Do you love or hate online learning? Why?

In this nugget, I’m exploring the pros and cons of self-paced online learning, and I’m comparing it to “online learning VIP style.”

The toastmaster who gave the speech I mention in this nugget is Swaran Singh.

I’m Curious

What is your experience with unfacilitated or facilitated online learning?

Transcript

Greetings, Dr. Stephie here. Do you love online learning, or do you hate it? If so, why? Certainly, there are a number of pros and cons to learning information through an online course alone.

Pros

• Flexibility
• No commute
• Time management
• Preferred learning
• Immediate accessibility
• Save on tuition
• Workplace preparation

These are all some points that a fellow Toastmaster made this morning in a speech about the pros and cons of online learning. Speaking about the cons. Here’s what he said. 

Cons

• Miss out on in-person interactions 
• Limited to certain majors/topics
• Technology requirements
• Distractions
• Miss out on networking opportunities

I thought, “This could be an interesting Brilliance Nugget.” I put his pros and cons on a slide and “flipped that yellow arrow around and made it into a second green arrow;” in other words, we can overcome the normal downsides of online learning. 

Here is how I did it (see the images below).

What is the “Online Learning VIP style”? 

Online Learning VIP Style includes 

1. Online learning via courses
2. Additionally, you get to meet with a coach or instructor
3. You also get to meet with a community of your peers

You learn information on your own time with all the advantages listed here in the first column, under the first arrow. 

Next, flipped the cons around and made them into additional pros. You get support from a coach or instructor. You get support from a community of peers in applying the knowledge you learn because knowledge is great, but implemented knowledge makes a difference, makes an impact, and makes you wealthy.

That’s what we do when we host Brilliance Mining cohorts. We work with just about every industry where there is expertise. That’s just about all of them.

Technology-wise, it’s easy. Everybody knows how to use Zoom, and that’s all it takes. Then, we teach you how to use an app called Notion, which is note-taking on steroids. We teach you how you can capture your brilliance (your expertise) in it very easily. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. 

Engagement

Let’s talk more about flipping the normal cons of online learning into positives. Engagement overcomes distractions, and networking opportunities are galore in this particular setting. 

That’s online learning VIP style!

Now, there are two reasons why I’m bringing this up. One is for you to know that the online learning VIP style is vastly different from online learning by yourself, where all the motivation to keep going and implement what you have learned has to come from you. It is a situation where 

• There’s no interaction
• No networking
• No brainstorming 
• No encouragement
• No nudging you along when you need it 

All of the downsides of traditional online learning are eliminated when we conduct online learning VIP style. That’s what we do in Brilliance Mining cohorts. That’s one thing I wanted you to know.

The second thing is this. When you train people with your knowledge and brilliance, I invite you to not just stop at online learning courses alone but offer some facilitation, some interaction, something in the “more pros” category, something that makes your online learning VIP style. 

Speaking of the benefits of that, the impact is much greater. Your income opportunity is much greater because there is now a huge plethora of online courses that are not facilitated. Unfacilitated online courses are in a race to the bottom regarding price. It is, of course, great that we have access to all this information for so little money if only we use it. If only we implemented the information. Most people don’t implement, or only a fraction of the level they could. 

When you offer your information VIP style, you make your information much more impactful, and you can charge now for it. Everyone is happy to do it because they know how different it is, how different the experience is. I want to leave you with that and consider how this applies to your world. Please drop me a note.