Energize Your Training: Using Brain Research to Enhance Your Learning Events

If you have additional questions for Bob, feel free to visit his website https://www.robertwlucas.com or email him at blucas@robertwlucas.com – subject line “Follow-up to June 3 webinar.”

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
Any specific words of wisdom or hints for remote learning?

Answer
As we have seen during the pandemic, technology-based learning has proven its value to educators, trainers, managers, consultants, and many other professional people. The result is that technology-based delivery systems have risen to a new level importance and acceptance in society, as stock prices have shown. We will continue to see this type of delivery tool used more extensively for all types of organizations and institutions. Since the 1980s when computer-based training was in its infancy, and later became touted in the 1990s as the wave of the future for training, many organizations have invested heavily in it. Many managers who are not aware of all the factors that we discussed in the webinar related to attention, learning modalities, engagement, and other factors, view online training as a money-saving vehicle. After investment in the technology, it can certainly accomplish some savings if it is employed correctly. However, there are also other types of nontangible costs involved.

As for words of wisdom, I and others in the learning and performance profession (aka talent development), have cautioned since its inception that technology-based learning that should not be viewed as a vehicle for training everyone. As this pandemic has shown, working at home and training/educating online has many good attributes, but it also creates challenges. For example, childcare issues, adequate access to computer technology, lack of effective bandwidth to take full advantage of its potential, and expertise levels with technology . Also, with different learning modalities in any given group, online delivery is not the cure all that some people would like it to be. Additionally, you forgo the interactive and networking components of a live session. This is a powerful benefit to help employed and students stay connected and expand the training results during and after training. The issue of ADHD and learner differences and needs (question #9 above) also come into play when you are not in physical proximity to learners.

In my opinion, while technology is a valuable tool, can save money by reduced travel time to training and need for training space, as well as other similar cost factors, it should be a supplement and not a replacement for live training. Blended training offers the best of both worlds. I can only hope that we never lose sight of the power of relationships and how that comes into play with face-to-face learning events. By melding the two delivery strategies together, I think that learners will get what they need, and organizations can meet goals set for it as well.

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
Were you ever worried about time during your presentation?

Answer
I am always concerned about time in any session that I facilitate. My participant’s time is valuable to them and I respect that. Once I design program content, I always do multiple walkthroughs and rehearse verbatim what I plan to say as I go through the slides. If it appears that I have too much or little content, I modify as needed. Additionally, I like to get a feel for how participants are reacting to the pace of my session. That is why I asked the poll question about the webinar pacing halfway through. I also stressed at the beginning and end that any questions we did not have time to address in the session would be answered as a follow-up in writing. In a classroom, I usually encourage participants who have general session related questions to ask them at the end of a session. I also offer that I am willing to stay late (if that is possible) or to discuss any specific questions someone has later or respond in writing.

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
How do you maintain the attention of someone with ADHD?

Answer
With limited time and stated learning objectives in a training event, you do not have the luxury of focusing attention on the needs of one or two individuals. Having said that, the techniques and strategies that we discussed in the webinar related to attention and environmental factors can assist in helping focus or refocus all your learners.

If you are in a classroom setting, you have the advantage of monitoring and refocusing participants. That is because you can observe non-verbal behavior and through simple classroom management strategies, you can re-engage those who seem to drift away or become distracted. For example, you can casually move toward such a participant as you speak to the group when you note them performing other tasks (e.g. doodling, looking at their cellphone, talking to others, or displaying other distracted behaviors). Once near them, they may look at you. You can then smile, make eye contact and, if appropriate, ask a question or for their opinion on something you have said. Obviously, you do not want to embarrass them since that could make them less receptive to what is happening in the classroom. It could also garner negative reactions from their peers who think you are acting inappropriately or “picking on their friend.”

Additionally, as discussed in the session, a simple technique to help keep learners focused in a classroom or online event is to engage everyone in some sort of activity every 10-18 minutes. Since you likely do not know whether you have a participant with ADHD in an online session, this is the easiest way to limit his or her distraction in that environment.

