What has changed? Technology, for one, has opened the door to faster and more in-depth research than was possible when the early studies were conducted.
To perform his initial experiments demonstrating specialization, my father actually wired me up to an EEG for testing. Today's much less invasive technology has enabled us to learn significantly more about how the brain works.
How often have you wondered why a learner struggles with a given activity? The wide range of diagnostic devices now available to us can monitor brain activity in new ways, and that has led to an array of new findings. For example, one fascinating study explained why infants can learn any language without difficulty, yet adults struggle hearing sounds as they attempt to learn new languages.
New studies conducted by Daniel Goleman (author of books on emotional and social intelligence) and others have generated a growing body of research that has led to new insight into how people are affected by the design of the brain. As author and Harvard researcher Clayton Christensen points out in the book Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, this research shows that "people learn in different ways—some of this is encoded in our brains at birth; other differences emerge based on what we experience in life."
The second takeaway about whole brain thinking is that we need to understand that the design of our brain affects the way we learn. Learning actually creates new neuronal connections. As learning professionals, it is essential to have a solid foundation of knowledge about the brain to effectively drive learning outcomes. From there, we can use practical tools to diagnose learners and apply that knowledge to raise organizational performance.
When it comes to learning design, whole brain thinking and learning is, in a nutshell, your "killer app." Understanding learners' thinking and learning styles is the first step toward developing learning that engages and sticks. (See "The Learner: What We Need to Know" in the ASTD Handbook for Workplace Learning Professionals.)
Ascent is a learning and development organization focused on maximizing mid/senior leadership, motivation and performance in the areas of Management, Personal and Youth Development, Sales and Service, Teambuilding and Organizational Design. To find out how Ascent can help your organisation visit www.ascent-world.com, email us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, call us on +971 4 3344627.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
