What makes a virtual classroom facilitator good at what they do? Clients and learners ask us this question regularly. Heck, we ask ourselves this question regularly since it speaks to the fundamental value we deliver through our work! Because facilitators deeply impact the overall blend, our answer addresses technical expertise AND those fuzzy soft skills. 

In our experience as both learners and experts, good virtual classroom facilitators….

• Demonstrate virtual classroom literacy.
• Are digitally literate.
• Manage time well.

In practice, these skillsets focus on the learner first, while the technology offers a way to achieve their goals.

There must be an instructional solution between a one-hour webinar and a six-week certificate…

The virtual classroom allows us to create learning experiences that weren’t available 20 years ago. We can space out lessons over days, weeks, and even months so that our learners can reflect on everything they’ve learned and practice those skills before returning to the virtual classroom to learn more. This is an instructionally sound approach, supported by research, that allows individuals to apply what they’ve learned and see a path forward towards mastery.

For example, InSync’s primary training audience consists of professional facilitators, instructional designers, and virtual classroom producers. Most of these individuals are experienced in supporting traditional classroom environments and have a need to add mastery of the virtual classroom to their existing skill sets. For this group of professionals, multiple-week blended learning experiences with rigorously assessed final projects makes sense. 

This intensive model works for most types of training when the intent is creating a path to mastery.

This is the second installment in a three-part series that explores actionable approaches facilitators can use to improve learner engagement through purposeful facilitation.

Can the virtual classroom actually achieve the same learning results as a face-to-face approach? Or is it a ‘second best’ solution?

I believe that, if our approach is authentic and well-designed, facilitators can ensure that virtual learning is REAL learning. And help learners recognize this as well.

Competent virtual facilitators have quite a few enviable skills.

They’ve been trained on the nuances of how to teach virtually and have mastered their virtual classroom platform. (Zoom, WebEx, Adobe Connect, etc.) They consider the principles of adult learning throughout every delivery. They manage the entire experience. And so much more!

The infographic associated with this post provides a pretty detailed list of the qualifications and responsibilities of a good virtual facilitator, in a “job posting” format. (Download here and feel free to adapt for your own use!)

We talk a lot about learning journeys. The modern learning landscape has evolved, and standalone programs no longer exist.

Learners reasonably expect personalized, relevant training experiences. Designers understand that their role has changed to accommodate complex perpetual learning programs that resemble winding pathways.

But what about facilitators? How has their responsibility shifted in the age of learning journeys?

Think back to the last webinar or virtual training session you attended. I’m willing to bet that you divided your attention between the event and other things like email, lunch, or a pressing project.

We don’t judge! Even the most committed learners and seasoned virtual classroom experts have a tendency to multitask in this learning environment. And for good reason – we all juggle an increasing number of competing priorities, and our organizations keep decreasing the amount of time available for learning.

The virtual classroom offers a flexible, dynamic learning environment for modern learning blends. We often think about questions such as:

• When can we most appropriately incorporate virtual classrooms into our instructional designs?
• How do we best leverage virtual classroom tools like chat, breakout rooms, and synchronized web browsing?
• What techniques can facilitators use to engage learners when we can’t see them face-to-face?

But one question often gets overlooked: How can the instructional team advocate for virtual learners?

This post is part of an occasional series “Advice from the Virtual Trenches” where we share real lessons learned when virtual and blended learning didn’t go as planned.

If you’ve ever attended a virtual learning event or webinar, you know that hiccups can and will happen. Access links may not work, audio may disconnect, video may freeze, background noise may disrupt instruction. Add in the element of human error, and the possibilities for technical difficulties become seemingly endless.

Thoughtful instructional design helps ensure that content presented in this learning environment aligns with platform capabilities. But instructional teams offer “on the ground” support and expertise to preemptively avoid and successfully troubleshoot these common modern learning challenges.

We asked our facilitators for their stories about how they handled it when things went wrong in the most unexpected ways. These stories serve as advice from the virtual trenches that you can take back to the job for insight into the possibilities of instructional adaptability!

Bringing balance to the blend isn’t an uncommon topic for our blog and the idea that we need to match learning objectives to the most appropriate instructional strategies and technologies is the foundation to our campaign approach to designing blended learning.

But there is more to the balancing act than just design. Once the development is complete, it’s the job of the facilitator to guide learners though their journeys.

When the InSync Training team reflects on the most successful modern learning experiences, one L&D professional holds a special place in our hearts: the virtual facilitator.

With nothing but their voices, access to technology, and their ingenuity, they literally bring learning to life.

Today, we celebrate their contributions to learning and performance in the first ever Virtual Facilitator Day! Every year, on the third Wednesday of June, we will take an entire day to honor their skills, commitment, and engagement.

Join the party by sharing your stories about extraordinary facilitators on Twitter with #VirtualFacilitatorDay. We know the impact of successful facilitation reaches far and wide, and we look forward to hearing about your experiences.