The most obvious Mode Three benefits concern not just convenience but also absence of many logistical costs (transportation, housing, etc.). There is also the benefit of potentially working with participants from other areas of their home country or even other countries. The faculty are likely to be of high quality since on-line programs are just as convenient for them as for the participants. The major educational benefit concerns both retention and transfer-of-learning. Learning is distributed over time so that the coach-in-training has an opportunity to practice what they have been taught and what they have observed.
One of the major drawbacks concerns transitions. Even if the program is convened for self-study there is the need to transit from one’s “normal” world to the unique world of coach training. This requires a shift in one’s mind and heart. There is one other matter. While on-line programs provide structure, they typically do not allow for the spontaneous generation of insights that comes from “teachable moments” found in residential programs.
Mode Four: Just In Time Programs
Technology has made this fourth mode of coach development quite viable. Often yielding “on-demand” learning, this new form of training is perfectly suited to a world of tight-scheduling, continual interruptions, and ongoing change. For on-demand learning to be successful, the content must be brief, easily comprehended. and compatible with digital formats. This mode of training is inherently appreciative in that coaches-in-training are assumed to be self-motivated and self-directed. Just-in-time programs begin with the assumption that those in training can skillfully diagnose their work-related needs so that they might decide what and when they should learn something new. It should be noted that just-in-time programs are also intended for use by experienced lifelong-learning coaches.
The negative side of this fourth mode concerns these assumptions about self-motivation and self-direction. Do we really know what we don’t know? Can a newly minted coach skillfully diagnose the needs of their coaching engagement when they are intimately involved with this engagement? Are experienced coaches any wiser Perhaps, the first just-in-time session should be devoted to skills in determining what and when I need to access new information as a coach.
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