Without Learning a Course is Pointless
Every enterprise produces products that people want. That’s why they exist. Shops sell things you can see and touch. Governments enterprises supply services. Schools, colleges and universities provide education.
Education can however be a bit of a vague term for a lot of people.
Education conjures up ideas of attending classes, doing assignments and exams and being awarded qualifications. Parents, employers, politicians and event teachers will all too often measure the value of a course based on attendance records or results in exams, but is that really the best way to measure the value of a course?
How Valuable is a Course?
Consider what a course can do for a student. Make a list, perhaps something like this:
- Provide an experience which is either good or bad, which they may look back on.
- Build their confidence and life skills (or in some cases diminish those things)
- Make friends an contacts – build networking that serves them well beyond study
- Learn things so lightly that that they are readily forgotten
- Learn things so deeply that they are with them forever
- Give them a buzz when they get a good result in an assignment or exam
- Give them a qualification which is often (after the initial buzz) put in a draw and forgotten
Some such “take aways” from a course are transient, and others are permanent.
Most research would suggest that the value of a course is in how it brings about a permanent change in the nature and abilities of the graduate.
A Path
Education is not just something we do at school, or for a year, or for an afternoon. Education should be a path we follow and the force that causes us to change for the better. Education is not just about formal education. Throughout our lives we (hopefully) learn, develop and improve our knowledge.
In today’s world, lifelong learning is important. The world is changing and we need to change with it. It is not enough to do a course then think that’s it. Education today starts you on a path to improvement, development and future education.
Follow and Extend
A course is also something that we follow and extend. In our example above, we mentioned how the planets follow their course, going from point A to point B. An educational course should also help you to do the same.
You are a trainee, but you want to be a manager. So you take a course (or a few) to help you move from one point to the next.
But as we just said, the world is changing. We are not planets. We don’t just follow the same path from A to B and settle down for the rest of our lives.
The world is different. It is more likely that we now go from A to B to C to D to E and so on. It is estimated that most people will change careers 8 – 12 times during their lifetime. Changing careers often involves retraining or additional training.
An education course helps us to follow a path to get to a certain point, then extend that learning to get to the next point, and the next and the next!
Play
A course can also be a playful experience. Children learn as much through playing as they do through study. Some research suggests more. Adults can play too. Playful experiences are positive and stick with a person, no matter what age, so playing can be one of the most powerful techniques that a teacher can use in a course.
Many people may not think that an educational course is somewhere to go for fun, but education can be fun and enjoyable. Learning about something that we find interesting can be enjoyable and interesting. Learning does not have to be dull and boring.
Play is something that we do for recreation and enjoyment. Some courses may be studied to get a particular job or career or skill, but we can also study courses for fun, a new hobby, a new interest. Learning is not just about getting the next promotion or the next job. This is an important aspect of lifelong learning. Learning can, and should be, fun and interesting!
Progression, development
A course is a way to progress and develop. An educational course should therefore help us to develop and progress in our lives. Taking courses help us to improve and build on our knowledge. Try and see your mind as a way. We start off with a line of bricks at the bottom, but as we move on in life and learn more, the brick gets higher. But not all bricks are the same. We might have brightly coloured bricks, patterned bricks, bricks with designs on them. We are building a beautiful, decorative wall of knowledge that we can climb to improve our knowledge, and our life in general. We use that wall to reach the place that we want to be.
Treatment
Is an educational course a treatment or medication? We might have a treatment or medication for illness or injury. This does not particularly relate to educational courses, but treatment also means the way in which we behave towards others, the way we act. Educational courses can certainly inform us in that way. We gain knowledge, we develop skills, we understand what we are supposed to do in certain situations, we learn new procedures. So an educational course is also a treatment.
Part of a meal
Is an educational course part of a meal? Yes, in some ways it is. Studying a course is just part of our life. We study a course, gain work and life experience and put those together to get the job and career we want. We might also study to start a new hobby, help us to relax, reduce our stress, improve our fitness. Again, a course is part of our life, part of the meal.
Program of education
Finally, a course is also a program of education. A way in which we learn and develop and gain the knowledge we need.
The Mistake Education Providers Make
A course should be so much more than most people think it is.
Course providers should understand the potential impact which a course can have on the lives of their students. They should understand how to apply educational psychology, be good communicators, motivators and of course know the subject they are teaching. When educators have the knowledge and skills they should have and apply themselves to the task at hand; students learn, progress and improve in so many ways.
Any well developed and delivered educational course is there to provide us with knowledge and skills, but many education providers produce a course and do not think about all aspects of a course.
They do not consider –
- The way a course impacts on how people behave
- How it can lead people down a path to reach where they want to go
- How they can follow the path to get from one point to another to another
- That a course is part of a person’s overall life
- A course helps a person to grow and extend
Do you want to help students to study courses that are much more than courses?
Of course, you do!
If you would like to set up your own school selling courses that are much more than “just” a course, then why not get in touch with us and find out more?