A blog about learning design & facilitation by Dwayne Hodgson
Happy New Year! It's been a few weeks since I last posted on this blog, so I'm keen to start writing again. But as the Wise Men said, "Only fools rush in...." so, I think I'll start by stretching my writing muscles and by sharing some thoughts about "Warm-ups".
There has been a lot of interest expressed in the potential for "mobile learning (mLearning)" via smartphones. While that may well be the way of the future (along with internet-chips-in-your-brain, cold fusion, and flying cars...), I'm more curious about the potential for using my iPhone right now to facilitate learning in face-to-face workshops.... ..Here's a quick, caffeine-fueled brainstorm of 35 Ways to Use an iPhone in a Workshop.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 7:49AM | 11 Comments Share Article Email Article Print Article Today my son, Isaac, age 4 and a bit, learned to ride a bike without training wheels. This is a rite of passage for any child, but as he is the youngest member of a somewhat bicycle-obsessed family, the accomplishment warranted many high-fives, a iPhone video (see below), proud emails to the grandparents and a celebratory bowl of ice cream. .... In my work, I've created many learning designs to help people master long, complicated planning processes (e.g. Results-Based Management, Dialogue Education, The Natural Step). Usually, I start by explaining the underlying theory in plain language and metaphors, and then help the learners complete a series of logically-sequenced, hands-on learning tasks that divide the process into manageable chunks. For most of my learners, this method of instruction combining theory-practice-reflection works well. But I'm not sure I can teach someone to ride a bike this way. For starters, I don't really understand the physics of how a bicycle works; and even after 35 years of riding, the best instructions I can provide are "Sit on the seat, pedal, don't look backwards, steer the handlebars towards the side that you're falling.....Don't look backwards! Watch-out!...." Bam!
HOW?, bicycles, children, facilitation, learning, pedal-gogy in Bicycles, Dialogue Education, Learning, Learning Facilitation, Training