of our consciousness. One such aspect is the continuously evolving cycle of learning. To understand this an old Sanskrit subhashita (unconfirmed source: Udyoga Parva of Mahabharata) gives us a great insight into the process.

AchAryAt pAdamAdatte, pAdam shiShyaH swamedhayA |

sa-brahmachAribhyaH pAdam, pAdam kAlakrameNa cha ||

A quarter from the teacher, a quarter from learner’s own intelligence

A quarter from the co-learners, and a quarter from the passage of time…

To truly appreciate the value of this subhashita, one needs to delve a bit deeper and a more bit wider for a complete understanding, most critical of that being the cycle of learning.

A teacher being the initiator of learning is an indisputable truth, the first teachers could be one’s parents, siblings, social connects or the formal school teacher one had at the start our life. This also signifies that learning is first a process of absorbing. Science is just beginning to understand the impact of early learning in our build up to a mature adult. During this part of learning, we develop the medium, the context and the structure for learning. Bear that this goes on to provide the foundation of all learning in the future. If we were not fortunate enough to be born in an intellectually and economically endowed family, the chances are that our learning process is constantly playing a catching up game with those who had this fortune. One of the reason why we see the need to advocate for “affirmative action” or class based quota and offer a privilege of access to people who were not fortunate enough to compensate for the foundational learning component.

As one absorbs the foundation to learning the path for synthesizing future learning develops. The learner’s intelligence that evolves with the first quarter of learning is the backbone or the complete support mechanism for additional learning. It is built upon a learners’ foundations of context and structure intertwined with one’s awareness (to take notice of opportunities to learn), inquisitiveness (ask questions and fill our learning gaps) and ability to interconnect (linking them to the existing learning to make new learning relevant and accessible). This is what gives one the label of being an expert (master of a field) or a novice (a beginner).

As one matures, the learner begins to appreciate the pervasiveness of learning. She can learn from her peers who are all equally initiated into their own pursuit of knowledge. She would learn to respect this pursuit of others and learn to live in a society where multiple points of views co-exists. She gains respect and learns to respect others, their perspectives, likes & dislikes. The harmonious co-existence of differing (sometimes contrary) views builds the critical acceptance of plurality. This learning is also the layer of revalidation and acceptance.

However any learning can never be complete nor can it cease to evolve. In the cycle of time a learner begins to expand their knowledge, understands its relevance, general applicability and learns to question one’s own thinking. By definition learning is about changing and therefore a dynamic concept. The need to improve, pursue perfection and persevere the quest to challenge the unknown continuously keeps the learner involved in timeless pursuit of learning. This is the layer of continuous development of learning.

Once we go through this understanding we reach a deeper understanding of the virtuous cycle of learning. We become a teacher for the future generations. Most importantly we learn that we learn the most when we teach. It is then just a cycle that learning quarters are, probably the bases of the baseball where you play different roles depending on which base you are on. The critical realization hidden in this metaphor is the fact that soon enough the two players would be exchanging roles when the innings switches!

Thanks JK (Unimity) for reminding me of this timeless piece!