Do you ever consider whether you are helping people learn or simply spreading information? The difference between learning and receiving information is often muddled – and, in many cases, irrelevant.
All of us learn continuously throughout life. It happens organically and without effort every time we receive new input. Even the lack of new input can lead to learning; that may work as training in apathy and rigidity.
But when you are responsible for sharing information, the difference between the recipient simply receiving information and learning something becomes crucial.
We rarely send out information that is meant to just be read. We want the information to be transformed into knowledge, abilities, attitudes, actions or a shared cultural agreement within a specific community. We want our information to be learned.
Can you teach a cat to sing?
Someone who works with information has three jobs they are trying to do at the same time:
- creating informative material
- distributing said informative material
- ensuring the information leads to change.
The first two jobs are easy. As an example, imagine a HR department that wants all employees to sign up to a new health initiative – to cycle to work, choose greener lunches or do stretches once a day. A great informative newsletter is whipped up by a skilled copywriter, and with the click of a button, the newsletter is sent off to every employee. But the third point represents a challenge: How can the HR team ensure what happens once the newsletter is sent out?
The simplest solution is often to ignore this challenge. We have done our part; it is now their turn to do their part. Two weeks later, the newsletter is forgotten and there’s not a single change to be seen.
We created Pedit with tools that will help ensure that information isn’t just read, but also leads to learning. With our tools, you can ensure that the information you share is received, processed and turned into new knowledge, skills, attitudes or values – both for individual learners and for the wider community.
Pedit also gives you (the information officer, leader, teacher or instructor) the tools you need in order to see how learners work with and process the information you send them. This will help you see what works and what doesn’t, what needs to be adjusted, or who among your learners may need extra support.
When you share information using Pedit, you are doing so with more than 30 years of pedagogical knowledge and almost 25 years of experience with online learning at your back. You won’t just be informing, you will be teaching.