The Classroom is not Dead
Despite the predictions of technology pundits dating back to the laserdisc, classroom instruction still provides the majority of training worldwide. According to the Association for Talent Development’s (ATD) 2016 State of the Industry report:
“Despite the increasing flexibility, availability, and accessibility of technology-based methods, the traditional instructor-led, face-to-face classroom continues to play a crucial role, and it was still the delivery mechanism for 51% of learning hours used in 2015.”
Newcomers to the talent development field are often very surprised to discover this. Attend a national training conference and you will be immersed in a world of mobile, gamified, social, and virtual instruction, with little attention paid to what is still the dominant form of instruction. Unlike its lucrative, uber-sexy competitors, classroom training tends to be the wallflower at the dance. It’s like the guy with the shovel who quietly gets the work done while the e-learning Ferrari spins donuts around the parking lot.
To be sure, classroom training has its share of problems. For the past decade, it has been in a PowerPoint-induced stupor, and subject matter experts still tend to unleash non-interactive data dumps on hapless students. But a skilled facilitator with a passion for teaching and the right instructional strategies can still be a thing of wonder to behold.
Let’s not mothball our classrooms just yet!