Ekan:
Can you please share specifics on how you would do this?
Lou Russell
As a Learning Facilitator, everything is taken into account; one has to rely on his experience, his background, his personal convictions as to what to expect from the learner and what the learner expects by being associated with the process that the Facilitator is trying to deliver.
Ekan:
Are there any specific techniques or tools that you like to use to help your learners learn in a way that encourages enthusiasm and retention?
Lou Russell
Yes there are ways that I use that would help my students achieve retention. Since my classes are all related to health and medicine, I start the class by discussing all the health and medical news from the four news network in our area ( for the past 24 hours).They get used to accepting health science and education as a piece of evolution; it is changing, it is not stagnant, it is like fashion and needs to be updated constantly. the one who is not adapting is very likely going to be left behind. Sometimes I relate to popular Commercials on the television and the newspapers. Sometimes I may ask a student to share with the class his personal experience relevant to topic considered.
Ekan
You sound like an excellent teacher. What a great way to help learners understand that their learning goes on for their entire life.
Lou Russell
One has to recognise the changes that are best suited to him so as to adapt in the manner that would not disrupt his daily routine.When disruption is inevitable as one changes, a Learning Facilitator may have to tap into most of the skills already mentioned in this course in order to minimize the negative consequences of the changes encountered. That is to say a good control of the impact; yes: control in frequency, economic , environmental, social and health.
Ekan:
I was wondering which of the skills, tools and techniques resonated with you.
Lou Russell
The techniques that I mentioned could be found in the re-evaluations of the objectives and debriefing, and then sorting out priorities using the resources available. This may involve new seatings in the class, new lighting arrangement, change in video systems, the size of groups in which the class is divided into, the length of the course and time, the size of the class and even the painting of the walls of the room.
Ekan -
Yes, those are excellent ideas. Thanks you!
Lou
I am glad those ideas helped. Hope to contribute more in the future. Thanks a lot for the opportunity.
I did response to it awhile ago, thanks.
Ekan -
Excellent - this is exactly what I was looking for. Great job!
Lou Russell
Knowledge in my world changes fast and is very academic. finding way's to present and explain these technologies in a non academic-creative enviroment is an every day challenge.
Petrus,
Yes, I think knowledge has become more available and more complex at the same time. Combine that with the fact that everyone is moving so quickly, we have to use whole brain techniques to cover complex learning objectives quickly with maximum retention.
Lou Russell
I've found that the best way to grow as a learning facilitator is to do just-in-time education to apply to real-world projects. I am fortunate to teach in a field that allows to me to engage in this type of teaching. This applied learning creates situations in which there are always new things for me to learn because, while the basic knowledge is the same, the way it is applied always varies.
Laura:
What types of classes do you teach?
Lou Russell
Lou, For the school that required I enroll in these CEUs I teach a variety of courses related to Quality Systems Management. For other schools I teach those topics as well as OB, OD, Strategic Human Resource Management, and Leadership. Laurie
These are great topics to apply experiential learning to because OBVIOUSLY they are not topics that people learn through lecture. That explains your enthusiasm!
Lou Russell
www.russellmartin.com
One need is as important as the other. To learn more about the topic gives the instructor that comfort and assurance of preparation and knowledge. The need to develop as an instructor comes from past struggles and dissapointments involving his/her own delivery of material. Both of these needs connect to not being able to reach a student in the alloted time we are in their presence. This makes a case for both effectiveness and efficiency. Accelerated learning improves both of these. The facilitator must be a constant learner however to bring this together.
I loved your comment about past struggles - that is so true. We sometimes forget that learning occurs and is retained best when there is a disconnect. Usually this is a 'mistake' or some kind of difficulty. It is important to allow students to make mistakes in a safe place (our classrooms). I share your belief that a great facilitator of learning must be a life-long learner in order to facilitate learning.
Have you used Accelerated Learning before?
Lou Russell
