To offer the best training, you must appeal to, and effectively serve, the largest number of people possible. All the practical aspects, such as managing courses, resources, delegates and payments, must be seamless. The single most important aspect, even more so than the user experience, is the course contents. People learn in different ways, and to build the best courses you must engage the learner in as many ways as possible.
The different types of learner
When it comes to learning one size does not fit all. According to one popular psychological theory (VARK) there are four primary ways people learn, which are auditory, visual, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. Each learning type responds better to a different type of stimuli. Learning how to engage each style is the key to successful education.
Auditory learners
Auditory learners prefer to hear information and benefit from reciting the information orally. Prompting a student to answer questions orally or to recite points is a great way to engage auditory learners.
Course material to utilise: Explainer videos
Visual learners
Visual learners will absorb information more efficiently when it’s presented in charts, graphics, and animations. It’s important to make the charts and graphics bright and engaging while ensuring they show the relationship between your various points.
Course material to utilise: Video demonstrations
Reading/Writing learners
For this type of learner interacting with text is the most powerful tool to help your points sink in. They will be more engaged when completing written quizzes, and they also benefit from course notes and handouts.
Course material to utilise: Ebooks
Kinesthetic learners
This style of learning requires the student to experience what they are learning in a practical way. Try to include hands-on exercises within your material to engage kinesthetic learners. These can include role-playing or the creation of charts to highlight certain points. While this is a writing exercise, the act of creating is experiential.
Course material to utilise: Interactive infographics or games
Go beyond the standard
Sitting in front of a monitor reading course material can cause some reading/writing learners to shut down mentally. You can use other resources to help engage your students in different ways not immediately associated with sitting down and logging in. Follow-up material can be used, USB flash drives can be preloaded with data and are therefore an excellent tool for distributing additional course materials designed to engage the different types of learner.
As explained above, creating a series of video content, ebooks and interactive media is the perfect way to engage with each type of learner. It will increase their ability to absorb information and help increase success.
The follow-up materials should explore the key points and ideas in a variety of ways, engaging as many people as possible.
Conclusion
When you’re preparing your course material it’s important to include as much variety as possible for the different styles of learning. This requires a concerted effort in order to present the information in the most effective ways for all students. Once you have well rounded course material, you can try to maximise its impact by making it as accessible as possible. A portable USB drive can be a potent tool for your students, providing additional resources, information, and guidance for every type of learner.
