Was Peter Drucker an “e-learning rebel”?
“Such subjects – whether reading and writing, arithmetic, spelling, historical facts, biology, and even such advanced subjects such as neurosurgery, medical diagnosis, and most of engineering – are best learned through a computer program. (Drucker. P., 1993)”
Did I read that correctly? Peter Drucker, the “MBA type”, management and leadership guru, is saying that neurosurgery is best learned through the computer? Peter Drucker (1993) writes about how computers will be a solution to improve education by providing opportunities for experiential and self-directed learning. Who would have thought that Peter Drucker was an advocate of self-paced instructional technologies?
One key principle that Drucker points out is that we need to utilize technology to help improve achievement and performance in the workplace (Drucker, 1993). What we typically do is use technology to do the same things we currently do with a slight bit of efficiency. Let me give a few examples in the field of cognitive and instructional technology.
Computer based training has been around since the 60′s but e-learning has only become mainstream since the mid-1990s. The reason for the slow adoption is that e-learning development tools, up until the 1990s, were very difficult to use. You needed to be a computer programmer to use them. Once tools like “Lectora Publisher” and “Toolbook Instructor” began offering simple template based tools to built e-learning quicker, the use of e-learning began to take off. However the technology was not used correctly and is generally not used correctly today. What we do is convert what we do in the training room and convert that to an online lecture and quiz. This is what Drucker refers to as simply doing “old things better”. When what we should be doing, and some do this well, is looking for ways to use online self-paced learning technologies to teach and learn in ways that we can not do otherwise. This is what Drucker refers to as proper “exploitation” of knowledge. We have the knowledge to create experiential learning experiences in online learning but we simply use the technology for information centric didactic instruction.
I will give you another example regarding the use of 3D virtual live environments for learning. The first thing trainers asked 3D virtual artists to create was a virtual classroom that looks like a classroom. We took the image that we are so familiar with and know is sub-optimal instruction because it does not provide for contextual realistic experiential learning and converted it into a virtual version. This is what Drucker refers to when he said, ” The technology will still be significant, but primarily because it should focus us to do new things rather than because it will enable us to do old things better.” (Drucker, 1993)
Disclaimer: I am not making a negative statement about this software application just the use of it in this particular instance. Having a 3D virtual classroom with students from around the world sensing as if they are in same room does add value and is very cool. However, to address the vision of Peter Drucker we have to find ways to use this cognitive technology to teach and learn in ways that are not possible in the traditional classroom. We want to provide kids in this environment (pictured below) with opportunities to learn in ways not otherwise possible for them. Likewise, in the corporate world, we want to take knowledge workers out of the cubicle and into a space that allows them learn in ways not otherwise possible.
Drucker, P. F. (1993). Post capitalist society. New York: HarperBusiness.