33 active learning activities and strategies for engaging learners

What is active learning?

Active learning is an educational approach that seeks to engage participants directly in the learning process. Rather than learning passively, like listening to a lecture, learners actively engage in their own learning, often through group discussions, games, role-play and more practical experiential activities.

As Charles Bonwell and James Eison noted in their 1991 report, active learning is all about getting learners to think about their own learning and do something other than simply listen and take in information.

I like to think of it this way: if passive learning is all about listening and watching others do things in order to learn, active learning is about learning by doing, critically reflecting on the learning process and discussing your thoughts with others.

This shift from passive to active engagement is crucial for creating more memorable learning experiences that are also easier for learners to retain.

Thinking about active learning in the context of the ICAP framework developed by Michelene Chi is also helpful for understanding the distinction. The ICAP framework categorizes learning activities based on the follow kinds of cognitive engagement:

• Interactive: Collaborative engagement with peers, leading to co-construction of knowledge.
• Constructive: Learners generate new ideas or understanding beyond the given information.
• Active: Direct manipulation or use of instructional materials.
• Passive: Receiving information without overt engagement.

According to Chi, deeper learning occurs as engagement moves from passive to active, constructive, and interactive modes. You’ll find the active learning activities below align with these kinds of engagement and are great for adding these elements to your lessons, training sessions and workshops.

Curious about the crossover between teaching, facilitation and active learning? Check out this guide on thinking of the teacher as a facilitator.

For more insight on learning theory, our collection of instructional design principles will help inform your design process.

Active learning strategies to encourage discussion

Keeping learners engaged and getting them to actively participate in discussions can be a challenge – especially if you’re dealing with a quiet group or a complex topic. The good news? The right techniques can transform passive learners into active participants simply by getting them to reflect and speak up.

These five active learning methods are designed to spark conversation, encourage deeper thinking, and get everyone involved. Whether you’re leading a classroom discussion, corporate training, or a workshop, these methods will help drive engagement and improve learning outcomes—without awkward silences!

See our post on how to improve your training skills for more insight into how to effectively set the stage for group discussions.

Think, Pair, Share (1-2-4-All)

Best for: getting all learners involved, sparking new ideas, creating a safe container for discussion
Time: 10-15 minutes
Materials: none

Think, Pair, Share (also known as 1-2-4-All) is a surefire way every participant has a chance to contribute while also creating space for deeper reflection on a given topic.

Here’s how it works: first, everyone reflects on a prompt or question individually. Then, they pair up to discuss their thoughts. Next, pairs join other pairs to form groups of four, sharing and refining ideas. Finally, the whole group comes together to present and discuss key insights.

Think, Pair, Share is a versatile and effective active learning exercise. By first encouraging reflection and pair discussion, it creates space for critical thinking and ideation. It also gives quieter participants space to think before jumping in, and by the time ideas reach the whole group, they’ve already been built upon and refined.

Appreciative Interviews

Best for: celebrating successes, learning from real experiences, boosting morale
Time: 30-60 minutes
Materials: interview guides, notepads or digital devices for note-taking

Appreciative Interviews is an uplifting active learning activity, where participants pair up and share stories of success related to a topic or goal. Instead of analyzing problems, people reflect on their own experiences and share what went well, why it worked, and how to replicate it. For groups of students or trainees, its a great format for thinking about the process of learning: for example, ask students to consider a time they did well on an assignment or project and explore what helped that happen.

This technique naturally lifts the energy of a room and reinforces the best parts of learning and collaboration. It’s perfect for starting a session on a positive note or helping encourage students to recognize their own strengths and capacity to learn.

Fishbowl

Best for: deep conversations, structured debates, active listening
Time: 45-60 minutes
Materials: chairs arranged in inner and outer circles (or virtual equivalent)

Fishbowl is a structured and engaging method to help large groups hold engaging discussions without falling into chaos. A small group sits in the “inner circle” to discuss a topic while everyone else observes. After a set time, observers rotate in, bringing fresh perspectives while others step back to listen.

