When it comes to designing engaging and effective corporate training, the best place to start is by looking at how the human brain works – neurology. Just like vehicles need the right type of fuel to run smoothly, your brain requires the right input to for its learning processes to work as efficiently as possible.
In this article, PulseLearning presents four statistics that prove neurology should lead the way for corporate training design.
1. Information retention
You retain around 10 percent of what you see; 30 to 40 percent of what you see and hear; and 90 percent of what you see, hear, and do.1
Your brain loves variety! Even though most of us have a preference for a specific learning style, such as reading and writing, listening to audio, or looking at visuals, the learning process becomes significantly more efficient when multiple senses are engaged. Information transfer and retention in corporate training can be increased by using a combination of complementary delivery mediums in a learning experience. For example, a short video can explain a concept, while audio narration and text keywords on screen enhance the educational experience.
2.Engagement and productivity
Almost 80% of people say that they would be more productive if their work was gamified. 2
Children learn through play, so why can’t adults? When learning or completing a task is enjoyable, it becomes more effortless, decreasing our cognitive load. In his national bestseller, Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explores the psychology of optimal experience. He concludes that flow is a happy state of mind when you feel completely engaged in a creative or playful activity. This should be the goal of corporate training and then be carried over into how daily tasks are completed in the workplace. This statistic makes it safe to say the gamification trend is here to stay.
3.Learning motivation
Training that includes videos has a 51 percent completion rate while training without can be as low as 36 percent. 3
Although the popularity of YouTube has a lot to do with why we love video, ultimately, it is your brain’s input preference. Did you know that 90 percent of all information sent to the brain is visual? The fact that your brain processes video about 60,000 times faster than text provides a huge insight into why watching feels so good, and sometimes, even relaxing. You can take in information efficiently through visual mediums, but remember, you can enhance the experience further by incorporating audio, keywords, and other elements to engage multiple senses. Video will continue to be a huge trend in learning in 2018 and it’s likely to only increase in popularity.
4.Skills application
40 percent of companies are using application simulation training and the number is growing each year. 3
Application simulation training is a growing demand in the eLearning industry. Having employees simulate a skill, task, or process is perhaps the ultimate training experience by bringing together the multiple delivery mediums your brain knows and loves. Simulation training provides a consequence-free practice ground to learn by doing while receiving visual, audio, and text prompts and tips along the way. The fact that application simulation training is becoming more popular is likely to correlate to its success in allowing learners to immediately apply skills on the job.
Is your training strategy aligned with how people learn most effectively? PulseLearning has the expertise to help you deliver your corporate training with efficiency as backed by science and adult learning theory. PulseLearning is an award-winning global learning provider experienced in learning consultancy and developing engaging and innovative custom eLearning and blended learning solutions.
References:
- Principles of Adult Learning & Instructional Systems Design, 2010
- 2014 eLearning survey
- Talent LMS Blog, 2015
- Training Industry report, 2015
