Learning Opportunities, Part 1: Seeing the Opportunity | RBT PDU | 0.5 Hour 

This first presentation on learning opportunities encourages RBTs to recognize teachable interactions beyond formal instructions and discrete teaching trials. A learning opportunity is described through the context or antecedent, the learner’s response, the consequence that follows, and the possible effect on future responding. The presenter distinguishes an activity, such as block play, from a specific learning opportunity that occurs within it, such as requesting a missing block and receiving it. Both frequency and quality matter: simply increasing instructions or demands does not guarantee useful learning, particularly when motivation, reinforcement, or engagement is poor. Examples show why teams should consider avoidable downtime, natural pauses, learner initiation, prompting, and meaningful consequences. The talk then contrasts contriving opportunities, in which the adult deliberately arranges conditions for a target response, with capturing opportunities that arise during ongoing routines and interactions. Contrived opportunities offer planned, repeatable practice; captured opportunities connect responding with naturally relevant cues and outcomes. Rather than treating either approach as superior, the speaker recommends using both while responding to the individual learner and following the established intervention plan.