By Deborah Laurel
In the training world, there are three models of adult instruction: the Technical Lecturer, the Expert Presenter, and the Learning Facilitator. As you read their descriptions, identify who is currently giving your training and assess how effective they may or may not be in actually building your employees' skills.
1. Technical Lecturer
The first model of adult instruction is very typical in many organizations. In this model, the person with the most expertise or time on the job, or maybe even the person unlucky enough to be there that day, stands up in front of a room and lectures. The learners come to gain information, so they expect to listen while the lecturer talks. The focus is on the lecturer. We will refer to this model as the Technical Lecturer.
These individuals may or may not be subject matter experts. They are frequently drafted to make the presentation; it is not something they do frequently or comfortably. They have never been trained as trainers and they know nothing about adult learning. As a result, they may simply read their notes or pack all of their information into PowerPoint slides, which they may read with their backs to the audience.
They send out a tsunami of information to wash over the audience, hoping some of it will stick. However, since they rarely ask the audience for their feedback or ideas, the Technical Lecturer does not have any real evidence that learning has occurred.
Occasionally, the Technical Lecturer can provide good examples or use humor to make a point. More often, they unconsciously use technical jargon without explaining its meaning and may speak over the heads of the audience.
In summary, the Technical Lecturer is a subject matter expert or a person who presents information. The focus is on the lecturer. The role of the learner is to listen and absorb. The learner's knowledge and experience is not considered relevant. Learning is a passive process of listening. As a result, this training experience is not cost-effective.
2. Expert Presenter
In the second model, an educational expert presents his or her wisdom and experience. The learners come to be educated by the expert, so they expect to listen while the expert talks. The focus is still on the expert. We will refer to this model as the Expert Presenter.
Some technical experts are masterful Expert Presenters. They are highly competent and credible, extremely knowledgeable, and clearly committed to their subject areas. They know something about how adults learn and are often entertaining.
They are anxious to share everything they knew with their audiences. As a result,
they give huge amounts of reference information for the learners. They provide PowerPoint visuals to clarify concepts. However, they do most of the talking, rather than the learners.
Expert Presenters are excellent storytellers, able to verbally create imaginative and realistic scenarios that bring concepts alive and engage their listeners. They provide examples that are effective and useful.
They establish a positive rapport with their audiences through their credentials, personalities, humorous anecdotes, and responses to questions.
They occasionally involve their audiences by posing questions and scenarios, and may even reward respondents with prizes.
In summary, the Expert Presenter presents his wisdom and experience. The focus is still on the expert alone. The role of the learner is to listen and absorb. The learner's knowledge and experience is considered a limited source of information. Learning is therefore a passive process of being educated. As a result, this training experience has minimal cost-effectiveness.
3. Learning Facilitator
The third model of adult instruction is a more informal adult learning approach that is found in many organizations: the trainer facilitates opportunities for the learners to discover and then practice new skills. The learners are active participants in their own learning, so they expect to offer information and demonstrate what they have learned. The focus is on the learner. We will refer to this model as the Learning Facilitator.
Learning Facilitators must also be highly competent and credible. However, they are aware that adults can learn only so much information at one time, so they focus in on key concepts and skills. They also make sure that these concepts are understood before moving on to the next topic area.
Although they provide reference materials, they are generally incorporated into the participants' workbooks, which also contain worksheets for learning activities. They recognize that PowerPoint is an audiovisual intended only to supplement but not replace the learning materials or activities.
Learning Facilitators need excellent presentation skills, so they are also masterful storytellers. However, they often call on participants to share their stories, because they know that will keep everyone more engaged.
They also realize that learners have different learning styles, so they make sure there is a variety of learning activities that will satisfy the aural, the visual, and the kinesthetic learner (who needs to move physically in order to learn).
The key focus is on enabling the learners to actively discover what they need to learn. So the learners do most of the talking, rather than the Learning Facilitator. This does not mean that the learners control the class. The Learning Facilitator knows when to assign activities, how to debrief them, and how to handle questions that arise so participants don't pull the content off track.
In summary, the Learning Facilitator enables the learners to discover and practice new skills. The focus is on the learner. The role of the learner is to offer information and demonstrate learning. For this reason, the learner's knowledge and experience is a prime source of information and meaning. Learning is an active process of learner involvement. Therefore, there is significant cost-effectiveness for this learning experience.
