CLIVE SHEPHERD – CRYSTAL BALLING WITH LEARNNOVATORS

ABOUT CLIVE SHEPHERD (Founding Director – The More Than Blended Learning Company):

Clive Shepherd is a consultant learning technologist. He works with a broad range of public and private sector organisations internationally, helping them to build capability in the application of new media to learning, and to transform workplace learning through the effective integration of formal, informal, on-demand and experiential learning.

He established his interest in interactive media as Director, Training and Creative Services for American Express in EMEA. He went on to co-found Epic (now Leo), a major producer of custom e-learning.

He is widely acknowledged as one of the UK’s foremost experts in workplace learning and development, with hundreds of published articles to his name. He is the author of a number of books, including The Blended Learning Cookbook, The New Learning Architect, Digital Learning Content: A Designer’s Guide and More Than Blended Learning. He speaks regularly at major international conferences and contributes regularly to his blog, Clive on Learning.

He was recognised for his Outstanding Contribution to the Training Industry at the World of Learning Conference in 2004 and for four years was Chairman of the eLearning Network. Clive is a Director of The More Than Blended Learning Company, which works alongside its clients as trusted partners, building their capability to design, develop and deliver effective and efficient learning solutions.

ABOUT THIS INTERVIEW SERIES:

‘Crystal Balling with Learnnovators’ is a thought-provoking interview series that attempts to gaze into the future of e-learning. It comprises stimulating discussions with industry experts and product evangelists on emerging trends in the learning landscape.

Join us on this exciting journey as we engage with thought leaders and learning innovators to see what the future of our industry looks like.

THE INTERVIEW:

1. Learnnovators: You have launched ‘THE FOUR RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEARNING PROFESSIONAL’ at a time when it has become critical for learning professionals to gain respect and trust among key stakeholders of an organization. What inspired you to launch this initiative?

Clive: Two things inspired the initiative. The first was a growing realisation that, across the world, learning specialists wanted their expertise to be taken seriously and were concerned that they did not have the respect they felt their role deserved. This appeared to be the same in every country and in every sector. The second factor was just one of timing – I hit upon the idea of the four responsibilities and these seemed to explain what being a professional was all about.

2. Learnnovators: What is your advice to learning professionals on effectively balancing amongst their four responsibilities – to clients, to learners, to peers, and finally to themselves?

Clive: Well obviously all four are important but clearly if you cannot satisfy your clients then you do not have a job. The second most important is to make sure that you do the right thing by learners while you are focused on meeting your clients’ needs. The other two responsibilities are a little less urgent but still need to be addressed.

3. Learnnovators: In the last 30 years of your experience in technology assisted learning and communications, what is it that you wish you could have changed for the better?

Clive: There are so many things, but right now I feel that if we were to raise the professional status of learning specialists then that would be a major step forward.

4. Learnnovators: You are a Trustee of the ‘Serious eLearning Manifesto’, joining in its pledge to promote serious eLearning. How successful has the journey been so far in upholding the values and characteristics of serious eLearning?

Clive: I am very doubtful that it has made a major difference but I do think people took notice because it was backed by so many industry figures. I think there is a general recognition that, while a lot of e-learning looks pretty, it does not achieve as much as it should and alienates many learners. So much of the problem is because so many designers are simply not aware of the evidence-based principles behind learning and teaching.

5. Learnnovators: In the process of delivering engaging learning experiences and improved performance levels, how well have you been able to satisfy your learners? What challenges have you faced? And what is your advice to learning professionals on overcoming similar challenges?

Clive: I feel very satisfied with the success I have achieved in helping learning specialists to design better solutions at the top level, primarily through the More Than Blended Learning initiative and the work that contributed to this. I am less happy with the longer-term impact of some of the digital learning content design training I have been involved in. Short-term results are great, but participants can revert to bad habits because they do not have on-going coaching and support. I now try to make sure that training for learning content designers is much more thoroughly blended with a greater emphasis on coaching over many months. It takes time to develop design expertise and the confidence to put this into practice.

6. Learnnovators: What are your thoughts on ‘real learning’, where people take their professional development into their own hands? No instructors, no classrooms but only DIY learning. Is it possible to create ‘real learning’ organizations and classrooms?

Clive: All learning is real as long as you have acquired the knowledge, skills and ideas that you need. I don’t think the term ‘real learning’ is that helpful. In terms of DIY learning, it can work, particularly for continuing professional development, but most people benefit from support and coaching when they are developing skills, whether this is off-job or on-job. It is hard to develop skills on your own because you need feedback and encouragement. If this can be provided by interactive software then fine, because the software is acting as a proxy teacher or coach.

7. Learnnovators: According to you, learning professionals don’t work on ‘learning’ anymore. They are either ‘delivering engagement’ or ‘improving performance’. “There is no learning role”, you say. Could you please elaborate?

Clive: I don’t remember saying this. The distinction I would make is that learning professionals should be primarily focused on meeting performance needs through learning. Learning alone may get you certificates or give you pleasure, but that’s not the purpose of most learning in the workplace.

8. Learnnovators: Why do you think there is a general perception that the status held by learning professionals is not the same as that held by doctors, lawyers, accountants, and architects? What do you think needs to be done to correct this perception?

Clive: I think the reason is that learning people have not typically behaved like professionals. Because of this, their clients have low expectations and regard learning people as doers. The only remedy is to start behaving more professionally and then over time expectations will change.

9. Learnnovators: According to you, learning professionals have a career in which they can express their creativity and provide a service that simply can’t be beaten – that of helping people to fulfil their potential, to grow in confidence and self-belief to such an extent that they have no need for the learning professional any longer. Being in such a noble career, why and where are we failing in our professional duty?

