accelerated - Blogs - DPG Community2024-03-29T02:14:42Zhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/feed/tag/accelerated6 Thinking Hats - will you play the game?https://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/6-thinking-hats-will-you-play-the-game2014-06-26T10:13:13.000Z2014-06-26T10:13:13.000ZKrystyna Gaddhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/members/KrystynaGadd<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2216201?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>I have been using the six thinking hats in an action learning set with a client and have challenged the team leaders to consider using this tool with their teams. A question that was posed was “Could we use this without actually mentioning the six thinking hats, or using the props?”</p>
<p>What a great question and it got me thinking…as great questions often do…</p>
<p>I imagined a scenario in a team where the team leader prompted the team members to “get creative’ and come up with some ideas. Whilst doing so, it reminded me of some of the blank faces I have seen when asking people to do just that. It also reminded me of how easily we can slip into judging without even realising we are doing it…….”that will never work here” or some equally idea crushing eye rolling…..</p>
<p>If this happens, the team leader could invite them to put their scepticism away and get back to “being creative”. After a few minutes they get back into the swing, the ideas start trickling in and then there is a snigger… the biggest creativity killer. “Come on lets give Jim a chance, that was a great idea” the team leader says, only half convincing himself. And so it goes on. Switching to critical (or black hat) thinking, the ideas are torn apart and the safe option is chosen. When the team leader asks for them to look at all the positives and benefits of a solution, they switch back to critical thinking all too easily.</p>
<p>So how would using the 6 hats explicitly make this better? I believe that we all like rules but that we find it hard to take on board new ones immediately, like “Lets get creative”, unless we are very practiced! In familiarising ourselves with what the 6 hats mean, we overlay in a situation, the rules we are going to use to act out the scene that follows.</p>
<p>Games are something that we grew up with and we knew that that not following the rules would be met with disapproval from the other players. Having explained the purpose behind de Bono’s parallel thinking concept, the rules are simple – you only use the mode of thinking that the leader has instructed you to use, otherwise the process breaks down. If we use the process a few times, then people start to believe it will work and then the rules become even more important, but less explicit. It becomes far easier to wave the prop (a correctly coloured hat) about and say “Come on guys this is meant to be white hat thinking, we have not moved onto red hat thinking yet”, because we know that white hat thinking is good for a while, but we will get a chance to move onto red hat thinking later.</p>
<p>I suppose my point is that the “game” of using the 6 hats, allows us in a fun way to enforce the rules and stick to the parallel thinking principles. This process then becomes quicker, the more practiced we become at switching hats, until we get to a point where the “rules” need never be spoken in a team where the process gets results.</p>
<p>Just as a last thought…. I asked the action learning set “In what order should we use the hats?” That was a <strong>very</strong> interesting answer and ………….another blog for another time.........</p>
</div>10 ways to accelerate learning you may not have thought ofhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/10-ways-to-accelerate-learning-you-may-not-have-thought-of2014-06-18T17:42:37.000Z2014-06-18T17:42:37.000ZKrystyna Gaddhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/members/KrystynaGadd<div><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://howtoacceleratelearning.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/img_0078.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://howtoacceleratelearning.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/img_0078.jpg?w=217&h=300" class="align-left"/></a>In this blog, I will discuss 10 very simple, yet effective ways to accelerate learning in a an organisation. For those of you not familiar with<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.howtoacceleratelearning.co.uk/accelerated-learning/"> accelerated learning,</a> it is sometimes known as <a rel="nofollow" href="http://howtoacceleratelearning.wordpress.com/category/accelerate-learning-general/page/2/">brain friendly learning, brain based learning or speed teaching.</a> These tips are based on my “5 secrets of accelerated learning” which I shared in my article <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.howtoacceleratelearning.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/KG-5-Secrets-TJ-Jan-2013.pdf">“Quick off the mark”</a>for the Training Journal.</p><p>So here we go…….