Page 176 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

lucas chap 05 11/20/02 12:13 PM Page 165
Creating a Stimulating Learning Environment 165
construed to mean that field trips or use of breakout rooms for activities is ineffective,
but simply that any movement should be well thought out, planned, and necessary.
With respect to breakout rooms, select and organize them with the same care described
earlier for primary training rooms.
As you create an environment in which participants can transition from a workplace
to a learner mentality, it is helpful to look at a facility from their perspective. Identify
objects or elements that will enhance learning and those that might distract or detract
from it. Thinking back on what you read in Chapter 1 about how the brain functions
and processes information can aid in your assessment and planning.

Return on Investment
Creating an environment in which participants are encouraged and helped to learn re-
quires assessment of the learning atmosphere. To some extent this element of prepa-
ration rests with you and your attitude toward the program, delivery, yourself, and par-
ticipants. All of the information you read in previous chapters pertaining to your
preparation and that of learners impacts your success level.
Your training initiatives need to be well organized and designed to foster compre-
hension on the part of participants. This means that after training, learners should be
confident in what they gained and able to apply it to real-life scenarios to demonstrate
return on investment (ROI) for their time spent in training.
One step in ensuring that training is created to support a valid learning process is to
build content and activities around assessed needs as discussed in Chapter 3. The next step
is to build in as much reinforcement during training as possible. Finally, add in a variety
of stimulating activities and factors that will appeal to the brain through regular use of
elements such as light, sound, color, motion, variety, novelty, and contrast. By appealing
to as many senses as possible, you are more likely to have a training success story on your
hands. Some sample ways to build these factors in are for you to physically change your
location in the room throughout your presentation and to use a variety of well-planned
gestures as you speak. You can also change media often, pass out handouts or other items
for examination during the program, conduct activities in which you play music, dim
the lights for introspection, and use a variety of colors in materials and visual aids.

BRIGHT I DEA
Reinforcing the Learning
onduct activities at various points in your session in which participants have to
Crevisit or rethink program objectives, for example, by forming small groups and
giving each group a flip chart page listing one of the session objectives. Have each
group review key elements taught to that point in the program and list them in a
column on the left side of their page. Next, have them brainstorm real-world appli-
cations of what they have learned so that they can start to recognize ROI and how