Learning Circles

Owned by Jennifer Koerber (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jul 13, 2018
3 min read

Peer Learning and Alma Training

During the Alma training program, we encouraged staff to support each other as training buddies and in learning circles (circles of practice), finding informal opportunities to use the Alma system and teach each other as part of your learning.

 

Alma Learning Circles

As you transition from active hands-on training to working in Alma, we continue to suggest coming together in learning circles to practice Alma workflows and techniques in Alma with a group, outside of formal training sessions. These learning circles can be made up of colleagues who work in different roles in the same unit, or in the same roles across different units - whichever makes more sense for the topics you want to discuss.

 

Tips for Successful Peer Learning

Working in a group can help with learning new skills in several ways:

  • Helps with motivation and stick-to-it-ness
  • Provides the opportunity for discussion and asking questions, which help new ideas ‘set’
  • Can make learning more fun (which also helps with motivation and completion)
  • Creates a pool of people with the same skills, the better to answer each other’s and patron questions
  • Helps people with knowledge feel more confident as they explain concepts to colleagues

Learning with and from your peers can be simple, but there are a few guidelines that can help make it more effective:

  • Don’t argue about what’s “right” – learn new ways of doing something
  • If you know how to do it, let someone else try before you volunteer
  • Let the least confident person drive (push the buttons)
  • Go slowly so everyone can follow
  • If no one knows how to do it, take steps to figure it out
  • Everyone can read a screen => everyone can contribute
  • Ask a volunteer to take notes - especially of any "oh, wow!" moments - for reference and passing on to other buddy pairs/groups

Remember, the goal is to learn while you try, not get it right quickly and move on.

 

For Supervisors – Organizing Small Group Learning

If you’d like to include small group learning as part of a staff meeting or as its own activity, here are a few guidelines to follow:

  1. Create questions to answer or tasks to do ahead of time, and practice them yourself so you know how long they take to complete and that they can be done at all.
  2. Make sure to schedule the learning for off-desk hours and/or in a separate place, so no one is distracted by public service needs.
  3. Randomize the groups, if possible. Encourage people to interact with folks they don’t know as well. This expands the knowledge map.
  4. Get people moving – set up stations around the room and have folks move to the next question/task.
  5. Explain the peer learning guidelines above.
  6. Monitor conversations and be present to offer clarification, but don’t help. Keep moving from group to group.
  7. Bring everyone back together to share experiences at the end. Don’t ask for answers to the questions – the point of the activity is the process of learning and the interactions between peers.

 

Articles on Learning Circles

Learning Communities | Circles of Practice | Learning Circles, Help4Nonprofits - good overview of what Learning Circles are and how to run one

Running Learning Circles (PDF), a chapter in Peer2Peer University's learning circle facilitator handbook (also available online). Also see the weekly "recipe cards," on pages 29-32

WebJunction webinar on learning circles at public libraries, tips are useful for learning circles