Learning Approaches Archives - Page 3 of 3

Prezi – Making Better Presentations

In my earlier article Carry on Learning I mentioned how learning a new piece of software such as Prezi was a great way to keep busy and to add valuable skills to your CV. There are lots of other benefits so let’s take a look at them and also how to get started making better presentations that your audience will love.

Benefits of Using Prezi – Why Use Prezi?

One of the best uses of Prezi is in education and the general learning environment. In fact, this tool is fast becoming the new presentation must-have for teachers and trainers. Recent studies have shown that a student’s attention span lasts less than 15 minutes. So when a more visually stimulating presentation tool such as Prezi is used, then we may be able to ensure that their learning is better facilitated.

Aside from its’ benefits in the learning environment, Prezi can also prove its’ worth amongst professionals in basically all fields and industries. Presentations created through Prezi promote more interaction among the audience by stimulating their visual senses.

So why use Prezi? Here are the Top Benefits of Using Prezi.

1. Prezi has a Free Option

As you know, Powerpoint is not free. Also, other similar applications that you use for free (e.g., Google Drive and OpenOffice) lack many features. But if you switch to Prezi, not only will you enjoy it without paying anything, but you will also have enough features to create stunning presentations.

2. It’s Cloud-Based

Here’s the problem with your Powerpoint slides. You’ll need an external drive or device to store them in. If you lose, forget, or accidentally damage this device, you’ll need to start from scratch. Sure, you can send a copy of your files to your email account, but think of the extra effort and time it takes.

If you use Prezi, on the other hand, you’ll say goodbye to flash drives for good. Best of all, you’ll be able to access your presentations anywhere in the world. You can even download them so you can view them offline.

3. You can create presentations that have more visual impact

Perhaps the best feature of Prezi is its zooming function. In Powerpoint, your visuals auto-adjust only to the size of your screen. With Prezi, one click is all it takes to make your images, texts, and videos larger.

4. With Prezi, you’re not confined to texts and images alone

You can embed videos from Youtube, upload PDF files, and import images from the web. These are tasks you can’t do using other applications.

5. You can enjoy simultaneous editing

If you’re working with a group, you don’t have to meet at a specific spot. As long as all of you are online, you can add sub-topics and other content to create a more dynamic presentation. In short, Prezi creates a more flexible working environment.

6. Your audience can better learn from your presentation

Unlike Powerpoint slides that break up topics into disorganized parts, Prezi allows you to create topics that are well-structured. In effect, your audience can easily see the connection between your topics and sub-topics.

How to Create Your First Prezi

Creating your first Prezi presentation is as easy as 1-2-3. Here’s a step-by-step guide.

Step 1. Go to Prezi.com and click on the blue “Get Started” button to create a free account. After filling out the necessary fields, you should be directed to your dashboard.
Step 2. Click on “New Prezi.” A new tab opens. You should see templates. Click on one.
Step 3. Start adding texts and pictures. Note that you can also insert videos. Learn to customize them to create a beautiful presentation.
Step 4. Every now and then, click on the “Present” button to see how your presentation looks like. Step 5. When done, save your work. You can also share it on Facebook or download as PDF.

In Conclusion

Prezi has many advantages over Powerpoint. You audience can easily see the interconnectedness of your topics, and your presentations help retain attention and facilitate better learning. The perfect tool for Learning and Development professionals, teachers and trainers of all sorts as well as anyone who wants to start making better presentations.

Learning Isn’t Just For Learning At Work Week

As I write it’s Learning at Work Week here in the UK and that set me thinking about how much learning takes place without there needing to be a formal structure to it.

I can think of so many instances where I have learnt something which I have then been able to apply in my own work. As an example I well recall being in a meeting where the discussion was getting quite heated and noticing how the person chairing the meeting dealt with it to diffuse the situation and leave all parties happy. That was real learning at work which I was able to observe, reflect on, implement when I encountered a similar situation and then evaluate the learning that had occurred.

Now, I am not suggesting that for Learning at Work Week you go in search of heated discussions in meetings! However, I want to look at some ways in which you and I can learn without having to participate in a formal “learning” event.

Start With a Personal Learning Journal or Portfolio.

Learning at Work is not a simple A to B journey from a single goal to a single outcome, it is a process of continuous discovery and a Personal Learning Portfolio or Learning Journal helps you to keep track of and reflect on what you have learnt and discovered as you progress. You might be thinking that it seem a little time consuming to record your findings and thoughts but I have consistently found that being able to revisit the notes I have made over the years has sparked new learning and new avenues to investigate so it is something I highly recommend to you.

Engage With Your Colleagues

Talking to colleagues about what they are doing, what they have learnt or discovered, how they have tackled issues and so offers a wealth of opportunities to learn from them. People love to talk about their successes and as you establish a rapport with people they will be more open to talking about the failures that led to their successes. Engage with your colleagues at work and talk about how they overcame problems, what approaches they took to particular issues and challenges and how they managed to deal with them. Look around you now, if you are reading this at work, and just consider for a moment the amazing opportunities for personal learning that are available from the collective experience and knowledge of your colleagues!

Chat with them about their experiences, so that you can learn from past problems, develop potential solutions and work towards improving your performance – both as an individual and ultimately as a department or organisation.

