Are Teachers Redundant?

Tue, 08/30/2011 - 19:40
marc

Yes and No. In a sense the traditional concept of “teacher” is one which has diminishing impact. The notion of what a teacher is and does is changing and being increasingly replaced and extended by the role of guide and mentor. More than “redundant”, teachers are at risk of becoming irrelevant. No longer are teachers the bastions of knowledge and harbingers of a single, right way of doing things. Moreover, learners are not looking for that structured, linear style of learning either. In a Post-Google world, learners are wired to use networks and search engines to find answers quickly.

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5 ways to get participants back on time!

Mon, 08/01/2011 - 06:40
marc
One of the most common challenges for trainers is getting the group to refocus and return to their seats after an activity, particularly when this activity has been noisy or ends in bursts of laughter.  Similarly, a lot of time can be lost to the trainer when their group does not return in a timely fashion after a break.  A few months ago we went to our brains trust of training colleagues and former students with the simple question: How do you get your participants back on time? Below is a summary of the best tips we collected: 1. Tune them in!

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What trainers can learn from Standup Comedians

Sun, 07/03/2011 - 22:03
marc
Perhaps I have been watching too much late night television, but recently I have come to the conclusion that there are a lot of things that trainers can learn from stand- up comedians. As a result, I have compiled a list of advice that I think crosses over well: 1.Know your audience.

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7 Easy Steps for Success for Session Planning

Sun, 04/03/2011 - 21:54
marc

I continue to be amazed at how little preparation seems to go into presentations. Outside of our training and assessment space, I do get an opportunity to see a range of presentations via conferences and workshops and whilst the presenters tend to have good subject matter knowledge they seem to lack an ability to plan for an effective transfer of this. Therefore, I thought it was timely to share my seven easy steps for success when session planning.

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How to manage difficult behaviours in training

Mon, 03/14/2011 - 03:10
marc

Even experienced trainers with the latest resources and most interesting training material can be thrown off course by the behaviours of difficult participants. Therefore, it is important to load the kit bag with a variety of tools and techniques to overcome the dilemmas presented by some students.

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5 Reasons why people don’t ask questions in training

Tue, 03/08/2011 - 22:54
marc
Most participants' brains seem to stop functioning when you invite them to ask questions. It’s like at the mere mention of the phrase “are there any questions” a chain-reaction of nuclear proportions engulfs the participants’ brains and they all become suddenly quiet as the fallout spreads through their bodies and renders them incapable of even making eye contact! Possible causes:

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Cowboys and Cash Cows

Mon, 01/31/2011 - 10:37
marc
As we enter our eleventh year and our third incarnation of the Cert IV TAA, I watch with concern a return to the dark days when the Cert IV became just a commodity, rather than the underpinning standard for quality training and assessment for our industry.

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Bringing Hollywood to your Training

Thu, 09/30/2010 - 10:02
marc

Having just returned from the Training and Performance Improvement Conference in Minneapolis, USA, I was so impressed with one of the presentations, that I thought I should provide a highlights package in this month’s Ezine. I attended a workshop by Becky Pike Pluth on “Teaching from Tinsletown” and it reminded me how powerful cinema can be in portraying a message or engaging a response. As trainers we can take short clips to reinforce a point, evoke an emotion or to quickly build understanding of the topic in a non-threatening way.

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Successful simulations don’t happen by accident!

Sun, 08/29/2010 - 13:17
marc

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Looking for Gold in the New Learning Frontier

Sun, 04/18/2010 - 06:10
marc

I was thumbing through the latest edition of ASTD’s Training and Development magazine recently and a report on a “new frontier” for learning professionals caught my eye. In essence it described this new frontier as being about “connecting, collaborating and learning in different ways” due to changing "technologies, learning styles, demographics and economic needs". Now this contention is nothing new. What is different is that is becoming part of the mainstream discourse regarding the effective management of the learning and development function.

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