Is It Web 2.0 Learner, or Learner 2.0? (Audience Analysis)

Or What Does the Target Audience Analysis Look Like?

I suppose it really does not matter, except we must acknowledge that when traditionalist trainers do target audience analysis (jargon for a description of the characteristics of trainees), they think in terms of what and how trainees need to be taught rather than how motivated, self-directed learners prefer to learn.

Here are some characteristics of Web 2.0 learners:

• Thrive on processing information quickly
• Simultaneously use multiple learning resources (one study shows a typical Web 2.0 learners consuming 20 hours of media within 7 hours through multi-tasking; think of the Bloomberg TV news with multiple screens and text crawls)
• Have a need for speed and want answers to their questions quickly
• Feel empowered to learn and actively exercise that authority
• Have little patience for reading the manual, attending a lecture, or attending dull meetings
• Take pride in being well informed and actively pursuing knowledge
• Prefer pictures, graphics, diagrams, pictographs accompanied by text rather than text with accompanying graphics
• Expect a payoff for learning (job is easier, quicker promotion, recognition from the boss, etc.)
• View technology as a friend and willingly embrace technological advances

So what are their preferences for learning? Well, they ...

• Want a choice about the topic, the time, and the place of learning
• Prefer to learn in small groups and at their own pace
• Want the result of learning to solve real-life problems
• Want to learn things that can be immediately applied
  
• Don't want their learning sessions to be interrupted whether short or long
• Prefer learning resources that are multi-sensory
  

Wow! That's really different from the typical target audience analysis.