Online Classrooms
There was a time when in-person training was the rule. Then, things changed. eLearning became the norm, with learners and busy professionals able to take courses through a company’s LMS. However, the need for classroom training hasn’t completely been eliminated. While there’s a lot you can do with games, bite-sized learning, and study-at-your-own pace courses, you may still need to use a classroom. With those considerations, online classrooms for corporate training are an excellent choice. What advantages do they have?
1. Live and Interactive
When you conduct a class through an online classroom, the material is live. You have a presenter or presenters, teachers or instructors providing learning to students through your platform. Because it’s live, your learners have the ability to ask questions, get clarity on topics they might not have quite grasped, and a great deal more. That interactivity can come in a couple of different ways, including:
• Immediate Questions: If you’re using a webinar-style format for the online classroom, your learners may be able to interrupt the speaker to ask a question or clarify a point. While this does interrupt the flow of the lesson, it ensures that immediate answers are provided.
• Q&A Sessions: Often, instructors will tell learners that if they have questions, to stay online after the official end of the training. Once the majority of users have logged out, those with questions can have a Q&A session with the instructor.
• Forum/Message Board: This is used frequently with online training programs of all types. Once the session is over, learners are able to access a forum or message board where they can ask questions, answer the questions of others, and interact with instructors and other learners.
2. Distance Doesn’t Matter
One of the most impressive advantages provided by Internet technology is the ability to make distance meaningless. Once, anyone attending a physical corporate training session had to travel to the location where the class was being held. Today, your learners can be located anywhere at all, as long as they have a compatible device and an Internet connection.
This provides advantages for large, multi-national companies, national companies, and even regional businesses with more than one location. As there’s no need to travel, learners don’t lose time, businesses don’t have to pay for travel or hotel rooms, and the entire learning process is streamlined to a considerable extent.
3. Combine with Other eLearning Methods
One interesting benefit of using online classrooms for corporate training is that they can be tied directly to other eLearning materials your employees need. For instance, one user might be able to segue directly from a virtual classroom to compliance training, while another transitions to an HR required course. This is done seamlessly, with no lag time and with need to travel to another location. It ensures a more seamless training experience across the board for all learners.
4. More Personalization
In a traditional in-person class, the lecturer or instructor may have little to no information about the learners in attendance. They give their instruction, answer questions and then move on. With online classrooms, there’s the ability to automatically pull up information about individual learners, allowing the instructor to personalize the experience when necessary.
Internet technology has not and will not completely eliminate the need for face-to-face interaction in some corporate training situations, but online classrooms can provide an essential tie-in between your standard learning management system and group-oriented trainings, lectures and other learning experiences.