A Fishbowl setup works wonders for difficult discussions or topics where active listening and reflection is key. It’s perfect for teachers leading student discussions or trainers facilitating team dialogues—it helps students learn to really listen and deepen their understanding before jumping in with their thoughts.

The 500-Year-Gap Conversation (Time Traveler)

Best for: creative thinking, communication skills, historical empathy
Time: 15-30 minutes
Materials: none

In The 500-Year-Gap Conversation, one person plays a modern-day individual, and the other plays someone from 500 years ago. The modern person describes a current object, concept, or technology, while the time traveler asks questions and tries to understand it from their historical perspective.

This active learning game is as hilarious as it is insightful. It forces participants to break down complex ideas into simple, relatable terms while also practicing empathy. It’s an effective precursor to deeper group work where it’s easy for folks to assume understanding of course material or prior knowledge. Whether you use it to discuss tech, societal norms, or even teaching methods, it’s guaranteed to spark some big “aha” moments (and a lot of laughs).

Troika Consulting

Best for: peer coaching, problem-solving, tapping into collective wisdom
Time: 25-35 minutes
Materials: none

If you’ve ever wished you could pick your colleagues’ brains for advice without a formal meeting, this activity is for you. In Troika Consulting, participants take turns sharing a real challenge they’re facing while two others act as consultants, offering advice and asking clarifying questions. Then, everyone switches roles so that each person gets a chance to be both consultant and client.

Troika Consulting is a goldmine for collaborative learning and student engagement. All the students involved will be able to give and receive advice, thinking about their own understanding of a subject as well as repackaging and presenting learning to other students. In a training scenario, it can be effective to centre discussion around the key points of the training session so that there are solid takeaways that can inform the rest of your session.

Active learning activities to encourage critical thinking

Critical thinking is an essential skill for learners of all ages. It helps participants analyze information, challenge assumptions, and make well-reasoned decisions—key abilities for solving complex problems and navigating new ideas.

The following active learning activities engage learners in structured thinking, creative exploration, and reflective discussions to strengthen their critical thinking skills. Incorporating active learning strategies like this into your lesson is also a great way of checking learner understanding and to shore up knowledge gaps before you continue.

Empathy Map

Best for: perspective-taking, understanding different viewpoints, developing emotional intelligence
Time: 20-40 minutes
Materials: Large sheets of paper, sticky notes, or a digital whiteboard

The Empathy Map is a visual tool that helps learners step into the shoes of another person and understand them more deeply, whether it’s a customer, historical figure, or fictional character.

To run this activity, learners create a four-section map exploring what their subject thinks, feels, says, and does. They then analyze patterns and discuss insights about motivations, challenges, and biases. This structured reflection helps participants think more deeply about human behavior and personal experiences, making it an excellent tool for problem-solving, design thinking, and storytelling. While it’s not an active learning method that will work for every subject, I’ve found so many uses for an Empathy Map that it deserves inclusion here.

Interactive Lecture: Summarize

Best for: reinforcing learning, active listening, improving retention
Time: 5-15 minutes (integrated into a lecture or session)
Materials: None, or note-taking tools for written summaries

The Interactive Lecture: Summarize method ensures that learners actively engage with content instead of passively absorbing it. It’s a clever solution for when you can’t avoid a lecture format but want to incorporate active learning approaches and ensure learners pay attention and start to metabolize key learnings.

Throughout the lecture, pause at key moments and ask learners to summarize the most important takeaways—either by writing them down, discussing them in pairs, or sharing with the group. This process forces participants to process information, identify main points, and articulate their understanding, reinforcing learning in a simple yet effective way.

The Six Thinking Hats

Best for: structured thinking, decision-making, problem-solving
Time: 30-60 minutes
Materials: Six colored hats or visual markers for each thinking role

The Six Thinking Hats method, developed by Edward de Bono, helps learners analyze a situation from multiple perspectives by assigning different thinking roles. When faced with complex problems, we often fall into one mode of thinking—whether it’s focusing on risks, emotions, or pure logic. A Six Thinking Hats discussion is a great way to enable dynamic student thinking and practice skills that can be used inside and outside the session.

