Chapter 15
Online Learning: Tools to Try
The basic concept of distance learning is not new. In fact, the training profession is moving into its second decade of “practicing” what we now (for the most part) call e-learning. The lingo has changed—webinars, online classes, virtual classrooms—but whatever you call it, learning powered by the digital revolution is here to stay.
However, it is safe to say that many trainers are somewhat reluctant to fully embrace the notion and perfect their design and delivery techniques. But, as Vince Lombardi once said, “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”
Most organizations have increased their use of virtual training due to travel restrictions, budget cuts, and an increasingly technology-savvy workforce. Organizations are rethinking how they will continue to meet the learning needs of their employees and are asking their trainers to deliver more content online. Trainers are expected to have the skills to design and deliver virtual training.
Unfortunately, the concept of distance learning (an older term, but inclusive for my purposes here) is still not well understood by either organizations or practitioners. The high hopes for this training often fall short of the quality standards expected in traditional settings. Most of this disappointment is due to a lack of appropriate design and limited knowledge of the skill variations required. Many trainers still believe distance learning (no matter the technology driving the learning) is simply classroom training set to a digital framework. Of course, that is certainly not true.
Cindy Huggett, in Virtual Training Basics, convinces us that virtual training is “still training” and requires us to tap into all the good things we do in the classroom. The contributors to this chapter have taken that advice. With a special virtual twist, they have presented good ideas you can include in your next e-learning event.
Tara Denton shares an opening activity that is as good in the training room as it is online. Just as in the classroom, the first few minutes of an online course will set the tone for the rest of the time and Darlene Christopher helps you set the tone right from the start. Joan McGrory explains several ways you can use YouTube to enhance learning for your participants. Virtual role plays? Sure, why not? Darlene Christopher gives you an example. Joel Lamoreaux explains how an exciting idea from kindergarten can be an even better idea online. Paul Venderley shares his version of an online review, complete with a spinner!
You’ll enjoy these activities and find ways to use them in your next virtual event.
Overview
Participants follow the lead of Twitter’s brevity of language and are asked to provide five-word descriptions of other participants to connect and engage them in the training event.
Objective
- To provide a short introduction that prepares individuals for an active training environment
Audience
Appropriate for any size audience
Time Estimate
5 to 10 minutes
Materials and Equipment
- (Classroom environment) One index card per participant
- (Online environment) Whiteboard with a grid (use line tool). Type each person’s name in a square, so each has his or her own personal “square” to “tweet” in. Don’t forget to give participants annotation privileges!
Area Setup
No special requirements
Process
1. In a classroom setting, ask each participant to take 1 minute to write a description of themselves in five words (and five words only) on an index card. Tell the participants that they can write a sentence or a collection of words they feel describes them.
2. After 1 minute, ask participants to walk to the a designated place in the room and partner with someone they do not know. Ask them to exchange index cards and prepare to introduce their learning partners.
3. Go around the room and ask each person, in turn, to read the Twitter introduction of his or her partner.
4. In an online setting, ask each participant to find the box on the online whiteboard with his or her name on it. Ask participants to type their five-word Twitter introductions into the squares.
5. In either environment, comment on the diversity in the room and the original choices people made when describing themselves. Take note of the learning and personality styles revealed through the tweets. Comment on the fact that five little words can tell the essence of a person. You can also mention that, when one is forced to simplify, the core of the information is revealed. This can be an important lesson to keep in mind when working on a project.
InSider’s Tips
- This activity can be done in an online or classroom environment with equal effectiveness. Its brevity makes it ideal when your workshop is shorter than a day.
- Encourage further creativity for visual learners by asking them to add a drawing or image to their Twitter descriptions.
Overview
A simple online whiteboard is shown to be a great place to meet and greet in this activity designed to connect virtual participants in a meaningful way.
