ACTIVE REVIEWING TIPS
for Dynamic Experiential Learning

Active Reviewing Tips 1.3   Reviewing Without a Flipchart From the editor: LEARNING CURVES Reviewing Tip: GET MOVING Special Feature: FLIPCHART FREE REVIEWING Site News: EVALUATION FORMS etc. Other Web Sites Other Ezines

A C T I V E . R E V I E W I N G . T I P S ~~~~~~ Volume 1 Issue 3   Welcome to Volume 1 Issue 3 of ...   ~~~~~~ A C T I V E . R E V I E W I N G . T I P S   ~~~~~~ the free monthly ezine linked to the web-based   ~~~~~~ 'GUIDE TO ACTIVE REVIEWING AND DEBRIEFING'   CONTENTS (TOP) ~~~~~~ From the editor ~~~~~~   L E A R N I N G . C U R V E S   The style, frequency and content of this newsletter has yet to *settle down*. The main feature of this issue (Flipchart Free Reviewing) is about habits that may have become *too settled*. There's a time for settling down. There's a time for moving on. John Dewey considered the balance between these two forces to be a vital dynamic in experiential learning.   My learning curves for both ezine production and web publishing is still at the 'steep' stage (hopefully in an upwards direction!). The steep bits of the learning curve are often the most enjoyable. As they level out, the rewards are satisfaction and achievement, but the new danger is complacency.   I have a long way to go before I get complacent about ezine publishing! - which is why you will see requests for feedback, comments and ideas throughout this one.   I am now aiming to produce a monthly issue that will contain a similar 'balance' of content to this one i.e. something provocative to 'unsettle', something helpful to try out, and a mixture of news about my own site with news and links to related sites on the web. Reader response will influence how this works out!   CONTENTS (TOP) ~~~~~~ Reviewing Tip ~~~~~~ G E T . M O V I N G   Have you noticed how learners always park themselves in the same place, in the same seat with the same neighbours? This is probably (though not necessarily) a case of being 'too settled'. PHYSICAL movement asists MENTAL movement. By changing place, position, review partner, posture etc. we become less fixed in our postions and more receptive to changing our minds, trying out new ideas and behaviour etc.   That's the general principle. There must be an infinite number of applications. One of my favourites is 'Positions'...   Lay out a rope or indicate an imaginary line on the floor/ground. Each end of the rope/line represents opposite positions on the topic under discussion. This could be views about moral issues, or views about how well the group is performing, or views about a decision that the group is trying to make.   People then place themselves on the line where to represent where they 'stand' on the issue. This is the start of the process and not the finishing point. In the space of a few seconds everyone has 'expressed' a view. • If the purpose is to stimulate group discussion then using a C-shaped line works better than a straight line - because in a C-shape everyone can see each other. • If the purpose is to help individuals to find someone else in the group who might support and clarify their views on the issue, then use a straight line. Ask people to discuss the issue with their closest neighbours. • If the purpose is to encourage movement (physically and mentally) then choose a suitable time frame (including past, present and future) and ask people to show how (if at all) their position on this issue is moving. (Try this variation one person at a time.)   Once you get moving, learners may well come up with ideas and variations for developing 'Positions'.   CONTENTS (TOP) ~~~~~~ A Special Feature for Flipchart Users ~~~~~~ ' F L I P C H A R T - F R E E ' . R E V I E W I N G   Do you use a flip-chart as a reviewing aid? Do you over-use your flip-chart? What alternatives do you use?   A collective answer to these questions might simply be that the more reviewing methods you know and use, the less dependent you will be on any one particular method or resource (such as a flipchart).   An evaluation of your good and bad flipchart habits may help to wean you away from the trainer's 'comfort zone' beside the easel. Ask yourself - or a colleague, or participants - 'What is Plus, Minus and Interesting about how I use the flipchart as a reviewing aid?'   Such an evaluation could lead in any direction. It might lead you towards investing in the latest high technology visual aids. Or it might lead you 'back to basics' - to low technology (or no technology) communication methods.   A huge variety of communication methods are potentially useful reviewing tools. What matters most is that you choose tools that will help the people you are working with to reflect, express, communicate, analyse, imagine and plan (processes that are found in most learning cycles). Yes, these processes can all be aided by a flipchart - but is the flipchart chosen for the trainer's convenience or is it chosen to optimise reviewing opportunities for participants?   [The above notes come from a longer (and more balanced!) article about flipcharts that will be appearing on my web site (to be announced in this ezine). If you have any thoughts on the subject, please write in.]   CONTENTS (TOP) ~~~~~~ Site News ~~~~~~ • Short-term and long-term EVALUATION FORMS have been added to the evaluation section. If you have attended a Reviewing Skills Training course, please fill one in. If not, take a look if you want to see a clear and simple one page forms that provide useful learning for learners and providers alike. Start at: http://reviewing.co.uk/evaluation/evalform.htm   • My website has several 'promises' about features and content that are going to appear 'soon'. I was asked the other day about when the 'interactive tutorial' was going to appear. If you are patiently waiting for a 'promise' or a 'coming soon' announcement to be fulfilled, write in - it might happen sooner! It will be announced here.   • I have just posed for my first digital photograph. The technology is unbelievable. The face is ... well, mine. The 'Online Guide to Active Reviewing' now has a human face! CONTENTS (TOP) ~~~~~~ Other Web Sites/Pages about Reviewing ~~~~~~   I have several 'learning links' to other websites on this page: http://reviewing.co.uk/_links.htm, but only a few are specific to 'reviewing' or 'debriefing'. Here they are ...   Scott Arbuthnot's 'Debriefing Delivers' (article) (web link no longer works)   WooHoo's 'Top 10 Principles of an Effective Debrief' (article) http://www.woohoou.com/   eXperientia's site [now at Tarrak] includes descriptions of debriefing techniques http://www.tarrak.com   Sue Annis Hammond's 'What is Appreciative Inquiry?' (article) http://www.qut.edu.au/admin/smdp/wil/sess_4_hammond.html [URL may have changed]   Gervase Bushe's 'Appreciative Inquiry with Teams' (article) . http://www.gervasebushe.ca   [If you know of any other pages or sites about reviewing or debriefing to add to the list above, let me know and I will add them in.] CONTENTS (TOP) ~~~~~~ Other Ezines ~~~~~~   The *other* free monthly ezine associated with this site is: ===> SiteFinder: The Experiential Education Directory Ezine ===> which you can sign up for at: <http://reviewing.co.uk/index.htm#ez2> It carries news and views about other sites   [I am interested in finding other ezines that cover similar or related subjects. Perhaps you are too? If you know of any, let me know and I'll list them here.]