Virtual Learning Show Day 2

Don’t try and include the same number of people in an online session as you would in face to face (f2f)  session. Keep the numbers low and

Cindy swapped the layout of the session screen a few times. This was useful to see the flexibility of Adobe Connect, however it took a few moments to get used to the changing layout. I’m not saying that I would never change the layout during the session, but I would be very mindful as to the knock-on effect on the learner.

 Presented by Julie Wedgwood
12.30 – 13.30 GMT (UK time)

Julie Wedgwood has been facilitating live online sessions for many years and is a favourite webinar presenter on the LPI Webinar Programme over the years. She is also one of the most highly rated commentators and conference presenters on the subject of interactivity in sessions – both face to face and in the online environment. Her more recent session on the availability and use of digital learning tools for use in live online sessions.

Join Julie Wedgwood to explore simple yet innovative ways to enhance online session engagement and keep your delegates active.

IN this highly interactive session, explore and experiment with Julie as she shares:

 Julie’s “Tell me that’s You”  approach to delegate pollsMosher’s GridGraffiti feedbackTools to aid learner concentrationWebcam anticsAdd-ons and other freebie tools

My key content take-away

Adobe Connect provides a large (and growing) number of extensions to further enhance the ‘out of the box’ functionality.

My key facilitation take-away

Julie used her webcam throughout the session with no discernible loss of quality. In the past the webinars I’ve facilitated for various 3rd parties have all insisted that I do not use the webcam. When I’m in a position to facilitate sessions within my own Org I’ll be making sure that I maximise the webcam where it adds value.

 Presented by James McLuckie
14.00 – 15.00 GMT (UK time)

Have you ever been at work and needed immediate help with a specific task or activity? Dr Jane Bozarth (author of Social Media for Trainers) calls it the “Hey Joe!” moment. “Hey Joe, can you help me to process this order.” “Hey Joe, how do I overcome this customer’s objection?”

Chances are most of your learning needs fall into this category. So why, then, is it often so difficult to find decent support to help us with the activities that are key to us being successful in our jobs? Many organisations are still locked in a cycle of providing push-down formal learning interventions, rather than making point-of-need learning materials available to help staff at the exact moment it is called for.

As learning and development professionals, we can anticipate the needs of staff and design performance aids that give staff the support they want, when they need it. Why send someone on a two-day workshop when a helpful template, reflective questionnaire, video tutorial or short how-to guide would be far more useful and effective?

James McLuckie, Learning Engagement Manager of Eden Tree, has been creating just-in-time support resources for the past ten years. In this webinar, he discusses what to consider when putting together performance aids that really help learners get to grips with a task, or how to overcome a problem.

My key facilitation take-away

There was in parts some lengthy ‘telling‘ going on. Whilst this probably didn’t come across to the facilitator, it certainly felt it to me. I’ll be mindful of this when prepping my future sessions.

Keep any tasks /questions simple. Some of the tasks seemed quite complicated and questions quite long.

My key content take-away

The chat panel indicated that there are still people out there chomping about learning styles! Quite sad that we are participating in what many would consider a modern approach to facilitation and there are still some ‘old school’ ideas floating around.

 Presented by Roger Courville
15.30 – 16.30 GMT (UK time)

In a recent 1080 Group poll, presenters noted their top two challenges with presentations “too little time to put together presentations”, and “don’t know as much about design as I’d like”. The good news is that moving beyond “death by bullet point” doesn’t have to be hard or take over your life.

Join Roger Courville, of TheVirtualPresenter.com, for a practical 45 minutes of strategies and tips to accelerate your training presentations for better attention, cognition, and retention in your live, online training sessions.

Attend this live, interactive webinar to learn:

Evidence-based principles for designing presentations in a short-attention span cultureEssential elements of getting – and keeping – attentionHow to rapidly improve data-heavy slidesHow to turn bullet points into visuals

My key content take-away

Pick up this book 

My key facilitation take-away

Once again, as in a previous session there was a lot of ‘being talked at’. There were also a number of questions that Roger asked that seemed to exist for no other reason to show us that he knew something that we didn’t?

