An online training database is beneficial for EVERY member of your corporate audience. Those who are struggling can use the material to catch up with their colleagues, while those who are excelling can learn more about a topic that interests them.
Corporate training support can come in one of two forms: direct support and “moment of need” support. Direct support pertains one-on-one chats, instant messaging, and emails that address a concern or answer a question that the leaner may have.
You don’t have to give your online training course a complete overhaul to make it a success. In most cases, it’s just a matter of assessing your current interactive corporate eLearning strategy to determine its weaknesses, and then making small changes to create a truly effective online training program.
However, there are also those that fly under the radar during the corporate eLearning design and development process. While they may not be as obvious, they can have a negative impact on our online training strategy. In this article, you’ll discover 7 ways to improve your next online training course that you may not have even considered.
Don’t just hear. Stop what you’re doing. Look into their eyes and give their story value. They’ll come to you with a tragic story of how their favorite TV show was cancelled. Inside you’ll be laughing, but don’t. You may be the only adult who will take the time to be interested in what they have to say.
A lot of students, especially the students with poor home lives like to give up quickly. They run into an obstacle, and instead of trying to overcome it, they quit. That’s where you come in. “Don’t give up. You can do it. I know you can. Try it again .” You may be the only adult who has ever stopped them from giving up.
This is an easy one. Make a big deal about their accomplishments, even the small ones. If they answer a question correctly, don’t just say, “Right.” Make it an event. “YES! That’s a smart boy right there! Good answer.” Some kids never get any praise.
Forget the mistakes. Forget the times when the student irritated you. Forget the bad grade on a test. Forget the drama of yesterday. Forget and forget quickly. They will forget their failures faster when you do.
Remember the successes. Remember when the student answered the question right yesterday. Remember the funny story he/she told you a week ago. Remember the good grade on the last test, and here’s a big one: Remember their birthday.
You have to be careful with this one, of course. Women have a little bit more freedom to give a hug to students, but even male teachers like me can give a high five or a knuckle bump. I like giving pats on the back also. I never hug students unless they initiate it, and even then it’s a quick one.
This is more powerful than it appears. I’m not a natural smiler, and it’s something that I have to consciously make an effort to do. Smiling tells a student that they are welcomed. A smile is a form of communication. It sends a message – a message of approval. A smile from a teacher can be the only positive message that a student receives all day.
Course designs need to motivate engagement. This means creating a relaxed environment where the help is easily accessible so adults feel safe to engage. Resources also need to be made available at the point of learning in a highly visible, non-threatening way.
To successfully design an e-learning class, you need to build a structure that motivates engagement, offers resources at the point of instruction, with maps to the resources needed for learning, and assesses for competence rather than a test of memory.
To engage students, build into the instruction options to initiate engagement and build rubrics and feedback in conversational but informative tones. Adult students need to see the help, the path to get the help and, more importantly, be motivated to get the help. Key takeaway: Provide a variety of options for student contact.
Gamification of a course can improve student interaction and learning, but there are other strategies instructional designers and educators can put into place to vastly improve adult student success in online courses. The more learning changes, the more it stays the same …. Technology changes, methods of delivery change ...
In mastery learning classrooms, students must fully understand (demonstrate mastery of) the material before moving on to the next topic.
Mastery learning is about how students navigate through exercises and assignments. In a seminal study by Benjamin Bloom 1, a mastery learning approach was found to improve the distribution of student scores by a full standard deviation above the control class that used the same method of instruction but didn’t require that students master ...
Instructors have the option to use randomized quiz questions so that students see a different set of questions with each attempt. Mastery learning is characterized by both the opportunity to practice the material, as well as the benchmark for knowing when you’ve mastered the material (e.g. a high score on the quiz).
Put yourself in their shoes—or seats. Give frequent breaks, especially for half -day or all-day sessions. Solicit feedback on the training session. Critiques work best when they are written and anonymous, unless a trainee volunteers to discuss his or her thoughts in person.
Design each part of the lecture to reinforce a training objective. Always use visual aids, such as overheads, flip charts, or slides . Encourage trainees to participate by giving them note-taking guides and handouts to follow during the lecture.
Avoid telling jokes, however, because humor is so subjective that someone in your audience may be offended and lose track of training for the rest of the session.
Encourage participation. Make the session lively by engaging participants in the learning process . In fact, try to spend close to 80 percent of training time on group participation.
They know that most training programs are designed to make money for the company, but rarely does training lift employees’ spirits or help them to become better in their own lives. Create a win-win environment by using the training program to build the participants’ self-worth and self-esteem.
Tests are most effective when students know they will be quizzed, because they’ll pay close attention to the material. Testing is an objective way to determine whether training achieved its goals. Involve trainees. For example, ask participants to share their experiences with the training topic.
In an ideal world, training will always be successful. There are ways that training can go wrong, however, and forewarned is forearmed. According to a 2001 strategic planning workshop on human capital sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ (NIEHS) Worker Education and Training Program (WETP), there are several possible problems that can lead to either trainer burnout and/or a less-than-successful training program. Here’s what can go wrong, along with ways to make it right:
Some eLearning course screens look like a jumble of ideas and concepts because the course designer mistakenly presumes fancy design leads to more effective eLearning. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Each screen in a course should convey one idea, and one idea only.
Learning is an active pursuit. Ineffective eLearning courses let the learner sit passively, almost encouraging the learner to check out. Provide a learning experience that promotes openness, thought and discussion. Some ways to engage learners actively include: 1 Active buttons in the course to poll learners on their understanding; 2 Student discussion in blogs or communities; 3 Or email to extend the learning past the course parameters.
Learning targets explicitly state what a learner should know or be able to do by the end of a course and how learners can demonstrate their learning. Setting a target and a goal achieves two critical goals. First, learners will know why the course is important and how it will help them in the future. Secondly, targets help keep course content focused.
Course designers don't need a degree in graphic design to follow some basic design principles, especially those principles with proven track records at creating more effective eLearning. Using the 10 basic design elements including an attention to white space, consistency and reducing on-screen clutter can make a world of difference in a course. A few tweaks based on these principles will instantly improve the visual impact of your course.
Here are 7 ways to add excitement to your online training course: Create a framework that allows content to easily evolve and develop over time rather than repeating the same content each year.
The time it takes to finish a mandatory training course can be overwhelming. Create a curriculum that takes your employees 2 hours or less to complete. Shorter training courses can help keep learners engaged and focused and lead to higher testing scores. Focus on the Employees.
Employees will be more excited about completing training if they are rewarded. Incorporate badges or certificates at the end of your course, confirming a job well done. Based on your organization’s policies, maybe even make it a competition and give a prize to the top-scoring employee. Re-evaluate.