Did you know that today’s average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV).*
I think we all know that the world around us has changed and how we consume information and spend our time has changed. It feels like I hear about this every day, but seeing stats like this really puts it all into perspective for me. Today’s world revolves around technology.
Dewey Decimal What?
Generation Y has grown up with the ability to access an unlimited supply of information with just the click of a button. Makes me a bit jealous. The concept of going to the library, searching through a card catalog to locate a book and then combing through it to get the answer you're looking for sounds insane in 2013, doesn’t it? New information needs to be obtained at the right time in the quickest way possible. Even though Gen Y might be a driving force behind this change, they are not alone. Technology is moving so fast that we are forced to keep up or get left behind.
From Bricks to Clicks
No matter what generation you are in, you likely grew up learning in a brick and mortar classroom. There is something about classroom learning that has been hard to capture in a digital form. The early forms of e-learning were lacking the “special sauce” of social interaction that is core to the classroom learning experience. With the rise of social networking tools and technology, we're at a point where new forms of digital learning are becoming available that will help students access interactive learning in real-time, without having to sacrifice anything.
The Shift to On Demand Digital Learning
Oracle University has been offering Live Virtual Class (LVC) Training for several years now. Students often times seem reluctant to take a Live Virtual Class, but once they try it, they are hooked (I am not just saying that – our student evaluations are great proof of this). However, LVC training isn’t for everyone. You still need to allocate the time in your schedule to take the course online for duration of the class. That's why we launched Training On Demand which includes a video recording of a classroom course that you can start, pause, fast forward and replay as needed. You can even search the course for specific topics. It lets you learn on your own time, gives you options to interact with instructors and lets you access labs for hands-on practice on-the-go via a mobile device, or from your desktop.
Tell Us What You Think
We are getting a lot of positive feedback on Training on Demand as a new way to learn. Take a closer look and check out the demo, along with some of the course previews, and tell us what you think. What other suggestions do you have for making our learning more accessible?
-Kate
*Source: Mark Prensky. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”