Education vs Training: Using Twitter as a Research Tool

by Gary Woodill on February 5, 2009

I’ve increased my activity level on Twitter over the past month, and I am beginning to see its potential beyond documenting the trivial. As a test, I asked my “followers” to tell me the differerence between “education” and “training”. I received about 40 responses, many of them unique. After you read them, please add your thoughts by adding a comment.

MtnLaurel @gwoodill education=how to think. Training=how to do.

glassbeed @gwoodill education is wider in scope. Ed= global understanding and helping a compassionate citizenry to emerge. Training = job skills.

amcunningham @gwoodill the nature of the assessment? if competency based it is training. successful education is harder to assess.

AsraiLight @gwoodill To me, an education is instruction in how things have been done in the past, so you can be creative with solutions in the future.

AsraiLight @gwoodill Training is a set of expectations and proven processes to meet them. Depending on the training, deviation isn’t always encouraged.

hjarche @gwoodill Here are some of my posts on training vs education: http://is.gd/eSHv, http://is.gd/eSHy,  http://is.gd/eSHC  

AlwaysBreaking @gwoodill training focuses on specific tangible outcomes, often overt behaviors or skills. Ed is more about “knowing” and the “whys”

AlexDawson @gwoodill I still equate ‘training’ with skills development – more instructive, more directive. Education is such a broader expression.

KoreenOlbrish @gwoodill education=knowledge-focused without a stated “goal,” training=knowledge/skill-focused with the goal of doing *something* better

lindacq @gwoodill IMHO (& with my few english) training imply a process to go from A to A’ in any skill education include a more complex mix

lindacq @gwoodill (coma before education :-) ) a mix which include values and a moral, etich and social conception inside, implies the wish to become

lindacq @gwoodill better… also from the ethic perspective. Training is about skills, Education is this BUT is more, is about better people

jwillensky @gwoodill In <140? Outcomes: education– gaining knowledge; training– performing actions.

lindacq @gwoodill BUT this is a Fast-thought (Bourdier’s way) this could be a nice discussion

JaneBozarth @gwoodill training/education: Old adage: “Do you want your 14 year old daughter to attend a sex EDUCATION class, or a sex TRAINING class?”

iOPT @gwoodill This is in business terms: Training: learning related to the present job. Education: learning for a different but identified job.

iOPT @gwoodill This goes with the other two terms. Development: learning for growth of the individual but not related to a specific or future job

mathplourde @gwoodill Re. Educ vs. Training. I see education as a personal process, where an individual increases his intellectual capital.

mathplourde @gwoodill … and training as something to polish a current skill, something presented to a trainee, that comes from a higher power.

jamesbt @gwoodill Re: education & training – In Jhpiego’s world, education happens before (pre-service), training happens during (in-service).

hoever @gwoodill: spontaneous answer: training is the process of bringing a person to proficiency by practice;

hoever @gwoodill … education is a further step aiming at a reflective application of knowledge or competencies

skukolja @gwoodill Training = acquisition and development of skills Education = acquisition of knowledge, attitudes & skills

LindyLou08 @gwoodill In my mind education involves critical thinking and training equates immediate practical application. Just me though.

oline73 @gwoodill training is for a specific, proximate target- education is for broader, more distant targets. How’s that?

eduinnovation @gwoodill asks, “What is the difference between education and training?” Good question.

demetri @gwoodill Training changes one’s habits. Education changes one’s mind. I think it’s @AngelaMaiers who coined the term “habitude”

gdeeds @gwoodill education vs. training: Hmm.., perhaps ed is extended

StonyRiver @gwoodill – Education is politically motivated – training is industry motivated -now Knowledge, Epistemology and Wisdom are Truly different!

joro6430 @gwoodill – educated people understand the limits of their practices and can abandon them; not so easy for the well trained.

girtbysea @gwoodill training=skills, education=thinking

jnxyz @gwoodill training=skills, short-term focus. education=long-term, big-picture

sojbanks @gwoodill Great question, I think education is learning to think, training is learning to do a task.

borborigmus @gwoodill Training = developing skills; education = developing the mind ?

grahamwhisen @gwoodill First thought: training is for animals and children.