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
Do you have people who resist some of the techniques and how do you handle that?

Answer
You may have people resistant to the use of various environmental elements in training, such as music, props, noisemakers, etc.), based on their level in the organization, their behavioral style preference, or past training experiences. Related to this last factor, some people may have been in programs where a facilitator inappropriately used such techniques or used strategies that were not related to session content and learning objectives. In such instances, some individuals rightly perceive that they are wasting time and that the event adds no value. In other situations, a participant may have bad memories of how a session activity was conducted.

A common form of resistance in training that I have seen is related to roleplays. When role plays fail, the problem can often be traced back to the inexperience of the trainer. For roleplays to be effective, they must be tied to real-world situations without drawing negative attention to a specific person or department in the organization. If the latter occurs some participants may sympathize with the entity identified and resent the trainer for bringing the issue to light in public.
For roleplay to be effective, the activity must be adequately set up with descriptions of the situation, roles of each participant involved, and the role of the trainer in overseeing and providing feedback during and after the scenario plays out. There must also be a thorough debrief in which each actor provides feedback on what went well, what was not done well, and how their portrayal could have been improved.

The bottom line in using creative training techniques that engage and stimulate the brain is to ensure that anything you introduce into the session or environment is directly related to the learning objectives. Every word, image, sound, aroma, movement, and other elements must correlate to help learners focus, comprehend, assimilate, and retain what they experience. Your goal is to help them gain, retain, recall, and use information and skills which you introduce during training.

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
How does left & right brain relate to what you’ve shared?

Answer
Left and right brain research theory has been around since Roger Sperry did his research in the 1950s and 1960s and won a Nobel Prize for his split-brain theory in 1981. While some aspects of it have since been proven to be accurate, several studies differ from some of Sperry’s findings. Certain functions have been attributed to one brain hemisphere or another, however, the conclusion that is often shared that people are either left or right brain-oriented does not seem to be completely accurate, according to some researchers.

Many researchers and learning professionals now focus on a more whole-brained approach. This is because with the help of medical technology, such as, the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Electroencephalogram (EEG), researchers can now peer inside a brain and observe activity in various regions of it. The result is that there is visual evidence showing simultaneous brain activity as certain stimuli is introduced when a subject is being analyzed during a study. For example, when a subject is listening to or playing music, various parts of the brain are activated simultaneously. The auditory cortex as pitch, volume, rhythm, and melody are analyzed) while memories of the musical lyrics and sounds are retrieved from the cerebrum. The limbic system where emotions reside is also engaged.

In the webinar, we talked about the 3 learning modalities. All these senses are processed in various parts of the brain. When a participant experiences, words, images, sounds, or other environmental elements, he or she reacts based on previous experiences, memories and physiological changes in the brain itself. Stimuli that is experienced during training impacts attention levels, dictates appropriate verbal and physical reactions to what is happening in training, and works to create and store new memories.

I suggest that you take the time to read some of the books (e.g. Brain Rules and at least the first chapter of my book The Creative Training Idea Book) on your handout Additional Brain-Based Resources list. Also, search the internet for “brain-based learning” to help you understand the relationship and functioning of the brain in a learning environment. You can also find more content related to the topic at https://www.thecreativetrainer.com.

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
What’s a mistake you’ve made when training, Robert?

Answer
This could take a couple page to answer after having done this for nearly five decades. However, since you asked… I’ll share a mistake that I made early in my career. I can look back and laugh about it now, but back when it occurred, I was panic stricken.

