How adults use conversations to learn

brianleeeee

Learning through discussions and conversations is an important learning strategy for adult learners. Critics of self-paced, technology-based training often say the weak link in this type of training is the lack of person-to-person interaction. Looking at the big picture, however, discussions and conversations seem to be a definite part self-paced learning. Adults who take self-paced, technology-based training consistently discuss their training, their reactions to the training, and their use of the training content with others.

Specifically, adults use conversations in the following three ways to help them learn the content of self-paced, technology-based training:

ask or answer questions about the course content
[/li]discuss problems the course content helped them solve
[/li]teach a colleague or subordinate something they learned in the course.
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Questions about the course content. Adult learners frequently ask their colleagues questions about courses because they’re confused about a concept, term, or acronym in the course or because they suspect there’s an error in the course. Conversely, co-workers may ask a colleague who is taking a course a question about what he or she is learning. Regardless of who asked the question, the ensuing discussion helps learners review and extend their understanding of the content.

Problems solved by using the course content. Adult learners gain confidence when they can prevent or solve a problem using the information they learned in a course. For example, the learner I worked with who took the MS Project course said that during a meeting with her colleagues, she explained how they could use MS Project to prevent some problems on an upcoming project.

Teach the course content. As most instructors will attest, teaching a subject helps a person learn the subject. Regardless of whether the instruction is a formal course or an informal discussion, adult learners extend their understanding of a topic when they have to teach it to someone else. These instructional discussions are also authentic experiences, where learners apply their new skills and knowledge.