Good I! A Position Paper on Instruction vs. Information (Part II of Series)

Last month in our eNewsletter Three Sticks we introduced Topics’ new position paper on instruction vs. information, impact vs. impressions and how best to engage, educate, and move people to action. This month, we bring you the next installment in the paper where Topics’ Principal, Bruce Nofsinger, elaborates on the value of relevance in instruction. He begins by proposing three questions …

• Why is the pull of an inviting, engaging experience more compelling than the push of a compulsory activity?
• How often does information delivered connect with the prior knowledge, experiences, preferences, and learning styles of the audience?
• How many people will invest their focus, time, and energy on something with little relevance to their lives or connection to their interests?

For instruction to be engaging and effective, it must build in and build from critical points of relevance for the audience. The intended audiences hold the keys to how instruction should be designed, developed, and delivered – no matter the age of the audience, the learning environment, or the delivery tools used. For us, relevant instruction means that we must:

• Know the audience, and define the key points of relevance for that particular group
• Understanding what drives that audience and motivates them to act, think, and behave
• Establish immediate relevance to their lives, interests, habits, preferences, and experiences
• Develop interactive instruction that makes an immediate (and relevant!) impact vs. simply communicate information
• Invite audiences to take ownership of their learning experiences
• Deliver the instruction using communication tools that are comfortable for the audience (web, print, text, video, music, etc.)
  

Another key point to relevance is putting the information in context for the audience. In their book Understanding by Design, authors/educators Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe describe creating “learning experiences of enduring value.” If instruction is designed, developed, and delivered based on the interests, experiences, and learning styles of the audience, then instruction becomes not just the delivery of information, but a learning experience that is relevant, memorable, and lasting. The information takes on a personal meaning – it is no longer flat and uninviting. Context is crucial to establishing relevance for an audience. Seeing and experiencing something in context (versus in a vacuum) makes it more tangible, more real to a learner. This is truly meeting people where they are, and the results are powerful.

-Bruce Nofsinger, Principal, Topics Education