Perhaps I’m just a bit thick, but I have no idea what the findings were of a report that I’ve never read on a subject that I’m not familiar with.

I’ll make sure that I bear this in mind when I’m asking questions in my online sessions.

Overall experience

Today was a great experience, I acquired some info in every single session, particularly in terms of varying facilitation methods. There were a number of people who attended every session so to a degree my concern over ‘overload’ may be mute… however, I’m not sure that the audience is typical of the majority of learners – after all, it’s our field!

I’m still doubtful that a days worth of online activities could work in the ‘real world’….

What do you think?

View the original article here

Virtual Learning Show 2013 – Day 2

As mentioned in a previous blog post, I’m participating in the 2013 2-day Virtual Learning Show. Whilst I was directly involved as a panel chair on Day 2, I also attended as a participant .

Here are my reflections on Day 2 and in particular each session, with a particular focus on:

A key ‘take-away’ from the sessions content itselfThe way in which it was facilitated (in part or in whole) with a view to what can I re-use/build upon for myself.

 Presented by Matt Turner
 11.00 – 12.00 UK BST

In many organisations, Virtual Classrooms are accepted as an efficient, powerful and flexible way to deliver learning. However, the tipping point has not yet been reached and some decision-makers still appear fearful, confused, or even downright scared of adopting VC, leaving L&D practitioners puzzled at the challenge of the internal sell-in.

“Fear and Loathing in Las Virtual” will be an enjoyable and frank look at why some are slow to move into the Virtual Classroom and what others have done to introduce it successfully.  The session will use a variety of examples, scenarios and tips on what works well, touching on content, communication, attitudes, terminology, sell-in and more in the process. As part of a collective responsibility to ensure VCs reach their potential in the UK, your experiences and contributions in this session will help its success!

My key content take-away

There was a great deal of discussion around what we ‘call’ this approach to delivery. There seemed to be a split between those who thought we shouldn’t worry about the language we use to describe it and those (myself included) who thought that it was worth the effort to get the ‘language/terminology’ correct.

I’m always conscious over the language that I use when talking within my organisation, but I’m going to check with the rest of my team to gain their perspective.

My key facilitation take-away

Matt asked us to post any links we had to the host ‘privately’ so that she could put them up at the end of the session. I’m not sure that I’d ever ask this…. surely if a person posts a relevant, contextual link into the slide panel there and then it provides an opportunity for people to immediately take a look ‘outside’ of the session and potentially bring a different perspective into session?

There’s also the distinct possibility that some people may leave the session early, so any links that are dropped into chat at the end of the session will be missed.

 Presented by Claire Line
12.30 – 13.30 UK BST

Claire Line is Learning Technologies Manager at global law firm Hogan Lovells. As part of that role, she has carried out extensive research into virtual classroom and online learning technologies.  Since 2004, she has introduced a number of learning technologies for IT training and legal learning, including virtual classroom, web conferencing and video production.

In this discussion-based session, Claire will take you through her journey of how virtual learning was implemented at Hogan Lovells and will discuss the successes, the barriers she encountered, and some of the key points she has learned that will help you in your project to implement virtual learning in your organisation. Be sure to bring your questions to ask!

My key facilitation take-away

No matter how much you are rushing for the start of the session ALWAYS undertake any audio setup process. Claire was very muffled at the start of the session which led to me stepping away for some time and by the time I got back the microphone issue had been resolved and I’m missed a good chunk at the beginning.

