Official Review: Involve Me by Chris Bramley

sybil1reader · Post by **sybil1reader** » 19 Mar 2014, 19:51

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Involve Me" by Chris Bramley.]

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This manual targets educators and trainers, but I believe that the concepts presented can be used in other learning situations as well. Mr. Bramley is a member of the IT community and is a trainer for students in that field. You know the training that I mean—three or four days of company paid training with lunch that you grit your teeth and bear so that you can have a break from work.

Each chapter is preceded by a bit of wisdom and I particularly like what Confucius had to say before Chapter One: “Tell me and I will forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I will understand.” The author took this concept and built his training program around it. As he gained more experience he came to the conclusion that students grasp and retain information at a much higher rate if they do the work themselves while the instructor guides and explains. I believe this to be true because I can remember being bored so many times by someone simply reading a Power Point presentation line by line when I could do that for myself. Show me how to do something so that I can engage, remember, and leave class feeling proud that I learned something. Give me an instructor who cares what I learn rather than one who just wants to get the class over with and get on to the next one.

Mr. Bramley suggests that the class be as fun as possible. Every subject will not interest everyone, but the way the instructor delivers and presents the material can make the difference between boring tolerance and active stimulation for the students. There are several ways to make the training different and informal and I will summarize them. Encourage questions at any time during the course to help break the monotony and provide learning experiences for both the students and the instructor. A flexible curriculum can help the class slow down or speed up depending on the student’s level of experience. The important thing is to make the learning experience comfortable for all. Start the class late enough in the day to avoid the stress of traffic and take many breaks to avoid losing focus. The mind needs a break so cleanse the mental palate by talking about something off subject or by watching a humorous video clip. Avoid trying to cram lots of information to finish the course because students can only retain so much in a given amount of time. Take the time to repeat points often and give the students a chance to put these points into action while working at their own pace. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing passion shine in someone’s eyes when the light bulb suddenly comes on!

No one knows everything so it is perfectly fine to admit that as the instructor you do not know everything. Take it as a learning experience and try to solve the problem right then if possible. Learning should flow back and forth with respect between the teacher and the students. Keeping this in mind, class must be maintained in an orderly fashion because each person deserves a stress free learning environment.

I cannot count the number of times that I left class without learning a thing. So many instructors can take the advice of this little manual. Companies will get what they pay for and employees can return to the office with so much to share. Since the author used his IT classes as examples, there were some terms that I did not understand, but I just took them for what they were—examples. The manual is well written, but I do admit that I had to run to the dictionary to understand some of the non-IT terms, but again, the focus is on educators. If you teach any kind of class, or if you just want some ideas on how to teach your children, grab this book. I give it a 4 out of 4.

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