Participants work through a problem while “wearing” different hats, each representing a distinct mode of thinking: logic, emotion, creativity, caution, benefits, and process. By switching perspectives, learners develop a more holistic approach to problem-solving, improving both critical thinking and group collaboration.

Flip It

Best for: challenging assumptions, lateral thinking, brainstorming solutions
Time: 20-40 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper or digital brainstorming tools

Flip It is a simple but powerful technique that helps learners reverse their assumptions and uncover fresh insights. It helps students break out of conventional thinking patterns and gain an instant sense of how a change in perspective can impact how they feel about a problem or situation.

Instead of asking “How can we solve this problem?”, participants flip the question: “How can we make this problem worse?” Once they’ve generated a list of ways to fail spectacularly, they then brainstorm the opposite—practical ways to prevent those failures. This reversal technique sparks creativity, exposes hidden assumptions, and strengthens critical thinking skills in an engaging way.

The Journalistic Six

Best for: breaking down complex topics, structuring research, strengthening questioning skills
Time: 20-45 minutes
Materials: Worksheet or digital document for note-taking

Journalistic Six method helps learners analyze topics methodically by answering six key questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. It’s a highly flexible method that can serve as the backbone of work, whether learners go solo or are part of a class discussion.

Students learn to apply these questions to a topic, issue, or case study, identifying gaps in their understanding and constructing a well-rounded analysis. This structured questioning approach helps learners develop curiosity, clarity, and deeper comprehension, making it a valuable tool for research, discussions, and problem-solving exercises.

Active learning icebreakers and warm-ups

Starting a learning session with an engaging activity can set the tone for deeper participation and student engagaement – whether you’re working with kids or adults in a training session.

Icebreakers and warm-ups help learners feel comfortable, encourage interaction, and activate the brain for active learning. These methods are designed to spark curiosity, build connections, and get participants thinking from the start of your session.

Find more games suitable for active learning in this collection of the best training games, including experiential activities, icebreakers and more.

Group Contract for Trust, Creativity & High Performance

Best for: Setting group norms, creating psychological safety, encouraging collaboration
Time: 45-60 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers

This Group Contract guides groups through co-creating a contract that outlines their values, communication norms, and ways of working together. Establishing a shared foundation for learning in this way is one of the most effective ways to ensure active participation

Facilitators prompt participants with questions like, “What do we need to feel comfortable taking risks in this session?” or “How do we want to handle disagreements?” By crafting this agreement together, learners take ownership of the learning process, leading to a more engaged and high-performing group dynamic.

For groups that come together multiple times, such as in a class or course, a Group Contract can be effectively referred to, ritualized and championed by group members too.

Quotations

Best for: Sparking reflection, discussion, and personal connection to learning topics
Time: 15-14 minutes
Materials: Pre-selected quotations, index cards, or a digital board

In Quotations, participants choose a quote from a pre-collected selection that resonates with them, then share why it speaks to them.

Start by sourcing a set of inspirational and interesting quotes relating to the topic of your training session or lesson and place them in the centre of the room. Each participant picks up one quote, then picks a partner and discusses what the quote says to them, if it is meaningful, and how.

Quotations is a simple yet profound exercise encourages deep thinking and self-expression, making it a great way to introduce new topics or connect abstract concepts to personal experiences. It also helps quieter participants ease into conversation, setting a thoughtful and reflective tone for the lesson.

Quick-Change Artists

Best for: Observation skills, adaptability, teamwork
Time: 20-45 minutes
Materials: Flip-chart paper, markers, playing cards

This interactive exercise helps participants reflect on adaptability and resilience by exploring what makes people flexible or resistant to change. First, participants identify role models who handle change well and those who struggle with it, noting key traits. They then discuss these insights in pairs, collaborate in small groups to create a list of adaptability strategies, and share their findings in a gallery walk.

