My content area topic is “using webinars to facilitate training.” My first thought when approaching this assignment was how I currently view play in a webinar environment. It is based on a common method that is used called a icebreaker. They involve introducing a training session with a joke, a game, or interesting fact. Icebreakers generally work well and are a reliable tool for trainers to use and to some extent can be considered a form of play. However, what the Root-Bernsteins have explained so well in their book is that play is so much more. It is the essence of thinking outside the box. I can see how it allows educators to see learning from a very holistic perspective. Needless to say, I am very interested in developing forms of play that can influence and improve the webinar experience.
To introduce play into the webinar environment, I realize that I have to make sure the methods I use involve the entire group of participants. One idea that I am considering is to use break out rooms, which are separate online learning areas for groups of 4 to 8 people. Normally the breakout rooms are for role play and various other group activities, but I thought to myself, why not use them for play sessions? One of the ideas I came up with was a word game activity (which will serve as the meaningful content / knowledge) that our trainees can do in the breakout rooms. From the Sparks book I decided to use anagrams. As they stated, “…the making of anagrams [involves] taking a word and seeing how many other words can be made from its letters…(262).” This same thought process can be applied to anagrammatic phrases and sentences.
To spur creativity I prefer to provide the trainees with examples of anagrams. Here are some examples of anagrammatic phrases I could use:
Jay Leno: Enjoy L.A.
The eyes = They see
Waitress = A stew, Sir?
Dormitory = Dirty Room
A Gentleman = Elegant Man
listen = silent
Clint Eastwood = Old West Action
Apple, Inc = Epic Plan
There are of course, thousands more, but here’s where the true learning takes place. The trainees will be responsible for creating anagrams or anagrammatic phrases based on words they use on the job or exclusively in workplace. After the breakout sessions the groups will return to the main training area and share anagrams and/or anagrammatic phrases along with the process they used to create them. The results of their work/play (or the creative understanding achieved) should translate into further ideas of play that can enhance their performance on the job.
Further down the line, I would like the trainers to engage in a similar activity in a train-the-trainer session. It would involve them creating an ambigram for one of their upcoming training sessions. To spur creativity for this set of training I would share the following visual example:
Ultimately however, I would like to create a ambigram of my own. Since I am a firm believer in the “learning by doing” philosophy, this is an excellent way for me to experience the learning activity first hand. Likewise personal engagment is a big part of understanding the interdisciplinary application(s) involved in this new process.
References:
Princess Bride image. Retrieved from http://www.ambigram.com/most-famous-ambigrams
Anagrams. Retrieved from http://www.anagramsite.com/
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