Learning Experience = Restaurant

Imagine this, you’re excited to go to a new restaurant. There is easy parking for your car. You’re greeted warmly at the door and the host makes sure you get a nice table. The ambience, decor and even the cutlery is pretty impressive. You order based on the host’s recommendation and the food and drinks are out of this world. The evening is over way too soon and you can’t wait to go back again.

Now imagine the same restaurant where the food is still out of the world but the host is rude or the ambience wasn’t as nice. Would you go back there again? Probably not. Food might be central to your restaurant experience but there are other factors at play.

A learning experience is like a restaurant. While your time with the facilitator is central to the experience, there are many other factors at play -

1/ Space

In a restaurant
There are some restaurants immediately make you feel comfortable, while others can make you feel completely out of place.

In a learning experience
Physical and digital classroom like Zoom and Google Meet have a affect on the learning experience.

2/ Community

In a restaurant
From the host to the chef, people are the pillars of your experience at a restaurant.

In a learning experience
For learning, your peers, facilitators, even administrators play that role.

3/ Tools

In a restaurant
Your cutlery, glasses - everything that helps you eat and enjoy the food (Sometimes that even includes the doggy bag)

In a learning experience
Books, workbooks, presentations, videos, chat - everything that helps you learn during the session and also helps you recall after the session

4/ Culture

In a restaurant
We’ve all been to restaurants who will make you feel like they’re doing you a favour by giving you a glass of water. While others will go out of their way to make you feel comfortable.

In a learning experience
Your relationship with your facilitator, your peers, how you interact with them, what’s okay and not is determined a lot by the classroom culture.

5/ Usability

In a restaurant
The ease of finding parking at a restaurant, whether you’re able to have a conversation without shouting, if you’re able to understand the names of the dishes on the menu - the devil lies in the details.

In a learning experience
Legibility of the presentation, clarity in the voice of the instructor, the ease of using a workbook - might seem like small things but have a huge role to play.