Job Aid LOLA

LOLAs are live online learning activities incorporated in a virtual training session. Here are some characteristics of effective LOLAs:

• LOLAs require the participants to actively process, recall, evaluate, and apply the content presented to them in the training session.
• LOLAs can be inserted in the beginning, middle, or end of a virtual training session.
• A single LOLA can be used to add interactivity to the entire virtual session. Alternatively, several short LOLAs can be inserted at different places in a virtual training session.

Job Aid LOLA

This type of LOLA provides the participants with a job aid (such as a checklist, decision table, or flowchart) and require them to perform a specific task. In a typical Job Aid LOLA, different participants master different segments of the job aid and share what they learned with the other members of the team.

Magic Squares

This job aid LOLA enables the participants to create hundreds of 5 x 5 magic squares each with 25 different numbers. In a perfect magic square, the numbers in all columns, rows, and diagonals add up to the same total. The facilitator distributes a flowchart, and a checklist for making magic squares. The facilitator asks the participants to independently learn to make a magic square by using these job aids. Later, 3 to 5 participants are sent to different breakout rooms and asked to collaboratively create additional magic squares.

Instead of training how to perform a task, we can create a suitable job aid and use a LOLA to train the participants to perform the task.