Knowledge is Only Power if You ACT on it
The truth is, when you learn something new, say, in an online course, you go in knowing nothing, or 0%. At the end of the course, “you know 100% of what you know”, no matter how well you know it. But after just one day, if you have not taken action on the knowledge you have just learned, you can lose approximately 50%-80% of what you learned.
It is the action that embeds the knowledge and commits it to more long-term memory. As course creators, it is for this reason that building in exercises, challenges, discussions, and other ways learners can ACT on the knowledge they are learning is IMPERATIVE!
“Doing” is the fastest and easiest way to get people to learn. It’s how you bridge the gap between HAVING knowledge and BEING knowledgeable.
As a course creator, make sure that your course is designed to deliver actionable results and beware of setting learning objectives for “Understanding” or “Knowing.” Instead, assure that your learners will be able to BE, DO or HAVE something at the completion of your course, by building in action steps into the learning.
When students register and pay money for your course, it’s not good enough that they can “understand” the concepts. They must have an opportunity to practice, participate, discuss, make mistakes, and succeed.
Check out these tips for avoiding the knowing-doing gap – some great ideas that I like to use in my own courses.
- Transform goals into actionable steps
- Allow them to reflect on their own performance
- Provide opportunities to solve their real-life problems
- Clearly understand what success looks like
- Create opportunities for experimental learning
- Encourage discussion and avoid “yes” and “no” answers.
𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲 do you implement, or will you begin to implement??
