I've been tasked to submit a wish list for some new training room (or rooms) that my company are building. They will be built in a completely new building so I have the chance to influence the layout and contents of the room(s). So things like the layout of the room(s), size of the room, desk layout, audio visual equipment, even down to the color of the walls.
The majority of the training that will take place in there will be on either software or on mechanical equipment that will be no more than 6 feet tall by 4 feet wide. The average class size is 12 to 14 but occasionally we do get up to 20.
The students could be from just about any country in the world, but recently we have been receiving a lot of students from China and Muslim countries.
So any ideas regarding best practice, what you guys have seen that you think would be good in a training room, what have you used yourself as trainers that you found to be very beneficial, any cultural needs that you think are important for students from different parts of the world.
Thanks in advance.
nick johnson
6 Responses
Training rooms
Nick
Some ideas on training rooms at https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=149156&d=680&h=608&f=626&dateformat=%25e-%25h-%25y
Graham
Building design
Hi Nick
The original post in the earlier answer has lots about equipment etc. Some other thoughts:-
If your main room is going to have IT or other equipment in it,and that is a permanent fixture, you might also need another room that just has tables and chairs so it can be used for other training. Also, if you have a lot of Muslim delegates and that is likely to continue, have a break-out/quiet room that could also be used for prayers.
Somewhere where they can sit and relax whilst having coffee/lunch.
Hope this is food for thought
Sue
Conducsve to Learning
From a brain-based learning point of view I would consider the following factors:
·Temperature control
·Natural light (easier on the eye, helps brain define colours and form more easily)
·Fresh air to keep oxygen levels healthy
·Appropriate furniture to ensure comfort and ability to move it around
·Pleasing surroundings including plants
·Equipment to play music on (whenI used to train spreadsheets I always had baroque playing in the background)
·Good supply of materials such as pens, paper
·Water available in the room
Finally, I’ve always found it beneficial to have people (on a computer course) to be facing each other, tables in the middle of the room, with screens in two rows back to back, but positioned so that the person facing the screen has an oblique visual line to their right and left and can see the people sitting opposite them, as well as being able to see the people adjacent to them. This way they feel more connected to others in the room.
So many IT rooms have PCs around the edge and the user faces the wall all day, which can be isolating.
Oddball Training
http://www.oddball.co.uk
Thanks
Many thanks for the comments, all useful stuff.
Chairs and Power
Comfortable chairs that swivel – people will sit for a long time and these need to swivel to communicate with other learners.
Plenty of power points.
keeping people moving
Hello
It’s really helpful to get people moving to keep them energised and awake during any sort of training session – especially IT where they will have to spend some time glued to a computer. As well as planning the day so that people can physically move to other areas I love wheely chairs in training rooms as it’s so much easier for people to rearrange the space for themselves. This gives them a feeling of ownership of the space and tends to make them more open to learning.
We’ve got a number of articles about creating brain friendly environments that I’d be happy to share so drop me an email if you’d like one. [email protected]