At any given meeting, brainstorming session, information de-brief, etc., you'll find at least one LearningWare employee kneading Play-Doh (if not sculpting something similar to the dragon/dinosaur/ambiguous creature seen here).
Some visiting our office have asked about the Play-Doh, wondering if it wasn't more of a distraction than an aid. It's a fair point that can be asked of providing trainees with any sort of kinesthetic plaything in a training session. Some presenters are uncomfortable without the eye-contact-attention of their audience.
However, most trainers know that learners don't all learn the same way. The very basic learning styles can be broken down into auditory, kinesthetic, and visual. Auditory learners need to hear the information spoken. Kinesthetic learners need to touch and feel and move while learning. Visual learners need to see the information presented (or read it) in order to learn.
It makes sense, then, that a company dedicated to engaging the three types of learners with game show software would have Play-Doh on their conference table. Our founder, Dan Yaman, was one of those students who just couldn't learn in a traditional way. School was frustrating, but things like games (spelling bees, etc.) were fun. Thus, Gameshow Pro was born. It engages learners in auditory, visual and kinesthetic realms.
What are some other ways to engage kinesthetic learners?
- Have hands-on demonstrations of new products
- Have students engage in activities that get them moving around the room
- Incorporate frequent breaks
- Use toys (like Play-Doh) on the tables for students to interact with (in a non-distracting way)
- Make sure there are places to take notes (some people need the action of writing notes, even if they never refer to them)
- Game shows, of course!
- Encourage activities that require physical manipulation (i.e. word-match reviews, assembling a plan-o-gram from cutouts, etc.)
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