![]() 5/30/2017: Our social environment has changed. The 8-5 job is now 6-7, the office is now the home, and vacations are a place you bring your work with you. Companies espouse work-life balance but with 40% of employees reporting they work more than 50 hours a week, the companies leave it to the employee to figure out how to fit in the “life” part let alone figuring out how to further their education. Compound this with studies that indicate the adult attention span is about 20 minutes with some psychologists claiming a student’s attention span can be as short as 10-15 minutes. The short term response to any stimulus is reported to be 8 seconds (just watch any movie and count the seconds before the camera angle changes) and lapses in attention span can start 30 seconds into a lecture and reoccur every 2 minutes by the end of a normal 60-90 minute lecture. Our smartphones, designed to make our life easier, become a distraction because they’re always with us, always on, and always letting us know who else wants a piece of our time. Given all of this, it’s hard to justify spending time in a classroom lecture formatted around the classic movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off unless something changes. The good news is educators are listening. Many educational formats are reducing time spent lecturing, adding more active learning, and incorporating technology. Online content is ideally adaptable to solving these social challenges. Courses can be viewed at the student’s leisure (commutes or lunchtime), stopped and resumed as attention span wanes or those interruptions come, are accessible from mobile devices, and can incorporate active learning. Well-designed e-learning courses enhance your learning and keep your attention by interspersing videos and active interactive dialogues. E-learning today is even evolving to use Virtual and Augmented Reality though since VR typically requires a headset, it is not as portable as AR. Here are some tips to help select an e-learning environment.
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AuthorDavid Hess, PMP, has over 20 years business management experience, creating and leading organizations to success. He holds an MBA, MSEE, BSEE, and is certified to teach ESL/TEFL. Archives
February 2019
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