Best practices in virtual training

Best Practices in Corporate Training in the
21st Century

For the Virtual Trainer

Finding Your 20%
G.P. “Jeep” Fortuna
OMDE 610, Summer 2013

“Jeep” Fortuna
Senior Technical Trainer
United States Citizenship & Immigration Services
“Jeep” Fortuna

Learning
Within the field of education, there are several subsets to the
classic role of “teacher”. As Jane Brindley suggests, we refer to
those in the profession, as a whole, as “Practitioners”.
•

There are those who illuminate minds as did their
forbearer, Socrates – we call them “Educators”.

•

Educators

There are those who are particularly adept at a skill and
pass that skill onto others – we call them “Instructors”.

Practitioners
Trainers

•

Instructors

And, there are those who facilitate learning within the
workforce – we call them “Trainers”.

In the 21st Century, corporate trainers must master both face-toface as well as virtual training that is afforded us by technology.

The Godfather of Learning
As practitioners, our roots lie with Socrates and his tradition of asking
questions of his students. Not necessarily to gain a particular answer, but
to guide his students in their thinking as they grasped the subject at hand.
For most of humankind, this was the primary method for the transference
of knowledge and done face-to-face, in close proximity. Even when his
pupil, Plato, completed the transcription of his master’s lectures, Socrates
rejected the written word as a learning conveyance because, “They
cannot talk back”. Discourse and collaboration were essential.

But things would change . . .
4

Innovations in Learning
Centuries later, Johannes Gutenberg would enable students at a distance the
next best thing to a formal education guided by mentor – affordable access
to knowledge in the form of books made possible by Gutenberg’s printing
press.

Thoughts, concepts, ideas and insights could be carried great distances
within such books along trade routes to those who hungered for knowledge.

A Paradigm shift . . .
5

Innovations in Learning
Later, after Gutenberg’s gift of the printing press, came even more
astounding technological innovations such as the radio, the telephone,
television, the computer and the internet.
With each innovation, the constraints of time and distance were
diminished. And, with these advances, modes of learning advanced
accordingly, making possible Distance Education as we know it.
But not without challenges . . .

Transactional Distance . . .
6

Challenges in Virtual Training
and e-Learning
While after two millennia, there may be no equal to the Socratic Method –
practitioner and learner, face-to-face, engaged in a dynamic dialogue
regarding a lesson; there are now virtually limitless possibilities.
Just as the village was once the center of the universe, but now is supplanted
by the Web 2.0, trainers are no longer constrained by the walls of a physical
classroom and the learners it can contain. We may train across time zones
and even continents to reach scores of learners synchronously as well as
asynchronously.

How to do virtual training well may be a combination of better understanding
our “new age” learners and deploying some best practices, garnered from
experience, to better “kindle the flame” of their natural curiosity .

Best Practices for delivering
training at a Distance
Best Practice 1

Learners 1st! – “It’s all about them”.

Best Practice 2

Situation 2nd – “Make the best of the situation”.

Best Practice 3

Content 3rd – “If they're not getting it, find another approach”.

Best Practice 4

Find your 20% – “What is most important”?

Best Practice 5

Be Authentic – Be yourself!

act, but essential.
If we put the learner first, as practitioners
we understand that they will:

NEED structure –
explain the desired
outcomes, how the
course will proceed
and share your
expectations.

we understand that they will be

anxious about
change, i.e.
“learning” – put
them at ease.
Learners First – this a juggling
act, but essential.

act, but essential.
If we put the learner first, as practitioners we understand
that they will be

confused at times – let them
know you care and that you
are their champion.

act, but essential.
If we put the learner first, as practitioners we understand
that they will

NEED support – what
mechanism has been put in
place to address this need?
Tell them what it is.
This cannot be “cut due to funding”.

we understand that they will

NEED a practitioner
who is prepared – show
them that you care by
doing your homework.
Learners First – this a juggling
act, but essential.

act, but essential.
we understand that they will

NEED the course
material to be
relevant to their lives.
Answer the unasked question, “What’s in it
for me” and “how does it fit with my
personal goals”?

act, but essential.
If we put the learner first, as practitioners we
understand that they will

sometimes be distracted
– interact with them
regularly, give feedback.
Bring them back!

act, but essential.
If we put the learner first, as practitioners we understand the value of :

Support
Tutoring
Instructional Design Collaboration
Feedback
Situated Learning
Mentoring
Constructionism
Caring
Scaffolding
Learning Theory
Behaviorism

environment
Learning should be a feast.
Greet the guests who come to
dine at your table. Make them
feel comfortable and
welcomed.
Can everyone hear and see?
Can the learners navigate the screens?
Do they know how to get your attention?
Will resource materials be available?

Conte
nt
Third
Oh Captain, My Captain

“I stand upon my desk to remind
myself that we must constantly
look at things in a different way.”

Content 3rd – Look at things
Sometimes training
differently. is messy and you’ll become the learner.
Don’t give answers. Ask questions.
. . . remind you of anyone?

Don’t stifle collaboration. . .

Find your 20% – make it count.

Pareto principle - the “80/20” rule
20% of what we do is vital.
80% of what we do is trivial.

Focus on the vital . . .

Find your 20% – make it count.
This will affect the both the trainer and the learner
The learner will remember of 20% of what you taught a month from now.
What 20% do you need them to retain?

Consider . . .
What you have time for
What you’ll cover
What they’ll hear
What they’ll remember
What they’ll use

Find your 20% . . .

Effort

20%

80%

Results

Be Authentic! – Don’t be someone
else
au·then·tic
adjective

“not false or copied; genuine; real”
Be authentic. If you’re not, they’ll sense it
and begin to question everything you say.
Be yourself. . .

References – Part 1
authentic. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved July 31, 2013, from
Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/authentic
Bozarth, J. (2008). The Usefulness of Wenger’s Framework in Understanding a
Community of Practice. (Doctoral Dissertation, North Carolina State
University). Retrieved from: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.16/4978
Brindley,, J., Walti, C & Zawacki-Richte, O. (2004). The Current Context of
Learner Support in Open Distance and Online Learning: An Introduction. In J. E.
Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open,
distance and online learning environments: (pp. 145-156). [Adobe Digital
Edition]. Retrieved from Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg website:
http://www.mde.uni-oldenburg.de/40574.html
Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theory and online technologies (pgs. 80 - 108). New
York/London: Routledge
Hase, S. & Kenyon, C. (2001). From andragogy to heutagogy. Retrieved from

References – Part 2
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance education: A systems view.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Peters, O. (1994). Otto Peters on Distance Education-The Industrialization of
Teaching and Learning (Desmond Keegan, ed.). London-New York: Routledge
Schulman , T. (1989). Dead Poets Society. [Motion Picture] Touchstone Pictures.
Smith, L. & Drago, K. (2004). Learner Support in Workplace Training. . In J. E.
Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open,
distance and online learning environments: (pp. 145-156). [Adobe Digital
Edition]. Retrieved from Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg website:
http://www.mde.uni-oldenburg.de/40574.html

Wenger, É. (2006). Communities of Practice – a Brief Introduction. Retrieved
from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm

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