By analyzing real-world behaviors and discussing practical strategies, learners gain a deeper understanding of how to embrace change and develop resilience in their own lives.

Quick-Change Artists

Best for: Observation skills, adaptability, teamwork
Time: 20-45 minutes
Materials: Flip-chart paper, markers, playing cards

Quick-Change Artists is an interactive training exercise helps participants reflect on adaptability and resilience by exploring what makes people flexible or resistant to change. First, participants identify role models who handle change well and those who struggle with it, noting key traits. They then discuss these insights in pairs, collaborate in small groups to create a list of adaptability strategies, and share their findings in a gallery walk.

By analyzing real-world behaviors and discussing practical strategies, learners gain a deeper understanding of how to embrace change and develop resilience in their own lives.

Get to Know You Better

Best for: Team bonding, personal storytelling, creating connections
Time: 1-15 minutes
Materials: Name badges or sticky labels

Get to Know You Better is designed to help participants quickly get acquainted and initiate meaningful conversations, making it ideal for large groups. At the start of the session, each participant receives a badge featuring three prompts:

1. My name is…
2. I have a question about…
3. I can answer a question about…

Participants fill in their responses and then mingle, discussing their questions and answers with as many others as possible within the allotted time. This structured approach not only involves students in actively starting conversations but also encourages knowledge sharing and collaborative learning.

For virtual lessons or webinars, these prompts can be shared in the chat, and participants can be paired in breakout rooms for brief discussions, rotating partners to maximize interactions.

Draw a Tree

Best for: Enhancing mindfulness, promoting awareness, encouraging perspective shifts
Time: 1-10 minutes
Materials: Index cards or paper, pencils or pens

“Draw a Tree” is a brief yet impactful exercise that raises awareness about our habitual perceptions and the elements we often overlook. Participants are given 45 seconds to draw a tree, either realistically or abstractly. Following the drawing, a debriefing session highlights how many participants omitted the roots in their illustrations, prompting reflection on the unseen yet vital components in various contexts.

This activity serves as a metaphor for recognizing the importance of underlying systems and factors that, while not immediately visible, are crucial. It encourages participants to consider how overlooking these elements can lead to incomplete understanding and emphasizes the value of holistic awareness.

Active learning strategies for creating engagement

Keeping learners engaged is one of the biggest challenges in any learning environment. While every method in this collection engages with experiential learning and creates engagement on some level, the active learning techniques below are especially good at helping sustain attention, encourage participation, and make learning more interactive.

For a deeper understanding of how to create engaging flows with experiential activities, see this template for creating an experiential session you can edit to your needs.

MindSpin

Best for: Generating new ideas, rapid thinking, stimulating discussion
Time: 15-30 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers, or a digital whiteboard

MindSpin is a fast-paced brainstorming activity where participants take turns adding ideas to a topic within a time limit. The goal is to keep the momentum going—whether building on previous thoughts, introducing new perspectives, or making surprising connections. Learners are invited to slam ideas down or make noises when they’re passing notes along

By limiting time and encouraging free association, this activity helps learners break out of self-censorship or analysis paralysis while also encouraging them to quickly reflect and iterate on the ideas of others.

Open Questions – Role Play

Best for: Enhancing communication skills, active listening, and observational abilities
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials: Flipchart or presentation slide displaying Kipling’s six open questions

This engaging activity leverages an excerpt from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “The Elephant’s Child,” to practice the use of open-ended questions, thereby improving participants’ communication and listening skills. The exercise emphasizes the six fundamental open questions: What, Why, When, How, Where, and Who.

