I don’t remember what prompted this tweet in January, 2012, but I feel it even more strongly now than I did then. Since the onset of COVID, we have seen 3 phases of its effects on training and training delivery:

Have you ever been sent to training that just didn’t ring true? Perhaps it presented steps as too simple (“Then just get everyone to agree and implement your plan”) or offered unworkable performance tips (“Set aside a half-hour every day to reflect on your obstacles and achievements”) or included a tipoff that the designer had no idea about the reality of your work (My postal-service husband says he laughs at the unrealistic training videos he’s assigned to watch, because “the customers always have exact change”.)

Years ago when I was teaching virtual facilitation skills, there was a section called “disaster recovery”. I poked fun at this, saying it seemed a bit too dramatic and asking if there had ever really been a Code Blue in a breakout room. Truth is, though, sometimes things do go wrong, and great staff with a great plan can keep hiccups from turning into full-blown failures.

Many years ago - can it really be nearly 20? - I was first learning to work in the virtual classroom. Back then, the tech was very new and still often wonky and unpredictable, so it was a given that this was a team endeavor, with the facilitator always working with a producer. I didn’t know at the time what a gift this would turn out to be: When I introduced virtual classroom events in my workplace, no one ever questioned the need for and the value of a producer, and no one ever asked me to try flying solo.

While researching evidence-based practices for the virtual classroom, I was looking for specific examples of activities that supported proven approaches like retrieval practice and feedback. What I found mostly were hundreds -- literally hundreds -- of sites and blog posts and articles promising ideas for “engagement and interaction” that were usually nothing more than lists of “icebreakers”, often just the same ones repeated from site to site and post to post. And y’all: I remember doing “2 Truths and a Lie” at a trainers meeting in 1996, and it wasn’t new then.

A critical element to learning is retrieval practice; the opportunity to revisit and apply new material. Such practice, coupled with meaningful feedback, can help ensure that learners understand material correctly, that they can find it - retrieve it - when needed, even after time has passed, and that they can apply it to real-world situations. Offering meaningful practice opportunities and providing good feedback can also contribute to a sense of social presence, discussed in my last post, Facilitation Tips Series, Part 1: Presence.

In the recent rush to move so much training from face-to-face to the virtual setting, there’s a great deal of conversation about the technology: which platform, dealing with security settings, how to create backgrounds. There’s less conversation, though, about the role of the facilitator and the skills needed to bring the energy and feeling of connectedness of the live event to the live online one.

Social presence refers to the collection of behaviors that help participants in a virtual environment see the facilitator -- and each other -- as human. Is this a ‘real’ person? Do I feel that they are really there, now?

We often encounter some version of the following story when working with corporate teams and individual learners: “Well, my organization has made the leap to the virtual classroom. I’m now supporting live online sessions, but I don’t know how to use my existing skills while managing the technology.”

This kind of quandary results in the accidental virtual classroom producer. Trainers or learning professionals used to working face-to-face now have to support subject matter experts or experienced virtual facilitators in a completely different, though very dynamic, environment. So. what can you do if you find yourself, whether by circumstance or choice, working as a producer in the virtual classroom?

Recently, learners have flocked to the virtual classroom to continue their professional development. Organizations have started embracing the flexibility and dynamism of this learning environment as a viable option for programs ranging from new-hire onboarding to informational webinar-style updates to complex technical trainings.

We believe in the power of the virtual classroom. But, truthfully, despite its varied functionality and useful tools, learners experience a, well, learning curve when learning virtually.

To help learners – both new and experienced – adapt and thrive in the virtual classroom, our team compiled a list of obstacles to look out for and ways to preemptively overcome them.

In August, we celebrate virtual classroom facilitators. And this year, you all REALLY deserve applause. You’ve been teaching marathon sessions that weren’t designed for the virtual environment, often in platforms you haven’t used before.

So, KUDOS to you, and thanks for all you have been doing. I know it hasn’t been easy.

When I wrote this blog back in January 2020, none of us had any idea how the world was about to change.  Virtual facilitation isn’t a ‘nice to know’ skill anymore – it’s critical! InSync’s clients tell us they expect near 100% of their training to be conducted virtually for the foreseeable future.  So, with thousands of hours of Zoom, Webex, Adobe Connect, and MS Teams training on the horizon, it seems a good time to revisit the basics.

No - virtual facilitation is NOT the same as face to face training. Own it. Embrace it. Your learners are depending on you.