The Successful Virtual Classroom
The Successful Virtual Classroom, How to Design and Facilitate Interactive and Engaging Live Online Learning, by Darlene Christopher, Amacom 2015http://www.amacombooks.org/book.cfm?isbn=9780814434284Some on-line learning isn't worth the glass it's displayed on, while some virtual training is the perfect solution for just the right amount of usable content, interaction, and reinforcement. But since the web is dotted with too many solutions, it's become difficult for corporation and users to pick the right ones. Author Darlene Christopher, however, makes the qualification and selection process clearer and more efficient. Using an approach called PREP - Planning, Rehearsing, Executing, and conducting a Post-Session review - and work from Oracle, UPS, The Nature Conservancy, The Army National Guard, and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Christopher offers an approach that is designed to work for all types of learners.
Not only does she delineate the differences between traditional face-to-face training, self-paced e-learning, and virtual classroom training, the author also tells readers when to use virtual classroom training. Briefly, if your organization can answer targeted questions around this decision in the areas of training need, technology, content, participant, and facilitation team, it will be clear if this approach is the right one.
An Appendix short list of virtual classroom vendors offers a great starting place to see what's out there and how various packages distinguish themselves. Another Appendix tool, the Feature List, allows users to develop the "must-have" specifications they will need to select the most effective package.
Finally, Christopher opens up the world of virtual classroom course design with recommendations as to how one can convert current classroom materials into virtual learning tools. Here the whole horizon opens up as we see that the virtual media world offers endless content and layout possibilities, plus the collaboration and on-going user connections that we've come to value, all in one place. The long list of materials that are currently required to provide traditional training is simplified, but because the web is changeable, if a group exercise dosn't seem to be working, it can be changed. Instant feedback triggers instant corrections.
A great starting point, The Successful Virtual Classroom offers insight, checklists and strong recommendations that readers who want to switch up their traditional training methods will find valuable. Good to remember that although any web product is instantly changeable/fixable, design and development in the short-term may actually require more prep time.