Distance learning convinced me a long time ago. Certainly the subject is not new. After all, if people are already using video conferencing in your company for online meetings, why not for training? Actually, more than 10 years have passed since offers to learn languages by phone appeared. And there are many reasons for you to like distance learning. Here are some of them:
- you do it where you want
- you do it when you want
- You save transportation time
- No raw material and cost problems
Of course, people would say that it is always better to have a coach by your side. But why? I haven’t found any reason yet. For the social aspect? Well, by saving time on your training and making it more flexible, you will gain time for other things like participating in social activities, seeing your friends, etc.
And the truth is, with the development of Internet technology, it becomes better and easier. A good virtual classroom has exactly the tools a tutor needs to teach online. Video and audio ensure communication, and the whiteboard works perfectly for collaboration.
Directly integrated into the whiteboard there is the possibility to display images, switch between different layers, even play a video… all this in addition to all the things you can do naturally with a normal whiteboard: annotate, erase, etc.
Also, the session can be easily recorded and you don’t need expensive hardware. A simple computer with headphones and an Internet connection is enough.
Despite all this, the use of the virtual classroom for training sessions is not yet fully popularized. There are a few reasons for this, and we’ve found that just a few steps can help remove barriers.
1. People don’t like change
People definitely don’t like changes. Although the virtual classroom brings them many advantages, until they really notice it, it can be extremely difficult to convince them. Based on our experience, I would like to make two suggestions when students are not ready for this next step:
- Take the first one or two dates offline. We have found that building a relationship between the tutor and the student before starting the online sessions helps a lot for people who are not yet experienced with online learning.
- Use a tutor who is very familiar with online tools
2. Tutors are not used to these tools
A brief experience has shown us that much of the problem comes from the tutor. In fact, who can imagine that a tutor who has never used a virtual classroom before can give a good lesson? Actually, a virtual classroom does not take that long to learn. If the interface is intuitive, the tutor can easily start learning about all the tools within an hour. Even so, the tutor needs to be oriented in this new method.
In our experience, a tutor needs between 5 and 10 hours of online tutoring to start being fully efficient with the tool. Therefore, a suitable training method must be defined. Adequate time budget should be allocated for the tutor to be trained in a real session.
3.Technical problems
Technical problems are another barrier to distance training. If the user has to download software, install it, solve problems, he will not easily accept facing change and the need to assume this new habit.
Our advice: choose a web-based virtual classroom where there is absolutely no software to install. Relying on popular plugins like Java or Flash will definitely reduce the problem and maximize compatibility.
Finally, if you are facing a technical issue due to infrastructure (poor internet connection) or because people don’t really know how to use a computer, try using the phone to communicate at first, combined with the whiteboard.
What is certain is that after just a few hours, both tutors and students will really enjoy this new flexible way of teaching/learning. Worth it!