Thursday
Jan022003
252 - An In-Depth Interview with The Classroom
January 2, 2003
#252- - - January 2, 2003 - - - 44,511 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie
An In-Depth Interview with The Classroom
By Elliott Masie
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview one of the least talked about players in the world of learning, The Classroom. We caught up with the Classroom at the end of the day at one of the nation’s leading corporate training centers:
Elliott Masie: Let’s get right to the question on most of our reader’s minds? Are you retired or are you still in the training business?
The Classroom: Well, to paraphrase a common line… News of my demise is greatly exaggerated! I’m still in great demand. My gigs continue to range from new hire orientation, to leadership training, to computer applications sessions to senior executive sessions. Actually, I’ve never been busier. Rumor has it; they’re going to build a few more of me in the near future.
Elliott Masie: So, why are you so rarely talked about in the training press? Why does e-Learning get all the attention?
The Classroom: Gosh, perhaps if I had a media relations firm, folks might write about me. But, it is understandable that something as familiar as classroom training gets second billing to the “New Kid on the Block”, my cousin and friend e-Learning.
Elliott Masie: We are surprised to hear you refer to e-Learning as your friend. Isn’t e-Learning’s objective to make you less necessary?
The Classroom: Some people see us as opponents. But, actually the two of us work together fairly well (in what you might call Blended Learning).
And, we actually have very different roles. We each serve different audiences, learning objectives and even business drivers. It’s funny, no one sees the telephone as a threat to the face-to-face conversation.
Those cousins fit together fine in people’s minds. Once again, I guess it is because e-Learning is the newer approach with more HYPE.
Elliott Masie: Say some more about what types of activities you do better than your cousin, e-Learning?
The Classroom: So you are still trying to have us compete [laughter]? I think that the classroom is ideal for a few types of learning experiences:
- Learning which requires a retreat and isolation from the daily demands of the workplace. An executive who has to learn a totally new form of management may not have the focus or ability to carve out enough time at her desktop. Same goes for a promotion which might require immersion in a whole range of topics. If the learner needs to step away from work and dig in, the classroom gives them “shelter”.
- Learning in the Socratic style. A great classroom teacher can extract the bulk of content from learners through questions and facilitation.
While it can be done on-line, it is much easier with the face-to-face elements.
- Working as Teams on Problem Solving. This is ideal as part of a Blended Learning situation, where the content is learned on-line, then people come to the classroom to apply, practice and receive feedback on how they have learned the new material.
- Teaching Physical Skills or Highly Interpersonal Skills. I shine when people use my room to teach a physical skill like welding or component assembly. Or better yet, a highly interpersonal skill such as Public Speaking or Customer Conflict Management. The trainer in my room uses their eyes, ears and sometimes hands to coach the learner. While you can learn the theory on-line, practice and role modeling is ideal in my domain.
- Social Bonding! A portion of corporate training is really about meeting peers and managers to build social bonds. Once again, e-Learning and I shine when we work together.
- When technology or authoring resources aren’t available. Face it, sometimes it would be great to use e-Learning, but the resources just aren’t there to author, host or deliver on-line. In the same way e-Learning sometimes gets used just because it is more available from a cost or resource perspective.
Elliott Masie: So, have you changed much in the last ten years?
The Classroom: You bring up a bit of a sore point! For the most part, I look a lot like I did ten years ago. The only major change is that I now have a LCD Projector, which I actually have come to dread!
Elliott Masie: Why don’t you like the LCD Projector?
The Classroom: Because people come to my space in order to be interactive and once that darn projector gets turned on, it is PowerPoint snooze time. In fact, most trainers get trapped by their overhead slides, use them poorly, fall behind in time and lower their interactions. I breathe a sigh of relief when the LCD bulb blows. It is amazing how the teaching improves as they move away from PowerPoint dependency. Think about it. How would feel if someone used slides to make just a few points? Yuck!
Elliott Masie: OK, so, what changes would you make if you could?
