Your Train-the-Trainer Program: How to Best Teach Your Adult Students Part 2

In our recent blog post, 4 Tips to Implement Your Organization s Best Train-the-Trainer Program, (Part 1), we shared valuable information for setting up your VESTA training program. Today, discover how you can ensure its ongoing success when dealing with the unique learners within your organization. The effort you put into the structure of your train-thetrainer program will go a long way towards its success and that of your organization s use of its VESTA solutions. Yet, each class, your instructors may find themselves in unique situations due to the various learning styles of their students. They can still stay on task, and help everyone excel at the same time, when they apply principles of adult learning, which are often overlooked. In this blog, we look at research-based principles, supported by adult educational theorist Malcolm Knowles. Apply these to your train-the-trainer program to increase everyone s success in using your VESTA solutions. What You Need to Know About Adult Learners Referenced from: Blog by Christoforos Pappas We must remember the average adult learner has the following traits and needs, and we should heed the tips under each point to help us all be victorious. Are autonomous and self-directed Actively involve students in learning. Are a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage. Bring individual life experience and knowledge to learning experiences Provide opportunities for learners to share past experiences. Build on students experiences when delivering content. Are goal-oriented (and have limited time!) Objectives should be clearly defined. Provide agendas and course outlines. ABOUT AIRBUS DS COMMUNICATIONS For nearly five decades, Airbus DS Communications, the home of VESTA, has designed solutions with an open mind. This innovation not only allows us to create smarter ways to keep all our communities safe, it also earned us Frost and Sullivan s 2016 Best Practices Award as the NG9-1-1 Company of the Year. Our NG9-1-1 VESTA solutions are found in more than 60% of all U.S. Public Safety Answering Points, serving over 200 million people, as well as Federal DoD operations globally. Over 30+ years, our Emergency Notification products have supported the communications needs of hundreds of public and private sector organizations. Our Land Mobile Radio offering is 100% standards compliant, delivering the industry s only true nonproprietary P25 Radio solution. As the world s most reliable source for Next Generation Public Safety communications, we keep people connected when it matters most. 2017 Airbus DS Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 2 of 6

Need learning to be relevant Explain why content is important to students responsibilities. Are problem-oriented Allow time for students to apply what they ve learned during class. Encourage participants to develop action plans for the use of their system. Need to be shown respect Set a friendly, non-intimidating tone for the class Are intrinsically and extrinsically motivated Set an appropriate level of concern for the content. Provide specific feedback to students. THE VARIOUS LEARNING STYLES OF YOUR STUDENTS Though we know most adult learners have the same needs, we must also recognize their different learning styles. A learning style refers to how individuals most successfully process and learn new content. The Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic (VAK) model below explains three main learning styles. Students may have one or more preferred styles. That makes one big task of the trainer to plan instruction to appeal to ALL learning styles! Visual Learns by Seeing V Prefers pictures, diagrams, tables, and graphics. Wants to see task demonstrated. Takes detailed notes to read later. May have difficulty following verbal directions. Appreciates handouts Auditory Learns by Hearing A Responds well to verbal instructions. Has difficulty following written directions. Dislikes tasks which involve a lot of reading. Easily follows lectures without much note-taking. Kinesthetic Learns by Doing K Prefers hands-on activities. Dives into tasks without reading instructions. Is bored by lectures. Must be actively involved in learning. Benefits from simulations, role play, and practice. 2017 Airbus DS Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 3 of 6

16 Tips to Appeal Training to All Students Knowing what we now do about student needs and learning styles, below is some universal advice for trainers to follow every class. Remember Provide written and spoken directions. Use visuals to supplement instruction. Incorporate demonstrations during lessons. Encourage interaction and class participation. Balance how content is presented, combining lecture, discussion, visual aids, and hands-on participation. During class Always Communicate your expectations to students. Define objectives at the beginning of the class. Let students know you are willing to help them learn. Give positive feedback for the skills learned and inform learners of areas in need of improvement. Ask students what you can do to help them do a better job. Plan instruction to appeal to students of all learning styles (VAK model). Never Assume all students learn at the same pace. Assume a task is easy to learn just because you found it easy. Assume a student will continue to do something the way you demonstrated. Assume student knows how to do something well just because he/she has had experience. Pretend to be interested in a student s learning. Be interested! Ridicule a student for making a mistake. Let the mistake be a learning experience. At Airbus, we welcome the opportunity to help you create the best learning experience for your VESTA train-the-trainer program. Contact us at TrainingAdmin@Airbus-DSComm.com for assistance. 2017 Airbus DS Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 4 of 6

4 Tips for Implementing a Train-the-Trainer Program Tip 1 Be Prepared for Mistakes. Implementing a Train-the-Trainer program is a learning process in more ways than the obvious. This means, even if your employees have many years of training experience, they may not have done so in your unique environment. Be prepared to give leeway and let your trainers make mistakes. Otherwise, they may be discouraged in the process or hesitant to try something new again. Allow extra time for preparation, re-writing of curriculum and inclusion or elimination of information to fine-tune the program as your organization s policies and procedures change. Tip 2 Choose the Right People for Training! Take the time to hand-assemble a reliable team of likeable and relatable people who work well together. Students connect with trainers who are genuine and authentic. So, look for these traits, among those that follow, when selecting trainers within your organization. Effective trainers are: 1. Professional in attire, demeanor and humor. 2. Respectful ethical, fair and tolerant of individual differences. 3. Knowledgeable/Skillful displays a clear understanding of subject matter, and will seek answers to questions they cannot answer immediately. 4. Role Models demonstrates an attitude that supports all departmental policies and procedures. 5. Interested in the Learners motivates students by showing genuine interest in their long-term welfare. 6. Enthusiastic genuinely excited about the content being taught. A Train-the-Trainer program allows you to use a small team to address the needs of many employees. But, without the right people as trainers, the team and your efforts won t be as effective as they could be. 2017 Airbus DS Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 5 of 6

Tip 3 Be Prepared for Constructive Criticism. Giving and taking constructive criticism is one big way to continuously improve your program, its processes and the skills of your trainers. For example, you may hear trainers need to use a different method of demonstration or better examples. But, this advice shouldn t be taken personally. The end goal is to maximize efficiency while transferring knowledge, so open yourself up to others advice for possible improvements. Tip 4 Track Your Results. As renowned business consultant Peter Drucker said, What gets measured, gets managed. And, good trainers are always eager to know how they can improve. Help them get the information they seek from the best source their students. Make it a standard practice to hand out evaluation forms after every training to get their feedback. Then, create reports using tracking analytics to help trainers understand what steps they can take to improve. Also, encourage friendly competition among your trainers, tied to a rewards program, to further accelerate their progress. The First Step to Your Train-the-Trainer Program Please know your Train-the-Trainer program will only be as good as its foundation. That s why it s important to get your main trainer or trainers the most thorough instruction available. For the VESTA solutions, instruction is taught in our in-house training held in Temecula, CA, and Brentwood, TN. Our current training schedule can also be found online here. However, we recommend you contact our dedicated training team to discuss your unique needs and find your best course of action. They can be reached at TrainingAdmin@Airbus-DSComm.com or 951.719.2100. Also, be sure to check our Blog again soon for other helpful info on your training efforts! Next time, we ll share valuable details on different adult learning styles and what your trainers need to know and do to be successful with all students. 2017 Airbus DS Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 6 of 6