 Presented by Julie Dirksen
 14.00 – 15.00 UK BST

Game designers have been using concepts like a structured flow of goals, levels, and accomplishments to create a sense of engagement and efficacy in players. One of the key elements in creating fully engaging game experiences is the psychological concept of flow-creating game environments that keep players in tenuous balance between their level of ability and level of challenge. Learners should have the same sense from learning experiences. The speaker will take a look at the way games and other forms of entertainment media create flow states, how to create that in learning environments, and why the act of learning is crucial to this type of engagement.

In this session, you will learn:

What we know about attracting and maintaining learner attentionHow game designers create sticky and compelling experiencesHow to structure learning experiences that will engage learners

My key content take-away

People’s personal challenges will ALWAYS be better than anything I can come up for them. I need to make sure that this is carefully woven in to the upcoming ‘campaign’ that I am working on.

My key facilitation take-away

Julie invited us to tell her what the ‘most boring subjects’ were that we had been asked to create training on. She then (bravely) used those topics to craft a significant chunk of her session around. This is something that I’d be keen to explore.

I found that there was a lot of talking at the beginning of Julie’s session and limited interaction, coupled with the somewhat scientific content and it being immediately after lunch led to a reduced level of concentration on my part. I need to think about the scheduling of any online sessions in the future taking part immediately after lunch (just as I should in a f2f environment)

Chair: Craig Taylor
Panellists: Bianca Woods (Canada), Koreen Olbrish (US), Barbara Thompson (UK), Ryan Tracey (Australia)
15.30 – 16.30 UK BST

You’ve probably seen, attended or perhaps even participated in ‘panel discussions’ before, but how many of them have been online? That’s why we thought it was time to extend people’s perceptions as to how online classroom tools can be used. In this session you’ll have the opportunity to participate in a live online panel discussion which will include workplace L&D practitioners from 4 countries and 4 time zones!

This is your opportunity to hear the thoughts and opinions on how emerging tech can be used to enhance and enrich our offerings and ultimately add value to our businesses? Perhaps you’d just like a second (or third!) opinion on a plan you have. Maybe you’re struggling with a particular aspect of a solution and would like to hear how others have approached it or would approach it.

My key content take-away

Here’s a blog post from Jo Cook who’s done a great job of capturing the essence of my session.

My key facilitation take-away

Don’t be put off by what other people tell you can/can’t be done. The use of 5 webcams simultaneously, across 5 countries and 5 time zones is something that many people will tell you is a foolhardy exercise within an online classroom. Well we did it today and it worked! Admittedly there were 2 occasions where there was a short ‘freeze’, however I’ve been in sessions that are faaaaaaar less webcam dependant and the same thing/worse has happened, so it’s not going to put me off in the future.

Did you participate?

What did you take away from the day / each session?

View the original article here

Virtual Learning Show 2013 – Day 1

As mentioned in a previous blog post, I’m participating in the 2013 2-day Virtual Learning Show. Whilst I am directly involved as a panel chair on Day 2, I am also attending both days as a participant .

Here are my reflections on Day 1 and in particular each session, with a particular focus on:

A key ‘take-away’ from the sessions content itselfThe way in which it was facilitated (in part or in whole) with a view to what can I re-use/build upon for myself.

Presented by Colin Steed
10.30 – 11.00 UK BST

Chairman and organiser of The Virtual Learning Show, Colin Steed welcomes you all to this unique event.

During his Keynote, Colin will report on the headline findings of the ‘Live Online Learning in Europe’ survey he conducted over the past two months. There are some revealing findings that you’ll find invaluable when planning your live online sessions in your organisation. There will be plenty of discussion in this session so bring your questions!

My key facilitation take-away

Colin commented when he could see the ‘multiple people typing’ message appear above the chat pod and informed people that he was going to pause until those responses had come in. I’ll keep an eye on that area above the chat panel in the future and moderate my delivery accordingly.

Presented by Elaine Giles
11.00 – 12.00 UK BST

If you think webinars are the epitome of a desk-bound sport – think again!

