Once a month I run two 3 hour computer sessions. They cover the general office productivity software you would expect. Each month I have a good little chuckle at the staff that are taking the course for the second and sometimes third time. They keep taking it, not because the course isn’t well received, but because they can’t remember what they learned.
The reviews of the course are excellent, but the staff walks away and then doesn’t use what they learn right away. By the time they do get to learn the new skills taught in the course they’ve forgotten what they were in the first place.
Tonight I had to laugh at myself because I’ve done exactly the same thing. I participated in a workshop at the eLearning Guild Annual Gathering but haven’t applied any of that knowledge until the last few days. Now I’m trying madly to remember what I had learned. Was it apply A, B and then C or A, C and then B….uggg. A bit of time has now passed since then and I’m struggling to find notes, demos, and handouts. I’ve found everything except the handouts and the examples that were shared.
Just one more thing to consider I suppose when creating lessons and workshops for your users. Do you allow them to re-take a course? How many times? Do you have provisions for addressing learners that have misplaced their material weeks, months later? What kind of additional support do you offer once the course has ended?
Hi Tracy,
I too have this problem especially when it comes to technical training. I’ve had good results when I assign a post work assignment that requires them to practice using the skill they learned in class. If you can make the post work activity entertaining/fun even better. Another idea would be to provide them some kind of job aid that reminds them of the important points. I’ll bet in many cases they don’t need to re take the full version of the course, they just need something to remind them. Good luck!
Perhaps the time has come to find another delivery mechanism. If you provide them with a learning resource they can interrogate at point of need, perhaps they won’t need to keep coming back to the workshop. Captivate videos, chm files, or something along those lines might be a more efficient way of dealing with the challenge.
Kia ora Tracy!
Thanks for the reminder.
As a computer trainer some years back, I used to provide indexed manuals with the courses I delivered. Although these were much appreciated by course participants (and were used well – I had a way of checking on this) my technique of providing comprehensive, indexed manuals did not go down well with my fellow trainers.
I also gave my phone number and email address out in class, with the advice to contact me if they needed help later on.
But more than that, I used to tutor my trainees with little 5 minute mini-sessions during the course – it gave them convenient breaks from the course material. One of the mini-sessions was a short discussion on learning and practice.
Q – What do you do when someone shows you how to do something (on the PC)?
A – Write a short note about it.
Q – What do you do with the note once you’ve written it?
A – Practice soon as, after you’ve used the tip. Do this a few times, coming back to it over a period, the next day too.
This cycle: See – Note – Practice – Learn helped a lot of beginners.
It works with experienced users too.
Catchya later
from Middle-earth
Wow. These are all fantastic ideas and yet fairly simple to accomplish.
Thank you all for the great insight into making learning STICK.
I am going to incorporate these into more of my own training and pass them on to my instructor as well.