Staying Connected With The World

I’m in Minnesota this morning (a balmy 10 degrees), connecting using my new Verizon Wireless Broadband. It is wireless, but “broad” may be a bit too strong a word for the level of connection. I’m on the third floor next to the windows, but only get a piddly two bars of connection.

It’s funny how you have to re-set your expectations as life changes. I’ve got a couple of browser windows open so I can let stuff trickle in, I’ve set Outlook to “Headers Only”, and I’m saving those video links for later viewing. But I can adjust, once I re-set my expectations. I’m seeing learners doing that in a variety of situations lately.

For quite a while, e-learning was expected to be entertaining. Lots of flash (little “f”), lots of glitz, and things flying around on the screen. Peppy music, learning games — learners were king and expected to be treated as such. But I sense that some of that is coming to an end.

There is a renewed questioning of what we’re doing in the online learning world, and whether the expense (both dollars and organizational) are really necessary. Is it important that people are “happy” while they’re learning? Do we care whether it’s easy for them to stay engaged? Should this experience be any easier than learning fractions in the third grade?

Maybe it’s ok to have different levels of instructional quality depending on the needs (and resources) of the organization. Maybe sometimes it’s supposed to be hard.

I’m here to help my mom make a final transition to something better. We’re all working on making it easier, and I think we’re making a difference. But, in the end, she’ll be making the decisions on the journey.