By Joe Triccas, Product Manager, Neve 

I have played video games since I was 9. I’ve seen the technology shrink, the resolutions get crisper and the storylines cut deeper and reflect reality increasingly over time. 

As well as all this, the creators of these games have been watching us. Learning what keeps us at the screen. I am sure there is an exceptionally large financial reason behind this, although the insights this industry has made into the neurochemistry of learning is a genuine contribution to science. 

We now know that our brain will release chemicals that are both addictive and induce feelings of pleasure when we overcome a previously difficult challenge. However, the brain is not so simple as ‘I did challenge yay’! There is nuance to this. If a challenge had previously felt impossible, and then is suddenly trivially dispatched, the brain will doubt the external feedback – the success is uncanny, and the dopamine hit we are all so eager for is unlikely to be felt. 

There is a subtle art in ensuring challenges are set at the right level of difficulty. When applying this principle to learning, the goal of the teacher is to enable the learner to be able to credibly visualise a path of growth from who they are now into a version of themselves that can do the thing.  

It is the pursuit of this growth, and the environmental feedback giving evidence of improvement, that results in the almighty dopamine hit; leading to new habits and changed behaviour. 

One of the cornerstones of Neve as a learning platform is to enable learners to learn at their pace. This is not just simply an intellectual pace, but also should respect the lifestyle of the learner. Not everyone likes to get up early and read a lengthy article – some like to watch a video instead or listen to a podcast on a run. Others have children and the only time is on the drive back from the school run. We are building Neve in a manner that enables each individual nugget of knowledge to be input into the learners’ brains in the way that suits them.  

We are applying the principles of gamification to bring learners back to Neve. Each step on the pathway brings them closer to the version of them that knows what they need to know and will be a challenge for them to overcome. 
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A long-term goal of Neve is for learners to become lifelong learners. ​

If you'd like to know more about Joe Triccas you can go to his Linkedin profile by clicking on his name. Find out more about our learning platform here. 

Our new learning platform, Neve, is designed to make learning fit for everyone. In our latest 3@3 our Inclusion and Engagement Consultant, Lynn Pilkington, chats to one of the biggest champions of inclusive learning, Pete Trainor.  
 
Pete is an author, designer, technologist, mental health campaigner and innovation and inclusion consultant, and was diagnosed with Dyslexia in his 20s.
 
Lynn asks Pete about his experience of professional learning and development, how Dyslexia has impacted that, and about the better outcomes that come from zigging when you are meant to zag. 
 
Pete also shares his top tips to make work, learning and development more inclusive for neurodivergent people.
 
It's an episode full of brilliant insights and lessons and well worth a watch.
 
You can find out more about Pete on LInkedin - just click on his name. You can learn more about our inclusive learning platform, Neve, here.
 
Enjoy!  

​Online training is a tough gig. 

Ask anyone delivering training since March 2020 about their experiences and you’ll probably see them shiver. There are the haunting memories of the no-shows, the lost links, the dead air and the empty chats.  

Gone are the days when you would come back to the office and offload, reflect with peers and de-personalise the situation. We press ‘End for all’ on the meeting and we are left to ruminate on everything that could have gone better. 

That said, I’m a natural chatter, performer and creative person, with a decade of experience in inclusion and community. I quickly realised in 2020 this was a recipe for entertaining and engaging online training.  

I sometimes thrive delivering online training sessions. I adore the buzz after stimulating online debate and learning and hearing how people have felt energized and informed. 

Honing my online delivery style has taken time and a lot of work and reflection. It’s fair to say that I have had a lot of ‘flops’.  

Here are my lessons on how not to deliver online learning: 

1. Don’t keep the original lesson plan and just ‘do it remotely’. 

Online training delivery is a Whole New Thing.  

Your timings, activities and energisers need rethinking. Which I know is a lot of work.  

Cut down your ‘live time’ by at least half and get creative about what learning outcomes can be done before or after the session.  

Avoiding that 4pm-screen-fatigue is worth it. 

A guide to remote facilitation and online meetings by Lesson Lab explains what remote facilitation is, why it’s an important skill, and guide you through the process of designing your sessions. 

If you are looking for guidance on virtual workshops, I always check in with these best practises.  

2. Don’t presume everyone has a home office. 

As some who used to live in a one-bedroom-flat with no garden access and some challenging neighbours, I really struggled to engage as a participant in learning during the start of COVID. I literally did not have a safe space to be focused and engaged for a long time.  

Everyone has different home circumstances. This cannot be stressed enough. 

Allow people to approach you and share anything that you should be aware of as a trainer. Their engagement might be different than you planned, but honouring these experiences is really valuable. 

3. Don’t send the link once.  

People will lose your link, archive it, join a different session… just generally not be in the room when you need them to be. 

Send the link at least three times, including in a calendar invite, and in bold – and try to have someone on hand to send it at the start of the session. 

4. Don’t correlate cameras on with being engaged. 

This is a hotly debated topic, worth many thought-pieces in itself.  

I love seeing people’s faces – their laughter, their quiz answers and their facial responses. 

This does not need to be the full experience. 

Let people know in advance what sorts of things cameras will be needed for – but this may not be for the duration of your full time together. Videos, reflection activities, reading and self-directed work allow much-needed time away from the demands of live-screen-engagement.  

5. Don’t feel the need to learn every online tool. 

Learn the ones you like and are comfortable with and stick to them. 

I’m guilty of being distracted by the newest and shiniest poll-ing/quizzing/collaboration tool. This often leaves me with many unused free trials that do not help me deliver on the learning outcomes I am meant to be focusing on. 

If it works, it works. 

(If you are looking for some top online tools, here is an overview of 34 free ones. )

The demands on online trainers have been mighty. 

I know it’s a challenge, especially when you need to take care of yourself. 

My heart sings when I’m teaching. I’d say most of us love to connect with others and share our knowledge and experience. 

It’s rewarding when you get it… I’m not going to say ‘right’. I’ll say, ‘a wee bit better than exhausting’. 

I’m still not there yet myself.  

Let’s have a ‘training flop amnesty’. 

Our learners, and all those involved in the learning community, need to work together to make sure we envision a more energized and engaged world of learning.  

Lynn Pilkington is a Engagement and Inclusion Consultant at This is Milk and Neve. You can find her on Linkedin by clicking on her name. 

Find out more our new learning platform, Neve,  and how we're we're making training more effective and inclusive here.