If you are a Learning & Development or IT Manager, the chances are you might have provided your company’s teams with some IT training workshops. You may have noticed that catering for individuals in a group setting can seem like an impossible task!
Is it even possible to create inclusive IT training that caters to the full spectrum of learners? I do know the answer to that question, and it is a resounding YES! Like many good things, it can take some effort, but it will ensure you maximise your ROI.
If you work in L&D, you are probably familiar with frameworks such as VARK (Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, Kinesthetic) that can help when designing for different learning types.
In the IT training environment, I also like to go a bit deeper by understanding the learners’ relationship with technology. I can usually make a pretty accurate assessment of this relationship very quickly after they first introduce themselves. If you are the one tasked with organising the training, thinking about this can really help you when grouping learners for workshops.
When running training programmes I consider how each attendee best matches one of several “Tech Types” – this is my own terminology which comes from my many years’ experience, and these help make the training fully inclusive:
High-Tech Learners:
Early adopters, eager to explore advanced features and already know what tech is coming next. These will be great people to recruit as champions for your next software rollout! In the classroom, their positivity can be infectious, and they often love to share real-world examples of how features can be used. This really helps put things into context making the objectives even more achievable.
Tech-Confident Learners:
Comfortable navigating various systems. They are generally willing to learn new skills and adapt to new tools. These people are very often already helping colleagues in the office and will likely enjoy doing the same in the classroom. By buddying up with a less confident user, they will further embed their learning and reinforce their understanding through the process of explaining things to others.
Tech-Resistant Learners:
May feel anxious or overwhelmed by technology and might prefer to stick with the tool that they know works for them. Vital in any classroom, these people can be great at questioning “the why”. If we don’t know why we’re learning a new tool, it’s tricky to put it into real-world context. They make everyone think about how this technology will make their work and lives better and easier.
Prior to any training, we will have done the work to understand exactly what the objectives are and WHY those objectives are important to the wider organisation and, of course, the BOTTOM LINE. If you would like some help rolling out objective-smashing IT workshops to your teams, we would love to hear from you
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