How it works:

1. Setup: Arrange participants in a horseshoe seating formation. Display Kipling’s six open questions prominently on a flipchart or screen.
2. Volunteer Selection: Invite one participant to step out of the room temporarily.
3. Group Decision: While the volunteer is absent, the remaining group members agree on a specific piece of information they wish to learn about the volunteer (e.g., their favorite hobby or recent travel destination).
4. Questioning Process: The volunteer returns and makes an arbitrary statement. Group members then take turns asking open-ended questions based on the volunteer’s last response, aiming to uncover the predetermined information.

This method encourages participants to formulate thoughtful, open-ended questions and enhances their ability to listen actively and observe responses carefully.

LEGO Metaphors

Best for: Creative thinking, storytelling, exploring abstract concepts
Time: 10-30 minutes
Materials: LEGO bricks

In LEGO Metaphors, participants use LEGO bricks to build models that represent a concept, idea, or experience. The physical act of building encourages deeper thinking, while the metaphorical explanations provide insight into how individuals perceive a topic.

This method is particularly useful for reflective discussions, strategic planning, or visualizing abstract concepts. It’s a great way to tap into creative problem-solving while keeping the session dynamic and interactive. If you don’t have LEGO, you can use whatever materials you have to hand, what’s important is that learners create a physical representation of their idea, challenge or topic.

Mind Map

Best for: Organizing ideas, visual learning, making connections
Time: 20-40 minutes
Materials: Large paper, whiteboard, or digital mind-mapping tools

A classic active learning strategy, the Mind Map technique asks learners to visually organize information in a structured way that makes sense to them. Participants start with a central idea and branch out related concepts, linking thoughts and subtopics together.

Mind mapping helps learners see relationships between ideas, structure their thinking, and retain information better. It’s particularly useful for breaking down complex subjects, brainstorming solutions, or summarizing learning content. It’s common to ask sub-groups to take ownership of a particular section of the Mind Map and do further research or present on the topic afterwards.

Fun with Snowballs

Best for: Energizing groups, anonymous input sharing, content review
Time: 15 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens, open space

“Fun with Snowballs” is an interactive way to encourage anonymous sharing, discussion, and engagement while adding an element of movement and fun. This activity is particularly useful for gathering feedback, setting session expectations, or reviewing key concepts in an energizing, low-pressure way.

Participants begin by writing their response to a prompt on a piece of paper—this could be a reflection, a question, or an idea related to the session. Once done, they crumple their papers into “snowballs” and, on cue, toss them around the room in a playful flurry. After a few moments, each participant picks up a random snowball, unfolds it, and responds, answering the question or discussing the idea with the group.

This method removes the fear of judgment, encourages honest input, and keeps energy levels high. It’s a simple yet effective way to ensure that everyone’s voice is included—even those who might be hesitant to speak up. A cautionary note: only use this method with groups you can trust to keep it civil! Young kids and adults enjoy it, with teenagers it can get rowdy!

The Sketch Game

Best for: Visual learning, creativity, non-verbal communication
Time: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens, or digital drawing tools

The Sketch Game invites participants to draw their understanding of a topic—whether it’s a process, a concept, or a key takeaway from a discussion. Not everyone processes information in the same way, and visual learners thrive when given the chance to express ideas through images.

By removing the pressure of words and focusing on visual representation, learners engage more deeply with the material and develop new ways of expressing their understanding. It’s especially useful to encourage students to think about differences and help broaden their perspectives.

Bad Idea Brainstorm

Best for: Breaking mental blocks, challenging assumptions, unlocking creativity
Time: 15-30 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers, or digital brainstorming tools

In the Bad Idea Brainstorm, participants deliberately generate the worst, most impractical, or ridiculous ideas related to a challenge. Once the bad ideas are on the table, they analyze them—often uncovering hidden insights or unexpected solutions.

This approach is a fantastic way to encourage risk-taking, challenge limiting beliefs, and inject humor into brainstorming sessions. Plus, it reduces the fear of being wrong, making it easier for participants to share bold ideas.