Objectives
- To introduce participants to the interactive features of the virtual classroom
- To set a tone for a high level of interactivity for a virtual training session
Audience
Any number of virtual classroom participants
Time Estimate
10 minutes
Materials and Equipment
- Internet connection
- PowerPoint slides
- Polling feature
- Any Word document
Area Setup
Any virtual classroom with interactive features
Preparation
In the virtual classroom environment, pre-load PowerPoint slides with simple instructions and screen shots to support the interaction. Pre-load a poll into the virtual classroom. Prepare a Word document or text file with a question that you will copy and paste into chat. Prepare a whiteboard with labeled quadrants.
Process
1. Introduction: After welcoming participants and making introductions, show a slide labeled “Interacting in the Virtual Classroom.” The order of the steps below may vary, depending on the features you plan to use. The order of the steps is not as important as making sure you expose participants to the interactive features you plan to use throughout the session.
2. Post a Poll: Post an introductory poll with an “easy” question that relates to your content, for example: “How many years of experience do you have with X?” or “How many years have you worked in X or as Y?” Be sure to let participants know whether their poll responses will be anonymous or not. When all responses have been collected, publish the results for all to see, comment on the results, thank the participants for their responses, and move on to the next interaction.
3. Chat: Copy and paste a pre-determined chat question from a Word document. For example: “Where are you participating from today? Type the city and state.” or “How many employees do you supervise? Type the number.” Comment verbally about some (not all) of the responses. If you have a second person helping produce your session, he or she may also respond or comment to the responses via chat.
4. Icon Status Change: Tell participants that they can also communicate with you during the session by using the icon status feature (the name of this feature will vary depending on your web conferencing tool). Show a slide with screen shots of the icon status change so you can describe where it is located on the screen and how to enable it. Then ask a question and ask participants to respond by changing their status, for example, “Raise your hand if the audio is clear.” or “Change your status to agree if you supervise remote employees. Change your status to disagree if you do not supervise remote employees.” Comment on the results, thank the participants, reset everyone’s status to neutral, and move on.
5. Whiteboard: Draw a simple quadrant with labels or show an image of a quadrant with labels. Ask participants to use their pointer tools (if your system has one) to point to the box that is the best match. If your web conference tool doesn’t have a pointer, ask them to select a box and write their names on the screen. For example, you might ask: “Which region of the U.S. do you support in your work?” then show a quadrant labeled North, South, East, West.
InSider’s Tips
- It’s critical to introduce participants to the interactive features of the virtual classroom early in a session. The first few minutes of instruction and interaction will set the tone for the rest of the session. Since time in the virtual classroom is precious, it’s also important that interactions with participants support your content, rather than interacting for the sake of interacting.
- Rehearse these introductory interactions so they are smooth. A flawless first few minutes of a web conference will set a tone for a professional delivery.
- First impressions count, so figure out what you need to do in order to start your virtual session on time and get through your Virtual Warm-Up quickly, so you can move into the core content.
Overview
Participants have a chance to connect with the instructor (and perhaps even each other) using the most widely available video-sharing tools with the purpose of connecting and engaging learners.
Objectives
- To build relationships between participants and trainers by adding a human element to online course content
- To build rapport, excite, motivate, and add creativity to a class
Audience
Any group of online participants
Time Estimate
10 minutes or under
Materials and Equipment
- A printed outline of the discussion points
- (If stationary recording): Instructor computer with webcam and webcam software and microphone
- (More portable solution): A video camera such as a Flip
- (Screen capture with voice): JingPro ($14.95/year) and microphone (If this choice is used, activity is limited to 5 minutes.)
Area Setup
No special requirements
Preparation
In one take, without edits, in 10 minutes or less, talk to your online students on camera. The message can be a welcome message, a message to clarify common points of confusion, a message to “touch base” by verifying course schedule or chapter/topic/outline or assignment details, excite, encourage, motivate, or a dozen other messages. This communication must be positive and uplifting, as it serves to build rapport and bring your class to life.
