Article uploaded on 1 June 2022
Look at each of the questions in turn. Think carefully about how they relate to your own training experiences. Then click on each box to see tips, advice, guidance and further information.
Article uploaded on 1 June 2022
Look at each of the questions in turn. Think carefully about how they relate to your own training experiences. Then click on each box to see tips, advice, guidance and further information.
Some people say that technology is a central and integrated part of our lives, and our learners’ lives. Therefore, as trainers (and as teachers) we have to understand it and use it. However, technology – just like a blackboard, textbook or flashcards – is just another tool in the trainer’s toolbox. As such, it’s how we use it that’s important. Technology is not something magic which works in every situation. We need to ask ourselves: is it the best tool for this job? Another important consideration is context. What works well in one context may not work in another. As such, trainers need to think carefully about what technology is appropriate and how best to integrate it to make training more effective.
Consider what technology is available in your context, and ask yourselves these questions:
Technology enables us to provide trainees with a wider range of resources and activities that may be more appropriate to their needs and interests. Since they can also access many digital resources outside the training room, this promotes independent learning and development. This can really help teachers perform their jobs better.
Digital resources are also likely to be multimodal, using different types of media (e.g. text, graphics, sound and video) to enhance learning. This can help your training be varied and interesting. Online digital content is also authentic – created for a real purpose and for a real audience. If they regularly watch videos in their everyday lives (e.g. on YouTube), the training may also feel more ‘normal’.
Social media (Facebook, WhatsApp etc.) provide trainees with an audience for their ideas and any materials or activities they design. Being able to share these is motivating. Being able to save and store digital content is also convenient for both you, the trainer, and the trainees when it comes to sharing, e.g. materials, assignments and feedback.
The internet also offers trainees opportunities for authentic and meaningful interaction via text, audio and video, (social media, learning networks and communities, blog and webinar participation) which helps to develop their communication skills, professional knowledge and skills and their personal learning networks. This can also make project work more collaborative, helping trainees develop the ability to work together over distance and time. By using technology as part of their training, participants can develop key digital skills which they will need in their professional lives and which they can pass on to their learners.
If we did not grow up with technology, we can feel nervous or afraid of it, resist it and avoid trying new tools or ideas. Technology is also challenging because it changes quickly, and it feels like there is always something new to learn, which takes up our time. However, the use of technology in education will become increasingly common, and therefore as trainers, we need to prepare our trainees for this future.
Some typical challenges and suggestions about how to meet these challenges are:
There are simple technological tools that you can use to make training more effective. Here are some widely used examples:
Many trainers use PowerPoint slides during training to focus the participants, display key points and project images. Slides can be colourful, attractive and visually appealing to trainees. Using slides is also useful because you can include links to audio or video files, although you need audio speakers to play these. Slides are also a useful memory aid for us – we can see what we’ve planned to do and what to do next. However, it’s important to limit the text/images on each slide to what could fit onto a T-shirt. Including too much information on slides or reading from slides is ineffective and boring to trainees. When you are preparing slides, imagine you are sitting at the back of a dark room – would you be able to see what is written?
Audio and video resources are all around us. Therefore, it makes sense to include these in training. Watching a short video which demonstrates a teaching technique is more effective than a text which describes it. Watching or listening to a post-observation dialogue between a trainer and a trainee, where body language and tone of voice are key, is more effective than reading a transcript. Audio is also useful for jigsaw tasks – groups listen to the same recording but focus on different questions. With video jigsaw, half the group can watch with no sound, the other half listen with no visuals. They then compare information in pairs or groups. Alternatively, they sit in pairs – one with their back to the screen, the other watching with no sound. The watcher describes what is happening in part 1; they swap places for part 2. At the end they watch both parts together and compare what they understood. However, whether you use audio or video this way, make sure the recordings are short.
There are many websites which we can use positively in our training. Padlet.com, for example, can be used for participants to quickly share their ideas about a topic. This can also be done in an anonymous way, if your group prefer this. You can also encourage participants to share what they have learnt using social media. They can write a post, make a short video, or even create a meme to do this. Creating this content can be fun, but it is also very effective for participants to deepen their understanding of a particular topic.
This is up to you! But be confident and try things out. Realise that things will not always work first time – but don’t be discouraged by this. Be honest with yourself afterwards and think why it didn’t work, and make the necessary changes for next time. And remember, you can always ask trainees and colleagues for help, advice and feedback.