This informal CPD article on The Benefits of Incremental Learning was provided by Liesl Coetzer at Alison, a free online education platform that mostly focuses on workplace-based skills.
January is the time of year when we make promises to ourselves and the universe that things will change. We’re going to quit this, improve that and start the other thing from scratch. The reason that so many New Year Resolutions only last a couple of weeks at best, or go unfulfilled entirely, is that we often bite off more than we can chew in deciding what we’re going to change.
Just as quitting something cold turkey can be overwhelming, taking something up from scratch can seem like a daunting task because we often feel the need to make immediate progress. If we’re not upskilling rapidly, then we’re not upskilling at all. This idea that acquiring a new skill needs to, or should, happen in great leaps is intimidating, and means that many people give up before they even start. The result is that no new skills are acquired at all!
This year, a worthwhile Resolution guaranteed to yield personal development, is to commit to a daily dose of Incremental, or Gradual, Learning. Instead of thinking you need to go from nought to a hundred in a new skill, devote a small but regular amount of time every day to self-improvement. Your development will be slow and steady, and by the end of the year, you’ll find that you’ve upskilled without even realising it.
Gradual Learning is ideally suited to learning online and, thanks to the quality and variety of online learning platforms, there’s never been a better January to make a Resolution of Incremental Learning.
Set your own steady speed
One of the great benefits of online learning is that you can learn at your own pace. Feeling under pressure because they’re trying to rush through an unrealistic curriculum turns people off study. You’re not bound by other people’s timetables, so you don’t need to stress about clocking in at the same time every day.
Gradual Learning is about short periods of study, as opposed to classes or lectures, and online learning allows you to work around your schedule, which means that you can pencil in your daily dose of learning when it suits you. Online courses allow you to work to your own clock and answer to yourself, which makes Gradual Learning much easier.
Pick up where you left off
Incremental Learning means not trying to get through whole topics or learn new skills in one afternoon. It’s about gradually mastering new skills and acquiring new knowledge. Online courses are ideal for this approach because you can always pause your learning and pick up where you left off the next day, without worrying about the class or tutor carrying on without you.
Apps on the go
Many of the top online platforms are now easily accessed through apps on your phone or tablet, and allow you to pick up on one device where you left off on another. This means that your learning is no longer beholden to a certain device or a particular room. Time that would have been spent waiting in a queue or commuting can now be utilised as your learning time, and you don’t need to worry about having to rush back home to fulfil your daily commitment to self-improvement.
Less stress exams
By studying a course online, you’re in charge of when you sit any required exams. This takes a lot of the pressure out of committing to learn a new skill because you don’t need to worry about mastering it before you’re ready. This breathing room means that you can focus on your Gradual Learning, without worrying about looming deadlines. Many top platforms also allow you to retake an exam if you’ve failed the first time around, or feel you’ve underperformed.
Gradual learning means varied learning
One of the joys Gradual Learning, as opposed to committing to a large project, is that you don’t have to stick to a curriculum. You can learn something new each day. Gradual Learning is about giving you freedom as a learner and, by combining it with free online learning, you can take a variety of courses simultaneously and alternate between topics, enjoying a freedom you’d never get from traditional educational institutions.
Monday you might spend twenty minutes brushing up your French, Tuesday you could learn how to use a new setting on your digital camera and on Saturday, when you have the time, then you can take the final exam on your Project Management course!
We hope this article was helpful. For more information from Alison, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively please visit the CPD Industry Hubs for more CPD articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.
