Since we're well into the year under the cloud of COVID-19, many organizations have resorted to a variety of video-conferencing platforms to stay in touch and tokeep business-decision-making moving forward. Educators, too, have transitioned to online classes for elementary, secondary, college, and university classes. While social distancing keeps students out of the classrooms and dormitory rooms, education continues. Or does it?

My own education, degrees, and work experience are in vocational-technical education. I worked as a teacher, a department head, and a mentor in the public-college setting for more than a decade before launching myself into the business and industry world of job-skills training. I’m a both a student and a teacher in and of traditional teaching-learning methods. In my experience, and in some cases, computer-based training (CBT) just doesn’t cut it. In fact, in many cases CBT fails students. Let’s explore.

Computer-based education with today’s COVID-19 restrictions is blossoming. Some educators are touting the benefits of online learning: students and teachers stay at home, face-to-face communications happens via a flatscreen monitor, and questions are asked and answered in real time person-to-person. What could be better? Oh, we don’t have to get all cleaned up and dressed. We can wear our pJs and slippers, as long as we look presentable from the shoulders up. But what about learning effectiveness?

About half of us learn by doing. Sure, we can listen and read all about something. Eventually, though, there comes a time to do something as part of the learning process to really understand and appreciate what a subject or topic is  about. Sometimes, learning is about eye-hand coordination, i.e., about doing something with our hands and objects. Other times, it’s about trial and error. And then there’s coaching through individual problems. As adults (young and old), we learn best when we can put to work whatever was just taught.

I’m worried that computer-based education and training, online coursework, and distance learning miss five essential elements of effective teaching and learning: social skills, peer-to-peer collaboration, creative thinking skills, communication skills, teamwork, and discipline.

If we're concerned by a younger generation that constantly has its eyes and thumbs on cell phones and tablets texting to someone who may be in the same room or hundreds of miles away, wait until they are completing all of their  education online.

What are the “critical skills” for being a productive member of society and in the world of work? Here’s the top five: Critical thinking, effective communication, adaptability, collaboration/teamwork, ability and willingness to learn something new. How do students of any age master these skills online?

Next week, I'll focus on the downside of online training with an in-depth article on what the U.S. Navy learned the hard (and costly) way. Stay tuned.

bwilliamson@theramreview.com