Tips and Tricks for “On the Spot” Training: Taking Advantage of Teachable Moments Cheryl Gould...
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Transcript of Tips and Tricks for “On the Spot” Training: Taking Advantage of Teachable Moments Cheryl Gould...
Tips and Tricks for “On the Spot” Training:
Taking Advantage of
Teachable Moments
Cheryl GouldSpring 2004
Brought to You by Infopeople
• On the Web at infopeople.org
• Sign up for the “workshops” mailing list
• How To section
• Past Workshops material
Knot Tying as a Teaching Problem
• Point of view
• Complicated task at first
• Skills require demonstration
• If need to learn to do it quickly and independently, require practice– a diagram or illustration– need to know why
Bends• Attach rope end to rope end
– make a long piece out of 2 shorter pieces
Sheet Bends are used to attach different
sizes of rope
Fisherman’s Knots are good for small rope or
fishing line
Agenda
• Purpose of “On the Spot” training
• Using learning styles
• Give overview not just “how to”
• Chunking complicated tasks
• Teachable moments with computers
• Cheat sheets
Teachable Moments and the Library
• What is your professional responsibility?
• What’s in it for you?
• What’s in it for them?
• What’s in it for the library?
• Not enough time
• Setting boundaries and expectations
• Where to start
• How far to go
• Too complicated
• Don’t want to look or feel dumb
• Not enough time
What’s Hard About “On the
Spot” Training
Telling Isn’t Teaching(If you put a library on a camels back, it
doesn’t make it any smarter)
• Learners need to know:
– What it is
– Why they should listen
– How to use it
The fact that you know how to find information means that
you're systematically prevented from thinking about information
the way your users do.
Mary Ellen Bates http://web.utk.edu/~wrobinso/531_lec_interview.html
People Learn Differently
• Visual– pictures, graphics– mental images
• Auditory– talk – listen
• Kinesthetic– let them do it, handle it, move it
People Generally Remember…
10% of what they read
20% of what they hear
30% of what they see
50% of what they hear and see
70% of what they say or write
90% of what they say as they do a thing
Teachable Moments Consist of…
1. Welcome -- (human)
2. Content -----(information)– accurate– clear– relevant– complete
3. End --------- (human)
Value of Scripting Answers
• Don’t have to reinvent the wheel
• Helps with things you know well
• Saves time and energy handling common questions
Why Don’t People Just Ask?
• Want to see if it’s safe– don’t want to look stupid
– privacy concerns
• Not sure of– what they need
– what library has
– services available
• Cultural differences
The Process
• Welcome
• Ask questions to get to the “real” need
• Solution– give answer that teaches what the library
can do for them
• End– Have I answered your question?
Communication Isn’t All Talk
• Verbal – the words you say– from 7% to 25% of the message
• Non-Verbal– tone of voice– rate of talking– how you present yourself
• gestures and posture• facial expressions• appearance
Make Learners Feel Comfortable
• No judgment
• Don’t assume knowledge of any kind!
• Be concise– no jargon– short sentences
• Try not to overwhelm:– “There are 3 things I’ll need to show
you…”
Get From the Opening Question to the Real Need• Start with questions, not solutions!
• Clarify - before you proceed to solution – “Would you prefer the opera on a cassette or
CD?”
• Paraphrase - to be sure you understand– So you’d like 30 double-sided color copies. Is
that right?”– “You need 3 articles on genetic engineering of
food crops, Do I have that right?
– You want to find a way to work off your $200 in fines?
Assess the Situation
• Does the learner know enough– assess skills
• library use• readiness to use electronic sources
– catalog– computer– search skills
• Do you know enough to help– how do you refer
Referring
• Know staff members with expertise
– “I don’t know but let me get you to someone who can help you with that”
• Have lists of common local resources– classes– community resources
• Know resources in other libraries
Solutions
• Tell them “why” not just how
• Empower users– make them self-sufficient– have solutions that answer more than
just the immediate question• offer a library map to find not only sci fi
but also the mysteries and art books
How Far Do You Go?
• “I’m looking for a CD”– point to location of CD’s?– What kind of CD are you looking for?– teach them to use the catalog?– Are you interested in finding other CD’s or
material?
• You can’t:– force someone to learn– teach it all so teach what’s important
• scripts help
Techniques
• Use as many senses as possible– explain in words– handout with pictures and text– draw on scratch paper
• Tell them the WIIFM• Demonstrate, then let them try• One minute of demonstration beats 5
minutes of explanation
Try to finish talking before the learners are finished listening
Chunking
• Long laundry list
• Put in order
• Chunk in to 3 to 5 main parts– Main point
• subpoint• subpoint
Teachable Moments With Computers
• Assessment is critical • Learners MUST have hands on
keyboard• Teach Help menus• Refer to classes• Copy and paste into word
– text– images– Internet printing problems
Infopeople “How To” Resourceshttp://www.infopeople.org/howto/
• New Computer Users – Teach New Computer Users in English or Spanish
– Teach People to Type
– Teach People to Use the Mouse
• Quickguides (suitable for laminating for use at public terminals) – Introducing the Internet Explorer Browser - DOC [130k] or PDF [256k]
– Printing and Saving from Internet Explorer - DOC [56k] or PDF [100k]
– Introducing the Netscape Web Browser - DOC [87k] or PDF [176k]
– Printing and Saving from Netscape - DOC [35k] or PDF [15k]
• Using Screenshots and Word's Drawing Features to Create QuickGuides - DOC [87k] - PDF [23k]
When Situations Come Up Over and Over and…
• Treat each person as if it’s the first time you’ve heard the question ;)
• Have a script
• Have a cheat sheet
Constant or frequent tasks handled well save time
Creating Cheat Sheets• Content
– accurate– clear– relevant– complete
• Design– KISS – quick to scan
• easy to navigate• headings
– use color and bolding to mean something