A world of e-learning in the person centred way

This is my first posting here at person centred blog. I am a person centred counsellor and trainer living in Buckinghamshire and have a website Person Centred Consultancies that is still being developed. I want to be able to share some of my thoughts on e-learning and how it can be of use to a range of people that are interested in how to use the person centred approach and e-learning combined.

what is e-learning ?

It's what you are doing right now, for one. We use the Internet for a range of reasons and with a range of needs. As a student, to research, as families to seek what's on guides and as individuals to open up our horizons for accessing some of the most amazing information across the globe. Through just these simple terms, e-learning is part of that.

It's also the use of PCs, software and programmes that can be accessed through a PC, mobile phone, internet and a range of other telecommunications.

You hear a particular talk radio show and within seconds you could have that information fed to your mobile phone and played back to you at your leisure. Now imagine your teenage son daughter using an ipod. Yes they are listening to music, who isn't, when they get the chance? what now if they have just downloaded a podcast of the latest course work revision tips or study skills, or support from a teenage helpline podcast about the realities of drugs, STI's or report-a-bully.

I'm hoping to develop this alongside a range of other pod casts and e-learning resources that would merge with the Youth Services across the whole of the UK, and other Youth Providers. ( and develop adult learning opportunities too)

Now how about being person centred?

The person centred approach was developed by Carl Rogers. In therapeutic terms, and simplistically, offering of the core conditions by the therapist.

• Being genuine or congruent
• Offering empathy
• and having unconditional positive regard

This 'way of being' is adopted by many workers that are not counsellors. The people that simply share in an experience with an individual and offer themselves in this way.

Person centred means also believing that the individual are their own experts and directors in their own lives, have the power and autonomy to believe this in themselves and support this belief in them also.

As a counsellor I may be asked, "So what do you think I should do?" ( about their concern).

My role in being person centred, would be to create an environment for the client to work out what THEY want to do, what THEY believe is important to them and what THEY feel is THEIR course of action.

So how can being person centred help with e-learning?

How would you feel if you were at a PC and just had a sense that someone was stood over you and was telling you how to go about learning this or that or they were actually doing this?would you feel pressured? embarrassed? irritated? A person centred approach would be to ask what do you want to learn? To respond, sensitively, to the person's request, to believe they have the ability and that when they are stuck with something they will ask for your help or work out how to do it through a help page they have just found for example, and yes any good teacher would do this too. Sometimes these are feelings that can emerge from the learner for a range of reasons and even with no intent on the teacher's / tutors part. Our history and blocks to our learning can affect how we enage in current learning or re-engage with learning at all, if we are a post 16 retuner.

Privacy and autonomy.

How can the e-learner feel they have both privacy and autonomy and feel better about themselves in their e-learning efforts? singluar PC booths whilst on the internet at the local Library, yes go some way to helping this? being at home on the PC? yes, this too for those that have a PC and are online at home, but many do not, and those that do have to also negotiate time for this with other family members that need to 'chat on MSN' or google something or other. A young e-learner will have this also to attend with and be motivated not to simply chat with mates and see the latest videos on Youtube.

By creating e-learning and virtual learning environments that support the belief in the individual being autonomous directors of thier own learning, hold the person centred ethos at heart, the individual could then feel and be autonomous in their learning, feel sensitively 'listened or responded to' and direct their own approach to the task at hand, pull themselves up for 'wasting time' by setting their own time limit to completion of modules. The task that THEY set for themselves. It also encompasses the belief that they could begin to see the consequenses of their own actions ( "aggggghhh Youtube trawling, for an hour means I've logged out now and can't finish!!!" ) and thereby take responsibility for that along with the family members demanding 'their time' on the PC.

Modular e-learning and the need for sensitivity, prizing and supporting the belief in self

By taking modules, bite sized chunks at a time, the e-learner can assess their own approach to learning, ask for feedback and see virtual recognition from their virtual tutor if and when they chose. This might make all the difference for e-learners returning to log in to their course again, feel they got something back and feel motivated to return again. Yes we all want to feel the ' I got a gold star!' feeling when we have achieved something well done. Person centred modular learning would support the individual to asses themselves and how they felt about the module, exercise, test AND offer that if they didn't want to return for a bit, that's cool, possibly with an option to assess why they didn't feel to continue.

As a trainer with young people ( and adults) I relied on a range of evaluate tools to get feedback. Flip charts, post it notes, graffiti board, scribe 'one thing I liked/ didn't like group discussions and individual evaluation sheets. This would then form my approach to developing the next programme workshop.

Evaluating E-learning - honestly

By asking the e-learner to offer this virtually for example, the e-learner has the chance to say what she/ he really feels. At any course I have attended and was given an evaluation sheet to fill in, I would know this was crucial to planning and development for the trainer. However, even I would fall foul of the time trap and 'hurry it up' as I'd invariably have a train to catch. I would then scribble ineligible comments here or there, and feel obliged to say something good about the food, trainer, venue. It's difficult to hand something in that says otherwise.

Why? because the 3 minutes left, was going to be needed to catch 'that person that I clicked with for their number, email and agency contact details. Networking when you meet like minded folk is also important. Just as important as a young e-learner that wants to say hi for the one minute that THEY have left between walking from one class to another. Just as important for THEIR social networking, study partner chats or gossip moments. This is just as important in school as it is in the workplace.

If you have any views you want to share, please do.

warm wishes

Tish :)

Patricia Mata -
copyright 2006

www.Person-Centred-Consultancies.com or email me @ :-

info@Person-Centred-Consultancies.com