Awesome Online Training 101 - Dream teams, demos and developing skills

Today’s online trainers are the poster peeps of modern learning. Much more than a teacher, these multi-skilled observers, motivators and topic toffs drive engagement and confidence. Thanks champs! Creating and conducting a grade A training experience is no easy task. There’s a ton of angles and goals to keep in mind, from course aims and audience perspectives to software capabilities and loyalty to the teachings themselves.

Yep, it’s a digital jungle out there. Online training can be just as impactful and effective as in-person approaches, if all the essential ingredients are in place.

• Perfect prep.
• A terrific team or solo superstar.
• Unparalleled understanding of subject/system and learners.
• Hard work x100.

Gone are the days when PowerPoint presentations and the odd quiz question sufficed, today’s knowledge hunters want more and quite rightly so.

So, what is quality online training really all about? What goes into creating and coaching crazy cool courses? Well, it takes a creative mind, affinity with your learners and a solid gold talent for all things engagement.

Your ultimate Online Training hotlist - The Dos & Don’ts.

If you want to create an impactful, effective online training experience, it will take work. After all, your course needs to teach, engage and inspire simultaneously. Don’t fret, whether you’re working hands-on with your budding learners or looking to create a course worthy of swot success, here’s some tips and tricks. Just add enthusiasm.

Do send PowerPoint packing.

This is not a PPT bashing, those types of presentations are great as a teaching guide but they really don’t belong in the eLearning experience. Online training should be about more than reading through boring, text-ridden resources. The key word is ‘learning’ here, it’s all about understanding and testing new knowledge and that takes more than slides and studies.

Don’t underestimate what it takes to build a great training experience.

More often than not, great online training is a team effort. Some organisations are lucky enough to have a solid all-rounder, dedicated to producing resources and supporting learners full-time. For many, the norm is a thriving team capable of transforming info into an experience. Don’t leave the creation of your training to a lonely salesperson or floundering marketer, let the people who know the subject and audience lead the way. There’s no uniform training creation team, but here’s a template for a cracking one!

• A subject matter expert - The resource. Locked within this source is the good stuff, what your learners need to know. More than just providing the goods, the SME can also help review the experience for accuracy and updates. Tap into them throughout the process, don’t limit their involvement to early stages.
• A course designer - The king of structure. Taking the info provided and shaping it into a relevant, engaging experience is a true skill. Where is participation needed? How will info be presented? What will the learning experience look and feel like?
• A tech/visual master - Bringing the concept to life. This designer takes the idea and creates it into a fully functional product. What software is needed? What graphics should be created? How will quizzes, challenges or navigational extras need to feature?

Do be aware of how people learn.

It might sound obvious but it’s often a neglected step in the process. No one wants to be faced with long-winded, word-heavy docs, let alone when they're trying to learn a new system. Don’t encourage your learners to switch off. Think like they think and put yourself in their shoes, what pace, shape and detail will work for them? Small, digestible chunks always work best so don’t go in too heavy, too fast. Cover the basic concepts and build on these, taking pit stops to assess your learner's success along the way. Employ some handy bullet points and step-by-steps where possible to make the process light and nimble.

Don’t go graphics mad.

Visuals are very much a part of the online training process. Meaningful graphics trump any other form of training content but you can have too much of a good thing. Too many training experiences are heavy in colourful images and data-packed graphics, bombardment is not the name of the game. Don’t be scared of white space, in fact embrace it. Not only does it give your graphics impact but it also creates a clean, unmuddled learning environment. Properly plan what aspects of your training course need to be visualised and don’t go overboard. Less is more people.

Do create demos that mirror real-life scenarios.

It can be too easy to forget that what you present will influence how your learner’s behave and thrive out with your training. Make a lasting impression by having hands-on, real-life examples for them to explore and resolve. Instead of simply listing benefits or features why not opt for problem solving. Create ways for them to study products and details themselves, using their newly acquired knowledge to solve probable problems. Aside from being relevant, it sets a routine, a process that these learners will follow when faced with similar issues in their day-to-day. It’s all about value.

There’s tips aplenty that can take your course from effective to invaluable, but it all starts with an affinity with your students and their world. Yes you can create a branded experience that sells you as an educator, and of course you can be creative in your assessment and presentation approach, but at the end of the day this training needed to be a solid deliverable. It needs to perform.

These are just my thoughts on the ‘Online Training’, but I’d love to hear yours. Find me on LinkedIn or just drop me an email here! Alex McKie.

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Twitter snippets.

• (Click to tweet) Online training can be just as impactful and effective as in-person approaches.
• (Click to tweet) The key word is ‘learning’ here, it’s about understanding and testing new knowledge.
• (Click to tweet) Make a lasting impression by having hands-on, real examples to explore and resolve.
• (Click to tweet) Don’t be scared of white space, in fact embrace it.
• (Click to tweet) Today’s online trainers are the poster peeps of modern learning.