Deloitte University Press estimated that more than 24 million people have tried virtual training and that most young employees come to work ready to build their job skills through VILT software, or virtual instructor-led training software.
With this in mind, here’s a list of recommendations to help you—and your training department—deliver high-quality virtual instructor-led training (VILT):
Incorporate material from recent events, research and ideas
Virtual training software gives training departments the ability to easily refresh course content. While adding relevant content to existing courses (or adding completely new courses) requires time and money, it makes your courses stronger and builds credibility for your online training courses.
For example, students are more likely to sign up for additional courses if the course has a reputation for adding new content regularly—or if they know that an advanced course will give them an edge in the job market.
When adding new content to an existing course, ensure that your virtual training software gives you an easy way to add content. For example, with ReadyTech’s Instructor-Led Training Solution, curriculum developers can create course templates that can be updated frequently, allowing recent news, research and ideas to be incorporated into the virtual classroom. Instructors also can add ad-hoc content during the course and set permissions to either allow students to download the content or leave it as read-only.
Invite guest speakers
Consider bringing an outsider into a course to give students an alternative viewpoint on a topic and expose students to fresh content. Keep in mind that guest speakers are more powerful if they specialize in an area (such as a tool or product feature) or a specific topic. This way, students can explore the details and nuances of the guest speaker’s specialization.
Connect online courses to the offline world
Students can’t have in-person interactions when using virtual training software. As a result, it is especially important to connect online students with each other via in-class discussions and group interactions. Refer to our blog post The Art of Teaching Passionate, Attentive and Engaged Students for tips to increase engagement in your virtual classroom.
Encourage student interaction
Spend the first 15 minutes of class on participant introductions. This interaction will help students feel comfortable within the class setting. Your students will be more engaged if they personally know you — and other students.
There is no question that virtual training software is growing by leaps and bounds. Now the trick is to deliver high-quality online training so students can get the most out of each and every learning experience.
