{"id":11162,"date":"2018-11-06T23:24:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T05:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/have-google-and-youtube-created-lazy-learners\/"},"modified":"2021-08-03T17:10:07","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T22:10:07","slug":"have-google-and-youtube-created-lazy-learners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/have-google-and-youtube-created-lazy-learners\/","title":{"rendered":"Have Google And YouTube Created Lazy Learners?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After recently reminiscing with friends about do-it-yourself (DIY) home projects, we began comparing all of the Google and YouTube video searches that helped us achieve our goals. We realized that our learning happened by \u201cGoogling\u201d and \u201cYouTubing.\u201d It was quick, simple, and allowed us to immediately apply our new skills.<\/p>\n

What does this have to do with how we learned? Everything! Since the inception of Google and YouTube, there\u2019s been a dramatic shift in how people seek out and apply knowledge. One thing is certain: This isn\u2019t your \u201cfather\u2019s learning\u201d\u2014 meaning, learning increasingly is occurring through nontraditional contexts.<\/p>\n

This is good news for Learning practitioners because it\u2019s driving the need to discover innovative ways to allow people to learn. It\u2019s bad news for the same reason. This is why Google and YouTube have been the two sources many now turn to with questions. And that leads to this question: Have we forgotten how to learn?<\/p>\n

Learning is now, more than at any other time, essential to maintaining employment and career relevance. The question is more about whether those responsible for learning (you) can adapt and keep up. For most, their new learning reality is the simple act of Googling. For Learning practitioners, this is now the reality and your competition. So what do you do?<\/p>\n

CHANGE YOUR APPROACH TO LEARNING<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learning is inherent to change and progress, but current learning approaches lag the exponential changes we\u2019re experiencing. When people prefer to Google and YouTube over taking a course, you have an issue. Learning practitioners are challenged to reconcile accessibility, speed, and applicability.<\/p>\n

How people actually learn new knowledge hasn\u2019t significantly changed. How they expect to access and apply it, however, has. We\u2019ve been conditioned by Google and YouTube to want knowledge faster, sooner, shorter, and from anywhere.<\/p>\n

Traditional learning approaches are incapable of reconciling these elements. Learning practitioners must discover ways to incorporate methods offering these elements without undermining the learning participants require and expect.<\/p>\n

EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY\u2026PROPERLY<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing inherently bad about learning through Google and YouTube. But we must ask: What makes them so appealing? First, both democratized learning, allowing equal and instant access to knowledge. Learning is now at the tip of our collective fingers. Second, both reset learning expectations. People now expect to learn from anywhere at anytime. This is referred to as the \u201cGoogle effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

This access to information at anytime and from anywhere has created lazy learners. It causes something known as digital amnesia. This is the tendency to forget information that can be found readily online by using Internet search engines such as Google. According to studies about the Google effect, people are less likely to remember details they believe will be accessible online.<\/p>\n

The Google effect may be Google and YouTube\u2019s Achilles heel and where learning practitioners can capitalize. Learning initiatives must incorporate what makes Google and YouTube appealing but recognize how to ensure learning retention through application to avoid the Google effect.<\/p>\n

REMAIN RELEVANT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to remain relevant with business leaders and learners:<\/p>\n