"Learning in3D" Karl Kapp and Tony O'Driscoll

Learning in 3D: Adding a New Dimension to Enterprise Learning and Collaboration

First an apology - I was supposed to write this review weeks ago and seriously dropped the ball. That in no way should take away from the fact that I think this is actually a very important book. I actually think it is important in a way that has very little to do with any underlying technology or set of technologies. 

So I should add that my undergrad degree was in management. That means that anytime someone quotes Peter Drucker, I have to sit up straighter and pay attention. So when Tony and Karl quote Drucker and the idea of "rountinization" - that new technologies are most often employed early on to do old tasks faster - I latched onto that one. 
 
Don't believe it? Really? Think about e-learning for a minute. How long have we been doing that? 10 -15 years? How many times are we still confronted with that design choice of which corner to put the "next" button in? That's awesome design evolution isn't it? Why do we still have page-turners? Because we've just automated them. Tony and Karl assert: 

"Trainers appear to be wrapped up in some strange form of unconscious collusion wherein their dogged adherence to the classroom paradigm has rendered them oblivious to the incredible potential that the webvolution holds to revolutionize learning for both businesses and educational institutions."

 Man, you ain't kidding. Not just trainers. I don't want to cast too small a net here. Schools. Colleges. The classroom has trapped a lot of people. Gary Woodill has a great piece on the history of the classroom as instructional technology. So Karl and Tony might not want me to say this, but the virtual world stuff in their book is top notch - you should read it word by word, but its not the most important thing in the book. Passages like the one below are:

"In short, just as business has had to change dramatically as a result of  dynamic market economics, so too must the learning function. Critical to successfully navigating this change is recognizing that the path to strategic leverage within the firm lies in cultivating a generative learning culture. Creating a true learning organization will require significant and systemic changes to the learning function practice, not merely the automation of training processes and the digitization of training content, but a wholesale redefinition of how learning adds value to organizations."

So do yourself a favor and pick up this important book and read it. Then think about what you need to do as a learning/training professional with this amazingly rich set of tools and platforms called virtual worlds and consider the challenge that Tony and Karl have so powerfully laid out - don't use these tools to create the world's best 3D "next" button. Think past classrooms. If you don't then what a waste we'll be looking at in 10 years. 

Comments

[Al Meyers]

Great stuff! Everyone should listen to what Tony says. He's not only a great poet, but he is one of the brightest guys I know in the area of 3D learning!

[Karl Kapp]

Mark, Thanks for being a great stop on the blog book tour. Totally agree with your assessment of the need for many to think outside of our current educational conventions and work toward a more intelligent use of all these emerging technologies. Our learning paradigms need to keep up with the technology or learning professionals will be left behind. And well put, world's best NEXT button or classroom in a virtual world is like building the world's best horse drawn carriage.

[Tony O'Driscoll]

Marc,

Thanks so much for the kind words. Us Drucker fans need to hang together man!

Hope our paths cross soon.