Which method of training is best for each learning style? And what style are you?

Are you a hands-on person, be shown and do?  Do you like to be in the driving seat?  Or do you prefer to watch and observe, taking in what others are doing and saying?  Or do you reflect on what is happening and see what worked and what didn’t work?

As trainers we develop materials to cater for all learning styles.  IT/Application instructor-led training lends itself to many styles.

For the visual learner, they see the application on the pc screen, see the written word and can make notes.  The auditory learner can listen to the instructor and take part in discussions.  The Tactile/Kinesthetic can do the exercises and tasks.  They are great discovery learners.

Exercises are designed to reflect the task or topic which has been introduced and lets the learner do what they have just seen demonstrated and talked about.  Perhaps they have done a walkthrough with the instructor so this is repetition.

Matching information in columns or a quiz are good ways to remember key points working for visual and auditory plus discussion works for the tactile community.

It is really important to have an exciting mix of activities.  With the infrastructure so strong now the virtual classroom is a breakthrough for delivery.   Webinars make sense for short sharp pieces of content allowing the user to go away and practice via exercises on email.

Applications for the phone are brilliant too provided they work effectively and the organisation culture supports it.  Strong statistical analyses makes this last option very interesting and just look at the people on your journey home on public transport  – all on their phone!

SO which one are you?  Or are you a mix?  Think about the words you use in your daily conversation to find the most prominent.  I see what you are saying, I hear what you are saying or I feel that what you are saying…all giveaways.  Enjoy your learning in the future with a good mix of new media.