how to move your face to face course to an online format

What makes an online course different from a face to face course?

In their Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips, Boettcher and Conrad (2010) identify five characteristics that distinguish online courses from face-to-face courses: Shift in faculty role – moving towards coaching and mentoring students, creating and curating online learning experiences and facilitating interactions.

How do I get feedback on my online course?

Reflect and receive feedback on your online course, sign up for a Teaching Observation. The Provost Teaching and Learning Grants provide support for faculty who are developing innovative and technology-enhanced pedagogy and learning strategies in courses.

Can you convert our training program to a fully online one?

Converting our training program to a fully online one may not come to fruition for quite some time; in fact, as we progress, we may decide that some aspects of the training are better served with some form of trainer interaction, be it face-to-face, webinar, chat rooms or other options.

What are the different online course formats?

Online course formats can include, asynchronous, synchronous, or a blend of the two.* In a synchronous online format, you and your students are all online at the same time and interactions occur live during regularly scheduled meeting times.

How do I adapt a face to face course to online?

How To Successfully Adapt Your Online Course For Face-To-Face UseMap Your Online Learning Content. ... Review And Update Your Contextual Analysis. ... Review Your Learning Outcomes. ... Decide On The Delivery Format. ... Map Out Your Sessions. ... Decide On Evaluation Methods. ... Map Out Your Course Schedule. ... Adapt Your Content For Face-To-Face Use.More items...•

How do I convert classroom training to virtual?

How To Convert Classroom Training To Remote TrainingAdapt Existing Learning Objectives And Content For Virtual Learning. ... Outline The Learning Path To Keep Your Learners Motivated And On Track. ... Prioritize Choosing The Right Modality To Suit Your Learning Objective. ... Incorporate Social Collaboration Activities Virtually.More items...•

Can you do face to face online?

Online: As in face-to-face courses, there is typically a textbook from which there are assigned readings as well as supplemental resources provided by the instructor. An online course, however, also requires additional extensive reading not necessarily included in the face-to-face course.

Are online courses easier than face to face courses?

Myth #2: LAS Online classes are “easier” than face-to-face courses, simply because they're online. Reality: LAS Online courses are not necessarily easier than face-to-face courses. LAS Online courses are as academically challenging as courses taught on campus.

How do you create a virtual training program?

How Can You Create an Effective Employee Virtual Training Program...Step 1: Know the Goals of Your Training. ... Step 2: Have the Participants' Needs in Mind. ... Step 3: Spell Out Parameters for Success. ... Step 4: Develop the Materials. ... Step 5: Implement the Training Program. ... Step 6: Evaluate Employee Progress.

What does virtual training mean?

The short answer is that virtual training courses are classes that trainees or students participate in from their home or office rather than a traditional classroom or other designated training environment. A virtual environment is instead used by a trainer or coach to show, explain, and teach skills.

Is online learning effective as face to face learning?

Is online learning as good as face-to-face learning? The answer is yes and it may be even better! Possibility to learn more: Online courses allow students more control over what they are learning. Which means, they can work quickly through areas they understand and spend more time on areas they do not.

Is online learning more effective than classroom?

Kids learn better in class than when studying from home, finds teacher survey. A McKinsey survey suggests that children still learn better through classroom-based teaching. Online schooling was marked 5-out-of-10 for effectiveness. Some students have a learning delay of around three months.

Why face to face learning is better than online research?

Face-to-face learning also lends a hand in organizing students and their studies. They are given the ability to interact with their instructors and other students. Yes, face-to-face learning still requires self-discipline, as students are still required to go to class and participate.

Why is online better than in person learning?

In-person learning allows you to interact with other learners and instructors in a physical setting. This provides opportunities to learn firsthand through seeing and acting. Face-to-face interaction is essential for greater clarity and understanding than online training.

Are online classes easier or harder?

One of the most common questions asked on this topic is, "Are online classes easier?" Put simply, the answer is no. Opting for online courses over traditional courses is not the easy route for your education. It's true that online courses offer more flexibility, but that doesn't change the amount of work you put in.

What is the benefit of online learning?

Online learning facilitates the ability to think critically about what you do every day. The goal in the classroom is to challenge you to think differently, and employers want you to do that, too–to think critically in your role at work. Mastering this skill is what will set you apart as a student, and as an employee.

Where Do We Start?

Our heads spin as we try to brainstorm how the magical, engaging eight-hour classroom experience we’re used to providing could possibly fit into a shortened eLearning module while maintaining effectiveness and engagement. The first thing we need to realize and accept is that the training will be different.

My Experience

In a previous role, I led new-hire training for the department, which meant I provided employee onboarding events every two weeks. I was one person. I had to figure out how to either multiply myself to facilitate all required courses or come up with a new strategy.

Taking The First Steps

To quickly and effectively get your content online, let’s explore a few ideas to jump-start the process.

Step 1: Who is your audience?

After many years of teaching the same content to hundreds of students you may think this step is obvious and simple. It’s not. When developing an online course, it is essential that:

Step 2: What do you want to achieve?

Again, a simple enough question that you think may be easy to answer, given the fact that you have offered the class for conceivably many years.

