Learner’s Bill of Rights

As a result of a few recent events, including Clive Sheppard’s post “Straightforward with a human touch“ popping into my Google Reader stream and a couple of train wrecks disguised as training at my company I have been thinking that we need a set of

Just as the U.S. Bill of Rights is a series of limitations on the power of the United States federal government, protecting the rights of citizens, there should be a Learner’s Bill of Rights protecting them from wasted time, lost productivity and all the other things they have inflicted upon them in the name of training. This is definitely just the beginning of this and I hope that others will contribute to this to improve it and spread the word to rid the world of learner abuse.

1. Don’t force anything onto others that you yourself wouldn’t want to experience.
2. Always provide some means communication or a feedback channel.
   More than once I’ve heard “we haven’t heard of any problems” when no one has any way to give any feedback nor know who is responsible for the content.
3. Deliver the learning in small chunks
4. Use simple language
5. Focus on ease of use and access.
6. Make sure it works.
   I know this one seems obvious yet I continue to see this failure repeatedly.

This list is partially a release for my frustration this week and partially a call to others to see if they’ve had any similar experiences.