</p><ol><li>Agree with the stakeholders what the objectives are, so that you get buy-in throughout the organisation. That way line managers get to be part of the process of imbedding the learning. If the line managers are not buying it, then why should the staff? Each year the CIPD do a survey on L&D and the top reason for learning not sticking for many years now has been ” no line manager follow up”.</li><li>Ask the learners what they want to get out of the learning and try to meet these as well as the organisational objectives. If learners feel their needs are being met they will engage in the learning.<a rel="nofollow" href="http://howtoacceleratelearning.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/can-i-persuade-you/"> This is using a simple influencing principle (from Robert Cialdini’s work).</a>Reciprocity rules!</li><li>Design variety into your workshops using <a rel="nofollow" href="http://howtoacceleratelearning.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/a-great-book-to-read/">Sharon Bowman’s 6 principles.</a> You cannot possibly know accurately the best way each person learns and so the best thing to do is to mix it up. Variety will keep the learners curious.</li><li>Change pace or tone every 20 minutes to keep learners engaged. So if you have been presenting new information for 20 minutes, let them have a chance to practice it for 20 minutes. Allow quiet reflection time for them to realise what they have learned. As well as lively debates and activities.</li><li>Imbed commands and create a positive learning environment. So many trainers shoot themselves in the foot by saying things like “this is a bit boring but we need to get through it”. Instead speak to their subconscious and prepare them for a difficult subject using something like: “You will to need to focus for this next bit because it will really help you in your role”.</li><li>Reuse posters from previous sessions to reinforce prior learning.</li><li>Contract with the learners and take joint responsibility for the learning. At the start of a long programme it is important to set expectations. I do not spoon feed my learners and so these 3 questions are great for the start of a programme:</li></ol><ul><li>In order for this programme to be of value to you, it has to be like what?</li><li>In order for it to be like that, you have to be like what?</li><li>In order for you to be like that, others have to be like what?</li></ul><p>8. Don’t be afraid to use repetition to make learning stick. Don’t be afraid to use repetition to make learning stick. Don’t be afraid to…..ok labouring my point now….</p><p>9. Keep building on what they know. Start with some small skills they already use and add to them to free up that small prefrontal cortex for the new stuff.</p><p>10. For a long programme select learning champions who will help others who missed a session come up to speed. This has 3 effects. The first is focus; the learning champions are keen to learn as much in that session as possible, because they will at some point have to pass it on and this rubs off onto others. It generates responsibility in the organisation for learning. Yay!</p><p>Ok thought of this one, too good not to share, so here is your Brucie bonus:</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://howtoacceleratelearning.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/img_0416.png"><img class="alignleft wp-image-1199 size-medium" src="https://howtoacceleratelearning.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/img_0416.png?w=300&h=225" alt="IMG_0416" width="300" height="225"/></a> 11. Provide opportunities to use the learning ASAP. This moves the learning to the energy hungry and very limited prefrontal cortex into the basal ganglia (long term memory) and makes them proficient quickly.</p><p>“If you would like to experience accelerated learning for yourself, why not come to a “<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.brainfriendlylearninggroup.com/leeds/">Brain Friendly Learning Group” </a>meeting? Krys runs the Leeds group and the next meeting is on the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.brainfriendlylearninggroup.com/leeds/">4th of July, with Larry Reynolds, sharing “3 Tools to improve the EI of your learners”.</a></p><p></p></div>The Accelerated Learning Handbook linked to Knowledge Managementhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/the-accelerated-learning-handbook-linked-to-knowledge-management2013-11-10T12:40:37.000Z2013-11-10T12:40:37.000ZAdy Howeshttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/members/AdyHowes<div><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0071355472/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0071355472&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwbizzbacouk-21" target="_blank"><img src="http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0071355472&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wwwbizzbacouk-21" class="align-right" width="189" height="248"/></a></p><p><strong>The Accelerated Learning Handbook Dave Meier</strong> and it's link to Knowledge Management</p><p>I'm just doing some work on Knowledge Management (what else to be doing on a Sunday you might ask!) and it's been quite good. </p><p>But randomly, in the middle of this, Exercise your Brain activity 10 appeared asking me to review a <a rel="nofollow" href="http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=16&hid=11&sid=f227ad17-35ca-4007-8f7a-58da0d89f012%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bch&AN=9085920">Learning about Accelerated Learning”</a> article in the Training and Development Journal.