Create a login to the website YouTube or else log in with an existing id. Use the YouTube site to upload your video. YouTube will generate a hyperlink to your posted video. Distribute this hyperlink to your participants. Accompany it with the discussion points.
(Optional) If you have an online course management system or class web pages, you may choose to embed your video on an HTML page. YouTube generates the “Embed” code; simply copy and paste the code into the HTML code for your page.
Process
1. Contact your participants by email, sending them the link to your video as a welcome.
2. Provide instructions and invite your participants to briefly record video clips as an introduction to themselves, perhaps suggesting an “NPR Story Corps” style story.
3. Once participants arrive in your training room or your virtual learning class, discuss the results. Be sure to include other participants who may not have created a video introduction.
4. Invite them to discuss other ways the videos could be used before, during, or after the training session.
InSider’s Tips
- After the session, invite your participants to briefly record a video clip to recap a concept, to identify confusing points, to stay in touch with the rest of the group, to evaluate the training session, or even to pass on information or perspectives to the next group.
- For instructor videos, always provide the same information in written form. It does not have to be a verbatim transcript, simply talking points along with dates, times, websites, or detailed and/or pertinent information. Provide this in printable format and the participants can follow along as you talk. If you also print the document, then you can point to sections of the document as you talk.
- For supporting evidence, see research by Douglas E. Hersh in The Human Element, Inside Higher Ed (3/29/10) written by S. Kolowich, www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/03/29/lms, and Michelle Meeks of York University in “These Lectures Are Gone in 60 Seconds,” The Chronicle (03/06/2009), by David Sheih.
- This technique works because the information is provided in multiple formats: written, audio, and video; it is short, focused, and targeted; and it builds rapport and excites, which motivates participants.
Overview
Participants practice working in a virtual environment and learn important lessons about interacting without traditional visual cues such as body language.
Objective
- To practice giving and receiving feedback for a performance review in a simulated environment
Audience
Ten to twenty virtual classroom participants
Time Estimate
10 to 15 minutes for each script
Materials and Equipment
- Virtual meeting room (such as Adobe Connect, WebEx, LiveMeeting)
- Internet connection
- Prepared slides loaded in the virtual meeting room
Area Setup
Virtual classroom with audio enabled for participants
Preparation
Prepare the role plays you wish to use in your virtual classroom. Keep them simple and short, aiming for four or fewer rounds of comments back and forth.
Process
1. At the point in the agenda when you wish to conduct the role plays, show a slide with text “Scripted Role Play: How to [insert the name of the situation],” for example: How to Respond to Unclear Feedback. Tell participants that the next activity will be a scripted role play wherein they will practice how to respond to unclear feedback in a performance review conversation.
2. Show the next slide with text “Two volunteers needed. Click on Raise Hand to volunteer” (word this slide to match the feature labels used in your virtual classroom tool).
3. Call on the first two people who raise their hands. Assign one person the role of supervisor and one person the role of employee. If you have muted participant phones or microphones, open up the audio for the two volunteers.
4. Assign the roles to the two volunteers. Show the slide with script and ask the volunteers to read it out loud. The script should be labeled with text for the supervisor and text for the employee. Alternate the text so that each person reads twice. For example:
Supervisor: “You need to improve your interpersonal skills.”
Staff: “Can you give me some suggestions about how I can do that?”
Supervisor: “You should respect other people.”
Staff: “I feel like I do respect other people. What can I do to let people know that? Would you have suggestions for me?”
Supervisor: “In meetings you appear disinterested when someone else is speaking. If you look at the speaker or make a comment, you will show respect.”
5. Thank the volunteers and debrief the activity. Ask participants questions such as:
- What are the key learning points?
- What else could you include in this conversation?
- How does what you heard fit with your experience with performance conversations?
- In general, what might you do differently the next time you are in a situation like this?
