Karl Kapp @ ATD ICE

I was able to attend the International Conference and Exposition in Orlando this year.  Tonight I spent some time viewing the recordings of sessions that I didn’t have the opportunity to attend and reviewing the sessions that I did attend.  I did take a few minutes to watch Karl Kapp’s Solving the Mystery of the Disengaged Learner.

I really enjoyed this session in person and it was fun when I watched it again tonight.  Kapp is one of the few presenters at the conference who actually practices what he preaches.  He made his session engaging.  He told the story of detectives solving a case on how to engage learners.  He was funny.  It was interactive in a big lecture hall.  He polled the audience via cellphone.  Asked the audience for input and allowed people to answer verbally if they preferred.  He didn’t rely on just one method to get people involved.  We all could choose the way in which we wanted to participate.

One of my favorite quotes from his presentation was; “Adults learn best when they have a need to learn.  Our job is to tell them they have a need to learn.”  A sense of urgency is important and perhaps something that I could incorporate more often into the training that I build.  Not everyone is as enthusiastic about learning for the sake of learning.

This was my favorite session at ICE this year.  I wish more presenters were like Karl Kapp and did apply theory to their sessions rather than just lecture about it.  It was fun and engaging and the one session that I learned the most from.  He said that he delivers this presentation at other conferences, so if you have the opportunity to hear him I wouldn’t miss it.