Informal Group/Social Interactions

Following on from this idea of learning at work by talking with colleagues, there are many ways to use social, informal learning to interact with others in the workplace. If there are a group of you who would like to learn about the role of an individual within the organisation or perhaps discover how someone deals with their challenges then why not invite them to a lunchtime or after work session with a whiteboard in the staffroom? It can be a great way to share ideas and to learn new things. The results achieved are not just about personal, individual gains; the group effort can also improve interpersonal skills and even help with communication between departments.

Keep Your Eyes Open

Obviously you are keeping up to date with what is happening within your own workplace and staying on top of the goals of the organisation and the challenges it faces. However think about expanding your horizons,to keep up to date with news and events in your industry as a whole.

This can be done in many ways: social media is a great tool for engaging with other in the industry which I talked about in my post Social Media for Learning. But in summary, online discussion groups with others in similar roles offer an informal forum for discussion, news outlets are a constant source of up-to-date information and blogs can offer insights on potential trends and forecasts with alternative viewpoints. Gather as much information as possible and don’t be put off by the source – speculation on a niche blog from a real professional in your industry can be a great way of learning new things and stretching your mind.

I wrote about taking up the opportunities which many organisations offer to learn new things outside of work. If that is something that appeals to you and you want or need to learn aboout project management, public speaking, leadership and much more do take a look at A World of Learning Opportunities.

Enjoy Learning at Work week if you are in the UK! Take the opportunity to start the incredible journey available to you and remember Learning isn’t just for Learning at Work Week – it’s for ever!

Have Your Done A Personal SWOT Analysis?

As someone who calls themselves a Learning and Development Professional you will understand, I am sure, that I am a great believer in the importance of continuous personal and professional development.

The word ‘continuous’ means that it is a process which never ends. Personal Development and indeed professional development are things which continue throughout our working lives and beyond.

Over the years as I have worked with people both in groups and individually one of the things that I have seen with many is that the cause of dissatisfaction they experience with their careers and with the way their lives are going is the disconnect between what they are doing and what is important to them.

I have talked about this before in terms of personal values in my article about Aligning our Career and our Values. However I want to take a different perspective on it here and look at ways in which each of us can start to tackle the issues by looking at how we can use a Personal SWOT Analysis to give shape to our learning and development activity as individuals.

What is a Personal SWOT Analysis?

I am sure that you are already aware that many business organisations commonly use Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis as a tool to analyse themselves, frequently as part of their Business Planning processes. It forms the basis for their future activity and also can provide valuable insights into why things are as they are at the time they do the SWOT Analysis.

A SWOT analysis, though predominantly used in organisations can be used just as effectively at a personal level. By taking a look at yourself in this way you can determine where you need to focus your efforts in terms of your self-improvement and personal development.

Here are a few thoughts in each of the four areas that you might want to consider during your SWOT analysis, both from your own point of view as well as from that of an independent observer. In fact once you have completed your first draft you might want to share it with others to get their feedback.

Strengths

Your strengths include all the things you are good at doing. These are the personality traits that make me unique and differentiate me from others. Your strengths are what help to make you effective at a professional as well as a personal level.

In assessing your strengths you may want to consider the following:

The things that you are capable of doing better than others.
Three skills and abilities that possess which others admire and respect.
Your achievements using my skills and efforts as a professional.
Your educational or professional qualifications.
Your personal qualities that stand out through my work and in my behaviour.

Weaknesses:

Although some will argue that you should focus on developing your strengthst rather than worrying about your weaknesses if you have identified areas that you want or need to develop then include them here.

So, your weaknesses are those things which are, in your opinion, not suitably developed. They are the things which are acting as a barrier to your personal growth and to the achievement of your objectives.

In considering your weaknesses or areas for development you might want to think about the following:

The single thing that generates the greatest amount of fear in you in your professional and/or personal life.
Three things that people youu trust say you need to change or correct.
The things that you are required to do that you would rather steer clear of, for the reason that you are apprehensive or afraid to do them.
Personality traits that keep you from taking a stand against something that you believe is wrong.
Characteristics in you that prevent people from seeking your help in areas where you would like to offer your help.

Opportunities:

These are the chances that you have to develop yourself positively, to become more self-confident and perhaps even to enhance your trust in your own capabilities.

An in-depth study of your opportunities will cover:

The steps you need to take to ensure that your strengths are accentuated.
Identification of the people who can help you with your personal and professional development.
Identification of opportunities that are available to you to demonstrate your capabilities to your superiors and co-workers.
The ways in which you can contribute your services to help others with their workload, that will also display your useful and proactive nature.
The opportunities to project yourself and the things that you do in a positive light.

Threats:

Threats are impediments and obstacles in the way of my attaining excellence in the things that I undertake to do.

Your assessment of threats could involve:

Identification of the things that hinder your efforts at excelling in everything you do as well as the steps that will help in overcoming these hindrances.
Identification of people who may hinder the advancement of your professional career and what you need to do to address them.
Pinpointing impediments in the workplace that may stop you securing promotions and how to remove them or overcome them.
Identification of peers who could compete against you for a job and what skills you need to develop to be in a better position to apply.

A thorough Personal SWOT analysis will reveal areas which you need to focus on in terms of your learning and development or personal development. Dealing with your weaknesses appropriately and with a clear focus on your strengths will make you feel renewed, leaving you energised and ready to confidently take on all new opportunities that present themselves. The Personal SWOT analysis is a great way to get a clearer picture of where you are right now and what you need to do to move forward and focus on your continuous personal and professional development.

In a future article I will look at how, with these insights, you can create your own Personal Development Plan but for now take the time to complete your Personal SWOT Analysis.