Which model achieves the most learning? Hopefully by now you realize why the Learning Facilitator is the only instructional approach that will actually build your employees' skills. So stop wasting your training dollars and your employees' time with ineffective training methods!
1. Technical Lecturer
The first model of adult instruction is very typical in many organizations. In this model, the person with the most expertise or time on the job, or maybe even the person unlucky enough to be there that day, stands up in front of a room and lectures. The learners come to gain information, so they expect to listen while the lecturer talks. The focus is on the lecturer. We will refer to this model as the Technical Lecturer.
These individuals may or may not be subject matter experts. They are frequently drafted to make the presentation; it is not something they do frequently or comfortably. They have never been trained as trainers and they know nothing about adult learning. As a result, they may simply read their notes or pack all of their information into PowerPoint slides, which they may read with their backs to the audience.
They send out a tsunami of information to wash over the audience, hoping some of it will stick. However, since they rarely ask the audience for their feedback or ideas, the Technical Lecturer does not have any real evidence that learning has occurred.
Occasionally, the Technical Lecturer can provide good examples or use humor to make a point. More often, they unconsciously use technical jargon without explaining its meaning and may speak over the heads of the audience.
In summary, the Technical Lecturer is a subject matter expert or a person who presents information. The focus is on the lecturer. The role of the learner is to listen and absorb. The learner's knowledge and experience is not considered relevant. Learning is a passive process of listening. As a result, this training experience is not cost-effective.
2. Expert Presenter
In the second model, an educational expert presents his or her wisdom and experience. The learners come to be educated by the expert, so they expect to listen while the expert talks. The focus is still on the expert. We will refer to this model as the Expert Presenter.
Some technical experts are masterful Expert Presenters. They are highly competent and credible, extremely knowledgeable, and clearly committed to their subject areas. They know something about how adults learn and are often entertaining.
They are anxious to share everything they knew with their audiences. As a result,
they give huge amounts of reference information for the learners. They provide PowerPoint visuals to clarify concepts. However, they do most of the talking, rather than the learners.
Expert Presenters are excellent storytellers, able to verbally create imaginative and realistic scenarios that bring concepts alive and engage their listeners. They provide examples that are effective and useful.
They establish a positive rapport with their audiences through their credentials, personalities, humorous anecdotes, and responses to questions.
They occasionally involve their audiences by posing questions and scenarios, and may even reward respondents with prizes.
In summary, the Expert Presenter presents his wisdom and experience. The focus is still on the expert alone. The role of the learner is to listen and absorb. The learner's knowledge and experience is considered a limited source of information. Learning is therefore a passive process of being educated. As a result, this training experience has minimal cost-effectiveness.
3. Learning Facilitator
The third model of adult instruction is a more informal adult learning approach that is found in many organizations: the trainer facilitates opportunities for the learners to discover and then practice new skills. The learners are active participants in their own learning, so they expect to offer information and demonstrate what they have learned. The focus is on the learner. We will refer to this model as the Learning Facilitator.
Learning Facilitators must also be highly competent and credible. However, they are aware that adults can learn only so much information at one time, so they focus in on key concepts and skills. They also make sure that these concepts are understood before moving on to the next topic area.
Although they provide reference materials, they are generally incorporated into the participants' workbooks, which also contain worksheets for learning activities. They recognize that PowerPoint is an audiovisual intended only to supplement but not replace the learning materials or activities.
Learning Facilitators need excellent presentation skills, so they are also masterful storytellers. However, they often call on participants to share their stories, because they know that will keep everyone more engaged.
They also realize that learners have different learning styles, so they make sure there is a variety of learning activities that will satisfy the aural, the visual, and the kinesthetic learner (who needs to move physically in order to learn).
The key focus is on enabling the learners to actively discover what they need to learn. So the learners do most of the talking, rather than the Learning Facilitator. This does not mean that the learners control the class. The Learning Facilitator knows when to assign activities, how to debrief them, and how to handle questions that arise so participants don't pull the content off track.
In summary, the Learning Facilitator enables the learners to discover and practice new skills. The focus is on the learner. The role of the learner is to offer information and demonstrate learning. For this reason, the learner's knowledge and experience is a prime source of information and meaning. Learning is an active process of learner involvement. Therefore, there is significant cost-effectiveness for this learning experience.
Which model achieves the most learning? Hopefully by now you realize why the Learning Facilitator is the only instructional approach that will actually build your employees' skills. So stop wasting your training dollars and your employees' time with ineffective training methods!