Step 3: Choose an e-Learning course format

Those on the inside track of e-learning talk about Synchronous, Asynchronous and Blended course formats. Very fancy terms for really quite simple concepts. Let’s go through them:

Video-Based Learning

This type of training has been dubbed “the hottest mode of training right now” (DN, 2018.) This seemed like the easiest way to transition from face-to-face to online, but we have definitely come a long way in our conceptualization and implementation.

Microlearning

We began to explore the concept of microlearning. We saw the value in “chunking” the videos into smaller, objective specific clips (DN, 2018.)

Blended Learning

I began to conceptualize a blended-learning course. We were being directed to offer less face-to-face instruction and convert what we had to online learning. We were told to start to utilize other online materials, like the university-wide subscription to Lynda.com, to allow the trainees to engage in more self-directed learning.

How to start a training program?

Here’s where to begin…. 1. Do a top-down analysis. Start with the business and performance goals at which your training is targeted. Even if you already have a face-to-face course in place, it’s worth going through this exercise to ensure that the learning strategies and content still align with your core goals.

What are the activities that learners take part in?

Practice activity: learners take part in an activity either alone or in a group. Demonstration: learners get walked through the “how”. Case study: learners see skills come to life in a contextual example.

Why is online learning important?

Online learning gives audiences more control with its self-paced and readily-accessible content. But audiences also rank collaboration, tutor-led, and social learning highly, which is why blended learning can provide the ultimate solution.

Can you do blended learning in a virtual classroom?

Well, yes, you could. But you’re missing a trick if you want to keep up engagement levels and deliver impact. We’d heartily recommend going beyond delivering your face-to-face training in a virtual classroom. A blended approach will be more time-efficient (for you and your learners), sustainable and scalable.

Cloud-based

There is simply no way you will be able to seamlessly integrate your computer system with those of your students without the cloud. The cloud is actually just another word for the Internet and means that you don’t have to install specific packages of software onto your or your students’ computers.

Authoring tools

This means that your LMS has an LCMS component, as discussed above. A quality LMS will have a number of easy-to-use authoring tools that will help you to capture and convert your content within the system, so you don’t have to use alternate packages to create the content and another to distribute it.

SCORM

Yes, another weird acronym, however this one is useful and important.

Personalized learning paths

One of the major benefits of moving your F2F class online is the ability to see both the big and the small picture. A good LMS will offer detailed user data sets, mapped across the curriculum that will assist you to track mastery per student.

In-system collaboration

We’ve spoken previously about online security in schools, and an LMS that has a built-in collaboration mechanism is far preferable to one that requires students to go off-site to collaborate; this is especially true of younger students.

Does online learning even work?

The need for moving the educational process online is undeniable. The hard part is finding the way to do it successfully and sustainably.

What are the advantages of online learning in comparison to face-to-face learning?

With online learning, you save time and money – compared to face-to-face, an online course takes 40% to 60% less employee time to complete. This reduces training costs, and employees can get back to their work quicker.

What are some of the challenges online learning needs to overcome?

As we consider the learner’s success to be the prime focus of every educational process, achieving it should be every educator’s main concern. Let’s take a look at some of the challenges you and your training business may face while trying to attain that goal:

Does converting my content into online learning work for my organisation?

As you can gather from the above, content digitisation is an endeavour that requires significant involvement from your site if undertaken without external support.

To sum it all up

Online learning is here to stay and the education industry needs to adapt.

Fixed Mindset Versus Growth Mindset

Don't panic. Yes, this is a challenging process, but we are capable of conquering difficult tasks. Reframe your thinking using a growth-mindset from, "I have never done this," to "I have not done this yet." Consider your past successes as an educator.

Maintain a Shared Community

Teaching includes community. Community among faculty, community among students, and most certainly, community among faculty and students within a course. When transitioning to an online format, do not drop into isolation nor let your students become isolated. Maintain human connections and support one another, particularly in times of uncertainty.

Be Authentic

Teaching classes online requires additional expertise and planning. Given the immediacy of the situation, the level of support available to assist in making this transition will most likely be minimal. Bring to this new challenge those same skills and qualities that make you unique and successful.

Maximize Instructional Time

It will take a significant amount of time to learn how to do just the basics of teaching students in a digital format. Avoid spending too much time trying to get something to look perfect. Instead, focus on maximizing instructional time that approximates what students would have received in the face-to-face setting.

Maintain Composure

Practice patience with yourself and your students. No one anticipated nor desired to be in the situation we now face. This will be challenging for months to come. At times it will be frustrating for all involved. If we remain focused on the challenges and potential adverse outcomes, the mountain becomes harder to climb.

Keep It Simple and Smart

Choose technology that works for you and keep it as simple as possible. Work smarter, not harder. Avoid getting "stuck" in place. If you find you are struggling to make one aspect "work," pause, review options, change course, and find your traction to move forward.

Emphasize Clarity

Make sure your expectations are exceptionally clear. What do students need to know, do, and complete to participate fully in your class in this new format? How can you make these expectations clear? It might be helpful to use other online tools such as VoiceThread to share your syllabus again to the class, so they know what is expected.

Video-Based Learning

See more on elearningindustry.com

Microlearning

Blended Learning

Interactive Video/Learning