InSider’s Tips
- Without the visual clues and body language of a face-to-face setting, it’s difficult to carry out a traditional role-play exercise in a virtual classroom. However, scripting the role play provides a starting point. Often, participants who are reading the script will continue the role play individually but the script helps them start.
- Virtual classroom participants need clear, deliberate instructions. Describe exactly what you want participants to do verbally and with a slide to support your instructions, for example, “raise your hand,” “read aloud.”
Overview
Interacting online teaches important lessons about facing change and other important organizational topics.
Objective
- To help participants quickly “see” commonalities and differences in a topic
Audience
Ten to twenty participants
Time Estimate
10 to 15 minutes
Materials and Equipment
- Virtual classroom portal, such as WebEx
- Access to an Internet browser and ability to go to www.wordle.net
Setup
Before you begin, go to your desktop, open your browser, and go to www.wordle.net. Once there, hit the “create” button. You will see a box labeled, “Paste in a bunch of random text.” You are in the right place. Leave it for now and return to your virtual classroom.
Process
1. Tell participants to think of ten words they associate with change (or whatever your training topic is, such as customer service, leadership, or personal development), both positive and negative.
2. Ask them to enter those words into the chat box of your virtual classroom. Each must be a single word, separated by a space. Tell them to avoid commas, multiple words, and hyphenated words.
3. You may wish to have a list of ten words of your own to show them as an example. For change, your list might include: fear hope uncertainty frustration promise doubt stability stressful learn grow.
4. As participants begin entering their ten words, edit/copy the lists after about every three people, returning to your desktop and www.wordle.net to paste them into the box. Note: You will need to edit out extra words like their names, so that only the ten words for each participant end up in the box.
5. Once all words from all participants are entered, click on the “go” button to create a “word cloud” from their entries.
6. Return to your virtual classroom, and select the option to share your desktop with the participants. Return to Wordle and the entire class will instantly see a creative word cloud that they just made. Tell them that this is a personal representation of how they see change (or your topic).
7. Ask the group which words are the largest, and then explain to them that these were the ones repeated most often. Ask them why they think these would be words many people would use to describe the topic.
8. Ask them about the smallest words, those not repeated and therefore unique to a single person. Ask them why they think this occurred? What words do they see that they did not think of at all? In general, let them open up to whatever observations they can make from the image and the fact that we all see topics the same, yet differently.
InSider’s Tips
- The larger your group, the faster you will need to use your mouse, as participants will be waiting for you to finish.
- This activity is an example of how we as human beings see changes in our lives (or whatever other topic you have chosen). The activity will work for any topic when seeing differences makes for interesting observation.
- You can play with color and layout within Wordle to make it even more visual.
- You can leave names in so that they remember who they learned from that day.
- Let them do most of the talking; it is always fascinating what people can pull out of these images.
- You can send the participants a copy (color printout or electronic) as a reminder of their session.
- If any of your participants keep an electronic journal, it is fun to copy/paste their writings into Wordle to see whether any obvious themes appear.
Overview
Skills reviews undergo an entertaining and interactive makeover using this online training tool.
Objective
- To provide an engaging way to conduct a skills review session online
Audience
Webinar participants
Time Estimate
20 to 30 minutes
Materials and Equipment
- PowerPoint software
- Webinar software
- Instructions for Creating an Online Review Wheel
Area Setup
Virtual classroom with interactive features
Preparation
Use the Instructions for Creating an Online Review Wheel at the end of this activity.
Identify the number of topics you will review. Select the questions for each topic. Ensure that the responses can be short. Create a pie chart with all of the topics. Add an arrow to the center of the pie chart, to act as a spinner. Program the “spin” custom animation selection to control the arrow so that it points to a topic.
Insert this “Online Review Wheel” into your slide deck where appropriate or upload it into your webinar program as a separate document that can be accessed whenever needed.
Process
1. State that the group will take some time to review the content of the program. The added nuance is the wheel and the perceived randomness of the questions being asked.
