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This is Ramona. She loves learning. And now she wants to learn to play the guitar.
Thought leaders Mosher and Gottfredson say there are five specific moments of learning need:
- When learning for the first time.
- When learning more.
- When remembering and/or applying learning.
- Learning when things change.
- Learning when things go wrong.
Let's watch Ramona as she encounters each need in turn.
Some formal training can help Ramona gain some basic knowledge and skills. She could attend a guitar class, for example. But instead, she finds herself a tutor. He starts by showing her some simple chords.
Building on existing knowledge is the second moment of learning need. Ramona is keen to develop further by learning to play a simple tune. She goes onto YouTube to see how others do it. Soon, she can pick out a few easy crowd-pleasers on her guitar. She then decides to put her new skills into practice by attending an open mic night.
Ramona has never played in front of so many people before. And she's worried she might forget what she's learned. So what are her options? She could flick through her guitar chords book to refresh her memory. But this time she checks out one of the guitar lesson apps on her smartphone to see if that will help.
On the big day, Ramona decides to have one last practice. But her guitar isn't sounding as good as before. Ramona can't quite work out what has changed. But a quick Google search reveals she simply needs to retune her guitar, and an online tutorial shows her how. Responding to change is the fourth moment of learning need.
Ramona's open mic set is underway and she is having a great time! Unfortunately, she might just be on the "highway to hell." Learning what to do when things go wrong is the final moment of learning need. There's no time for Ramona to post her problem on her favorite guitar forum. But luckily, she spots a real guitar hero who shows Ramona how to replace the fuse on the amp. The gig is back on!
So we've seen how selecting the right learning tools for each of our five moments of learning need helped Ramona to learn to play the guitar with confidence. It's important to provide your employees with a range of learning tools so that, like Ramona, they can tap into effective support when and where they need it.
Reflective questions:
Reflect on each of these learning needs in turn, and try to think of a scenario where you had that particular need. For each situation consider:
- What approaches did I use to help me with my learning?
- How effective were these approaches?
- Having watched the video, what do I now think I could have done differently, or better?
ReferencesMosher, B. and Gottfredson, C. (2010). 'Innovative Performance Support: Strategies and Practices for Learning in the Workflow.' New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
