136 — Does the language of L&D matter?

In Learning & Development, we love a good buzzword: 'blended learning', 'micro learning', 'learning management systems'... anything with 'learning', really. Is this a problem? Or just a time-wasting argument?

This week on The GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G and Owen are joined by the eLearning Guild's David Kelly to discuss.

If you'd like to share your thoughts on the show, you can find us on Twitter @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson and @LnDDave.

To find out more about GoodPractice, visit goodpractice.com or tweet us @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAus.

For everything eLearning Guild, visit: elearningguild.com

The Learning Solutions Conference and Expo runs March 26-28. See: learningsolutions19.com

The Realities360 Conference and Expo runs June 25-27. See: realities360.com

The DevLearn Conference and Expo runs October 23-25. See: DevLearn19.com

For Owen's WILTW on Einstein and Feynman, see: https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/8742/did-einstein-say-if-you-cant-explain-it-simply-you-dont-understand-it-well-en 

Dave recommended the Cooper Hewitt Museum, online at: https://www.cooperhewitt.org/ 

For a review of the learning styles literature, see: Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119.

The article is available online, but for those seeking a short version, the key paragraphs are:

"Although the literature on learning styles is enormous, very few studies have even used an experimental methodology capable of testing the validity of learning styles applied to education. Moreover, of those that did use an appropriate method, several found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis.

"We conclude therefore, that at present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice."

This does not mean that learning styles do not exist, but that there is not yet any evidence for the concept making an effective contribution to how people learn.