The 5 Secrets to Designing Powerful Online Experiential Learning

Have you ever been to a camp or a retreat (read: adult camp) where you tried something new that led you to one of those Aha! moments? 

A sudden realization about something about yourself. 

A new insight about what is possible. 

Perhaps you were walking on a tight rope course or performing in your first improv theatre class.

It’s called experiential learning. By experiential learning, I’m referring to a facilitated group learning process where you have an experience, you reflect on what you do, and then you apply what you learned to other aspects of your life.

I have been in the field of facilitation and experiential learning for 15 years and I have seen how it can lead to profound moments of clarity for people.

The secret to powerful experiential learning always seemed to be that you were in-person. Breathing the same air. Sharing in those intense moments of break-through with high-fives and hugs. Or so I thought. 

We know now that we can do a lot more than we thought on Zoom. But what about experiential learning? How exactly does an Aha! moment work in front of a computer screen?

Over the last few months, I've been experimenting with online experiential workshops. I've been a participant and a facilitator.  I discovered that you do not have to be in person. The real secret to online experiential learning is in designing a well-facilitated experience that ignites the imagination, engages all of the senses, and builds group connection. There are surprising ways to do this online.

I do, and I understand

Experiential learning has been around since the dawn of ages. Chinese philosopher Confucious may have been the first to put it in writing in the 4th Century BC with these words:

I hear and I forget

I see and I remember

I do, and I understand

These days experiential education is often associated with outdoor education. Think Outward Bound. A boundary-pushing experience in nature that shifts your understanding about what you are capable of. The one where you say - “I didn’t think I could climb that mountain. If I can climb that mountain, then what else is possible?”

I have also seen experiential learning applied in a range of other settings. For 10 years, I worked with the global experts in arts-based experiential learning, Partners for Youth Empowerment (PYE). Their programs invite people to learn experientially through the arts. If you didn’t think you could climb that mountain, I bet you never thought you could write and perform a poem with a group of people you met that same day. 

To Brazil and back 

So what does experiential learning look like online? I had to see for myself. One month into COVID lockdown, and desperate for contact with the outside world, I signed up for a PYE dance and movement workshop led by Brazilian facilitator Silvia Giovannoni. I had experienced Silvia’s workshops in-person. She is one of the best movement facilitators I know. But I was having a hard time imagining what it would be like online.

I logged into Zoom. As soon as I heard the sounds of Gilberto Gil coming through my computer speakers, I felt the stiffness of several weeks of lock-down in my body melt away. I saw Silvia’s bright smile and felt the warmth of the Brazilian sun. I was imagining that we were on a Brazilian beach. I could feel the sand between my toes. I could hear the waves lapping up on the beach. I felt relaxed and free. 

Silvia led us through a guided visualization, breathing exercises, and stretches. She used movement to expand our perception of space. I was in my tiny home office, but I felt like I was in a wide and open space. 

What surprised me about Silvia’s workshop was that I had many of the same take-aways as I have had through in-person experiential learning. 

What was my breakthrough? I had just left my job of 10 years. In the workshop, I realized that movement was a metaphor for making space for new interests. I decided to take an online writing course, and started to develop my writing. It was an itch that I had had for years, but never scratched. Writing has now become a daily ritual. (Thank you Silvia!).

The 5 Secrets to Experiential Learning Online 

I noticed that there were some key things that Silvia and the PYE team did that recreated the power of learning experientially online. Here are the 5 secrets: 

Engage the Imagination. 

Your imagination can take you to the most far-flung magical places without even getting out of your chair. Silvia had us imagine that we were flowers looking for sunlight, starfish stretching out into the sea. For an online experiential learning to work, engaging the imagination is vital to our ability to see new possibilities.

Facilitate the experience. 

The key to any successful experiential learning experience is that it is well facilitated. A skilled facilitator sets up a safe environment for taking risks, moving people outside of their comfort zone into their learning zone. That's where the Aha! moments happen. Silvia guided the group and asked questions that helped us to reflect on the experience. Facilitation transformed the session from a movement class into an engaging learning experience. 

Create a multisensory experience. 

Experiential learning works best when it engages the mind, body, and feelings. This is how we humans learn. Silvia’s session started with movement. She frequently asked us to notice how we were feeling. When you create a multi-sensory experience you open many more access points for learning. 

Foster group connection. 

Powerful experiential learning is a shared learning experience. That is why it works so well in-person. But there are also many ways to foster group connection online. Silvia started the session by asking us to take deep breaths together, as if she was tuning us into a shared group frequency.  Then she invited us to walk and together to music. We shared our reflections in small groups. Through connection and conversation with others you are better able to reflect and learn from the experience. 

Follow the arc.

Like a good story, powerful experiential learning experiences follow an arc. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Silvia’s session followed this design. She started with a warm up and techniques to bring people into the learning space. Then she led us through experiential movement activities. We reflected on the experience to gain the insights. She ended the session with a closing and check out. The learning arc increases the chances that participants will fully engage and get all of the benefits from the experience.

More experiential learning, more Ahas!

The real secret to online experiential learning is in designing a well-facilitated experience that ignites the imagination, engages all of the senses, and builds group connection. As we rethink the way we teach and learn online we have an opportunity to get the benefits of experiential learning to more people. Let that be our collective Aha! 

How do you do experiential learning online? I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email at gwyn@gwynwansbrough.com. Join me on my quest to learn more about how facilitation skills can transform your sessions, online and in person. Sign up for my monthly newsletter here:

Gwyn Wansbrough is a Creative Facilitator based in Barcelona, Spain. She works with people and organizations globally to create dynamic and empowering learning experiences. She writes about facilitation, creativity, and learning. Visit www.gwynwansbrough.com.

Special thanks to Michaele Robertson, Barry Wansbrough, Lux Narayan, and Jen Vermet for their feedback on this article.