Clive: We are not all failing. Obviously there are very many fine learning professionals out there. There are also many excellent instructors, facilitators and designers who do a really good job, but would be seen by clients as ‘skilled operatives’ rather than professionals. There is a big difference.

10. Learnnovators: According to you, the way people learn has not really changed. What has changed, however, is our understanding of how they learn. Why do you think it has taken such a long time for learning professionals to understand this?

Clive: The reason is that most learning people have very limited knowledge of evidence-based learning and teaching principles, or their knowledge is out of date. Science does not stand still. Humans may not be changing but our understanding of how they learn best is constantly evolving.

With my colleagues at The More Than Blended Learning Company, I am currently working on a project called The Knowledge, which we hope will make these evidence-based principles much more accessible to learning professionals. I am really excited about this project and we’re looking for a launch in 2016.

11. Learnnovators: You say “Keeping up-to-date is especially important when you consider that the learning profession has been saddled with more than its fair share of pop psychology, much of which has gone unchallenged for far too long”. Even if we are up-to-date, how can we ensure that we don’t fall prey to unscientific theories and false practices?

Clive: That’s simple. You check out all new theories, models and practices very thoroughly to see how they are being received by the academic community. Just because an idea is intuitively attractive does not make it true. You need to see the proof – not in terms of claims made by vendors but by impartial third parties.

12. Learnnovators: It is wonderful when you say, “Instructional designers and training professionals will need to become learning architects, people who design environments for learning—similar to the way architects design environments for living and working”. Does this not essentially mean that learning designers should have a free hand in crafting learning experiences that are most appropriate to the target audience? How do you think this can be aligned with the specific expectations of the other stakeholders (subject matter experts, business unit heads, etc.)?

Clive: I regard learning architects as those that design environments in which learning can flourish in all its forms. I spelled out the nature of this role in some detail in my book The New Learning Architect some five years or more ago. This is a strategic role and probably not for everyone. Beneath this are people who design solutions to meet specific needs and then, further down again, those that develop and implement these solutions.

The idea that learning professionals are responsible for learning design should not be a problem for other stakeholders because that is what you would expect of a professional and that is an area of expertise which other stakeholders do not have.

13. Learnnovators: How do you think learning professionals can balance conflicts that arise between the interests of the learner and the interests of other stakeholders (the client who pays the bills, the SME who gives the inputs, etc.)?

Clive: Well, I think it’s the same problem that doctors have. Their equivalent of ‘client’ would be their employers – hospitals, health services, etc. Doctors should be aiming to meet the needs of their employers but never if this involves doing harm to patients. That is the oath you take as a doctor.

Learning professionals have a similar responsibility not to do harm to learners by intimidating them, stressing them out, boring them, overwhelming them, embarrassing them or by selling them dubious models and theories.

14. Learnnovators: You say that every time learning professionals promote a now discredited theory, they are doing even more damage – they are not only risking the whole profession being seen as quacks and new age romantics, they may well be harming learners. According to you, the many theories such as learning styles, MBTI, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), 70-20-10, etc., are based on poor science or no science at all. You advise learning professionals to think rationally and read the science behind the theories before we accept or reject them. What guidelines, resources or tools would you recommend for learning professionals to be able to do this?

Clive: The first step is to be more questioning. Do not accept ideas as true just because they sound convincing. Many learning and teaching principles are anything but intuitive. There are books out there that will help you be more critical – an example is Urban Myths About Learning and Education by Pedro de Bruyckere, Paul Kirschner and Casper Hulshof.

15. Learnnovators: What do you think about the “Uberization of learning”? What are its pros and cons? What kind of knowledge, skills, and attitudes are required by learning designers to adapt to this thinking?

Clive: This is not an idea I have examined very thoroughly but I am all in favour of disruptive technologies which transform the way that customers buy services. ‘Teaching’ is one of those services. Organisations might be slow to respond but individual consumers are not – they are already choosing new ways of learning which give them what they want at the right price and in the right way. Designers should see what works in peoples’ personal lives and look to do the same things in the workplace.

16. Learnnovators: In the section ‘Doing No Harm Does Not Mean Doing Nothing’ in your book, you wonderfully explain the desired equation between the learning designer and the learner. It’s as poetic as a music teacher guiding her student on how to play a piano, with no interventions and interferences. But, in real terms, learning designers contend more with subject matter experts on how the learning experience should be. In fact, they hardly get to interact with learners. What are your views on this predicament? How do you think we can come around this challenge?

Clive: If learning designers are not interacting with learners then they are not doing their job properly. Subject-matter experts are the last people who should be telling you about learners, because they suffer from ‘the curse of knowledge’ – they no longer understand or empathise with novices. We can borrow from the principles of ‘user-centred design’, which is dependent on extensive consultation with learners. We do not want learners to come up with design solutions; but we do want them to explain what they need.

17. Learnnovators: Your views on the importance of our contributing to the community are inspiring. But interestingly, with all the technological suavity notwithstanding, 90% of people are just ‘lurking’ around. What do you think is the psychological reason behind this disconnectedness?

Clive: I think it is normal that most people do not initiate communication in the public arena. In most cases they simply do not have the interest, the time or the confidence. On the Internet as a whole it works just fine because we have more than three billion users and we only need a small fraction to provide us with Wikipedia, YouTube, blogs and forums, etc.

But if you set yourself up as a real professional you need to demonstrate this and elevate yourself above the general population. Share your expertise. Show how confident you are. Then your clients will be only too happy to offload their problems on to you, trusting that they are in safe hands.

Learnnovators: Thank you so much for sharing your valuable insights and experiences, Clive. We wish you the very best!