Who should be the MIT of coaching?
If ever there was a hot issue in the world of coach development at the minute it was elearning. Not surprisingly our Research Team are interested more in what the research is telling us about elearning rather than what companies selling elearning technology are telling us.
That’s why we were interested to hear about a piece of research going on in the US (thanks to the excellent Open Culture). Although the research examines the online learning habits of students there are some interesting points for coaching.
The students (wonderfully referred to as ‘Free Range learners’) tended to supplement their studies with other universities’ online lectures and they would shop around for content. There seemed to be a preference for content from recognized brands or from well-known leading institutions such as Stanford or Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Students also tended to access resources via the back door, Google rather than the organisational webpage, and relied more on friends and informal networks for recommendations.
Thinking about what this means for coaching it raises the question who should be the MIT of coaching? In other words who is the recognised brand or institution that coaches will go to for online content?
As this is research we have to have a final point on methodology, although it’s still an important one! As Glenda Morgan the author of the research comments, how much is this study relying on successful learners to drive the results? Similarly are we relying on a disproportionate number of coaches who are technology savvy to drive elearning policy?
We don’t know the answer to this final question but it is something our Research Team will be looking into this year.
In the meantime if your interested in learning more about how coaches learn why not read our Research Essentials or a comprehensive academic review of the literature.
