Facilitating Over-the-Shoulder Learning
Michael Twidale (Graduate School of Library and Information Science)
In his Brown Bag talk, Michael Twidale spoke about the deceptively simple problem of how people learn to use computers. According to Twidale, most people do not learn how to use computers and computer applications from classes or formal training sessions. Rather, when a computer user cannot figure out how to do something on their own or through a quick Google search, they will ask a colleague, family-member, or someone else near at hand. Twidale has studied these informal computer tutorials in office settings. According to Twidale, these brief instruction periods, what he calls "over-the-shoulder learning," are both effective and efficient means to transmit knowledge about computer applications from one person to another. Unlike formal training sessions that cover a set curriculum and are regularly scheduled, with over-the-shoulder-learning, a confused computer user gets the specific help that they need when they need it without having to interrupt her workflow. Twidale also sees a deeper benefit to over-the-shoulder-learning. According to Twidale, when one colleague describes how to use an application to another, the tutor generally relays important local information about the work environment. In other words, rather than just giving instructions on where to click and when, the tutor would relay information about work flow, the meaning of certain tasks, and how the application needed to be used in that particular business context. In other words, in over-the-shoulder-learning, people learn in the context of their business task they have to accomplish.
Twidale believes that these informal interactions should be exploited when designing computer and software applications. Through developing smart and adaptive help systems in applications, he argues that over-the-shoulder learning could be embedded into the software itself. But Twidale sees over-the-shoulder learning as more than just providing a model for technological improvement of automated help systems. Twidale also argues that face-to-face computer training should be removed from classrooms and other formal environments. Instead, businesses, universities, and other organizations where specialized computing and application knowledge is essential should use over-the-shoulder-learning as a primary means of computer training. To do this, organizations could designate certain people in a division or department to be experts in a certain application and foster a culture where such interaction is encouraged and rewarded.
|
