A Metaverse of Possibility

A Metaverse of Possibility

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
As instructional designers, we often aim to create more engaging and immersive ways for our participants to learn new information and skills. As digital learning has increased, so have the options for those looking to utilize its power. Virtual reality and the metaverse are new emerging technology that breaks the walls of the traditional training classroom is virtual reality and the metaverse. If you want to understand the metaverse, it is helpful to think of the current internet we use as a solo 2D experience built on video and flat web pages. In comparison, ‘The Metaverse’ is the marketing term used for the evolution of the internet into a shared 3D social experience in virtual worlds. Learning is a social experience; therefore, the potential of this new medium to unlock unprecedented learner engagement and speed of content acquisition is very exciting.  What’s the difference between ‘virtual reality (VR)’ and the metaverse?  Virtual Reality (VR) is the term used to describe a three-dimensional,...
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Change is Required

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
The recently released publication, Change Is Required; Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum, is a culmination of essays by leading museum professionals as the entire field begins to adapt and change to cultural and professional realignment over the last two years. Some of the questions the book’s essayists ponder include:  Can we break through traditional hierarchies to change our decision-making processes?Do we need to consider new shapes and structures for our organizations?How can we reform and update our hiring and advancement practices to support the needs of our people--and the sustainability of our institutions? Like many other organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged American museums to rethink old assumptions and examine outdated models. The book gives examples of 50 American museums that have set new visions for themselves and their communities. Some examples featured in the essays include museums that have taken a decisive turn to digital programming and others that have changed focus toward community and developing new collaborations with their neighbors and local...
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Are You Getting This?

Are You Getting This?

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
It is a widely shared experience to be hosting a training or workshop and look into the crowd of participants staring back at you and wonder, are they getting it? In the previous post, I shared about pre-assessments and how they can help your workshops or training become more engaging through proper pacing and meeting students where they are. In this post, I’ll share another form of assessment that will allow you to measure participants learning in real-time to give you information to improve your training to meet the needs of the participants. This type of assessment is often called formative assessment. What is a Formative Assessment? The Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning defines formative assessment as a form that allows both instructor and student to monitor progress toward achieving learning objectives by identifying misconceptions, struggles, and learning gaps.  These assessments are often characterized by their informal nature. They are usually embedded in a lesson and take less time to complete. They...
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Power of the Pre-Assessment

Power of the Pre-Assessment

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
Are you planning a workshop or upcoming training? Wondering what the best way not to bore your trainees is? Or you might wonder, how should I assess employees’ existing knowledge? You might also be asking yourself, how do I know what they know or don’t know? All of these questions can be answered by using the power of the pre-assessment. Pre-assessment is crucial to ensure the proper pacing of information. For example, if you think people attending your training know more than they do, you risk jumping into the deep end with trainees who metaphorically don’t know how to swim. They might find your training confusing or overwhelming and leave with a sense that they weren’t understood or, even worse, that they are stupid or unable to learn content they should be able to grasp. Alternatively, if you don’t assess for knowledge that trainees already have, you might get feedback that the training was easy, not helpful, or even a...
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The Myth of Learning Styles

The Myth of Learning Styles

by Meghan Schiedel1 Comment
Have you ever been taught something that seemed to make so much sense, and you accepted it as the “truth” only to later find out that it was false? I recently had that realization with Learning styles. When I was in grad school in 2008, learning styles were taught as the gospel truth. They are now so widely accepted that we don’t stop to question them when they are referenced. Did you know there is no credible evidence that learning styles exist?! In their article, The Myth of Learning Styles in Change The Magazine of Higher Learning (Riener, Willingham August 2010), Cedar Riener, assistant professor of psychology at Randolph-Macon College, and Daniel Willingham, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, break down this deeply held educational myth. It has me questioning everything!  Not only is there no actual research supporting learning styles, but they also support racist, classist, and ableist views of learners. So why have they persisted for so...
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Reflecting on Practice

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
Recently, I held up my clock to a mirror. It was time for reflection–   I am sorry; I couldn’t help myself! I have often been thinking about the role of reflection in training and staff development. This winter, I completed a professional learning program called Reflecting on Practice(RoP).* This program aims to allow informal educators to dive into the latest science on learning within a cohort model. The RoP project’s goals are to put research ideas into practice, transform its participants, and promote a culture of learning. This train-the-trainer model allows the program to reach millions of people in out-of-school settings like botanical gardens, museums, national parks, nature centers, and zoos every year. I found this program to be transformative because it fully embraced the social aspect of learning and professional development. The cohort model allows for many opportunities to interact in small groups or one-on-one with peers. The framework that they present is social as well. Educators are encouraged to enable...
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Improv for the Reluctant

Improv for the Reluctant

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
I I think nothing I have done has been met with more resistance than making people do improv activities! The amount of resistance that I am met with dramatically varies depending on the group dynamics. Here are a few things that I have observed about reluctance to do improv.  Introverts = More Resistance The more self-proclaimed introverts in a group, the more resistance there will be to doing improv activities. Introverts generally need more processing time, so activities like improv games that require them to think and respond quickly are not typically their favorite thing. They also tend to like smaller groups or one on one interactions over larger group activities.  Improv muscles are like the muscles in your body; the more you work them, the stronger they get.  Group trust is critical.  There is less trust within newer teams, and therefore members are often more resistant to these activities than with more established teams.   If you, as a facilitator, are experiencing pushback around doing improv activities,...
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Improv as a Training Tool

Improv as a Training Tool

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
I My high school theater teacher would never let us do improv games or activities; he said they were reserved for advanced theater students. This was at the height of the popularity of the American version of "Whose Line is It Anyway," and I honestly felt a bit irritated that he was preventing me from getting to try my hand at improv. I continued to view improvisational skills as desirable and took any opportunity to practice and improve my skills. As my career has progressed, I see how they benefited me as an educator and museum professional and as a team member and entrepreneur. Early in my career, I got involved with the National Informal Science Education Network (NISEnet), and leaders in that organization professed the powers of improv. They gave me opportunities to not only practice these skills but learned to facilitate them in my museum. I have since used them as a crucial part of my training programs to break...
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Transformative Change Through Imagination

Transformative Change Through Imagination

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
“Pretend you are a boat, and I’ll ride you to an island, but you have magical powers, and I can’t steer you, so you end up going to the island on the other side over there, and on that island, there is a dragon…” this is an actual storyline initiated by my seven year old recently. As a mom to two girls, age four and seven, I am so lucky to get the chance to witness their imagination at play constantly. The stuff they come up with never fails to amaze me and inspire awe and wonder. Just yesterday, the girls set up a rock shop with rocks that they had collected outside and insisted I film an impromptu commercial advertising their excellent rocks at low, low prices. As an educator and someone who has worked with children much of my adult life, I know deep in my core that we need to value imagination and make space for creativity...
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Fixing Shallow Training

Fixing Shallow Training

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
Many training professionals have gotten the feedback that there wasn’t enough time or that the training content was shallow. There is so much to cover and too little time! Our instinct in preparing a training curriculum for when you have limited time and resources is to give them a bit of information on many things, but I would argue that this leaves your team feeling overwhelmed and ill-prepared for the hard work they will face post-training. These types of training can be frustrating for employees and can contribute to burnout and turnover. So how do we fix this mile-wide and inch-deep training problem? Here are five things to consider when planning to preempt shallow training.  5 Things to Fix Shallow Training  Prioritize application of knowledge in instruction over covering generalized topics at intermittent times. When you only have an hour, spend 10 minutes on new information and 50 minutes applying this new content. Help participants make connections to other training. For example, if...
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