I really enjoyed reading my colleague Anne's comment if only because I've found that I have experienced the same evolution and understanding regarding some of my organization's classes. In our case I think that so many of our instructors are so eager to get to the meat of the class that they skip the appetizer and the cocktails.
To continue that analogy of the dinner, which would you feel more at ease and comfortable in, which would be the more memorable experience, a party with cocktails and discussion, then a fancy new amuse-bouche, a soup, first course, second course, pallet cleanser and dessert with aperitif? Or a dinner party where they quickly sit you at the table, slap a plate of food in front of you, then ask you to eat and leave. That first will be more memorable which is the same thing we are trying to achieve with our classes.
Additionally, as much as I love the classroom moments in all of the classes I've taken, the discussion boards are where I really get the most benefit out of all of the classes. I've started to try and institute discussion boards in some of our classes with the hopes that the learners will take a moment after class to share thoughts and reflect on the training and the class.
Anne is correct, those ice-breakers, and the moments of discussion are key toward true learning and should not be discounted. The next step is convincing the managers who pay for the training to see that by taking the appropriate amount of time there's a better chance of achieving true "learning" rather than just getting the "training" over with as quickly as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment