This is always a good topic to examine: E-learning or Classroom instruction.
Why not have both? What are the pros/cons?
It was paraphrased from a student comments, “…I’m a very disciplined person, self-starter I might add. Why should I take the time to book travel, hotel, and miscellaneous expenses when I can participate in threaded discussion, self-pace study, less time — greater perceived value (intrinsic), and not to mention I save on plane ticket, hotel, and expenses… why not elearn?”
Originally, you attained your black belt by acquiring all of your technical skills on your own. A qualification card was submitted showing your course title and applied proficiency to the certifying authority, at the time it was Motorola. The one week course on soft skills was taken to complete the certification. This is how I received my black belt. The process took a few years for each person. Back then, Six Sigma was not as it is today. There was no DMAIC, no infrastructure and the martial arts analogy ended with a BBelt. Today, a good Black Belt is far better prepared!
E-learning can reduce the classroom time, but where will the loss in education begin. In my view, e-learning could be used in any of the academic type topics. Some of the statistics, project management, team management, and stuff, but past that point the instructor lead sessions become indispensable.
The DMAIC improvement process is not a linear process based upon the execution of learned steps. There is a mixture of intuitional and logical thought that must occur. This process is new to most students and the understanding of it usually generates questions that need answers provided in a voice that relates the topic to the student’s experience. This is what an instructor-led session provides: context for the tools for the student.
Can e-learning create a good Black Belt? Sure, if the person has a solid process improvement background that they can consider it use in their past. Their past experiences make the tools real and in context.
To almost all others, with less experience, it would be like giving a person a fully equipped kitchen and a cook book and tell them to make a gourmet meal. Could they do it? Possibly, but the chances are small. As I believe a Black Belt trained through e-learning, correspondence courses, or even the 1 & 2 -week Black Belt courses, they could be successful, but the probability is small.
If e-learning was enough, every statistician should be a great black belt since they have all the tools. However, if you take a look, most statisticians fail as Black Belts since they are missing the system understanding.
What are your thoughts and beliefs on this subject?