The Classroom: Well, why do we only think of e-Learning as it applies to the desktop? Why not invest in making me an e-Classroom. That would
mean:
* Invest in some technology to bring images from a range of places, including video-conferencing in the room
* Have small microphones around the room to make it easy and non-eventful to hear from any learner
* Add video cameras that would tape the class and map it into an agenda, based on timing and content
* Add some voice recognition software, so that a rough transcript of the class would be made available in real time for a hearing impaired learner and later on for the entire class
* Develop decision support technology, so that learners could have input throughout the session, including voting, polling, sub-group preferences and feedback on whether to speed up or slow down
* Laptop and wireless connectivity! Sometimes we should give high levels of connectivity to the learners. And, sometimes the trainer should be able to say “Isolate Them, Scotty!” causing mobile phones and internet access to stop, providing quiet for concentration in the room.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
* And, one of my pet peeves. Give me some new paint and better chairs
Elliott Masie: You seem to be on a roll? Why do you feel so neglected?
The Classroom: Because, most organizations haven’t spent as little as an
hour in recent years to improve ME! Why can’t they have a Classroom
Learning Strategy document? They spew out e-Learning Strategies at the drop of a hat. Yet, I rarely see my name mentioned in these documents.
But, I am the prime delivery agent for training in most corporations.
You’d think that I deserve at least a chapter or a few pages.
Elliott Masie: What would be some items in a Classroom Learning Strategy?
The Classroom: Well, to name a few:
* Mission: What is my mission? Why have classrooms and what do we serve?
* Metrics of Success: What would success look like? Is it the number of butts in seats? Is it the attention level of the learners? Is it the flexibility of my use or intensity of institutional usage?
* Appropriateness of Use: When is the use of classroom most appropriate?
When is it not appropriate?
* Changes in Footprint: How can organizations start to have shorter classes and compressing of the experience? A goal may be to reduce a five day class to a three day format, blended with e-Learning?
* Skills for Trainers: There has been a drop in recent years in the investment level on trainer skills. If you put a poor trainer into a classroom, don’t blame it on the classroom!
Elliott Masie: What about you and food? Why is it that there is so much focus on the use of doughnuts and coffee in the classroom? Is there a change afoot in how people are fed in your space?
The Classroom: Well, remember learning is a physical and mental process.
People often get ready to learn through the use of coffee and doughnuts.
In fact, when the donuts aren’t available or the food is of poor quality, you watch the evaluation ratings drop! But, if you ask me we could add some healthy alternatives, including fruit to the mix. I hate the blood sugar drop that happens 75 minutes after a Krispy Crème hits the stomach.
Elliott Masie: If there is a slight to major reduction in your usage, what are some alternatives? Have you thought about retooling yourself or looking for a new career?
The Classroom: If you think of my space as a knowledge and collaboration space, there are a ton of hybrid uses that I can perform:
- Knowledge Capture: Add a small video camera and some chroma-key blue paint and I can take on a part-time job as a knowledge capture TV studio.
- Self-Study Center: If you have some PC’s in my space, they can be used for self-study as well as group instruction. Most manufacturing companies are using me as a site for their workers to take e-Learning, since they don’t have PC’s in a quiet area on the shop floor.
- Target Libraries: There are fewer and fewer companies that have libraries where workers can access print materials. Put in a lockable set of cabinets or scan key documents for printing on my machines and I can take on a part time job as a library.
- Downsize Me, Gladly: Break up some classrooms into smaller coaching and learning spaces. Sometimes, you just need a few workers and a subject matter expert for the magic to happen in a small space. Add some movable partitions and you can get a few of these, while leaving my space usable for a full class.
Elliott Masie: One final question and this is slightly personal. What would you like people to think about when they hear your name?
The Classroom: Think of the best teachers you had growing up, think of the most wonderful group projects you ever worked on, think of meetings where a lot was accomplished and think of the joy of being able to concentrate on a topic, away from the noise and buzz of the workplace.
Think of us, the classrooms, as a space where great teaching and learning can take place. Reinvent us, reformat us, blend us and make us part of the magic of learning!