2. Tell the participants that you have an Online Review Wheel and you will spin the arrow to determine from which topic the questions will come.
3. Use the webinar program to trigger the animation that spins the arrow. Ask a volunteer one of the questions from that topic area and obtain responses from other participants.
4. Repeat the process for another topic area. Limit the review to less than 10 minutes to continue to maintain interest.
InSider’s Tips
- There may be times during online training that you want to review a specific skill. The Online Review Wheel uses PowerPoint tools to practice soft skills in an engaging way. It provides the illusion of randomness and pulls participants in to what appears to be the “luck of the draw.” This activity addresses one of the challenges of synchronous online training.
- Select your volunteers before the activity begins. It speeds up the review.
- Play up the randomness of the wheel. While you know from your notes where the wheel will stop next, your participants won’t. Allow the spinner to land on any given topic more than once to truly add a “random” feel to the topic choice.
Instructions for Creating an Online Review Wheel
Follow these instructions to create the pie chart and program the custom animation.
1. Identify the number of topics for which you will create questions.
2. In PowerPoint, create a pie chart.
- In the Menu Bar, select Insert.
- Select Chart. A “Change Chart Type” dialog box will appear.
- Select Pie Chart.
3. An Excel window will open with a data sample for your chart. Update the spreadsheet to divide the pie chart into equal segments based on the number of topics you have for your review.
For example, Sales:
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
Note that the default topics PowerPoint adds to this data table are immaterial to the final chart.
4. Close the Excel spreadsheet/data chart. You should see your PowerPoint pie chart.
5. In PowerPoint, remove any labels, titles, or legends included with the pie chart.
6. Expand the chart area to make the pie chart as large as possible. This will be your spinner board. Format the pie pieces as desired.
7. Add your topic titles to the board.
- It’s easiest to use WordArt to create the topic headings.
- Try the WordArt Text Effect: “Inflate Top” or “Can Top” to shape the topic as an arc.
8. Insert a Block Arrow over your board.
- In the Menu Bar, select Insert.
- Select Shapes.
- Choose a Block Arrow from the Shapes options given.
9. Format the arrow as desired, ensuring that the arrow stands out from all other colors on the pie chart.
10. Create custom animations for the arrow.
- Select the Block Arrow.
- In the PowerPoint Menu Bar, select Animations.
- Select Custom Animation.
- Click Add Effect.
- Select Emphasis.
- Select Spin.
11. The default settings for this animation are 360-degree clockwise, medium speed. You’ll want to change those settings to allow your arrow to land on different sections of the pie chart.
- First, set a 720-degree (Two Spin) Clockwise Spin animation to “Very Fast,” immediately followed by a 180-degree (Half Spin) Clockwise Spin animation set to “Fast.”
12. Continue to insert custom animation until all topics are covered.
The following Custom Animation example should result in each topic being covered once:
1. Start: On Click
Amount: 720-degree Clockwise (Two Spins)
Speed: Very Fast
2. Start: After Previous
Amount: 180-degree Clockwise
Speed: Fast
Selected Topic: Topic Three
3. Start: On Click
Amount: 720-degree Clockwise (Two Spins)
Speed: Very Fast
4. Start: After Previous
Amount: 90-degree Clockwise
Speed: Fast
Selected Topic: Topic Four
5. Start: On Click
Amount: 720-degree Clockwise (Two Spins)
Speed: Very Fast
6. Start: After Previous
Amount: 120-degree Clockwise (This is a Custom Setting)
Speed: Fast
Selected Topic: Topic One
7. Start: On Click
Amount: 720-degree Clockwise (Two Spins)
Speed: Very Fast
8. Start: After Previous
Amount: 300-degree Clockwise (This is a Custom Setting)
Speed: Fast
Selected Topic: Topic Four
9. Start: On Click
Amount: 720-degree Clockwise (Two Spins)
Speed: Very Fast
10. Start: After Previous
Amount: 180-degree Clockwise
Speed: Fast
Selected Topic: Topic Two
1Tara Denton has designed and delivered learning solutions since 2001. She specializes in building learning products that meet business objectives, facilitating training programs, and coaching others to deliver participant-centered experiences. Tara’s learning products have been named as finalists in training product competitions, and her jovial style has made her a repeated speaker and presenter. Tara’s flexibility allows her to work on a range of projects, from consulting a Fortune 500 company on an internal certification program to designing and delivering live online courses.
