Let's talk about Self-Directed Learning

Vered and me did a quick video on the topic of Self-Directed Learning a few months ago, but we decided not to put it on our corporate blog because of the bad sound quality. (The coffee machine noise and all that...)

But here it is if you don't mind bad sound:




I've blogged before on the topic under the title "All we really need is us".
A common misunderstanding about Self-Directed Learning is that people think it is a lonely activity. That is absolutely not true - it is just a matter of who is in the driving seat discovering and clarifying their own learning goals, take actions and monitoring the outcomes. Most if not all people need support to learn a skill or change a behavior - so Self Directed Learning isn't lonely. It should involve a learning network, access to experience, candid feedback from others and all the goodies we know makes learning work.

Here were my 5 talking points during the Corporate Universities Summit talk:
- You are not alone
- It is probably not for everyone
- Can you really set your own learning goals up front?
- It is all in our heads
- What would stop SDL from happening?