Avatar Movie--Ideas for Innovation in Learning Event Design for Adults

In the world of technology visualized in the recent blockbuster, Avatar, it is amazing to see how much emphasis is still being placed on "talking heads" in learning and training environments.  People are excited to have a visual image of a person side-by-side with a PowerPoint Presentation, then add the possibility of text chat and/or voice-over conversation and people think they are experiencing a rich presentation.

The key to learning is engaging in positive learning activities, then in reflecting on these activities.  The avatar (cartoon images displayed in 3D in many 2D and 3D "virtual worlds") does not hold a candle to the avatar bodies shown in Avatar--and those were computer-generated graphics with lots of visual reference points gleaned from the real actors the graphic avatars were portraying.  A true avatar the incarnation of a deity changes in the consciousness of a culture.  Quetzalcoatl is an example of an avatar in the ancient legends of Mexico.

The point is this, technology needs to engage the learners, getting them involved in positive learning activities.  The 3D technology that was part of Avatar (the 2009 film) was intended to draw the viewer into the movie.  It does a good job of this.

We need to do the same kind of thing when designing learning events, especially for adults.  They need to be drawn into the action and to apply the skills and knowledge they are developing in the learning event to real challenges, then to reflect on how they're doing and be given time to improve. 

In the Avatar film, the characters make recordings into a video log (like a blog).  This is a reflective component that people need to do in an actual learning event.

Designing Virtual Learning Events

I participated in  a 3D Virtual University Webinar today on "Running a Hybrid Event" with live participants and virtual participants participating in the same conference.  Due to the snow storm in Washington, DC, this week, the live session was cancelled and all participants were virtual--including one person aboard a plane bound for New York.

While the technology exists and is being refined, the actual learning design is largely missing.  People are still used to "talking heads" and think it's great to have a PowerPoint presentation showing simultaneously with a speaker.

Between 1993 and 1998 I was involved in creating a variety of learning events around the world for different groups of adults.  The overall focus was learning to change performance.  Some of the events were goal-based learning, others were performance-focused learning.  In the Spring of 1998 I designed and delivered a 2.5-day "hands-on-learning" event held in Cannes, France.  The event was for 200 communication executives affiliated with Europe and Latin America and working for Accenture (Andersen Consulting).  The event was called ELACOMM98 (go to the ELA-Comm Workshop to read about this event).  You can watch an extract of the video made for this event.

This event was designed by a virtual team in approximately 12 weeks and was intended to accomplish a set of strategic goals for the Communications Market Unit of the global consulting firm.  The actual event was designed to simulate actual consulting engagements with participants working together in teams to accomplish a series of tasks, then going into large groups to hear from subject matter experts about topics which they would immediately use when they went back to their small teams.  The interaction was very real and dynamic in the 2.5 days in Cannes.  It was, in part, a hybrid event including participation by a guest speaker using a webcam and laptop computer from his home office in Los Angeles to address a group of 200 participants in Cannes.

What was learned in the design and delivery of ELACOMM98 can certainly be used to guide the creation of virtual learning events.  One of the first keys is to have the set of strategic performance goals for the organizers of the event.  Once the goals are set, a particular design process is followed to create the learning design, taking full advantage of the 3D-capabilities afforded by Digitell's VirtualU.

Innovation and Comfort Zones--Insight, Common Sense, Common Practice

Innovation is challenging for many reasons.  Amazingly enough, even though many people claim to want innovation, habits, comfort zones, and common practice all form an effective barrier to innovation.

Common practice is different from common sense (which may not be as common as the words indicate).  Common practice has people use elevators to get to the upper floors in high-rise buildings and to come back down.  In the event of an emergency (fire, explosion, etc.), the instructions are to use the stairs.  Common practice and habits often have the people waiting for the elevators as usual, even in emergencies.

Common sense may tell us not to use cell phones or text messaging while driving, especially in school zones and construction zones.  Common practice has us communicating all the time, often opposing common sense.

Innovation, at least in my experience, is frequently connected with insight.  As I approach a challenge--learning design, for example, insight lets me see into the process and to identify a different way of working that generates better results.  (See the Integrative Learning Design Jump-Start Workbook for an example.)  The Meta-Models I have created and posted on one of my websites all represent insight and innovation.

Getting others to accept these innovations and to work with them is a separate challenge.  When I began this blog, my intention was to begin to publish my work.  I felt that having the discipline to do a daily blog might give me a head start toward publishing.

I hope to publish this blog in book form soon.  If I wait for a year of entries, that might be too many pages in the book.  I'll have to think about that more to see what I have and what I need.

Thinking Outside the Box or In A Larger Box?

At an orientation introducing job seekers to new business opportunities, we had a chance to view Steve Job's 2005 Commencement Address at Stanford University.  Steve had lots of good things to say in his video.

