I'm tired people, so I'm only going to say this about 1,000 more times...

Look, we probably learn differently as adults than we do as children. Everything from our neurochemistry to our  physiology and  mental and economic contexts  have shifted...change is expected.  Industries also change; the horse and carriage give way to the car  which gives way to what? - the personal jetpack maybe.
The point (hard to see though as it is) however, is that with learning - the changes are going on inside our own heads and bodies. We are acted upon by outside forces but ultimately learning is an internal act mediated by our own individual/collective contexts. What learning is NOT is a product. It can NOT be shrink-wrapped. It can NOT be updated to version 1.2. It does NOT rely on a particular OS or even give a crap about what version of the Web we happen to on. Learning scoffs at mergers of companies and at specifications like CORDRA and SCORM. This misunderstanding has led us to countless, pointless discussions about lots of issues but ROI makes a great example (you can't really measure what's going on in someone's head can you? - no but you can measure performance - but people aren't selling Performance management systems (those would be PMSs and marketing would NOT let that happen).

We can do better or worse at creating opportunities for people to learn. We can use methodologies and technologies that seem to have a positive impact on peoples' ability to learn; but we are NOT selling learning.  So let's freakin' STOP talking about learning like its a product. Hey LMS CEO - you ever manage "a learning"? Hey authoring tool person - you ever make "a learning"? Can you send me one?

So how about for pete's sake, we all agree to start indulging in some semantic accuracy. Sell training. Sell systems that manage training or resources. Sell hardware or software but don't tell me you sell 'learning'  - because I swear, the next person/vendor/guru tells me something about 'learning' that implies a lack of understanding regarding the conditions above...I'm going to ask you to hand me one...a learning that is, and if you can't put in on my desk..out you go.

Comments

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[mark oehlert]

Karyn,

At my last job I was a Learning Strategy Architect...probably hypocritical but I have less of a problem with the job titles (no one is selling me a job title) and as far as fierce, I was inspired by you and your posting on race and ethnicity. :-)

[Karyn Romeis]

Ooh - so fierce! So where do you stand on my job title called a learning solutions designer/learning consultant, then? ;-)