During my career as a technology trainer most of my work was done in an Instructor-led classroom environment. My training rooms have been made up of from 4 to 12 seats, with a smartboard or projector for students to observe my Instructor computer. When students enter the room they are greeted with my warm and welcoming smile. They get to choose which seat they prefer if they are on time. Often times, I would offer water and when they were going to be in the room for more than an hour, I'd offer candy and other snacks. Most of my sessions began very casually. I didn't stand at the front of the room as students entered so that they didn't feel like they were in a classroom. Classrooms can feel very intimidating to Adult learners.
In the room, I would work with each individual to make sure they had everything they needed in order to keep them from being distracted from what we were there to learn. I'd make a generic statement like "Okay, everyone the computers are already logged in and your desktop has the 'whatever application I was teaching' icon available." It's during time that I'm beginning to survey the room for those who are uncomfortable, so that I can help those who may be feeling some reluctance. If it's an application that requires a login, I provide login information, stating I'm here to help if anyone has challenges logging in. This is my way of making sure that everyone has experienced "Success" immediately. This creates a safe space for any issues that may arise during our session. Once, everyone is logged in, I move to the front of the room. I begin the class by asking each student, "Why are you here?" This is a very important question. It lets me know how I need to engage each individual. I look for replies like, "My Manager said I have to take it," or "I'm not sure" or "I need it to do my job." Each of these responses require a different approach and I'm prepared for it all.
During Covid, the organization that I worked for continued to have the need to offer training for Enterprise-wide applications that new hires needed to do their jobs. The training team had plenty of self-directed video tutorials and quick start guides available on their website. However, team managers were accustomed to having their new hires attend a series of training necessary for getting started at work. If I'm honest, I must admit that I always felt like the Managers often used us as "babysitters" for their new hires. No manager is ever ready to deal with new hires on their first few days. It's just one more thing to have to deal with. However, during Covid, many new hires were actually working remotely. So, there were no tours of the facility and walks to the security office for credentialing or introductions of team members happening that managers had handle. I guess I was wrong after all. They weren't using us as "babysitters." The training that we offer is essential, because the request for Instructor-led seemed to increase and our remote training schedule was packed.
The platform that this company chose to use for remote learning was Webex.
Webex is traditionally used for video conferencing. However, its functionality works sufficiently for the training, as it allows for screen sharing of content of both the instructor and student's computers. Student's can see the Instructor, as well as the other participants during the session. The challenge is only to create an experience that allows for maximum engagement and confidence that the information is being effectively communicated. Here are a few tips on how I accomplished both.
Communicate with participants BEFORE the meeting. Make sure they have all technical concerns worked out before the scheduled class.
Internet Connectivity
Browser Capabilities
Video and voice testing is done prior to joining the meeting
Start the WebEx meeting 15 minutes before the meeting is scheduled to begin.
Test your video, voice and sharing capabilities.
Display your 1st Slide with music playing. I like to play 80s and 90s music. I use a website called https://radiooooo.com/
If you have a class of 6 or more and they start arriving early, start asking them if to speak to test that they can hear you and you can hear them. This will help you get through this part sooner when the other participants enter.
Start the meeting on time. Set the expectation that you will be working on technical and login issues for the 1st 15 minutes or so. This time should be baked into the overall time of the class. During this time, you can test that participants are familiar with the WebEx platform, by asking them to speak, share their screens, respond with an emoji and use the chat to say "good morning."
If you're playing music, don't forget to turn off.
Start with the agenda immediately after the 15 minute mark. Anyone who enters the room after the start, should schedule themselves for another class. Unless, they are able to get themselves up-to-speed.
Now that everyone is in the room, treat it like you're in a physical room.
Stop sharing your screen
Introduce yourself
Tell them why we're here. This is "class name." Give a brief description of the class.
Have the participants introduce themselves. Come up with 2 or 3 relevant questions. Here are the questions that I usually ask.
Tell us your name and where you're geographically located. Where are you working from? Home, work pod or workspace, Starbucks, etc.
How long have you been with the company?
What do you hope to get out of this session?
Set participation expectations. If you're okay with participants keeping their video off, let them know. Give students multiple options for asking or replying to questions. (chat or verbally). Let them know that you may asking them to share their screens throughout the session.
If you're using an extended monitor, put the WebEx on the extended monitor so that you can see the participants throughout the session. If you only have one monitor, it's difficult to share your content and see all of the participants.
You're probably feeling like you've lost a lot of your presentation time at this point. You need to bake this time into allotted length of your class. Even though we're in a remote setting, your student still wants to feel safe. They want to know that they are seen and heard. Your students will feel like they are right there in the room with you.
