Original Question:
For this discussion board, you will reflect on a facilitated training session you experienced that affected you either positively or negatively. For the facilitation training session you experienced,
Describe the methods, tools, or strategies from the session that you would like to emulate if the experience was positive or avoid if it was negative.
Analyze the facilitated session in terms of the characteristics of adult learning and effective facilitation that you have learned about in the course and course readings.
Explain the role the training played in improving your individual performance and whether the learning objectives and design supported overall organizational improvement.
Guided Response:
What did you learn from the posting?
What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
What differences or similarities do you see between your initial discussion thread and your classmates’ postings?
Compare the characteristics you identified with those identified by others. Are there commonalities between your examples that could lead to a list of “best practices” for effectively facilitating a session?
Response 1. .5 page:
Chelsie
One of the most effective facilitated training sessions that I have received in my Air Force career was going through tech(nical) school. After basic training, our career field ships us to tech school to learn the fundamentals of our job. The length of tech school depends on your job, for the paralegal career field, it lasts for two months. Our career field deals with personal and time-sensitive information and procedures. Therefore, the methods used were mostly lecture, discussion, activities, role-play, and coaching.
Before starting the course, the facilitator conducted an icebreaker, introduction, and explained how the course will progress. We were provided with an overview of the course, access to all the materials beforehand, and a calendar that tells us when there will be activities and exams. The first lesson included the organizational structure of the Air Force and how our career field ties into them. At first, I did not understand the hierarchy because I was new but once I was in the field it all clicked. Moreover, after every lesson, most activities provided the trainees with hands-on approaches to what we learned. According to Blanchard & Thacker (2019), learning by engaging in physical activity and learning that evokes strong emotional responses create powerful experiences that are not forgotten easily. Further, there were also activities wherein we had to role-play. As stated in my previous post, I did not enjoy role-playing at this time because it felt uncomfortable. However, I still completed this activity and applied what I learned in the field.
Fortunately, the learning did not end at tech school, we were still required to do a year of OJT at our first base. This ensured that we continue learning and retaining information that was presented in tech school. OJT was easier for me as it allowed me to see that bigger picture when dealing with certain tasks. Before completing a task, the context is explained, and the result is seen within a couple of months. This training was extremely helpful for someone who had zero knowledge about the military and military law. Since I had no background of the military and law in general, I think the continuous learning helped provide me with the fundamentals I needed to be in this career field. The facilitators catered to every learning style during tech school and explained how the mission of our career field aligns with the mission of the Air Force.
Crystal,
The methods used to train me in my current position at Zovio have been a positive experience. The company wants to ensure that its employees learn the material step by step before moving on to the following learning processes. I think this is the best way to learn because you are focused on one process before moving on to the next step of the job. The company trains its employees using on-the-job training, mentoring, hands-on, and role-playing. These were all great ways to grab my attention to learn.
According to the text, how to facilitate adult learning is getting trainees to pay attention is the first step in facilitating learning. However, once you have a trainee’s attention, the trainer will need to help them retain the information (Blanchard & Thacker, 2019). Some of the information learned will be retained in a training session, and some will be lost. Therefore, the training will need to be designed to facilitate the learning processes so that the trainees will have the ability to learn as much as they can (Blanchard & Thacker, 2019).
Zovio’s training method is much like the social cognitive theory, highlighting that learning occurs in a social environment by observing other people acquire knowledge, skills, rules, strategies, beliefs, and attitudes.