Mixed-Up Sentences

Best for: Critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: Pre-prepared sentence fragments, printed or on a digital board

In Mixed-Up Sentences, participants receive scrambled pieces of a sentence or statement, which they must reassemble into the correct order. The process stimulates logical reasoning and collaboration, making it an excellent warm-up or review activity.

This technique works particularly well in language learning or concept reinforcement settings where material needs to be presented, but you want to encourage some active participation too. It helps students learn and reflect actively, often with an added element of light competition with other groups.

Active learning strategies for reflection

Reflection is a key part of any active learning process—it allows participants to process their experiences, consolidate their understanding, and apply insights moving forward. The following reflection strategies help learners pause, think critically, and articulate their evolving perspectives, making learning more meaningful and impactful.

Personal SWOB Assessment

Best for: Self-reflection, personal development, structured analysis
Time: 60-120 minutes
Materials: Personal SWOB worksheet (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Barriers)

The Personal SWOB Assessment invites participants to reflect on their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Barriers related to a specific topic, skill, or goal. By breaking down their experiences into these four categories, learners can gain clarity on their progress and identify areas for improvement.

This method is particularly effective at helping individuals take ownership of their learning journey. It can be used at the beginning of a session to establish personal goals or at the end to assess development.

Best Summary

Best for: Synthesizing learning, critical thinking, identifying key takeaways
Time: 30-60 minutes
Materials: Paper or digital notes

The Best Summary method challenges participants to distill what they’ve learned into the most concise and meaningful takeaway. Whether in pairs, small groups, or individually, learners craft a single sentence or paragraph that captures the essence of the session.

This forces participants to prioritize information, think critically, and reflect on what truly mattered most—making it an excellent way to close a session or reinforce key concepts. By having students share and then choose the best summaries as an entire class, you can help ensure students understand core concepts and cement the most important learning points.

Letter to Myself

Best for: Personal reflection, goal-setting, long-term learning retention
Time: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Paper and envelopes (or a digital document for emailed letters)

In Letter to Myself activity, participants write a letter to themselves, capturing key insights from the session, personal commitments, or questions they want to revisit later. These letters can be sealed and opened at a later date, reinforcing the learning over time.

By engaging in self-dialogue, participants create a sense of accountability while also deepening their personal connection to the material. Letter to Myself also helps provide students with clear next steps or actions, making it very practical. This method works well at the end of a training program, workshop, or learning series to encourage continued growth.

I Used to Think… But Now I Think…

Best for: Tracking learning shifts, challenging assumptions, metacognition
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: Paper or digital worksheet

I Used to Think… But Now I Think… is a reflection exercise that prompts participants to compare their initial thoughts on a topic to their current understanding.

Students write down their response by completing the sentences:

• “I used to think…” (a belief or assumption they held before the session)
• “But now I think…” (how their perspective has changed)

This method helps highlight learning progress, challenge misconceptions, and make abstract growth more tangible. Seeing how far you’ve come and how you’ve grown as a result of the training session or learning can be an effective way to close discussions and encourage deeper thinking.

Artful Closer

Best for: Creative reflection, emotional processing, session closure
Time: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Art supplies (paper, markers, paints)

The Artful Closer method invites participants to create a drawing or visual representation of their learning journey, using colors, shapes, or metaphors to convey emotions and insights.

Artful Closer allows learners to engage their creativity and process their experiences on a deeper level. It’s especially useful for closing workshops with an emotional or personal touch, helping participants cement their takeaways in a way that feels personal and meaningful.

Response Cards

Best for: Group reflection, anonymous sharing, collective learning
Time: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Index cards or digital response tool

The Response Cards method allows participants to write down reflections, insights, or questions anonymously, which can then be collected and shared with the group.

After writing on these cards, learners then break up into teams where they’ll review the response cards and select the best and most unique response.

Response Cards encourages honest reflection, reduces pressure on quieter participants, and creates a collaborative pool of insights. It’s a great way to encourage student engagement and close a session at the same time.

