eLearning: Not A One Time Event

Learning in general, and eLearning in particular are largely regarded as a onetime events in most organizational settings today. The ever increasing pace of change, the avalanche of information, the increased activity within any given job responsibility have created a need to develop an ever-green strategy for learning within an organization.

The evergreen approach to learning should result in a lifelong process of learning within an organization that periodically reinforces existing information, along with new concepts and skills that relate to a particular topic. Yes…it does demand additional resources and funding to dedicate learning as a core concept within an organization. This has not been particularly high on the list of budget items for most organizations. 

Why do I make a case for an evergreen approach? - well because through my experience in developing eLearning for various organizations over the past 25 years I have found that most if not all organizations I have worked with have tended to look at developing learning and eLearning on a project by project basis? While costs have not increased dramatically, the pace of change, the scope of content has – which leaves me wondering why new and more strategic approach to learning have not been implemented.

Common sense tells us we are not doing a very good at creating effective learning environments. When I refer to this I am referring to learning outside the traditional school system. Research tells us that spaced learning produces superior test scores. The question becomes for developing any learning strategy, “What is the typical interval of spaced learning that produces good storage and retrieval strength” (see my article on How We Learn). There is no real handbook or definitive data on this but there is some research that provides a pretty reliable guide to how we can space eLearning and learning in general to improve retention, comprehension and application.

In 2008, a research team led by Melony Wiseheart a psychologist at York University, Toronto and Harold Pashler, a psychologist at the University of California, San Diego, conducted a large study that provided the first good answer to this question. The book “How We Learn” explains that the team enrolled 1354 people from all ages from across the US. The team had them study 32 obscure facts. The participants studied the facts at different intervals –some only 10 minutes apart and others as much as 6 months apart. In total there were 26 different study intervals. The researchers also varied the timing of the final exam.

The study produced an optimal interval chart to help us better understand the relationship between spaced learning and remembering what you have learned.  

The further away the exam the more the time you have to prepare - the larger the optimal between sessions one and two. This study included a test to validate the learning process. In most organizational learning (as opposed to traditional school learning) and even eLearning where testing is relatively easy, testing is not always a part of the process.

The upshot of all this is that spaced out intervals of study reinforces learning and learned practices in eLearning. ELearning is usually implemented as a one off and there is rarely follow up through eLearning or other learning methods. This results in poor adoption of learned skills or practices.

In a well-designed “evergreen learning approach” the reintroduction of concepts will help under-write a spaced out study process creating a continuum of learning. This will result in the better application of learned skills and processes, while exposing the learner to new information. In a planned approach to learning this might include spaced out eLearning programs where existing concepts are reexamined and new or revised content is added to create depth of knowledge. Testing is also an important part of the process to ensure that learners take the process as seriously as those who have planned out the learning program.

Finally, based on the previous article “How We Learn” - using different delivery methods of knowledge will help improve “storage and retrieval strength.” For example you may utilize eLearning as a core component, offering  versions of the same eLearning modules with new questions, which can then reinforce with scheduled events, webinars, activities, and print based elements throughout a one year learning cycle. Often, these are not costly; they just demand planning an evergreen approach to learning.