Pivot Your Training Style to Increase Learner Effectiveness

The following article shows the learning pyramid model and the percentages of retention by learning method.

Take a look at the Adult Learning Styles video, it provides an overview of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic adult learning styles.

The following article will delve into the ways learners differ in how they receive and process information and how to deliver content in a way that will meet multiple learner's needs.

In the following sections, we will review some additional techniques and learning trends you can implement into your design to help engage and meet the needs of learners: gamification, microlearning, storytelling, and scenario-based design.

Microlearning is content delineated in small bite sized chunks of three to five minutes each that can be accessed from a computer, tablet, or mobile phone.

Storytelling helps learners understand how to act and respond in certain situations. This technique stimulates decision making and builds strong links between the learner and the content.

Scenario-based design challenges learners to make real-life decisions while keeping them engaged.

The Whole Brain approach to delivering content both online and in the classroom maximizes the amount of opportunities a learner has to absorb the information being presented. Learn more in this section:

A few ways to meet the needs of learners at different levels is to focus on creating learning that has a self-directed approach.

Other techniques to engage learners of different levels are pre and post tests.

In concert with applying the whole-brain approach, integrating Kirkpatrick Level Evaluations into your training is beneficial for tracking the learner’s progress throughout the program to ensure comprehension of the topics discussed. These evaluations will determine if the training and/or delivery method is working and if not will give you the flexibility to pivot and provide more or less content on a specific area.

Throughout this course, we discussed the different ways that adults receive and retain information; and methods you can implement to design and deliver content for trainees with multiple learning types in classroom and online environments. We have presented various techniques and trends that can be used to engage learners. Incorporating these techniques with the whole brain approach in mind will yield an effective design for reaching learners at different levels and with different learning styles. Take a look at the Whole Brain Design Template for Adult Learners to guide you towards applying the whole brain approach to your design projects.