The major web conferencing services all provide feature rich Apps for mobile use. You can be forgiven for thinking these are limited to providing a second class way of just attending a session. The truth is very different – these Apps provide a feature rich experience including access to chat, slides, polls, audio, video and whiteboards.

In this session, Elaine will cover:

Present from an iPad?Monitor your audience with just an iPhone?Deliver an entire webinar via your Android device?

All is possible! In this session you’ll find out just how far virtual training has come in recent times.

My key content take-away

Look into how I might be able to use Reflection to upskill people on using their mobile devices via our Adobe Connect platform/

My key facilitation take-away

Don’t get caught up in the demo at the expense of the attendee interaction. There was a lot of talking from the facilitator but I felt very little interaction with the audience other than ‘feel free to chat in the chat panel’ comments.

Presented by Phil Green
12.30 – 13.30 UK BST

“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck“. To some trainers and teachers, working live online may seem less daunting than other forms of eLearning. It does, in most cases depend upon the teacher to be present. It can easily support the model of “sage on the stage”, and presenters can deliver elegant and beautifully illustrated lectures very close up and personal. If it looks like a lecture, sounds like a lecture and works like a lecture then…

Many examples of ingenious interactions have been developed to exploit the features of virtual classrooms, or to overcome the constraints. Lectures and intricate interactions have their place, but in a spirit of “less is more”, how can a skilled facilitator mount truly participatory sessions? In this webinar Phil Green shows some examples of how “a little technology and a lot of creativity” can engage learners live online in meaningful activity without over-elaboration.

My key content take-away

I was only able to attend the first few minutes of this session so I’ll update this once I’ve listened to the recording

My key facilitation take-away

I was only able to attend the first few minutes of this session so I’ll update this once I’ve listened to the recording

Presented by Karen Hyder
14.00 – 15.00 UK BST

Once you calculate the time and travel cost savings, the decision to offer training online using virtual classroom software is easy. Choosing the right software to support your content, trainers, and learners isn’t as easy. There are many tools on the market, and the features and licensing fees vary dramatically.

In this session, you’ll see three different virtual-classroom software tools demonstrated, and you’ll discuss the features you’ll NEED, as well as the ones that are really NICE to have.You’ll also learn some simple methods you can use to ensure successful sessions, regardless of which tool you use.

In this session, you will learn:

What to look for when shopping for a virtual classroomWhich features make premium products worth havingWhat you can do to ensure your virtual classes are successful from the start

My key content take-away

If I’m totally honest, I took very little content away NOT because it wasn’t there, but because my Org has recently settled upon using Adobe Connect and as such I undertook a LOT of research into the pros and cons of each tool, which Karen essentially covered in this session.

My key facilitation take-away

I plan to use a poll at the end of my session to ask ‘what do you need next’. This would serve as a great way for me to identify who needs what sort of support and will help me concentrate my efforts.

Presented by Cindy Huggett
15.30 – 16.30 UK BST

Engagement is the best way to create an effective learning experience for your participants. And engagement stems from your training class design.

In this session, Cindy Huggett, author of the best selling book ‘Virtual Training Basics’, will explain five techniques to design an interactive virtual training programme.

You will leave this final session of the day with some practical tips that you can immediately apply when designing your next live online session!

Design techniques for virtual training programmesSelect activities to effectively engage any audienceEstablish interactivity from the start of a session

My key content take-away

There was a lot of talk around providing ‘intro’ sessions to the online classroom tool BEFORE the actual ‘real’ event commences. I’ve been running some ‘hidden’ intro sessions under the guise of ‘getting to know’ sessions about our intranet, however these are due to finish soon. This session has reinforced my determination to get some more of these ‘intro’ sessions into the diary…..

My key facilitation take-away

Cindy spent a lot of the session responding to attendees questions and used them to steer her session, rather than the questions being ‘in addition’ to her content/intended direction. I’d like to think that I’ll do this in the future.

Did you participate?

What did you take away from the day / each session?

View the original article here