Tara Denton
Life Cycle Engineering
4360 Corporate Road
Charleston, SC 29405
(843) 744.7110
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.lce.com/institute
ASTD Chapter: South Carolina Midlands
2Darlene Christopher is a learning officer at the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. She has been designing and delivering virtual training programs for global audiences for more than nine years. She is a regular speaker at ASTD and e-Learning Guild conferences and is the author of the book Virtual Classroom Essentials (publication pending). She has a diverse technology background, holding web product management positions in Silicon Valley at Infoseek, Disney Internet Group, and 3Com. Darlene earned a master’s degree in international management from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She is also the director of virtual programs for the Metro D.C. chapter of ASTD.
Darlene Christopher
7742 Desiree Street
Alexandria, VA 22315
(202) 473.6651
Email: [email protected]
Website: Webconferenceguru.com
ASTD Chapter: Metro Washington, D.C.
3Joan McGrory, Ph.D., is an assistant professor for Southwest Tennessee Community College, where she teaches business statistics and leadership and also serves as an advisor for Phi Theta Kappa honor society. For many years, she served her college and community as a computer seminar instructor and earned the position of center director. She developed an online orientation program for the distance education department before moving into a faculty position. She earned a Ph.D. in information systems from Nova Southeastern University. Joan also holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Christian Brothers University.
Joan McGrory, Ph.D.
7776 Juniper Cove East
Cordova, TN 38016
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://faculty.southwest.tn.edu/jmcgrory
ASTD Chapter: Memphis
4Darlene Christopher is a learning officer at the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. She has been designing and delivering virtual training programs for global audiences for more than nine years. She is a regular speaker at ASTD and e-Learning Guild conferences and is the author of the book Virtual Classroom Essentials (publication pending). She has a diverse technology background, holding web product management positions in Silicon Valley at Infoseek, Disney Internet Group, and 3Com. Darlene holds a master’s degree in international management from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She is also the director of virtual programs for the Metro D.C. chapter of ASTD.
Darlene Christopher
7742 Desiree Street
Alexandria, VA 22315
(202) 473.6651
Email: [email protected]
Website: Webconferenceguru.com
ASTD Chapter: Metro Washington, D.C.
5Joel Lamoreaux presently serves employees of Deluxe Corp. from the across the United States and Canada, teaching mostly virtual sessions on various leadership topics. While his formalized education is in journalism and organizational effectiveness, he has developed a life-long appreciation for adult learning and the joy that comes with seeing another person grow and succeed. He gets his “classroom” fix by serving as vice president of programs for the Pikes Peak chapter of ASTD in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Joel Lamoreaux
Talent Management Consultant for Deluxe Corp.
8245 N. Union Boulevard
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
(719) 528.7302
Email: [email protected]
ASTD Chapter: Pikes Peak
6Paul Venderley is the 2010 president of ASTD Orange County and a senior training specialist for Corinthian Colleges, Inc. Committed to the belief that online training can be just as engaging as classroom training (and that there’s little excuse for either to be boring), he seeks to replicate as many classroom-based activities in the online world as possible. He often tries to push the envelope on what’s “possible,” just to see what happens.
Paul Venderley
2735 E. Viking
Anaheim, CA 92806
Email: [email protected]
Website: performancebydesign.wordpress.com
ASTD Chapter: Orange County