</p><p><strong>So the question for me was what has Accelerated Learning got to do with Knowledge Management?</strong></p><p>But then I considered the explicit and tacit knowledge that we had been talking about on the workshop. Of course Accelerated Learning for those of us that know it, is a good consideration in terms of making workshops (explicit knowledge) much more engaging, interesting and interactive. But I guess it's also a good reference point when thinking about creating, engaging, interesting ways to gather tacit knowledge - e.g. brainstorming activities, collaborative exercises etc.</p><p>I remember this also being a useful resource for me when completing the Level 3 HRD course.</p><p><span>In "The Accelerated Learning Handbook", discover how leading corporations are using A.L. methods to: <em><strong>speed and enhance learning</strong></em>; greatly <em><strong>reduce course design time</strong></em>; <em><strong>improve retention and job performance</strong></em>; <em><strong>involve learners</strong></em> at every stage of the process; enhance both classroom and Web-based learning; create <em><strong>healthier learning environments</strong></em>; build <em><strong>effective learning communities</strong></em>; and, <em><strong>energize and re-humanize the learning process</strong></em>.</span></p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0071355472/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0071355472&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwbizzbacouk-21" target="_blank">You can find more about the book on Amazon just here</a></p></div>Book Review – The Accelerated Learning Handbook by Dave Meierhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/book-review-the-accelerated-learning-handbook-by-dave-meier2013-04-09T11:30:00.000Z2013-04-09T11:30:00.000ZBlake Heneganhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/members/BlakeHenegan<div><p>A creative guide to designing and delivering faster, more effective training programs.</p><p>A must read book for anyone that is involved in designing and/or delivering any learning of any kind and want to make the session as effective as possible for the learners, improve results and make learning enjoyable for everyone involved.<span id="more-4118"></span></p><p>This book is aimed at Training Professionals so primarily at those involved in designing, delivering and evaluating training in a professional role, however the principles of the book stretch further and can be used for those people that aren’t Training Professionals but are involved in helping others to learn e.g. part time tutors, parents, coaches and more.</p><p>The cover of the book is very appealing – a great mixture of colour, text and diagrams showing Dave Meier’s Four Phases of Learning (Preparation, Presentation, Performance, Practice). I do judge books by their covers so this grabbed me straight away. Inside the hard bound cover each chapter is laid out with a good mixture of text and visuals such as text boxes, drawings, pictures and more. I was disappointed that there was no colour on the pages as this would have helped the pictures and images stand out more however it doesn’t distract from the message.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img width="314" height="400" class="size-full wp-image-4123 aligncenter" alt="Accelerated Learning handbook" src="http://www.optimussourcing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Accelerated-Learning-handbook.jpg"/></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p>As someone who had several years’ experience of sourcing training solutions yet who had never delivered any training I found the terminology and the book very easy to read and more importantly understand. Each new point had a good blend of theory and then practical case studies and recommendations. I know of people who are vastly experienced and who continually refer back to this book so I think any Training or Learning & Development Professional can benefit from reading this.</p><p>The content of the book introduces the reader to Accelerated Learning – a brief history and principles, before moving onto the SAVI Approach (Somatic, Auditory, Visual, Intellectual). Over 50 pages are given to the Four Phases of Learning including a summary and I found that I could easily refer back to these sections. Finally the last two thirds of the book cover all Accelerated Learning Tools and Techniques including topics such as Music for Learning, Learning Games, Imagery, using Technology (so important in the modern age) and Rapid Instructional Design.