We were then introduced to a new Real Estate Investment College founded by Jim and Mary Piccolo and Bob Snyder.  These three people also founded an online university in Arizona now named Piccolo International University.  They recruited Laura Palmer Noone out of retirement to be the CEO of Piccolo International University.  Both the Real Estate Investment College and Piccolo International University are involved with a new approach to practical education.

The Real Estate Investment College offers classes in practical real estate investment skills and actually helps students build their Real Estate portfolios as they complete the classes.  Rather than preparing graduating students for jobs, graduating students are practicing Real Estate investors when they graduate--and they earn their tuition while engaged in the practical applications of what they are learning while they are students.  The program even has lists of properties and other Real Estate services available to students if they choose to make use of them.  There is also a business education component built-into the learning program.

The thrust of this orientation is that there is a world of opportunity for people to build six-figure incomes in the world of real estate investing.  The key to success (a valid theme in many areas) is that knowledge can be converted to income.

While they didn't use the term "JOB=Just-over-broke" that I've heard many times before, they are realistic--actually showing sales forms and commission statements indicating income over a 24-month period. 

The tuition for this "Real Estate Investment College" is high--though I haven't checked the details.  It does offer tuition assistance in the form of actual pay-off of tuition as well as cash-in-the-pocket for students completing Real Estate transactions while taking college courses (50% of profit goes to instructor, 25% to student, and 25% to student tuition).

One fundamental area I need to explore if I am considering getting involved in this world is to answer the question, how much of this new world is built on a solid foundation and how much is subject to immediate change--for example in regulations regarding bank loans, mortgages, home-owner line of credit, etc.?

There are trends at work in our new economic marketplace and there is a group of investors introducing these ideas in this geographical area.  While they are certainly making money and engaged in worthwhile ventures--to include "Pay It Forward" charity work--there's more to think about.

There is some controversy about this approach, though the integrity of the people involved and the institutions overall seem to shine through the controversy.

People who are working with what they have learned from the program say that there is significant work involved and that it is not "something for nothing."  Nor is it a multi-level marketing program.

My original question remains, while this approach to Real Estate investing is outside the box of traditional "jobs," it still relies on the worlds of financing Real Estate--a larger or different box.  Taking education courses to know current trends and best practices in Real Estate investing will prepare someone to work successfully in this different box--unless and until the rules change.  Then, if the education courses can keep up with the evolution in the rules, it can still be worthwhile, though not the same as it is now.

I'm still learning and am open to explore ideas that can help me have a quality lifestyle.  I've tried many approaches so far and have lots more to learn.

Creative Imagination--Inspirational Examples--Innovation

Creative imagination can push pre-existing boundaries to thought and action.  Inspirational models can inspire us to move beyond these limits.  Michaelangelo's statue of David represented an entirely new way of depicting the human form and ushered in an entirely new way of rendering art.

Michaelangelo understood the marble he was working with.  People using creative imagination to create something new need to understand the medium in which they are creating.  Our economy is evolving and there are opportunities for those with creative imaginations to create something entirely new from the medium available.

One challenge is to find positive models to serve as inspiration in the way David inspires other sculptors and artists.

Getting Past "You can't get there from here."

It is amazing how many ways this concept is communicated on a daily basis.  "You can't get there from here" seems to be a theme song of today's economy in the United States.

One thing is certain, we need help to navigate how to achieve our goals and "get there from here."  I love the Global Positioning System (GPS).  I have a GPS on my iPod Touch (2nd Generation) (which works when I am on a WiFi network) and another portable one I use for my car.  One of the things I like best about a truly portable GPS is that, when you don't follow its directions, it recalculates a new set of directions from where it finds your car and tells you how to get where you told it you're going even when you go your own way.
Now, if we could get more people to do with the "thinking" GPS gadgets do, we could really accomplish our goals!!

In my work with English language learners (ELLs) in the K-12 school systems in Illinois, I have discovered that introducing students to unabridged eAudiobooks with their companion books in print is a great way to motivate reading and to improve academic performance.  I have published a research paper on this idea and am working to turn it into a pilot project for use in schools.  Along the way I would like to receive some grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education to test the concept and to assure that the innovations we develop will be available throughout the USA.

Unfortunately, the way these grants seem to work, to gain funding to develop an idea, the "proof of concept" seems to need to be already tested.  Grant funding is not for the first stage in development--putting the idea into practice.  Instead it seems to be for a second stage--improving on the idea and developing materials to clone it.

At this stage in our development as a nation, we need to step "out of the box" and find out how to get there (helping ELLs learn to read and improve their academic performance by working with unabridged eAudio books and companion books) from where we are today--with or without federal grant funding.

Anyone want to help?  Contact me via my Wiki project page.