We have been preparing for our training sessions at the Lowman Home since the beginning of this course, and today was my group’s day. I have to admit, I enjoyed it way more than I was expecting to! For this blog assignment, I want to reflect on our session.
First, I want to give a shout out to my group members: Chris, Obakeng, and Anthony. You guys did great today. Go team! ☺
Our session’s topic was on e-cards… something that I thought the students would really enjoy. In preparation for the class, I put together a step-by-step tutorial handout for the students to follow. It had screenshots and written directions of every step of creating an account on the hallmark website and sending an e-card. I use this format quite a bit at work to create tutorials for our employees and have gotten good response from them, so I thought something similar would benefit the Lowman Home residents. It was time consuming, but something I think was well worth the time spent as it can serve as a reference for the students to use in the future.
The session started with Chris explaining what an e-card was, and kind of veered off when they were asked if they had e-mail accounts. There was a bit of confusion in the room for a bit while everyone logged in to their e-mail or created an account. It was at that point that I realized that our lesson plans would be thrown out the window. We refocused after the e-mail check to direct the students to the hallmark website and from that point on the four of us more or less gave the students hands on help on the process. In hindsight, this approach worked better than using a more lecture-based method.
In the end, all the students were able to send a card – some of them even sent cards to their classmates - and it was really cute to see how excited they were when they received them.
The thing that made this project so rewarding was seeing how eager the senior citizens in the class were to learn about technology. They really are interested, and they yearn to learn about these things… they just need someone to be patient enough to show them. They just need someone to take a moment to break it down for them. It’s hard to describe the feeling I got being there today, but it really was amazing being around these seniors. They were so thankful that we were willing to help them… but to tell the truth, I’m not sure who got more out of the session – me, or them! It showed me a subset of an older generation that refuses to stop learning. I saw a group of people who don’t use age as an excuse for trying new things. I may have helped teach them a new skill, but I feel like the real lesson here was what they taught me. They really are a special group of people - I only wish I had more time with them!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
U-Blog 4: The Student, The Tourist, and The Prisoner
The Student, The Tourist, and The Prisoner. This sounds like the start to a bad joke, but these three categories are actually the groups that Jeff Davis describes in an article he wrote for the Tech Republic website, titled “Recognizing the Three Types of Technical Learners”.
I came across the article this week while researching something for work, and since it is something that can be applied to our own technical training project for this class, I bookmarked it. The article is from 2002, but I think it contains valuable information regardless of its age.
The article is written as a reference for help desk analysts, who are taking a more active role in technical training as companies tighten spending. Jeff compares training a group of end users in a classroom setting to supporting users by telephone; with an emphasis on the different approach a trainer must take with a large group versus one-on-one support. He says, “On the phone, you're working in a one-on-one situation, and you must tailor your explanations and instructions to fit the personality of the person on the other end of the line. In the classroom, you must adapt to a dozen or more personalities at once.” If the analyst can understand how to deal with the personalities as a group, they will have a more successful training session.
So what are the three major trainee personality types according to Jeff Davis? They are the student, the tourist, and the prisoner. Here’s a breakdown of what he has to say about each:
The Student:
The student is the trainee who wants to learn. They are the type that show up early for the session, sits in the front row, and eagerly completes assigned work. According to Jeff, “If all the people in the class were like The Student, technical training would be easy”.
The Tourist:
Like the student, the tourist wants to learn. However, they are not nearly as motivated. They come in on time and tend to spend time getting coffee and refreshments while chatting with other students before the session. They sit in the back of the classroom, and may or may not complete assigned work. Jeff notes that the tourist often views training as an “opportunity to enjoy a break from the normal office routine”. The good news is that a good instructor can often turn a “tourist” into a “student.”
The Prisoner:
The prisoner is the type that is there just to occupy space. They usually don’t want to be in training, and sometimes may make it clear that they don’t want to be there. Jeff says that oftentimes they will be counting the seconds until you say “Class dismissed.” His biggest tip for dealing with the prisoner is to try and convert them into a “student,” but don’t spend so much time on this task that you ignore the other two groups.
There you have it: The Student, The Tourist, and the Prisoner walk into a training session… who learns the most? Well, that all depends on how well you recognize the three groups, and how you tailor your delivery to the different types.
To those who may be reading this, what type of technical learner would you be?
I came across the article this week while researching something for work, and since it is something that can be applied to our own technical training project for this class, I bookmarked it. The article is from 2002, but I think it contains valuable information regardless of its age.
The article is written as a reference for help desk analysts, who are taking a more active role in technical training as companies tighten spending. Jeff compares training a group of end users in a classroom setting to supporting users by telephone; with an emphasis on the different approach a trainer must take with a large group versus one-on-one support. He says, “On the phone, you're working in a one-on-one situation, and you must tailor your explanations and instructions to fit the personality of the person on the other end of the line. In the classroom, you must adapt to a dozen or more personalities at once.” If the analyst can understand how to deal with the personalities as a group, they will have a more successful training session.
So what are the three major trainee personality types according to Jeff Davis? They are the student, the tourist, and the prisoner. Here’s a breakdown of what he has to say about each:
The Student:
The student is the trainee who wants to learn. They are the type that show up early for the session, sits in the front row, and eagerly completes assigned work. According to Jeff, “If all the people in the class were like The Student, technical training would be easy”.
The Tourist:
Like the student, the tourist wants to learn. However, they are not nearly as motivated. They come in on time and tend to spend time getting coffee and refreshments while chatting with other students before the session. They sit in the back of the classroom, and may or may not complete assigned work. Jeff notes that the tourist often views training as an “opportunity to enjoy a break from the normal office routine”. The good news is that a good instructor can often turn a “tourist” into a “student.”
The Prisoner:
The prisoner is the type that is there just to occupy space. They usually don’t want to be in training, and sometimes may make it clear that they don’t want to be there. Jeff says that oftentimes they will be counting the seconds until you say “Class dismissed.” His biggest tip for dealing with the prisoner is to try and convert them into a “student,” but don’t spend so much time on this task that you ignore the other two groups.
There you have it: The Student, The Tourist, and the Prisoner walk into a training session… who learns the most? Well, that all depends on how well you recognize the three groups, and how you tailor your delivery to the different types.
To those who may be reading this, what type of technical learner would you be?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