</p><p>One thing that made this book stand out, and more importantly ensure it is a pure development tool (as opposed to a book which is really selling a service) is the continued presence of ideas, actual real life examples and sections devoted to ideas that the trainer can use. I loved this and have already used some of the ideas provided. It also gave me a starting point to expand my mind and start thinking about what else I could do. The resources section has so much extra information and links to other books and organisations it’s hard to know where to start!</p><p>Other books introduce you to theory and nothing else, others spend too much time on the practical elements but not the theory whereas this book helps you bridge the gap between theory and reality and putting things into practice.</p><p>A must read for anyone involved in Learning & Development. I will use this throughout my career and refer back to whenever I will be delivering learning of any kind.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Blake Henegan - <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.optimussourcing.com" target="_blank">Optimus Sourcing</a></strong></p><p> </p><p>Dave Meier</p><p>The Accelerated Learning Handbook</p><p>USA – The McGraw-Hill Companies</p><p>2000</p><p>265 pages</p><p>ISBN 0-07-135547-2</p></div>Thoughts on objectives, chocolate and being an inspirational trainer (yes I said chocolate)https://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/thoughts-on-objectives-chocolate-and-being-an-inspirational2013-03-15T16:00:00.000Z2013-03-15T16:00:00.000ZKrystyna Gaddhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/members/KrystynaGadd<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1357333?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1357333?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-left"></a></p>
<p>For Christmas, my lovely husband bought me a day with a chocolatier in Patisserie Viennoise, Otley (West Yorkshire). A few weeks ago I went in to book my day - ta-dah and I remember feeling so excited about it. Firstly it was all about chocolate …… how could I go wrong?</p>
<p>Some of you may be on the same wavelength here about chocolate. But there are some very good reasons why it is good for you to eat (in small quantities of course!) Eating chocolate releases phenylethamine into your blood stream which is a "happy hormone" you usually secrete in the early and heady stages of a relationship. Looking forward to something also releases a "happy hormone" – dopamine, which is associated with receiving rewards and having a reward to look forward to is good for us on so many levels:</p>
<ul>
<li>Firstly it gives us a nice feeling that may distract us from less than pleasant "stuff" that is going on in our lives</li>
<li>Secondly it keeps our attention and helps us to get out of the way any mundane tasks that come before the reward</li>
</ul>
<p>"So Krys, this is a tenuous link" I can hear you saying “between chocolate and objectives and being and inspirational trainer?"</p>
<p>Absolutely not! Talking to the owner of Patisserie Viennoise about my "Chocolate day" made me think about what I wanted to get out of it. Had I not had the conversation, it would no doubt still have been a lovely day, but knowing what was in store and that it was geared towards my needs, I was keen and eager for the 25th of February. I was going to learn how to temper chocolate and create decorations for my cupcakes. I was also hoping to produce a lovely little chocolate cake (decorated in chocolate of course!) and learn other little tricks which would help me use chocolate as an effective (edible) decoration.</p>
<p>Our learners need to know what is in store for them and if possible we should try to meet their objectives too. If they believe we will meet their objectives, how much more will they look forward to the training? How much more will they be bought into it? How much more are they likely to remember?</p>
<p>So in case you were wondering, the picture above is what I helped to make!</p>
<p>This was an inspiring day for me and one of the key things I have learnt as a trainer is that to be a good trainer/facilitator, you must be able to inspire your learners to learn more - otherwise it feels like it is down to you to pass your knowledge onto them. So in order to keep fresh and inspirational, you need to take do what switches you on to keep you motivated.</p>
<p>I work because I love to inspire others to become better facilitators/trainers, so I need to top-up on the inspiration regularly, so that I stay motivated. Baking and the walking in the countryside inspire me. A day out looking at the fabulous Yorkshire countryside “tops up my tank”.</p>