FrznGuru @gwoodill Education is ALL experiences in which people learn. Many are unplanned, incidental, and informal.

FrznGuru @gwoodill Training is instructional experiences that are focused on individuals acquiring very specific skills that they will normally

FrznGuru @gwoodill apply almost immediately. All training is included in education.

pat_leonard @gwoodill I think “education” is preparation and “training” is application

leohavemann @gwoodill I would say although there is a blurring of the line, whereas the focus of training is gaining skills, education unlocks potential

techherding @gwoodill Training is what you do to puppies

Darcy1968 @gwoodill education is a river; training a boat

EmmaHamer @gwoodill Here’s another: education teaches how to ask the right questions; training teaches how to give the right answers

bbetts @gwoodill I’d suggest that training is the “tools” and education is the application of said tools. Education allows for better use of the tools

FrznGuru @gwoodill http://bit.ly/Jj0k Pic frm book ‘Instructional Design’ by Smith & Ragan (2005) illustrates difference btwn education & training

4KM Training about how?; education includes why? and what if? and where do I fit?

4KM Training suited to environments with linear cause & effect; education suited to complex environments.

Please add more thoughts on this topic below.

{ 1 trackback }

Education is a River, Training is a Boat | Workplace Learning Today
February 5, 2009 at 8:00 am

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

Stephen Downes February 5, 2009 at 6:48 am

I would have used a ’search and replace’ to remove the 40 instances of ‘@gwoodill’ in this post.

Janet Clarey February 5, 2009 at 8:05 am
G. Boulet February 5, 2009 at 9:02 am

Well educated people have good manners and are knowledgeable. Well trained people are efficient at what they do.

Education therefore provide a basic set of skills and knowledge while training prepare people to apply these skills and knowledge to specific situations.

Manish Mohan February 5, 2009 at 3:04 pm

@Janet — What is instruction? The Oars.

Accounting Firm Toronto March 18, 2009 at 9:54 am

Many people don’t understand the difference between education and training. Education is giving out information and communicating to your trainees. Training is about practice and building skills. Today’s younger generation of employees wants to be trained, not educated.

Problem is, if we don’t educate them before we train them, it could lead to problems. Think about how you learned to drive. You need knowledge of the laws and then the actual training of getting behind the wheel. Same can be said for learning about the birds and the bees–if the education part isn’t done effectively, the training could lead to undesirable results!

Tom

CA4IT (Chartered Accountants for Information Technologists) is the largest network of Chartered Accounting firms in Canada that focus on providing bookkeeping, accounting, tax, paralegal and financial planning services to independent contractors (small business) in the IT industry.

Sam Cannon March 25, 2009 at 9:49 am

Education:objective::training:strategy

Sam Cannon March 26, 2009 at 10:04 am

Thanks for looking me up. Look up books by Ivor Davies. He is as good as it gets in terms of instructional design and also defining the objective of the understanding heart.

Education as strategy rather than objective is simply higher on the hierarchy! :-) Orthoeducation fixes errors at the apex.

Sam Cannon March 26, 2009 at 10:06 am

I should have said “Ivor K Davies” for better triangulation. Sorry.

Sam Cannon March 26, 2009 at 10:07 am

Best is “Ivor Kevin Davies” and he is proud of the middle name. Sorry, I should have tried it first.
Out.

David Toews April 9, 2009 at 11:57 pm

education is a cocoanut; training is a rock

understanding the problem; understanding the tool

Brad Ovenell-Carter June 8, 2009 at 8:21 am

Most of these tweets echo @MtnLaurel: “Education=how to think. Training=how to do.” And that’s fine. But where is this going? My sense is that this comes from a general feeling that schools have been training kids more than they have been educating them, which may be the case.

The word training here is used pejoratively. But I think we’re guilty of equivocating. We’ve defined the word “training” too narrowly. If we take the term more liberally (the play on liberal education is intentional) I could,, for example make a strong case that education is itself a sort of training of the mind; something we do to equip ourselves to go out and do things in the world.

mehek anmol August 28, 2009 at 5:58 am

why education without trainig is futile?

Mehek Anmol August 29, 2009 at 11:27 am

Training does have its importance and education cannot go alone wothout it. One cannot learn any language unless we get speech training.

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