In the virtual self-paced education world, it’s often assumed that since content is recorded, the only way to learn it is to listen to it. Further, everyone will learn the same thing and walk away with the same meaning. In live teaching sessions, it’s assumed that no questions at the end of an explanation ensures that everyone understands and has made the same meaning of the content. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

Listening is a cognitive activity, and the meaning we ascribe to what we’ve listened to is dependent upon two factors. The first factor is our listening filter, which unconsciously selects which words we process. The second factor is our long-term memories, which we have to access to make meaning of new stimuli. That’s why five people can attend the same meeting and walk away with different ideas of what was discussed and agreed upon.

The larger question then, is how do we create shared meaning in an educational space to increase the probability that participants are walking away with shared meaning?

In this session, we’ll explore these dominant listening habits and learn various strategies to confirm that learners are walking away with the meaning we want them to have. The session will cover three practices you can put into play immediately to make a difference. So, whether you’re teaching face to face, virtually or through recordings, you’ll move closer to that hallmark of communication, Shared Meaning.

Learning Objectives

In this session, you will:

• Describe how dominant listening habits and long-term memory create a learner’s new meaning.
• Learn various strategies to help your participants create more accurate meaning.
• Select two or more strategies to incorporate into your design to increase correct comprehension.