There was a time we thought, learning works best by having the learner "Sit and listen!", luckily the world is changing and this is based on good reason.
In 2014 a study was conducted, that showed brain activity of 9 and 10-year-olds –half of whom engaged in aerobic exercise like running and playing, and half who sat quietly prior to writing a test. The result was that the active children performed far better! In fact, the scans showed a much higher increase in brain activity for the movers, than the learners who sat still. If you like to dive deeper in this amazing study, follow the link.
It might be that aerobic exercises are not your cup of tea, so let´s look at the different brain activities after just walking 20 minutes:
Amazing, isn't it?! Can you imagine, how a brain might look like after 2 hours sitting in a workshop, or even worse, in front of your computer participating in a web learning event?
In children’s education things have changed already a lot! For example, the 'Walking Classroom' and the Mega Math Marathon are projects that influenced how schools work nowadays. This Marathon had students answering math questions while running next to their desks, which resulted in a 50% improvement in test scores, compared to peers in a control group.
The funny thing is that adults think they can compensate for the lack of movement. We are so used to not walking and not jumping while working that we even think it is best like this. Conducting workshops, I found out that physical moving elements, such as jumping or clapping, is often met with with a kind of resistance from adult learners. Some participants mind the effort of getting up, while some feel even a bit embarrassed to move in front of their peers. But after the activity, I find the spirit is always better. The level of active participation rises and I always see more smiling faces!
In addition, some activities have extra benefit. Imagine you ask questions about a topic you just finished. You use closed questions to check if the content was understood. One way is to ask and wait for a participant to answer. Another way is to say: If you think yes, get up, if you think no, wave both hands and if you do not know, shake your head. In addition to the physical activity stimulating the brain, you will not only know that one participant understood the content, but you will get feedback from the whole group. This you can also do in Webinar sessions if you are able to use a camera.
Try it out! Your participants will be more energetic, more focused, engaged, and happy -
science says so.
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