When I was a younger trainer, ”back in the day” (1982, I think), we used overhead projectors and acetate transparencies created on the copier. In a session of an hour or so, we often had upwards to 50-60 slides. At the time, I worked for an organization that trained local, state, and federal law enforcement firearms instructors. I was a member of a team that traveled around the country to conduct 2-week certification programs (yeah, we used to be able to get that kind of management time support from clients). Our routine was to fly out to a location on Saturday, get oriented to the area, and visit a local market to stock up on munchies and other necessities. We then went to settle into our hotel. On Sunday, we met with the sponsor and set up the classroom so that Monday morning all we had to do was walk into the classroom and start teaching. There were about five classroom sessions a day for the first week and then participants spent a week on the firing range practicing what we’d taught. Now comes the mistake… for some reason, instead of putting the transparencies I used in a carry-in case as I normally did, I decided to put them in checked luggage (you may know where this is going if you have flown much). Needless to say, … we arrived on Saturday and my luggage did not. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to at least put my lesson plans and training aids in my carry-on bag. By noon Sunday it became evident that I had a problem. So, I put on my creative trainer hat and headed to find an office supply store. Unfortunately, we were in a small town in Arizona and could not find a store open on Sunday. Next, I headed to a grocery store. I started in their school supply aisle and found some permanent magic markers before heading to the storage bag aisle. There, I bought several boxes of gallon-sized zip top bags. I then returned to the hotel and for the rest of that day and all night, I set about hand-writing all the transparencies for the first day of class! The lessons I learned from that adventure … never trust the airline to deliver my luggage where I am going. And secondly, always have a backup plan! Thankfully, my bag arrived at the hotel on Monday; so, I got some sleep that night.

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
How long do you think you can do a program by webinar?

Answer
Several physical factors come into play whether you are doing a classroom or an online session. The first is to consider the adage often heard related to training – “the brain can absorb only as much as the rear can endure.” The second important factor is that people need a periodic personal break. Normally 90 minutes is the longest I would go without taking a 10-15-minute break in any type of session. This is in addition to those 10 to 18-minute mental and physical engagement periods I discussed earlier and in the webinar.

Since looking at a computer screen is tiring (and boring), getting people to stay put without the benefit of environmental movement and changes, is challenging. From a learning perspective, you also have a point of diminishing returns after about 90 minutes. Unless I have no choice because of participant availability or sponsors adamantly wanting longer sessions, I try to break long blocks of content into multiple days. In addition, I try to give 24-to 48 hours between sessions to allow learners a chance to go back and implement what they have learned, discuss it with a supervisor or team leader, and share with peers. I typically give them an assignment to gather additional information or come back prepared to share reactions and questions that they got from their supervisor and peers with the others in the group. This puts participants in a position of taking responsibility for their learning and becoming active participants instead of passive attendees.

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
Tools to make online training more engaging? Additional ideas?

Answer
As you would in the classroom, build in breaks and activities for you learners. Since various platforms have different tools included, you should become familiar with the one that you plan to use before you design and deliver your session.

When you do get around to the design phase, keep the concepts of chunking and attention span that I addressed in the webinar in mind. Remember to re-engage learners in some manner through a change of pace every 10-18 minutes. This might include having them do an online poll or respond to session related questions, such as we did in your session. It might also incorporate opportunities where you ask them to write something in their workbook or a journal. You could then ask for volunteers to briefly share what they wrote in the answer board of your delivery platform as we did in the webinar. This allows others to learn from each other. The key is not to overload your learners with too many different techniques that might distract them from your learning objectives. Do not try to use every tool available to you. Pick a few and use them several times during the session. That allows learners to become familiar and comfortable with the processes and serves as a sound vehicle for reinforcing content that you share.

One thing that I try to do is get frequent feedback and engagement with learners. In our session, we used the opening optical illusion activity to help focus attention on the concept of how perceptions and paradigms (yours and those of your participants) can impact learning. We also did periodic polling to gather information and again tie to content (e.g. the poll to identify experience levels and other factors about participants and to identify preferred learning modalities). These elements were then woven into the concepts I covered related to identifying learners through assessments before and during the session and validating the research I shared on percentages of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners in group of learners.

One thing to remember about engaging learners is that since you are not physically in contact and cannot see their movements, mannerisms, and reactions throughout the session, consider you slide design. Keep them simple without large sections of text that they must read. Use images that reinforce the words, introduce a common theme with font and colors, and if you plan to ask a question, put it on a slide (remember that most of your participants are likely visual learners). Give them something to read and then have them respond (engagement/movement) on their keyboard or write information in their handouts.

