I get all pumped up about the blog, and then life sticks its head in the way. I love life, and I love all the things I have the opportunity to do.

I had a great experience this morning, Elijah (7) says “Dad, I want to learn Spanish.” So I said, cool, let’s do this together. I download some podcasts from iTunes and figure we’ll give it a go.

In a previous post, I mentioned motivation. I love motivation that children have for natural learning. When they are curious or have a desire, learning doesn’t see so bad or tough, or boring.

So, this makes me think- what happened to my motivation and desire to be a natural learner (although I have been blessed to be someone who is interested in always learning). As I watch Elijah go through school (1st grade) I can totally see what happens. Now don’t get me wrong, we love his school and the teachers, they are doing a terrific job. I think as a whole though the system just doesn’t cut it. It doesn’t help students embrace the natural tendency to learn. The funny thing is the process smashes the desire out the learner. And then when we get them at the Corporate level, we either have to figure out a way to put the pieces back together (which orgs. don’t want to spend time on or pay for), or we have to instruct in a manner that fits into the smashed system. Not very conducive for creating prime learning opportunities.

So my question for now readers, what have you done to create an atmosphere that encourages natural learning? What methods work well, what instructional design theories or tactics do you apply to make it all work?

What tools are you using?

What are the biggest impediments?

I’ve got some ideas, but I’d like to hear a bit before I mix it up a bit.

-m