If you know of a book which you think should be on this list, please email info@agileforall.com and let us know about it. We’d love to keep expanding our library. Keep in mind that we don’t add books without having read them ourselves first, so if you suggest something it may not show up here right away.
There are times in life when your world changes dramatically. One such moment for me occurred when I started reading the book "Training From the Back of the Room." I knew after just a few pages that my life as a professional trainer had been changed. The book helped me understand why some parts of my workshops worked really well and others seemed to drag. It helped me understand how my teaching style could be converted to be something much more dynamic and meaningful, without ME having to change a lot. I simply had to change HOW I did it - dramatically in some cases! My life was changed so dramatically I even created a blog entry about it.
This book gives a great background in instructional design using the 4 C's (connection, concept, concrete practice and confirmation), but it goes well beyond instructional design. The book is based on current scientific evidence as it relates to accelerated learning. It helps instructors understand how to help students learn better, not just faster. It provides great stories and great techniques for how to use some incredibly powerful concepts. I found myself totally mesmerized as I imagined what could be in my courses and workshops.
Of course, then reality hit. I actually restructured a workshop to use the techniques and was scared to death they wouldn't actually work. I almost talked myself out of using the new course and going back to death by PowerPoint. Instead I swallowed hard and went forward with a course which consisted of 32 slides over the course of 2.5 days - and enjoyed it immensely! It was the most fun I've ever had leading a class. Read more about my personal journey with the concepts from this book in the blog post cited above.
If you are looking for a book about how to teach people of all ages in a way which is dynamic, fun and actually helps them retain the knowledge then you MUST read this book!