Page 40 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

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Brain-Based Learning 29
attention on that person. Why would that occur? Is it because they have never seen
someone mow grass before? Are they checking to ensure the grass is being properly cut?
These are unlikely possibilities. They are attracted by the movement. This is one of the
reasons that you should consider room arrangements and program design when plan-
ning your sessions. When possible, select a room in which participants face away from
windows and open doors to avoid distractions from people passing by.
• Low learner motivation can be caused by many factors over which you may have
no control. These might include participants being told that they have to attend training
that they do not feel they need or understand, a workplace environment in which learn-
ing and implementation of new strategies is not supported, or participants not having
learned how to learn. The latter may be a result of poor training in the past or low curiosity
or drive on the part of your learners. Advance preparation for training will help prevent
and overcome these types of scenarios. This can be accomplished through sending out pre-
work to raise learner expectations; contacting supervisors to encourage their involvement
in the transfer of training process; and creating a learning environment that is stimulating
and incorporates a variety of techniques, props, and strategies to address learner needs.
• Too much input on your part or that of other facilitators. As you read earlier, the
brain is conditioned to focus for only short periods of time before it tunes out. When too
much information is presented, or there are long periods of participant inactivity, dis-
traction can occur. One solution to this problem is to change media, activities, infor-
mation flow, and the pace of the session on a regular basis. Think of situations in which
you have become bored during a training program or presentation. What caused the bore-
dom? Once you have identified these causes, work to avoid them in your own sessions.

Helping Learners Focus

In today’s hectic world there are many factors that impede attention or the ability of
learners to concentrate. The average participant often packs more into his or her work-
day than can effectively be managed. The result is that the mind is in overdrive trying to
plan, organize, process, and keep up with everything.
Technology alone can create many distractions as participants try to stay abreast of
latest trends and updates and understand how to use all the available features of differ-
ent sophisticated equipment (e.g., computers, handheld personal planners, cell phones,
cars, VCR and DVD players, microwave ovens, satellite/cable television, and computer-
ized toys). Add to this a steadily increasing number of personal commitments, such as
family, professional organizations, and religious or social functions, and you have the
basis of much mental distraction when someone attends one of your training programs.
It is no wonder that you have a major challenge in engaging and maintaining interest
in the classroom.
Even though the detractors listed earlier are significant, the problem of distraction is
nothing new. Even before the development of technology, episodes of lost focus impacted
people’s level of concentration. Such distractions are sometimes caused by lack of men-
tal stimulation or a desire to be somewhere or doing something else. One legend tells of