Virtually There Session Recap

For virtual classrooms to become successful and viable, we have to move beyond webinars and toward true training experiences. But how can we accomplish that lofty goal when under pressing deadlines and during a time of global change?

To start, we recommend purposefully increasing learner engagement in virtual learning sessions. Scenarios provide an easy, quick, and thoughtful way to foster environmental engagement, nurture emotional engagement, and stimulate intellectual engagement.

Virtually There Session Recap

In response to changes happening in L&D during the COVID-19 pandemic, experts Jane Bozarth and Jennifer Hofmann joined forces for a special 90-minute Virtually There webinar on March 9, 2020. This blog post, the second in a comprehensive series, recaps some of the timely and helpful information shared during When Virtual Classrooms Become Virtually Required.

It feels like organizations, work, and the world underwent an unexpected and radical evolution over the past few weeks. Offices closed to keep employees safe, teams now meet on Zoom or Google Hangouts, and training needs to move online.

Big News! Today, InSync Training hosts our first-ever Instructional Designer Day celebration. Moving forward, we will dedicate the third Wednesday of March to highlighting the important contributions of those who create training programs of all sizes and types. Each year, this informal holiday will include kudos and tips shared on social media using #InstructionalDesignerDay, complimentary content and events, and more. We encourage you to join the virtual party by using the social media hashtag to give shoutouts to colleagues, commenting on this blog, and extending the festivities to your organization!

Have you ever attended a learning program that helped you build new skills? Have components of a blend that captured your attention and engaged your brain? Have you walked out of a classroom and thought, “Wow! I learned something valuable today!”? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you need to thank an instructional designer!

Virtually There Session Recap

In response to changes happening in L&D during the COVID-19 pandemic, experts Jane Bozarth and Jennifer Hofmann joined forces for a special 90-minute Virtually There webinar on March 9, 2020. This blog post, the first in a comprehensive series, recaps some of the timely and helpful information shared during When Virtual Classrooms Become Virtually Required. 

The virtual classroom may not be new, but currently the world is experiencing a crisis that’s accelerating its necessity. With travel bans, new work-from-home arrangements creating unexpected virtual teams, and in-person meeting cancellations, virtual classroom platforms have become virtually required.

Would it surprise you even more to learn that, despite the perceived importance of increasing

engagement in learning initiatives, this same study revealed that L&D professionals only spend

“15% of their time promoting their programs?” Understandably, solid instructional design and

memorable delivery often occupy our efforts, frustratingly leaving little room for marketing considerations. 

In 2020, we are sharing the lessons we’ve learned about the virtual classroom over the last twenty years, and we’ll link back to our more detailed content around these topics, in case you want to learn more!  Take a peek at the entire Lessons Learned series by clicking here.

For decades, the virtual classroom has been used to simply present information in a webinar-type format. Because of this, there is some debate around the concept of the virtual classroom being a space where true learning can occur.  

Virtually There Session Recap

Think back to the first time you ever facilitated a webinar, virtual training session, or a meeting. How did you feel about it? Most people, including members of our experienced team, found the process stressful. The very technology that allows for creating connections across great distances, intimidates seasoned pros. And even if the virtual classroom platform works without a hitch, we often wonder, “did learners get anything from that experience?” 

Karen Vieth, InSync’s lead facilitator, joined the Virtually There series on February 19 to share her insights into how advanced delivery can mean the difference between simple interaction and true learning in the virtual classroom. 

The InSync Training team congratulates Chip Dye, Lead Researcher and Director of Client Relations, on the defense of his dissertation and completion of his PhD program at the University of Connecticut. As part of our 20 Modern Learning Lessons Learned in 20 Years series, Chip highlights the purpose and value of his research into learner engagement. 

A casual review of current literature in academic research finds more than 300 scholarly articles and more than 2,000 trade articles in 2019 alone that use the term “learner engagement,” but few commentators define learner engagement. It is perhaps the ubiquity of the usage that allows researchers and commentators to continue the practice without a strict definition – it is assumed everyone knows what is meant by the term. Most practitioners in the learning and development industry, be it K-12 public education, post-secondary instruction, or industry professional training, can easily distinguish an “engaged” learner from one that is not engaged, in many cases simply on sight. 

Anecdotally, it is easy to “see” when someone is not engaged, but much more difficult to articulate what is meant by “learner engagement.” In the industry, learner engagement has developed into a short-hand term that loosely represents an amalgam of learner subject-matter interest/expertise, attitude, motivation, mastery, and self efficacy. Moreover, it is often explicitly or implicitly assumed that an engaged learner will achieve better outcomes against measurable rubrics than one who is not engaged.

February’s installment of the InSync 20th Anniversary Team Insight series pulls the curtain back on virtual classroom stagehands: The Producer. Read the other blogs in the series to learn about modern learning instructional design, facilitation, and implementation from the best in the business!