Typical e-Learning Flaws

I've seen and developed a lot of "e-learning" over the last 11 years and thought Roger C. Schank (author, e-learning & education expert, cognitive scientist) hit it dead on with his list of Current, Recognized e-Learning Flaws from his book -  Lessons in Learning, e-Learning, and Training. I added to his list . . .

• not fun . . . boring – people retain more when they are engaged.
• no stories – people remember a well told story, especially if told by someone they know or it relates to an experience they had.
• too long – break things down to small chunk of learning.
• not just-in-time – JIT information delivery makes information useful. Don’t tell people things that they cannot immediately use.
• not relevant – authentic activities motivate learners
• designed for too much recall knowledge not enough recognition knowledge.
• not really interactive – page turning and answering quiz questions is not interactive.
• telling is not doing – Telling people how to do something isn’t retained for very long. People learn by doing. If you have to tell, use a story.
• not enough practice – practice means endless repetition.
• too much quizzing – quizzes are less the essence of good instructional design and more to do with measurable outcomes.
• guessing is not doing – giving people multiple choices and matching options isn’t how things are in the real world.
• doesn’t allow learners to influence content – often learners have a story to tell about the subject that they are training on or a perspective that is missed by the development team.
• doesn’t make people reflect – employees need to reflect on what they do and examine ways that they can do better.
• failing is seen as . . . failing – failure shouldn’t be a bad thing. True learning requires failing.