For all you afficionados of brain-friendly learning - some IT training can be the very antithesis - “chalk and talk”, or Death by PowerPoint, and endless drills (aka “dentistry”)

However, there is a technique used by software companies that is an excellent training device in a wide range of settings called Structured Walkthroughs.

In its most useful form, it involves walking, in steps, through any programme and imagining you are the variable, asking yourself “what's happening now?” and “how can we improve it?”

By simply chunking this idea sideways you could use such a technique in course design or to critique a course.

• Walk through your course design as a participant, and ask questions about clarity, focus, state, (are you having fun yet?) and the 5 principles of brain-friendly learning and how well you are reflecting them in your design.

• Walk through as a trainer to check any materials, resources or additional research you need to do.

• Walk through the project as a client and check you have enough visibility on outcomes, steps and stages, and results.

It's often a great way of teaching concepts so that learners really “get it” too. For example, on a Finance course, have the learners “become” bundles of cash moving through the business to help them understand concepts like cash flow, profitability, ROI, and so on.

In a Kaizen Blitz or Kaizen Workout we often get people to “become” a document moving around the system, in order to reduce process cycle-time and minimize unnecessary paper handling.

Action:

What can you have your learners “become” to help them make meaning?

This week’s FriendlyBrain Tip comes to you from Patrick Hare of Kaizen Training. Kaizen Training Limited is a well-established consulting and training firm based in the UK and offering its services to the global business community. Training for Excellence is a leading-edge Train the Trainer company based in the U.S. and providing training programs internationally. For more information, contact us at info@wetrain.biz