Training vs. Learning – What’s the Diff?

There are A LOT of thoughts floating around about the difference between training & learning.  Here is my take:

Learning in Relation to Business Goals

As I see it, eLearning is a subset of Training is a subset of Learning is a subset of Performance Improvement is a means to the end: Accomplishing goals – in this case business goals, but more often personal goals.

There are many ways to learn.  Training is one way.  Whether that be eLearning or ILT (instructor led training).  Other ways? Social learning (of course), job aids, experential discovery, mentoring and a thousand other subtle ways.

This graphic was used in the Overcoming Top 10 Objections To Social Learning webinar (with Dave Wilkins) to explain how to ovecome the objection, “What does social learning have to do with training?”  I go into more of an explanation there, but this is the crux of it all.

(This post is part of the Social Learning Question of the day’s Blog Project.  For more posts about the difference between the two, use the link to see the Twitter conversations.)

Tagged as: elearning, learning, social learning, training