(Reactions or comments to Elliott Masie @ emasie@masie.com)
Upcoming MASIE Center Events: www.masie.com
Skills for e-TRAINERS (Jan 29-31) Saratoga Springs, NY
Learning Strategy Workshop (March 6-7) Chicago, IL
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie
An In-Depth Interview with The Classroom
By Elliott Masie
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview one of the least talked about players in the world of learning, The Classroom. We caught up with the Classroom at the end of the day at one of the nation’s leading corporate training centers:
Elliott Masie: Let’s get right to the question on most of our reader’s minds? Are you retired or are you still in the training business?
The Classroom: Well, to paraphrase a common line… News of my demise is greatly exaggerated! I’m still in great demand. My gigs continue to range from new hire orientation, to leadership training, to computer applications sessions to senior executive sessions. Actually, I’ve never been busier. Rumor has it; they’re going to build a few more of me in the near future.
Elliott Masie: So, why are you so rarely talked about in the training press? Why does e-Learning get all the attention?
The Classroom: Gosh, perhaps if I had a media relations firm, folks might write about me. But, it is understandable that something as familiar as classroom training gets second billing to the “New Kid on the Block”, my cousin and friend e-Learning.
Elliott Masie: We are surprised to hear you refer to e-Learning as your friend. Isn’t e-Learning’s objective to make you less necessary?
The Classroom: Some people see us as opponents. But, actually the two of us work together fairly well (in what you might call Blended Learning).
And, we actually have very different roles. We each serve different audiences, learning objectives and even business drivers. It’s funny, no one sees the telephone as a threat to the face-to-face conversation.
Those cousins fit together fine in people’s minds. Once again, I guess it is because e-Learning is the newer approach with more HYPE.
Elliott Masie: Say some more about what types of activities you do better than your cousin, e-Learning?
The Classroom: So you are still trying to have us compete [laughter]? I think that the classroom is ideal for a few types of learning experiences:
- Learning which requires a retreat and isolation from the daily demands of the workplace. An executive who has to learn a totally new form of management may not have the focus or ability to carve out enough time at her desktop. Same goes for a promotion which might require immersion in a whole range of topics. If the learner needs to step away from work and dig in, the classroom gives them “shelter”.
- Learning in the Socratic style. A great classroom teacher can extract the bulk of content from learners through questions and facilitation.
While it can be done on-line, it is much easier with the face-to-face elements.
- Working as Teams on Problem Solving. This is ideal as part of a Blended Learning situation, where the content is learned on-line, then people come to the classroom to apply, practice and receive feedback on how they have learned the new material.
- Teaching Physical Skills or Highly Interpersonal Skills. I shine when people use my room to teach a physical skill like welding or component assembly. Or better yet, a highly interpersonal skill such as Public Speaking or Customer Conflict Management. The trainer in my room uses their eyes, ears and sometimes hands to coach the learner. While you can learn the theory on-line, practice and role modeling is ideal in my domain.
- Social Bonding! A portion of corporate training is really about meeting peers and managers to build social bonds. Once again, e-Learning and I shine when we work together.
- When technology or authoring resources aren’t available. Face it, sometimes it would be great to use e-Learning, but the resources just aren’t there to author, host or deliver on-line. In the same way e-Learning sometimes gets used just because it is more available from a cost or resource perspective.
Elliott Masie: So, have you changed much in the last ten years?
The Classroom: You bring up a bit of a sore point! For the most part, I look a lot like I did ten years ago. The only major change is that I now have a LCD Projector, which I actually have come to dread!
Elliott Masie: Why don’t you like the LCD Projector?
The Classroom: Because people come to my space in order to be interactive and once that darn projector gets turned on, it is PowerPoint snooze time. In fact, most trainers get trapped by their overhead slides, use them poorly, fall behind in time and lower their interactions. I breathe a sigh of relief when the LCD bulb blows. It is amazing how the teaching improves as they move away from PowerPoint dependency. Think about it. How would feel if someone used slides to make just a few points? Yuck!
Elliott Masie: OK, so, what changes would you make if you could?