Remember that you can add more value to your session by providing additional materials that reinforce concepts discussed during the session. As you saw in this session, I provided a self-scoring tool for validating preferred learning modality, articles with additional content, and a resource listing of valuable materials that can be used to expand your knowledge on the session topic, if you choose to do so.

If you are doing multiple-day sessions, you might consider using chat, audio, and whiteboard features, if your platform offers those capabilities. Give learners individual or small group assignments or research that they work on between sessions. Have them interact with one another and come prepared to share what they learned or developed with the larger group.

Another way to gauge learner understanding and encourage their engagement is to build in time where people can use the two-way audio feature to verbally ask questions or share ideas and information. This provides variety for you and your auditory learners because you are no longer the only voice being heard. I would especially consider this approach if I was doing a multi-day session. For example, you could have each small group discussed above select a team spokesperson who could report their team findings to the entire session group in the same manner you might do in a classroom activity debrief.

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
How do you maintain attention when teaching a group or class?

Answer
As I addressed briefly in the session, gaining and holding attention can be done in many ways through introduction of various environmental stimuli. The key is to make the learning fun (remember the concept of using novelty and making things unique that we covered in the webinar) but ensure that everything you do addresses the learning objectives.

In classroom environments, I particularly like using props, activities, and simple magic tricks. This engages and provides some novel edutainment to participants while reinforcing concepts being explored during the session.

By creating a theme related to session content, I reinforce the learning objectives by using things, such as, toys, games (e.g. Jeopardy format), and activities. Interjecting such elements periodically continues to keep learners engaged. For example, I conduct interim reviews during a session. There are many formats that I use for this. For example, I might use large game spinners with questions taped to each area on the wheel. Wherever the spinner stops, I select the question and ask it. Participants can volunteer to answer, or I will “volunteer” them. Correct answers are rewarded with small prizes (e.g. candy or a toy prop related to the session theme). I also use colorful balloons taped to the walls before a session begins. Each balloon has a small strip of paper with a key word or concept written on it. When I am ready to review content, I ask for volunteers to retrieve the balloons from the wall. When I signal, they pop the balloons and retrieve the strips of paper. In turn, I have those people stand and read what is written on their strip of paper. Anyhow who thinks that they can explain what we discussed related to a concept, define a term, or share an example of how to use the concept can volunteer by raising a hand. Again, I both volunteers. This simple technique incorporates the brain-based concept of using color, sound, movement, engagement, repetition, novelty, and fun.

Other ways that I gain or regain attention is to introduce music that focuses on the theme at various points during a session (as people enter the room, to signal the end of a participant activity, alert that a break is ending, or as participants leave the room). As an example of how I would design a session with music in a time management session, I’d use only songs that have the word time in the lyrics. NOTE: In addition to my Creative Training Idea Book, I listed brain-based learning books in your handout resource list that address the use of music in training. For additional ideas on using music in training, check our Eric Jensen’s books Music with the Brain in Mind & Top Tunes for Teaching, Lenn Millbower’s Training with a Beat, and Rich Allen & W.W. Wood’s Rock’n’Roll Classroom.

My books, Energize Your Training: Creative Techniques to Engage Learners, The Creative Training Idea Book: Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning, an Training Workshop Essentials: Designing, Developing and Delivering Learning Events that Get Results all have additional ideas on ways to use music and engage your learners. You can also find a number of articles on my creative trainer blog – https://www.thecrativetrainer.com

Here is a question from the webinar.

Question
Do you write any books for online learning?

Answer
I have not written a book specifically focused to online learning to date. However, the content in chapter 1 of my book, The Creative Trainer Idea Book: Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning related to brain-based learning applies to both classroom and technical delivery. Also, quite a few of the techniques, activities, and strategies that I discuss throughout that book can be adapted to create and deliver training that engages the brain and stimulates learners in virtual learning environments.