Learning: The Magic of Making Training FUN

We have talked about Collaborative Learning to some extent in the last few blogs. Contnuing our discussions from the last blog I like to highlight some principles for learning effectiveness.For people to maximise their learning, there are at least six principles: 1. Create a positive learning environment 2. Ensure learner involvement is total 3. Make it collaborative for learners 4. Use variety to appeal to all learning styles 5. Make learning relevant to the workplace 6. Make it FUN.

Herein is some information on Magnets from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet#Characteristics_of_magnets. Continuing our discussion from yesterday on activity based events to accelearte learning and create a collaborative environment, let us see what the information is, then we will see what I learned from kids some activities that Karen used exceedingly well in her session with technical trainers. Magnets Magnets are materials that produce a magnetic field of their own. Extreme examples of magnets are (1) "hard" or "permanent" magnets (like refrigerator magnets), which remember how they have been magnetized, and (2) "soft" or "impermanent" magnets, which lose their memory of previous magnetizations. "Soft" magnetic materials are often used in electromagnets to enhance (often by factors of hundreds or thousands) the magnetic field of a current-carrying wire that has been wrapped around the magnet; when the current increases, so do

Collaborative Learning – Learning in a FUN way My colleague Karen was running a programme on Creative Training for an electrical utility. As the participants were technical trainers, we had to think of ways and means to get them engaged. Remember the three principles of collaborative learning: 1. Intentional Design 2. Co Labour 3. Meaningful Learning While I was thinking of strategies to achieve successful learning outcomes, I recollected Dave Meier’s words – an activity based event is often far superior to a presentation based one. I learned from my niece Meena and sons Maha and Subu on how a lesson on Magnets can be conducted in a very engaging and collaborative way. Karen was very enthusiastic to use the exercise and her experience was just outstanding. I will share the exercise tomorrow. The learning point is you get ideas for a collaborative learning session from unexpected sources like kids.