I love cycling and cycle regularly. But I didn’t learn cycling properly until I was a graduate student. Thinking back, I tried to ride my bicycle as a child but always relied on an adult to steady the bike as I pedaled nervously. In short, I was not an independent cyclist.
In the summer of 2006, my first one in Canada, as a broke international student, it felt like a good idea to buy a secondhand bicycle to get around the city. The only problem was that I still could not ride a bike without help. It was time for a miracle! Luckily for me, access to knowledge had been transforming since my childhood attempts and I now had access to high-speed internet and knew how to search the depths of the internet.
I happened to find an article on a bicycle forum explaining, in great detail, how to safely start and stop a bicycle if you are a skittish cyclist. It took a few solitary tries in a parking lot on a weekend, but I was confidently riding within an hour. I still use the same method!
The internet has evolved quickly and so have ways of learning new things. Much of skills-based and knowledge-based learning now happens online, through tutorials and documentation more carefully planned and drafted than the cycling forums I haphazardly came across twenty years ago.
Self-paced tutorials and detailed documentation are incredibly powerful tools for learning new skills in the world of legal technology. Paired with hands-on workshops they can empower new users to feel confident in their knowledge of new tools and technology. Self-paced tutorials allow users to work through the material, at their own pace, as they get used to the technology. Many users, and I, like to refer back to the tutorials and documentation to solidify and expand on the new knowledge.
There are four key considerations when designing self-paced tutorials and documentation:
- Clear language: Hands-on workshops are real-time and allow the users to raise questions and clarify concepts. However, self-paced tutorials are often undertaken alone. To avoid confusion, it is important that the language is clear, crisp and engaging.
- Bite-sized chunks: Shorter videos and articles work better than really long ones as they allow the users to absorb new information in short bursts. Lengthier tutorials and articles benefit from a chapter format that allows the information to be broken down into smaller chunks.
- Variety of formats: It helps to have the same information presented in various formats. For example, use of short videos, case studies, technical documentation and flowcharts can be used together to engage different learning styles.
- Test the knowledge: Finally, it helps if the users can test their knowledge. Recent studies have shown that one of the best ways to retain new information is when you are asked to recall newly learnt concepts or apply them to a problem. The process of answering a question or applying new knowledge helps with the stickiness of the information. Consider creating a fun quiz or hands-on challenge for the users to apply their new knowledge.
Eventually, that summer, I started cycling with some friends on weekends to various local parks for picnics. I also joined a bike co-op for a bit where I could borrow tools to fix my bike, eat free biscuits and chat about local cycling paths. That initial intense engagement helped with ensuring that I stuck with cycling long enough that it became part of my skill set. The picnic trips ensured that my brain associated cycling with fun instead of fear.
Legal teams often struggle to make time to learn new technology. They are often busy with their regular work and learning something new feels like a chore. But hands-on learning, in small groups, with encouraging instructors can be incredibly empowering.
Successful workshops have the following traits:
- Positive, encouraging instructors: Period! Learning something new should not feel like a PE lesson in pouring rain with a taskmaster of a coach. No one needs that. An open approach and relaxed demeanor go a long way in inviting learners to engage with the new material.
- Carefully created pairs or small groups: It helps to learn things together, perhaps with another person or in a small group. It is important to think ahead of time what these small groups would look like. The configuration may depend on the individual team, their unique strengths or preference.
- Engaging, moderately paced content: Like the porridge in the Goldilocks and the Three Bears' story the pace should not be too fast or too slow. The material should not be dull. It helps to deliver the workshop internally for feedback and seek comments from users to improve the content and/or the delivery.
- Key message: Think of the main takeaways that you want users to remember and stress them more than once.
There is no one golden approach to learning or teaching legal technology. A combination of hands-on workshops with self-paced tutorials and documentation would ensure that everyone in the group can find a way to make progress and learn new skills.
Stay tuned to find out how I learnt swimming by watching one YouTube video!
Get in touch with the Legal Operations team today to learn more about how to learn new technology
