On Friday during our training session, I had a light bulb moment, a revelation! Carl was leading our training, after he had a training session from our in house trainer Jo Gregory from Flourish Training. His training session was about the three different kinds of learning types.
The first learning type is Visual: these learners learn through seeing. They need to see the teachers and their facial expressions to understand the content of the lesson. They like to sit at the front of the class. Usually they will think in pictures and they learn best from visual displays for example: written notes, videos flip charts and diagrams.
The second learning type is Auditory: These learners learn through listening. They learn best attending lectures and participating in discussions, listening to audio tapes and they often read aloud to gain a better understanding of the written text.
The third learning type is Kinesthetic learners. These learn through a hands on approach. They learn best through doing rather than reading a manual or watching a video. They often disregard the instructions and will complete a task through trial and error. They find it difficult to sit still for long periods of time and might become distracted by the need for activity and exploration.
Before I found out about these learning styles I had invested a lot of money in online training courses for my staff and would become very frustrated that they would never seem to watch these videos. Then on Friday when Carl tested everyone and revealed the results it was massively clear that they were not watching the videos because every single one of my staff is a Kinesthetic learner! In other words they need practical training and they want to have a go and try things out.
This again was illustrated when a Salesman came in to sell us a printer and Hannah was looking forward to him bringing the actual printer in to show us how to use it: in fact he was just coming to tell us the features and benefits.
So a word to the wise -sometimes webinars aren’t beneficial to everybody. If your staff aren’t paying attention, are falling asleep or just messing around , investigate the learning style that suits them. The easy option might just be the biggest waste of time and money .
