“Trainers need to prepare themselves to facilitate and to engage with an audience they don’t see,” says Cindy Huggett, training consultant and author of Virtual Training Basics (www.cindyhuggett.com).
First, trainers need to “learn the platform—in and out. Know every button,” she recommends.
Second, be well versed in the technology, test the technology in advance, and make sure learners are familiar with it. “It’s not about technology, it’s about the learning,” Huggett says. “You want to take the technology piece out of the way. It should be seamless, so we’re not challenged by the technology.”
Third, since you cannot see the learners you are instructing, it is important to plan ways to use your voice and available tools to engage participants—even before the session begins, Huggett says.
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The biggest benefit of virtual training is that learners do not have to leave their office, but that also can create a huge challenge—in terms of distractions interfering with learning, Huggett explains.
To help engage learners, she suggests requiring learners to log in 10 minutes before a training session starts and engaging them immediately by providing opportunities for them to chat with you and other learners.
If learners have never used the technology before, logging in early also gives them an opportunity to test links before the session begins and to help put them in a mindset in which they are ready to learn, she says.
Once training begins, efforts to engage learners should continue. That could include providing a direct connection to the course content by asking a poll question about which of several challenges they face, for example, she says.
One of the biggest mistakes that virtual trainers make is to spend the first 10 to 15 minutes of a training session reviewing the course agenda, Huggett explains.
“You’ve lost them after the first few minutes if they aren’t engaged.”
No time to prepare or deliver training? With the BLR®’s TrainingToday, your employees can start taking essential training courses the same day you sign up. Workers (and supervisors) train at their convenience, 24/7. We track, and you save with this turnkey solution. Yes, it really can be this simple. Learn more.
Are you excited about using virtual training to engage your employees with effective learning? But are you now looking around for appropriate and dynamic content for your virtual training?
If you don’t have the budget or time to create virtual training content on your own, BLR® may have just the solution you need!
Good news from BLR—now you can run your training program like a pro, with our new TrainingToday system.
TrainingToday is a leading provider of online education programs for employees and supervisors. Each course in our extensive library addresses a specific topic with engaging and interactive presentations, delivering practical advice and clear instructions that trainees will remember long after the training is complete.
Three Delivery Platforms
TrainingToday offers you the option of three delivery platforms to meet your organization’s needs:
Professional
- Unlimited training for your whole organization for one flat fee
- Easy to start up and track trainee progress
- Hundreds of courses available, from employment law compliance to sales excellence
Enterprise
The Enterprise includes all the features of the Professional version plus:
- Track and report capability with built-in comprehensive Learning Management System
- Train with courses as they are, or make them truly your own with our customization options
- Upload your own content (PowerPoint, video, SCORM files, etc.) to the LMS in addition to using our comprehensive training courses
SCORM
- Integrate content into your existing LMS
- Easy to tailor to your content, logo, presentation style, and corporate policies
- SCORM-compliant to integrate with existing corporate learning systems
Here are just some of the many courses available at TrainingToday:
[Click here to download information on all courses and libraries.]
Over 75 HR and employment training courses covering such topics as Sexual Harassment, Diversity, and the ADA.
The Diversity library is an interactive training program with different modules for supervisors and employees. It features real-world scenarios and insightful commentary from a leading workplace expert and employment law attorney.
Preventing Sexual Harassment—National—NEW!
Until now, training has been a real challenge—there’s such a load of extraneous planning, preparing, and tracking involved. But we’ve got good news—BLR’s editors have developed a unique new program that’s done all that work for you.
It’s called TrainingToday. This turnkey service requires no setup, no course development time, no software installation, and no new hardware. Your employees can self-register, and training can be taken anytime (24/7), anywhere there is a PC and an Internet connection. Courses take only about 30 minutes to complete.
TrainingToday automatically documents training. As trainees sign on, their identifications are automatically registered. When the program is completed, the trainee’s score is entered. So, when you want to see who has been trained on any subject, or look at the across-the-board activity of any one employee, it’s all there, instantly available to you, your boss, an inspector—even a plaintiff’s attorney.
Course certificates can be automatically generated from within the training center and are automatically retained for recordkeeping purposes.
Unlimited Training That Won’t Bust the Budget
Best of all, in these budget-crunching times, TrainingToday costs only a fraction of what you would pay for a learning management system (LMS). You always know exactly what training will cost, no matter how many programs you use or how many times you use them. There’s just one low annual fee—for unlimited training—calculated by the size of your workforce. Budget once and you’re done!
These are all motivational, actionable courses—for both employees and supervisors—in such key areas as sexual harassment, FMLA, diversity, communication, USERRA, recruiting, and many more. The courses are kept up to date to reflect federal and state regulatory changes and, what’s more, BLR adds new programs continually.
TrainingToday also includes a selection of safety courses—you decide whether you want just the HR courses, the safety courses, or both HR and safety.
If it sounds as if we’re excited about this new service, well, we are—and so is the Software & Information Industry Association, which just voted TrainingToday (formerly the Employee Training Center) the “Best Workforce Training Solution.” Find out what all the buzz is about—sign up for a no-obligation trial to TrainingToday.