Energize educational engagement
Portland Metro Fire Camp, a three-day event held twice every summer, introduces young women ages 16 to 22 to firefighting activities. The Portland, Oregon, camp gives attendees hands-on experience with vehicle extraction, hose handling, chainsaw operation, and search and rescue operations, with a focus on boosting confidence, leadership skills and teamwork.
Portland Metro Fire Camp uses microlearning to connect
Fire Camp puts microlearning, one of 2024’s top adult learning trends, at its core. Fire Camp planners break firefighting into a series of smaller modules. Using this training method, learners obtain firefighting skills in small, digestible bites.
Use of microlearning is spreading far beyond Fire Camp. Google®, Cisco® and Walmart® are among the companies using microlearning. Key to this method’s popularity: Microlearning sessions are short, sometimes taking as little as one minute. Lessons can be delivered with video, audio, graphics, quizzes and more. Microlearning’s efficiency helps overcome the top reason companies say they don’t invest in continued employee training: lack of time.
Throughout the three-day Fire Camp event, campers learn a series of firefighting techniques. Interspersed are lessons on nutrition, physical fitness, interview skills and more. Each accomplishment builds on the others. “It’s just the most amazing camp,” said Julie Baggs, Portland Fire and Rescue administrative specialist. “The energy is just phenomenal.”
The camp is run by women firefighters, and in all, about 100 campers take part every summer. Organizers reach out to the area’s underrepresented communities and visit high schools to connect with girls who could benefit from the mentorship and peer support the camp provides.
At an end-of-camp graduation ceremony, participants receive a gift bag. Last summer, organizers chose an adhesive notes book to tuck inside. Most participants are students who can use the adhesive flags and notes when studying. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason for selecting this gift. “With having the logo on the front, I thought every time they looked at that book, they would remember the amazing things they accomplished at that fire camp,” Baggs said.
Incorporating trivia gamifies learning
Island Transit takes a different approach to adult learning. A public transit agency in Island County, Washington, it has up to 32 buses on the road at a time and serves an area with a population of about 80,000 people.
Tony Sanseri, Island Transit outreach coordinator, said their priorities include teaching people how to use their services and how to do so safely. They regularly give presentations, hand out printed materials and run a travel training program. Island Transit takes it one step further by gamifying learning.
The program is designed for people hesitant to take the bus for a variety of reasons, including language barriers and disabilities. To ease their concerns and demonstrate safe behavior, Island Transit employees explain things step-by-step during ride-along events. “Oftentimes when there’s a group involved, during our trip we’ll do some trivia,” Sanseri said.
When an organization such as Island Transit incorporates trivia or other games into training and learning, it’s using gamification as a learning method. This approach, another of 2024’s top adult learning trends, brings game-like features, including problem-solving, storytelling and rewards, to learning. Gamification may feature friendly competition among teams or individuals, increasing social interaction and teamwork. When organizations gamify learning, they may also award badges, celebrate achievements, and post leaderboards, levels or progress bars. One study found employees see a 48% increase in engagement with help from gamification.
At Island Transit, the games add an element of enjoyment to the Ride with a Guide program. “We’ll also do some other games that have an educational aspect to it so they’re learning something while also having some fun,” Sanseri said. With safety being a major priority for Island Transit, the team works to supply reflective vests, flashlights, blinking lights and other items to riders at outreach events. Drivers also keep a supply handy, helping teach riders how to make themselves seen after dark.
Reflective Core Vest
On-trend lessons are lessons learned
When it comes to adult learning, hours-long lectures and marathon online modules are waning in both popularity and effectiveness. Short bursts of information, engaging interactive activities and fun have rushed to the scene, changing the tempo and delivery of adult learning. As Island Transit and Portland Metro Fire Camp experiences show, microlearning and gamification can be useful training approaches, helping save time and increase the effectiveness of learning.
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