Step 8. Determine Follow-up Activities for the Event

Without follow-up, the benefits of training may be quickly forgotten or never used. Follow-up activities provide the continued support and feedback necessary for the successful implementation of new ideas and practices. To be effective, follow-up activities should be planned as you develop your training design, and should include a range of opportunities for participants to reflect on both the content of what they learned during the training and the process of implementation.
Follow-up strategies which to improve adoption of new training practices include:
• Newsletters and Web site postings;
• Peer observation and coaching, individuals observe one another performing a newly acquired skill, then meet to discuss and reflect on observations;
• Mentoring, in which individuals receive on-site, personal support and technical assistance from someone with experience in the method being learned;
• Study groups, in which individuals meet regularly to support one another during the implementation of a new idea or practice;
• Booster sessions, where training participants are brought together two to three months after the training event to reinforce knowledge and skills acquired during the training; and
• Ongoing communication between participants and trainers via phone or email.
Keep in mind that some follow-up activities require more resources than others, but may increase the likelihood of significant learning occuring.

Professional development includes a broad spectrum of ongoing activities designed to enhance the subject knowledge, essential skills, and attitudes of educators so that they might, in turn, improve the learning of others. Training events can be effective ways to share ideas and information with large groups of educators, particularly when supplemented by well thought out follow-up activities. However, the success of these events depends on a well-developed and executed training design.

[tags] training evaluation, training design [/tags]

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