In this economic turn-down, virtual learning as a training delivery solution is thriving as a cost-effective option to classroom learning. Despite the cost savings, there are still some serious challenges confronting this option; most importantly, interruptions and multi-tasking on the part of the learner.
Learners in both a home and a corporate environment are frequently interrupted by family members or co-workers. Often unable to make the interrupter understand that they are in class, the learner starts to divide their attention between the physical world that surrounds them and the virtual world of training.
The same can be said for virtual interruptions, as learners are connected to their computers while participating in virtual training, which easily grab the attention of the learner during class time. Whether it is a new mail that just takes a moment to check or an urgent instant message that pops up on the screen, it leads the learner into the trap of multi-tasking.
Both you, as the instructor, and fellow classmates are unaware of these interruptions. It doesn’t seem to be much of a problem as short distractions on the part of this learner go unnoticed by all. But, lo, the learner is not receiving the full benefit of the training. What can you do to command the learner’s full attention and increasing the chances that they understood the topic?
Encourage learners to post ‘Training in Progress’ signs at work or be in a separate room for studying at home. Now, these are only patches and, in all fairness, the full burden of finding a solution should not be the sole responsibility of the remote learner. The real solution to commanding undivided attention lies in engaging the learner during training.
Virtual learning must be interactive requiring participation in the session. This encourages your learners to pay greater attention to the class and only to the class. Create this interaction in a verbal or computer-connection form. Are there a limited number of learners in your virtual class? Do you have an audio connection? Ask the learners questions. Is it a larger class, such as a webinar attended by hundreds of learners? Ask multiple choice questions via the meeting tool. Both options draw the learner into participating in the session.
To increase engagement further, create short exercises every ten minutes that each learner must perform on their computer and ask them to signal on their meeting software that they have finished the exercise. A polling option allows you to ask if the learners have understood a concept. When a large percentage has not, this allows you to elaborate on this specific concept increasing your learners’ understanding.
How you make a virtual class interactive very much depends on the tools that you work with. Add interactive elements into your next class. Consider using free, online surveys to get feedback from the learners as to the effectiveness of these new interactive elements. Adjust them if the feedback reflects confusion. Add new types of interactive elements in following virtual class and you will be on the path to increasing engagement in – and lessening interruptions and multitasking during – virtual learning.