Virtual Instructor-Led Training – 5 Ways to Make the Most of it to Engage Learners

Let’s face it, the transition from classroom-based instructor-led training (ILT) to a virtual instructor-led training program could change the learning experience, but it doesn’t need to have a negative impact on learning outcomes. You must purposefully revise your topic and delivery in a virtual classroom context.

To begin, analyze the learning hurdles that exist in the virtual classroom. The good news is that most obstacles may be easily overcome by much-needed planning and cautious implementation.

Continue reading to learn more about how to overcome such obstacles.

How to Ensure VILT is as Effective as Classroom Training?

You don’t have as much control over your learners’ environment while using the virtual instructor-led training (VILT) platform as you do with instructor-led training (ILT). They have many distractions in their remote locations that you are unable to regulate, making gaining the engagement of your learners that much more challenging.

The single most critical strategy for gaining and sustaining your learners’ attention and knowledge retention is to keep your VILT session brief. That brings us to another point. How do you make the most of your limited time? Let’s embark on an adventure with a few recommendations!

5 Tips to Make Your VILT Session Effective and Engaging 

1. Start With the Most Important Content

If you came to this blog expecting to leave with one takeaway, this is it. It’s always better to prioritize the important stuff. Identify your most important content and dive straight into it. Don’t put things off till the end because you might not get to it. This is especially true if you choose an unstructured, discussion-based VILT as opposed to setting up a Q&A session in the final 10-15 minutes.

2. Make the Most of Your Pre and Post Session Time 

Another strategy to improve your VILT session is to take advantage of the time between sessions.

First, you must excite your trainees’ curiosity. Here are a few suggestions:

• Send them a video, a paper, or something that gives them a taste of what’s to come and urge them to consider how your VILT session matters to them.
• Before the VILT session, design a reading eLearning assignment or aneLearning assessment for your learners.
• Request that they examine how it could help them learn more effectively and easily.
• Consider it a brainstorming session rather than a question that your learners have to answer. This can be an engaging way to get your learners thinking about VILT. 

After the training, be sure to give all the links to every resource that you referred to throughout the training. This includes what’s written on the whiteboard. Also, send a formal knowledge check right after the eLearning session. After this, it’s preferable to follow-up with your learners periodically, as this aids in making the content stick with them.

Find out how ready your classroom training material is for conversion to eLearning

3. Maintain a Small Class Size

When you make certain your class size is small you are sure to get the most out of your VILT session. A decent rule of thumb is to limit a session to 24 people. That’s roughly the largest class size you want. You need to divide your participants equitably into groups with 24 participants in each group. This provides you with a range of alternatives When determining the size of your classroom, you must consider whether you want a free-flowing, conversational VILT. And if so, then you must design the session for smaller class size.

4. Increase The Variety of Your VILT Small Groups 

Ideally, your VILT needs to include higher than one small group activity. Make sure you vary how you divide the small groups so that the session is dynamic. You can accomplish this in two ways:

• You have the option of changing the people you group together
• You can alter the number of people you group together

For the first exercise, you can split the class into six groups, and for the next one, you could divide the class into four groups. Remember to plan ahead!

5. Designate a Panelist

Finally, you must select a panelist for the online session. This frees you to focus on presenting the eLearning course. The panelist must monitor the learners’ inquiries, capture what’s written on the whiteboard, and assist in the transition between the presentation and the learning activity.

Parting Thought

When you consider these 5 tips and apply them in your VILT sessions, it can result in your maximizing the effectiveness of the VILT session. VILT is only one part of the training solution. You also need to encourage and motivate your learners to engage in online learning. For more information on VILT, download our free eBook.