Why context matters

- So I'd like you to consider where you start your learners. Many instructors consider content presentation to be most important so if you start your workshop or your training experiences by just listing objectives and outlining the agendas, you're probably off on the wrong foot already. You're not giving them that well-conceived context that makes learning experiences meaningful and memorable. The desired outcome of learning is the ability to do something the learner couldn't do before. If reading how to do something can ensure a successful performance, then knowledge delivery is enough, it's adequate. But in many cases, learners need to be put in situations to perform a task and receive feedback on the consequences of their actions and practice until they become effective. I like just putting the learner to work right away. We can avoid beginning learning experiences with that list of, "At the end of this training, "you'll be able to do one, two, three." Those learning objectives just don't engage learners and put them off right away. I want to have a meaningful and memorable experience starting right at the beginning. While there are very good reasons to set learners' expectations for what they can and won't learn in a course, just telling them, in whatever fashion you tell them, isn't very powerful and engaging. We want learners really hooked right from the start. How about presenting situations in which the course is going to become helpful, help learners to become successful? Getting into a situation, or as we call it a context, connects with learners and gets things moving right along. In contrast to listing objectives or launching into a set of principles that this course will cover eventually, setting context right off gets them going, makes it clear what the course is about. It communicates the relevancy to learners, it gets learners' attention and gets them engaged. Starting by relaying the context in which learners should, upon completion of a course, be able to perform successfully signals an active, energetic learning experience. So here are a few suggestions to start your learners out. First, do define your learning objectives or attainable outcomes. What authentic on-the-job activities can trainers expect to learn? You need to know that, but then get learners engaged in those skills and behaviors right away. Just do it. You don't have to tell them about it. We're always looking for activity ideas to get learners engaged. If you are and would need some help with that, how about checking out the Allen Academy resources or thinking routines from Harvard's Project Zero. Effective learning is built around those four cornerstones of context, challenge, activity, feedback. This simple CCAF framework makes designing great learning events just amazingly easy and a lot more fun to do.