Active learning techniques for helping students give presentations

Whatever your learning approach, there often comes a time where you want learners to present information back to the group. The presentation formats below are a great way of incorporating active learning strategies into those parts of the session that might sometimes feel flat and unengaging.

Giving a presentation can help participants think deeply about what they’ve learned and demonstrate that understanding to the group and have a bunch of benefits for teachers and trainers as well. They allow you to see where students need extra help, correct misunderstandings and celebrate what the whole class has learned.

Learn more about how this might fit into your course design and learning approach in this post on applying instructional design models.

Pecha Kucha

Best for: Reporting, presentations, sharing ideas, idea generation, issue analysis
Time: 180 minutes
Materials: One or more laptops, projector (beamer), digital camera (optional)

Pecha Kucha, also known as 20×20, is a dynamic presentation format where presenters show 20 images, each for 20 seconds, resulting in a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. This concise structure encourages presenters to focus on the essence of their message, making it both informative and engaging.

In a group setting, students can collaborate to create a series of visual images that tell their story succinctly. This method is particularly useful for large classes eager to share their ideas quickly and effectively, ensuring that presentations are both comprehensive and time-efficient.

Cover Story

Best for: Visioning, creative thinking, summarizing key concepts
Time: 30-90 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers, or a digital whiteboard

The Cover Story method challenges participants to create a magazine cover that highlights their achievements or explores a particular topic in depth.

By designing elements such as headlines, images, and feature stories, participants can sum up key information and choose what to highlight in a visually engaging way. Cover Story is also great container for a group presentation, providing a framework that enables learners to apply knowledge, demonstrate understanding and then talk the group through each element.

Whiteboard Rotation

Best for: Group discussions, peer learning, capturing diverse insights
Time: 10-30 minutes
Materials: Whiteboards, flipcharts, or digital collaboration tools

Whiteboard Rotation transforms passive presentations into active, peer-driven discussions. Participants rotate between different topic stations, adding ideas, building on others’ thoughts, and engaging in structured dialogue. After a few rounds of board enrichment, the final whiteboards are then presented back to the group.

Whiteboard Rotation ensures everyone in the group is able to participate and provides a dynamic backdrop for collaborative learning. In a physical setting, take photographs of the whiteboards at the end and share with your learners. In a virtual setting, simply keep the whiteboards up and encourage students to come back, reflect further and add any different perspectives as they come up!

Six Words

Best for: Distilling key messages, reflection, engaging discussions
Time: 10-30 minutes
Materials: Paper or digital notes

The Six Words method challenges participants to capture the essence of a topic, presentation, or key takeaway in just six words. This constraint fosters clarity, creativity, and deep thinking, making it an excellent way to reinforce learning and encourage concise expression.

In situations where you want trainees or learners to present something to the group but you’re short on time, Six Words is a great option. It’s particularly effective for closing sessions, prompting meaningful reflection and ensuring that participants distill their thoughts into an impactful and memorable core message.

Final thoughts on active learning

Each of these active learning methods brings energy, engagement, and collaboration to your sessions.

Whether you’re leading a classroom, a training workshop, or a professional learning group, using discussion-driven techniques like these deepens understanding and boosts retention—all while making learning more fun.

As for next steps, check out these resources to see how you might deploy these strategies and bring them to your next lesson or training session.

• The ADDIE model of instructional design is probably the best-known workcycle for creating learning programs and training sessions from the ground up. Discover how to use it and use our ADDIE model template to help structure your next learning project.
• Explore how to create an engaging training session agenda in this practical guide that will help you improve engagement and create more effective learning materials.
• Learn how Vlerick Business School uses SessionLab to deliver courses and training programs that deeply engage with active learning principles.

Is there anything missing from this list? Do you have any thoughts on active learning you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below, or join our friendly community to continue the conversation!

James Smart Head of Content

James Smart is Head of Content at SessionLab. He’s also a creative facilitator who has run workshops and designed courses for establishments like the National Centre for Writing, UK. He especially enjoys working with young people and empowering others in their creative practice.