With remote work statistics increasing in this post-pandemic world, we are visualizing an increase in demand for virtual training sessions. Organizations are seeking out engaging learning experiences that are safe and cost-effective.
Virtual training is an effective way to make learners participate from anywhere in the world. The fast pace of virtual training helps to keep people engaged. But, when we are trying to replicate our face-to-face training in a virtual environment, even with the best of intentions and planning, we can fall into the trap of death by PowerPoint or death by slides.
Synchronous virtual training sessions are real-time training sessions. Here virtual classroom software enables participants to interact with each other and the trainer, while the content is being shared.
In the live classroom setting, trainers can read the room and shift gears based on how their trainees are responding. But in a synchronous virtual setting, it’s easier to lose that connection with your audience. So how do you keep your participants engaged with the virtual classroom software? How do you make sure they stay with you throughout the entire training session? It’s all in the design.
A well-designed and engaging synchronous training session can have a big impact on your learners. Not only will it be beneficial for the learner but it will also save time and cost for the company. Here are five ways to make sure your synchronous sessions engage learners:
1. Understand your audience:
Identify the skills and knowledge required for learners to perform or reach their goals. What motivates them? What capabilities do they have? What do they lack? Are they senior-level managers or new joinee? Or the end user of a product? What is their language preference? Understanding your audience will help you understand their expectations.
You can also conduct a pre-designing survey within an organization with the help of an LMS to know your audience better.
2. Identify the learning objectives:
Create measurable statements that define what learners should be able to do at the end of the training session. Make sure that training session learning objectives align with the organizational training goals.
3. Build a learning journey:
Building content with a subject matter expert is not enough. The need of the hour is to build a learning journey for learners. Designing an engaging virtual training journey is important in delivering engaging synchronous training. You should aim to create a journey for your participants. It should include activities that build on each other — one activity leads them to another — so the experience is continuous. The experience should aim towards meeting the outcomes or goals of your training program.
Inbuilt authoring tools in LMS will help you create interactive activities, practice exercises, and relevant content using a variety of media collaborations such as audio, images, video.
4. Regularly shift the energy during the training:
Shifting energy is the key to keeping your audience engaged in the synchronous setting. We all have different learning styles visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. And when we use a variety of techniques to activate all three styles, people will stay engaged longer because they learn better. Edutainment is in trend for a reason.
5. Credit, Award, and Reward:
Award is often the most underrated motivator to engage the learner. If used effectively, it will provide learners to keep immersed in the training until its completion. An LMS can help you conduct quizzes, analyze test results, and award gamification points like scoreboards, leadership boards to learners.
Conclusion:
Even though you don’t have the luxury of meeting face-to-face, there are many things you can do to connect with your learners. These tips with LMS can help you design a synchronous virtual training journey that will engage them in their learning.