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Learning is a lifelong journey, no matter your age, and when educational content is built with learning science principles in mind – learning can also be effective.
At Security Journey, our team is dedicated to creating meaningful AppSec Education content based on fundamental learning science principles.
In this article, we'll review what progressive learning is, the benefits of progressive learning, and how Security Journey uses progressive learning for path building.
What is Progressive Learning?
Progressive Learning, coined by American philosopher and educator John Dewey, is an educational philosophy that emphasizes the importance of learners working through content at their own pace and developing their abilities.
Dewey believed education should be a continual process of growth and development rather than simply a meeting of information or skills. He believed that learners should be actively involved in their own learning and that the role of the teacher is to guide this process. According to Dewey, progressive education should focus on each learner's individual needs and interests and aim to develop their problem-solving skills, critical thinking abilities, and creativity.
In a progressive educational setting, learners are encouraged to take an active role in their own learning and to engage in hands-on activities and projects that allow them to apply what they have learned in a meaningful way. This type of learning environment is often less structured and more flexible than traditional educational settings and places a greater emphasis on learner exploration, discovery, and creativity.
Read More: Learning Science Principles in AppSec Education - Your Key to Success
Benefits of Progressive Learning
Progressive learning is an approach to training that emphasizes gradual improvement and adaptation over time, as opposed to trying to achieve mastery all at once.
In the context of application security training, this approach can be particularly beneficial for several reasons:
- Fosters engagement and motivation: Progressive learning gives learners the opportunity to see their progress and build on their knowledge incrementally, which can help maintain their engagement and motivation over time.
- Improves retention: By breaking down complex security concepts into smaller, more manageable chunks and reviewing them regularly, learners are more likely to retain the information and apply it in real-world situations.
- Encourages hands-on learning: Progressive learning often involves hands-on exercises and real-world scenarios, which can help learners gain practical experience and deepen their understanding of security concepts.
- Increases adaptability: As new security threats and technologies emerge, progressive learning allows learners to continuously update and refine their knowledge, ensuring they remain adaptable and capable of responding to changing security landscapes.
- Supports continuous improvement: By incorporating regular assessments and feedback, progressive learning supports continuous improvement, enabling learners to identify areas where they need to focus their attention and strive to achieve mastery.
Overall, progressive learning can help organizations build a culture of security awareness, develop the skills of their employees, and mitigate the risk of security breaches and data loss.
Read More: Learning Swing - Measuring Knowledge Gain in Secure Coding Training Programs
Building Progressive Learning Paths with Security Journey
Security Journey's AppSec Education Platform offers a wide range of learning modalities – videos, hands-on training, assessments, etc. This wide range of learning content can be combined to create custom progressive learning paths.
From the administration portal, you can choose the lessons needed for your organization and create a path for your learners to follow. Thinking back to the Progressive Learning Theory, these multi-modal training paths are focused on one topic, start with fundamental concepts, advance to hands-on application of learned concepts and assess knowledge at each phase of the path. At the completion of each path, learners will be able to confidently apply their newfound knowledge and skills in their day-to-day work.
Unsure of where you can start? Don't worry; Security Journey AppSec experts have already created pre-built progressive learning paths for you to start with! Use these pre-built paths as is, or customize them to fit your team's needs.
Are You on the Progressive Path to Success?
Proper workplace training is turning a new leaf; we are moving away from completing basic requirements to providing engaging educational content based on adult learning science principles.
Security Journey is dedicated to creating effective AppSec education that will lead to higher retention rates and measurable business results. Try Our Training for free today to test our content out yourself.
