For second year in a row, I applied for a placement in ILM leadership and management training courses via my organisation but failed. First year was due to visa and funding limitation and now because I am overqualified. Overqualified? Why was I not told in the first year itself? Some would say, who cares? – I do. Continuous learning is a part of my life. I believe in learning and reflection, especially in my current job. More importantly ILM could be a platform where I connect with others from various industries, and get out to learn from new classmates instead of routine zoom meeting calls with colleagues.
There is no limit to education. In the past, we learned from theories, put theories into practice, and the cycle goes on. In these days and age, practices can move faster than theories. People discover new theories everyday, faster with technology. Of course we can be street smart and learn from anywhere. Perhaps it seems pointless going back to certified academic institutions. But I do miss in-person classroom learning. I do miss learning from a guru who can share his or her consolidated expertise with me. Most of all, I miss classroom interaction, in-person feedback, and institution rewarding certification to me alongside others upon completion.
When my organisation soothed me with alternative to train and learn from Harvard Business School online modules, I fell short of expectation. Am I supposed to be impressed just because it’s HBS? After all, it’s just going to be another Coursera experience that I used to do during lockdown. Online learning is indeed convenient. Less traveling and high reachability in short span of time. Good for trainers who want to showcase their KPIs with sign-up rate.
I wonder has anyone reviewed how it feels like to be an online student, sitting in front of a laptop or mobile completing modules for hours on your own? How is it like to sit through 6 to 7 bites of 5-min videos, self-Q & A, and interact with other students’ static messages? Honestly, my engagement level can only last for max 30 minutes a day. By the way, education modules are not games. Effort is required to properly understand concepts and theories. They do not carry dopamine value like games do.
Hence, I am dying to go back to school to connect and learn in-person with others, regardless of I am overqualified or not. No more online courses please, at least not for now!
