The global pandemic caused a major stir in the eLearning world. There is a big rise in the demand for virtual training alternatives. Switching from the classroom based instructor-led training (ILT) to virtual instructor-led training (VILT) has become the new norm in corporate training. And why not? VILT helps you deliver training sessions which are interactive, engaging, and enriching than traditional in-person training.
How can you create an effective VILT and make the most of it? What are the best methods to convert your in-person training sessions into VILT? This article discusses the main 3 steps to an effective and successful VILT program.
1. Select the most important content
VILT programs have different design considerations compared to online and classroom programs. Moreover VILTs are mostly of shorter duration than traditional ILTs. Therefore, identify and choose the most essential content right from the start. Don’t put things off till the end as then you might not get the chance to do it. This is especially true for unstructured and discussion-based VILT programs.
Moreover, create content keeping in mind that many of your learners might be spread across multiple time zones. Make VILT content around a proper strategy to spur learner attention and encourage information retention. Prioritize learner involvement in the development of training materials. Include engaging topics and make the content design in such a way which provides opportunities for frequent communication between the trainers and learners.
Also focus on elements which are the most critical for the learning experience such as videos, handouts, learner activities, speaking points, and more. Then work with your design team to determine what features make your VILT impactful.
2. Choose the right platform
Choose the right VILT platform that fits your content. It should be a platform that mostly emphasizes simplicity, usability, and accessibility. This can be done if your organization gives you the flexibility to do so. Then find out the tools which will help you in presenting the content in the best possible manner. Such as white-boarding, breakout sessions, polling, etc). Mix interactive elements like chats, quizzes, videos, discussions in a thorough set of engagement tools which are organized and supervised by facilitators. Remember that the most successful VILT programs make use of webinars and web conferencing platforms. After this step find the platform that provides these tools.
However, in cases where your organization has already chosen a preferred platform, you need to leverage the existing engagement elements and tools to your platform as you develop your VILT program.
3. Interact with your learners
For effective delivery of your VILT program, your trainers should be good in communication. They should also mostly focus on skill enhancement and learner engagement and retention.
It is also vital to design learning experiences which focus on interaction and engaging with your learners with the content. In an online environment, keeping sessions engaged is more important than in the traditional in-person settings. You should not have training sessions more than 3 minutes without engaging actions which involve your learners.You might also need to mix the sessions even more than what you might be used to.
Final word
There is a lot which goes into creating efficient training sessions be it online or in-person. Training has to be effective in content and engagement. You also have to encourage and motivate learners to engage in virtual learning. We hope this article can help you kick-start your VILT to meet the specific needs of learners and increase the effectiveness of your VILT programs.
At MindScroll LMS we can help you convert your in-person trainings to engaging VILTs. Schedule a demo to get started! Learn more on https://infonative.net/mindscroll. For any queries, feel free to reach out to us at yg@infonative.net
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