Creating an engaging virtual learning experience is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a necessity for organisations continuing on the path of distributed work.
With restrictions coming back into full swing in Victoria, we’re reminded of the long road ahead and the adaptability required to increase organisational capability with teams working remotely.
Virtual learning can be an incredibly effective training delivery method when done well. Let’s take a look at the essential elements of creating an experience that engages your people and delivers results.
How to create an engaging virtual learning experience
Engaging virtual learning encourages real-time conversation.
In a face-to-face learning setting, you’ve got to wait your turn to speak up with a question. This often means that great questions are forgotten, lost forever in a cavernous abyss of thoughts. There can also be increased hesitation in asking questions in a classroom learning setting, with individuals choosing to not speak up out of shyness or fear of asking a ‘silly question’.
By contrast, in a virtual training session participants are able to share their thoughts and interpretations with their teammates in real time through chat functionality. This sparks conversation and furthers discussion, which can lead to a deeper learning experience where participants feel more engaged and connected with their teammates despite tuning into the session from different locations.
Engaging virtual learning incorporates novelty.
Maintaining the attention and energy of a room of people in a training session can be a challenge, even when shifting to virtual training delivery.
In order to combat this, incorporating elements of novelty, movement and activity throughout a virtual training session is essential. From our experience in delivering virtual training programs to distributed teams, we’ve found that making use of multiple camera angles, chunking training into multiple learning modules, and facilitating group-based discussion all help to keep engagement levels high.
Engaging virtual learning is guided by an expert facilitator.
As much as we’d like to think that converting face-to-face learning programs to virtual delivery is as simple as switching on a camera and getting your people to dial in, there’s a whole lot of moving parts to consider in a virtual learning environment.
A strong virtual learning facilitator sets a clear standard and expectation for participants straight away, and is able to direct the conversation towards key discussion points with ease. They’re also careful to adapt their approach in setting smaller group discussion topics while coordinating the sharing of insights and questions amongst the wider group upon return.
Are you ready to explore virtual learning within your organisation? If you’d like to see a world-class virtual training studio in action, book in for a tour of the PTV studio right from the comfort of your home office.
