March 6, 2001
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
e-Learning, Training and e-Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center http://www.masie.com
Host of Business of e-Learning Summit - Las Vegas, NV
Should e-Learning Be Private?
The Case for Digital Evaporation!
Is all e-Learning "on the record"? Does every question posed by a learner
become part of the corporate record and available to the manager of student
and lawyers in case of litigation? Does the practice components of an
e-Learning course, including intermediate failures in a simulation, become
part of a student's "permanent record card"?
I would like to make the case for selective "Digital Evaporation!" This is
a zone of safety where learners can ask questions, have dialogues and
practice without a digital record being created. This is a zone of privacy
that acknowledges that learning is a process that occurs best when risks
can be taken, where trainers can speak "off the record" and where the words
and messages evaporate.
We are raising this issue due to the default activity of creating and
archiving digital records of digital experiences, including e-Learning
processes. As Learning Management Systems become more prevalent, let us
raise a curious voice to ask if all learning information should be stored
and "managed" and what elements should just "evaporate".
There are public policy, corporate policy and ethical issues at stake as
well as human behavior patterns. Perhaps two short stories will illustrate our concern.
1) Last year, I had the privilege of taking a tour of U.S. military
installations, look at training and learning processes. While on an
aircraft carrier in the Atlantic, I spent an hour with a Navy pilot who had
recently flown a dozen missions in Bosnia. I asked him how he had learned
to become an excellent pilot. Without a pause, he said: "My most powerful
learning's happened when I crashed my plane in the simulator. When I can
fail and then look at my failure, in that safe environment, I am in the
full learning zone!" I asked him if his simulation crashes were part of
his Navy record. He said, "No! The Navy lets us use the simulator to
understand the limits of equipment and our skills. As long as we
eventually pass the qualification tests, the intermediate test results
"evaporate".
2) Recently I visited two major pharmaceutical companies and dialogued
about the impact of privacy in a regulated environment. The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) reviews and approves all training materials used to
prepare their sales reps to visit doctors and hospitals. This review keeps
the training in alignment with the approved uses of their products. Both
companies raised the issue of what happens as e-Learning is added to the
instructional process. Do they keep and submit questions from learners to
the government for approval? What happens when a student asks a question
... does the on-line answer of the trainer become part of the companies
archives? Do they submit the tapes of all virtual classroom discussions to
opposing legal teams in case of a litigation?
I would argue that in both situations there is a role of Digital
Evaporation. Pilots should have the opportunity to use a simulator to
improve their skills, without losing a future promotion because they had
one more intermediate failure during a session in a simulator. Likewise,
why should we pressure a regulated company to keep and submit eLearning
student/instructor dialogues when we don't have that expectation in a
traditional classroom. Learners can ask risky or stupid or even
politically incorrect questions in a safe classroom and we trust the
competency of the instructor to keep the company in the ethical and legal zone.
If we make every dialogue and learning experience a part of the corporate
record, we risk losing the environmental factor that cultivates learning:
TRUST. If I am in a management development class and provide an example of
a former manager's behavior who was dysfunctional, I want the conversation
to EVAPORATE. In some situations, trust requires a level of confidentiality.
So, how can we balance organizational needs to monitor learning with the
need to create an environment where mistakes and honesty can happen without
consequence as part of the learning process. I would be very interested in
your comments and ideas. Send them to emasie@masie.com and we will include
them in a future TechLearn TRENDS