Lucid Thought 73.
Accelerated Learning - what is it and why does it matter?
Those of you who have experienced Lucidus Open Learning Events will know what we mean by Accelerated Learning. Those who haven’t might wonder what all this is about. We thought we’d write about this topic this month to bring some clarity - to make it clear what Accelerated Learning is, and isn’t.
The label Accelerated Learning is used in the UK by Colin Rose, a pioneer of teaching and learning and inspiration for the design of our learning events. Colin uses Accelerated Learning in a very specific way but his techniques are drawn primarily from the work of Howard Gardner, a Harvard Professor who popularised understanding of multiple intelligences.
Building on an acceptance that we all learn using different forms of intelligence, Accelerated Learning is about ensuring radically improved recall from learning experiences by ensuring that learning is multi-sensory and therefore enables every learner to learn in a way that suits their individual preferences and style.
And of course there’s a business case for this. Radically improved recall provides a better chance of the organisation getting a return on its investment in training people - if people remember, they are much more likely to implement new knowledge and skills - obvious really!
It is claimed (Tony Buzan, 2007) that at least 80% of detailed information learned during a one-hour learning period is lost within a 24 hours unless specific efforts are made to key the information into long-term memory. That’s a lot of money investment for no benefit in our organisations!
So how can learning be designed to boost recall?
The mnemonic we use to guide our learning design and delivery is the M.A.S.T.E.R plan.
Mindset relaxed. Understand the brain - motivate - energise. Positive emotion greatly enhances learning.
Acquire the facts. Use the senses - visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory, gustatory. Learning involves the whole mind and body.
Search out the meaning. Explore where/when/why with whom it works. Learning is creation, not consumption.
Trigger the memory. Key the important information into long-term memory using words, images, colour and bodily/physical enactment. The image brain absorbs information instantly and automatically. Exhibit the knowledge/skills/attitude. Demonstrate that you have the ability to do it! Learning comes from doing it, with feedback.
Reflect on the learning process. Set specific targets for the future - tomorrow, the next day, next week, next month.
If you are interested in learning more we’d really recommend becoming familiar with Colin Rose’s materials. He’s also got some great products for learning languages, helping your kids and lots of other stuff.
If you’re interested in hearing how the M.A.S.T.E.R plan can help teachers teach, and learners learn interpersonal skills - this is the topic that our ace trainer Fred will be talking about at a forthcoming APM Risk SIG meeting (14th and 15th July 2010), details on www.apm.org.uk.
So when we say that our learning events are unique and fun - we’re talking about the experience you’ll have to learn the materials. The subjects to learn may be the same, but the experience of learning makes a massive difference to recall and therefore effectiveness.
Click here to download this thought as a pdf document...