Shifting from instructor-led to online learning
Making the shift from instructor-led to online-facilitation doesn’t have to be a nail-biter!
Adopt some of these tried and true methods to delivery your content in engaging and effective ways!
Review Your Existing Content. The learning objectives are the keystone of all good training. Given the move to an online environment, ask yourself, what’s most essential for the participants to take away? What can they learn or do before or after the session by consulting a resource, completing an activity, viewing a YouTube video?
Chunk It Out. The rule of thumb for online, self-directed learning (eLearning) is to offer content in “smaller, interactive bytes” of no more than 10-12 minutes. For webinars, the threshold rests between 45 and 60 minutes. Review your training and determine how you can break up your 1/2 day or day-long program into smaller modules. I can easily convert a 2-hour workshop into a 60 minute webinar, however, a full-day program, for example, may require 3 1-hour webinars delivered over several days — with homework assigned in between.
Assess Your Technology. What features does the software offer? Polling, breakout “rooms,” chat, Q&A, interactive annotation? How many people can your package accommodate? Knowing the features and possibilities, along with your comfort-level and capability in using them will inform how you redesign your course. In the early days of virtual training I delivered the content while a colleague “drove.” Today, after much practice, I am able to navigate myself and my audiences through the program with ease and little distraction. Start where you are and build from there!
Design for Clarity, Focus, and Engagement. Since your time will be compressed, determine what is most important, how you will be “pithy” in your images and text, and what activities you will offer to increase understanding or enlist in practice. Keeping your learners engaged and active is paramount — offering engagement activities every 5-7 minutes or so. Learners no longer have the patience or stamina to sit through a 60-minute web lecture since there are so many better options available!
Rehearse and Pilot. Technology is a fickle partner. Take time to practice alone and with an audience. Gather and use feedback to recalibrate. Determine your “back up plan” in case the server fails or bandwidth narrows. State your contingency plan up front so that when it does go sideways, and from time to time it will, you can smoothly, without skipping a beat, keep the show on the road!
Mary McGuinness, M.Ed., PCC is a learning specialist and executive coach based in Chicago, IL USA. Mary uses visual coaching and engaging facilitation (online and in-person) to prepare today’s workforce to connect, grow, and thrive in their careers, professions, and leadership.
Photo Credit: jeshoots.com