Train The Trainers in Norwich

On Saturday the 9th of May 2015, a group of  around 20 amateur radio trainers from across England met in Norwich for a “Train The Trainers” session. This course followed a successful pilot earlier in the year, in Tamworth.

The event was hosted by the team from NARC, the Norfolk Amateur Radio Club, and was a free event as part of the RSGB’s commitment to support the UK’s volunteer network of amateur radio trainers.

The all-day session included several modules designed for those with no formal teaching experience, those new to training, and those looking to improve their training skills.

The first session was presented by Paul G4DCV, with some insights into ways to adapt training style to suit the audience – looking at the ways people learn and retain knowledge, and how amateur radio training can make use of techniques used by teaching professionals.

Next, was an interactive talk from Derek G7LFC looking at some alternatives to the “chalk and talk” style of presentation – rather that dryly reading out a set of Powerpoint slides, options such as Virtual Learning Environments, interactive learning using apps, and other ways to get the message across were explored. Some of our readers in Essex may be aware of a beta programme running locally that, by coincidence, makes use of some of these learning tools and techniques – watch this space!

After a module on effective lesson-planning, it was time to put some of the theory into practice, looking at some novel ways to present content from the Foundation syllabus.

Next, a look at ways to deliver successful practical sessions (required at Foundation and Intermediate levels), presented by David G0EVA

The course concluded with a Q&A session and some feedback, followed by the handing out of RSGB Train The Trainers certificates.

The two Essex attendees, Pete M0PSX and Peter G0DZB, are now proud holders of the TtT certificate. Steve 2E0UEH attended the Tamworth pilot course, meaning that both Steve and Pete M0PSX (the training leads on the South Essex ARS Foundation course) are now both “Train the Trainer” trained.

Personally, I felt this was a first-rate course, and is a must for anyone involved with amateur radio training. As tutors, we are probably all guilty of running training sessions “on autopilot” – sticking to an established slideset and routine. Having the opportunity to take a fresh look is a real thought-provoker – How do our students like to learn? Can we read the clues to confirm the class is understanding what we’re delivering? Does each session have a clear plan with measurable objectives? It’s all important stuff, and Train the Trainers is a well thought-out and digestible course designed specifically for amateur radio trainers .

Train The Trainers will be travelling around the UK, so keep an eye out in Radcom and on the RSGB site for upcoming dates – Next stop… Badsworth in Yorkshire.

Well done to Paul, Derek and David , for training the trainers, and to David G7URP and the team from the Norfolk Amateur Radio Club for hosting the event.

Pete M0PSX