Two new articles on the Peter Honey website raise some interesting points about two hot topics in training today.
In the first article, Peter Honey raises his own concerns about the hype around e-learning, looking at the results of recent study which Peter Honey Learning carried out with KPMG, the Campaign for Learning and the University for Industry recently.
Peter sees the development of electronic learning as a great opportunity in terms of bringing formal learning to people rather than the other way around, but says there are two doubts which remain in his mind about the "effectiveness and continuing popularity of e-learning."
The first point he makes is in relation to the learner's motivation. As it can be extremely difficult to motivate yourself to undertake formal learning without any support (and thousands of people who have studied in their own time for qualifications will testify to this), Peter questions how e-learning will be able to overcome this barrier.
The second point is related to support for learning in a different way. Peter is concerned that learning skills are something which most people need to work at. Even though new technology can cater for different learning styles, he argues that there is not enough focus on the learning process at the moment and the possibilities offered by the technology have yet to be fully explored.
In the second article, Peter Honey puts forward an argument for the use of tools and techniques in training, having seen learning theory and inspirational talk attempt to edge them out of the picture at recent conferences.
Peter contrasts the difference between 'internalist' (attitudes change behaviour) and 'externalist' (behaviour changes attitudes) points of view, supporting the 'externalist' view that when people are 'made' to behave in a certain way using different techniques, aligning their attitudes to fit the new behaviour is more successful than attempting to change attitudes first.
Peter Honey publishes an article each month on his website, peterhoney.com.
