Dan Steer is an expert in incorporating social media tools into his training. The man has no fewer than 12 social media accounts, and he uses them liberally to support his training programs.
Dan’s philosophy for in-person training is fairly simple: Don’t do anything in the room that could be done outside the room. Why waste an hour on introductions at the beginning of your session when you can invite people to introduce themselves on Facebook beforehand? Social media has enabled learners to connect with their trainer and each other both before and after training takes place, and effective use of these tools enhances the longevity of the learning delivered.
In his session at the Association for Talent Development International Conference, Dan shared a number of uses for specific social media tools that enhance formal learning. By his own admission, he has no interest in keeping these secrets to himself – he wants to share his expertise with the training world. So it’s with this in mind that I pass on my favourite tools discovered in his session:
- Inklewriter – http://www.inklestudios.com/inklewriter/
Inklewriter is a free tool that allows trainers to write interactive stories for online distribution. With storytelling at the forefront of 21st century learning, trainers can now create scenarios with relevant workplace applications to help their learners understand the context within which their training can be applied. The Choose-Your-Own-Adventure format makes the content more engaging, and acts as a great knowledge check to reinforce learning after the training session is complete.
- Gingko – https://gingkoapp.com/
Gingko is a simple way to take and share notes. Its unique structure allows content to be sorted and searched more easily. It can be used collaboratively to compile all your learners’ notes after your session or, as Dan recommended, it can be passed around between attendees over the course of your session so that everyone is contributing to a master online document that consolidates all the lessons learned from your session.
- Chatterpix – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tBS9NyFV08
This app is a little silly, but a lot of fun. Take pictures of event attendees and encourage them to submit audio recordings of their takeaways from the session. Then, use the app to create videos of them ‘talking’ about what they learned and share them with the group. Another great way to reinforce learning, and encourage your learners to have some fun.
Bonus: Socrative – http://www.socrative.com/
This app can be used to interact with students during your training. Ask questions, take polls, and get instant feedback on what parts of your session are resonating with your learners. Then, you can compile the input into a report and share it with your new learning community. The applications for this app are nearly endless!
What social media apps do you use to support your training sessions? Let me know in the comments – I’d love to take a look!
By Kate Salmon (@CSCKate)
I’m a communications specialist and general word nerd from Ottawa, Ontario. Upon learning that in the 21st century I could still get a degree in rhetoric, I went to the University of Waterloo to do precisely that. Now I get to continue my learning journey at Learnography, a non-profit education consulting organization that really practices its principles of continuous development. With a great team of former educators who are dedicated to creating transformative learning experiences, we are changing the face of corporate training.
I live in Toronto with my cat and my curmudgeonly but endearing roommate.