I was quiet intrigued and impressed by what
Thomas Friedman presented in his book – The
World is Flat. It is a comprehensive,
brief and very well researched account of the complex world, allowing the readers to
make sense of the often bewildering global scene unfolding before
their eyes. Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the
dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to the world at large, to countries, companies,
communities, and more importantly to individuals; and how we all should and must, adapt.
The title The World is Flat is a metaphor, to look at the world, as a play ground for companies and individuals, in terms of commerce, where all competitors have an equal opportunity. It talks about how companies need to bring about a shift in their paradigm to survive and thrive in the competitive world today.
This led me to reflect - how did training evolve... How did this extremely critical function, especially in times like these, get influenced and reach where it is today. Which factors worked as flatteners for the field of training? To understand this, it might be helpful to briefly look through the history of training.
The
Ancient Age
The need for training was first felt in the ancient times, when human
beings started creating tools. The need for sharing with other members, the
knowledge of how to use a particular tool, was pressing. Thus, teaching others
to use a tool to perform a task was one of the initial goals of training.
In
ancient times, the kind of work that people did was mainly unskilled or
semiskilled not requiring specialized knowledge. The experienced members of the
group usually knew the tricks for survival and would pass on their knowledge to
the junior members through instruction. There wasn’t a particular skill which
was required. Only the knowledge of how to use a particular tool was
sufficient.
The Middle Ages: Apprenticeship
As the tools became more advanced,
the knowledge and skills required to use them became more specialized. The
skilled members could not transfer the complete knowledge to the other group
members as easily as they were able to do it earlier. Thus there was a need required
to bring about a change in the way the knowledge had to be shared. This gave
rise to the next level of training - apprenticeship. A representative population,
which was considered to be better at grasping knowledge were then apprenticed
to the skilled personnel who had the knowledge of the specialized. In exchange
for work, the craftsman would teach the person the craft / skill at which she/he
was an expert.
The Industrial Revolution: The Classroom
The coming of industrial revolution in a way changed the way training was imparted. The advent of machinery increased the capacity of the factories to produce more in a comparatively lesser time. More number of workers were required to be trained as quickly as possible. The old-style apprentice system was clearly unable to meet the demands. To make the most of the opportunity, consequently, the training method needed to undergo a paradigm shift and thus the concept of classrooms got introduced. The classroom method of imparting knowledge and upskilling people resulted in more number of people getting trained with lesser “trainers”
The Information Revolution and Individualized
Instruction
The kind of skills the jobs required (unskilled, semiskilled, or
skilled), and the demand for the goods impacted the training methodology. The
changes in work were caused by political situations, war, natural calamities, advances
in technology, or by other changes in societies (global, etc).
The instructor led training (ILT) in the
class room, became one of the most
popular methods of training. The reason
for this was communication, sharing of ideas and the interaction generated between
the participants and the instructor. A
lot more ideas and experiences are shared in an ILT than any other mode of
training.
The next phase in training was the introduction of CBT (Computer-based
training). Individualized instruction led to computer-based training, which is
used extensively in many companies today. It is a natural progression from
individualized instruction and teaching machines to the computer with its speed
and visual display.
CBT can be used in teaching almost any kind of subject matter, as
long as the design of the instruction is sound. Displaying information in
audio, graphic, and motion video form, has made the teaching of skills and
processes more effective than ever before. Individualized instruction delivered
over the World Wide Web is a further development of computer-based training.
Web-based instruction can be used with any type of computer that can access the
internet and has web browser software.
Apart from how training evolved with the economic changes, there
are also some other flatteners – Andragogy
– the adult learning theory, Instructional Design, Principles of Brain
Research, Kirk Patrick model training effectiveness model, Advent of e learning
/ podcasts, Assessment Centers, and so on.
I would
be talking about them in my next series of posts.