<p>So if you are a trainer, working day in and day out delivering or designing, how do you stay fresh and stay motivated? What inspires you to inspire others?</p></div>Accelerated learning - the amazing brainhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/accelerated-learning-the-amazing-brain2013-01-04T09:41:58.000Z2013-01-04T09:41:58.000ZKrystyna Gaddhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/members/KrystynaGadd<div><p>Having dispelled some of the myths around accelerated learning my research has led me to develop what I call the “5 secrets of accelerated learning”. They are not really secrets, as they can be found, if you look hard enough in the popular texts – it is just that from reading a number of them, I found it hard to extract exactly what I have to do to <strong>accelerate</strong> learning. So, from my research, the 5 key things that you need to accelerate learning are:</p><ul><li>Business focused and learner centred objectives</li><li>What the facilitator has to be, know and do</li><li>How to cater for those lovely learners</li><li>What makes a great learning environment</li><li>The quirky ways in which the brain works to help learn better</li></ul><p>David Meier’s 4-phase cycle fits in beautifully with all of this when designing any new learning as the process begins way before any design starts and finishes with follow up and imbedding the learning. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://youtu.be/f9rr2gf0XWo">Alistair Smiths cycle</a> is great for planning how to introduce a new topic and in what order. I have adapted it slightly to make it easier to understand this 8 stage process.</p><p></p><p>The more I understand about the brain, the more I realise I don’t know. It is an amazing organ. Understanding a little about the brain, though, can help you tremendously as a trainer. I have been reading a book called “Your brain at work” by David Rock.</p><p>This book has allowed me to “join the dots” with some of the principles of accelerated learning, especially the importance of repetition in moving learning into long-term memory. For instance, when you are learning something new, this happens in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is very energy hungry and can only store a very limited amount of information. As soon as this is overloaded information starts to leak out. So we need to learn how to not overload it.</p><p>The basal ganglia is that part of the brain that deals with routine tasks, things that are familiar. If you are learning something for the first time, trying to find a pattern or something, which is familiar, will help to transfer the information into long-term memory.</p><p>As an example, in IT training begin by helping the participants learn some quick tricks, for example some shortcut keys. You can achieve this, with some repetition and allowing the participants to use these short cut keys in some practical exercises. Once they have learnt something that becomes almost automatic, it moves into the basal ganglia. This is why some people are able to knit almost automatically without much effort. Moving stuff into the basal ganglia, releases the prefrontal cortex to begin again with that higher thinking that new concepts and theories will need.</p><p>Engaging the motor cortex or the visual cortex while learning new things, can also lighten the load on the prefrontal cortex. This is why having engaging visuals can aid learning. Writing notes, engages the motor cortex, and will help ease the load on the prefrontal cortex. Thus having a workbook, where participants occasionally write down what they have learnt, will help cement the learning.</p><p>Those of you who haven’t got time to read David Rock’s book, there is a <a rel="nofollow" href="http://youtu.be/XeJSXfXep4M">video clip</a>, which you can watch</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://youtu.be/YcZotFO7aBk">Paul McLean’s triune brain</a> theory helped me to realise how important emotions are when it comes to learning. Scare your participants and they will not do any learning.</p><p>Engage them by telling stories and something magical happens.Stories seem to tap into something deep within our psyches. I love watching people’s faces when I tell them stories. I love to see the eye contact and how deeply they engage with the story. Even when the stories are not true, they seem to work. I made up a story to help people learn about the factors in an organisation, which hinder learning. The main characters were called Quasimodo and Esmeralda. As soon as I mentioned these two characters, all of the participants began to smile. A potentially dry subject can be brought to life by using humour and stories. Stories however can do an awful lot more, listen to what Margaret Parkin a famous business storyteller says about storytelling on her website: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.success-stories.co.uk/">www.success-stories.co.uk</a></p><p>Here is a great article about how storytelling can help and hinder organisations:</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.providersedge.com/docs/km_articles/storytelling_in_organizations.pdf">Harvard article on Storytelling</a></p><p>I have lots to learn about the brain and what I am really interested in is the research, which will help me to improve the learning experiences for my participants. I also want to maximise retention of information. This benefits the learners and the organisation. Do you know any tricks or tips to maximize retention?</p></div>