The Classroom: Well, why do we only think of e-Learning as it applies to the desktop? Why not invest in making me an e-Classroom. That would
mean:
* Invest in some technology to bring images from a range of places, including video-conferencing in the room
* Have small microphones around the room to make it easy and non-eventful to hear from any learner
* Add video cameras that would tape the class and map it into an agenda, based on timing and content
* Add some voice recognition software, so that a rough transcript of the class would be made available in real time for a hearing impaired learner and later on for the entire class
* Develop decision support technology, so that learners could have input throughout the session, including voting, polling, sub-group preferences and feedback on whether to speed up or slow down
* Laptop and wireless connectivity! Sometimes we should give high levels of connectivity to the learners. And, sometimes the trainer should be able to say “Isolate Them, Scotty!” causing mobile phones and internet access to stop, providing quiet for concentration in the room.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
* And, one of my pet peeves. Give me some new paint and better chairs
Elliott Masie: You seem to be on a roll? Why do you feel so neglected?
The Classroom: Because, most organizations haven’t spent as little as an
hour in recent years to improve ME! Why can’t they have a Classroom
Learning Strategy document? They spew out e-Learning Strategies at the drop of a hat. Yet, I rarely see my name mentioned in these documents.
But, I am the prime delivery agent for training in most corporations.
You’d think that I deserve at least a chapter or a few pages.
Elliott Masie: What would be some items in a Classroom Learning Strategy?
The Classroom: Well, to name a few:
* Mission: What is my mission? Why have classrooms and what do we serve?
* Metrics of Success: What would success look like? Is it the number of butts in seats? Is it the attention level of the learners? Is it the flexibility of my use or intensity of institutional usage?
* Appropriateness of Use: When is the use of classroom most appropriate?
When is it not appropriate?
* Changes in Footprint: How can organizations start to have shorter classes and compressing of the experience? A goal may be to reduce a five day class to a three day format, blended with e-Learning?
* Skills for Trainers: There has been a drop in recent years in the investment level on trainer skills. If you put a poor trainer into a classroom, don’t blame it on the classroom!
Elliott Masie: What about you and food? Why is it that there is so much focus on the use of doughnuts and coffee in the classroom? Is there a change afoot in how people are fed in your space?
The Classroom: Well, remember learning is a physical and mental process.
People often get ready to learn through the use of coffee and doughnuts.
In fact, when the donuts aren’t available or the food is of poor quality, you watch the evaluation ratings drop! But, if you ask me we could add some healthy alternatives, including fruit to the mix. I hate the blood sugar drop that happens 75 minutes after a Krispy Crème hits the stomach.
Elliott Masie: If there is a slight to major reduction in your usage, what are some alternatives? Have you thought about retooling yourself or looking for a new career?
The Classroom: If you think of my space as a knowledge and collaboration space, there are a ton of hybrid uses that I can perform:
- Knowledge Capture: Add a small video camera and some chroma-key blue paint and I can take on a part-time job as a knowledge capture TV studio.
- Self-Study Center: If you have some PC’s in my space, they can be used for self-study as well as group instruction. Most manufacturing companies are using me as a site for their workers to take e-Learning, since they don’t have PC’s in a quiet area on the shop floor.
- Target Libraries: There are fewer and fewer companies that have libraries where workers can access print materials. Put in a lockable set of cabinets or scan key documents for printing on my machines and I can take on a part time job as a library.
- Downsize Me, Gladly: Break up some classrooms into smaller coaching and learning spaces. Sometimes, you just need a few workers and a subject matter expert for the magic to happen in a small space. Add some movable partitions and you can get a few of these, while leaving my space usable for a full class.
Elliott Masie: One final question and this is slightly personal. What would you like people to think about when they hear your name?
The Classroom: Think of the best teachers you had growing up, think of the most wonderful group projects you ever worked on, think of meetings where a lot was accomplished and think of the joy of being able to concentrate on a topic, away from the noise and buzz of the workplace.
Think of us, the classrooms, as a space where great teaching and learning can take place. Reinvent us, reformat us, blend us and make us part of the magic of learning!
(Reactions or comments to Elliott Masie @ emasie@masie.com)
Upcoming MASIE Center Events: www.masie.com
Skills for e-TRAINERS (Jan 29-31) Saratoga Springs, NY
Learning Strategy Workshop (March 6-7) Chicago, IL
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