Virtual Training Tools and Templates

Cindy Huggett

Description

Are your virtual training tools ready for a tune-up?

You've discovered the best way to reach remote audiences without boarding a single plane. And you've learned that an effective virtual training program is relatively short, highly relevant, and extremely engaging. Now you need the tried-and-true tools that will make your next program an all-out success.

Virtual Training Tools and Templates: An Action Guide to Live Online Learning offers proven resources for delivering top-notch virtual training programs. Make expert trainer Cindy Huggett's professional array of virtual tools your own, and discover new perspectives from a range of training trailblazers. You'll find their real-world lessons learned and get full access to their secrets of the trade.

Starting with a simple four-step process (get started, get ready, get buy-in, and get going), Huggett helps you select the right technology, then offers detailed sections on how to design content, develop activities, and work with both facilitators and producers. And if you're wondering how to prepare participants and evaluate program results, Huggett does not disappoint. Follow along as she guides you with new and relevant tips, tools, and templates every step of the way.

A virtual training pioneer, Huggett wrote this book for you---instructional designers, facilitating trainers, learning coordinators, and training managers. And she continues to experiment with creative techniques and hone her skills so you can jump in with confidence.

This complete guide builds on the author's popular The Virtual Training Guidebook---use them together or on their own to delve into Huggett's holistic approach to virtual training.

Sujets

• Entrepreneuriat
• Employabilité, métiers et formations
• Training
• Economics
• Business
• Carrière
• Carrière & Mobilité
• Efficacité
• Efficacité professionnelle

Informations

• Publié par: Association for Talent Development
• Date de parution: 27 juin 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781562865764
• Langue: English

Extrait

More Praise for Virtual Training Tools and Templates
“In these pages, you will catch some of Cindy Huggett’s best ideas from her 15+ years of virtual expertise. She combines helpful tips, tools, and templates to help anyone jump into their next webinar!”
—Becky Pike Pluth
President and CEO, The Bob Pike Group
“This one resource will save you immeasurable numbers of hours creating your own tools and templates. Cindy Huggett’s a bona fide authority, and I guarantee you’ll learn something here. Don’t make the mistakes all us old-timers have!”
—Roger Courville
Chief Content Officer, EventBuilder
“For most teams, getting started using virtual classrooms is the hardest part! There are hundreds of issues that need attention and the effort can seem intimidating, but Virtual Training Tools and Templates is illuminating. It will help you see clearly and do logically all the things that will have your virtual online training initiative make a great first impression—there’s no need to start from scratch. If you want to run successful virtual classroom training events, have every team member and stakeholder read this book.”
—Karen Hyder
Online Event Producer and Speaker Coach Guild Master 2017
“Cindy Huggett is the virtual classroom guru. She knows the world of webinars, vILT, webcasts, and virtual classrooms like no one else, and has shared some of her wisdom with us in Virtual Training Tools and Templates. I love the hands-on approach she takes in this book to helping anyone interested in creating effective virtual training. I see this becoming an instructional designer’s go-to guide for all things virtual.”
—Treion Muller
Author, The Webinar Manifesto and The Learning Explosion, Vice President, Digital Learning Solutions, TwentyEighty

© 2017 ASTD DBA the Association for Talent Development (ATD)
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please go to www.copyright.com , or contact Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 (telephone: [phone]; fax: [phone]).
All trademark attributions are listed at the end of the book. Some material and resources in this book appeared earlier in The Virtual Training Guidebook: How to Design, Deliver, and Implement Live Online Training (ASTD Press, 2013). Adobe Connect screenshots are reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated.
ATD Press is an internationally renowned source of insightful and practical information on talent development, workplace learning, and professional development.
ATD Press
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Alexandria, VA 22314 USA
Ordering information: Books published by ATD Press can be purchased by visiting ATD’s website at www.td.org/books or by calling 800.628.2783 or 703.683.8100.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017941220
ISBN-10: 1-56286-575-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-56286-575-7
e-ISBN: 978-1-56286-576-4
ATD Press Editorial Staff
Director: Kristine Luecker
Manager: Melissa Jones
Community of Practice Manager, Learning Technologies: Justin Brusino
Developmental Editor: Kathryn Stafford
Senior Associate Editor: Caroline Coppel
Cover Design: Alban Fischer, Alban Fischer Design
Text Design: Francelyn Fernandez
Printed by Data Reproductions Corporation, Auburn Hills, MI
Contents
Introduction: My Journey in Virtual Training
1. Get Ready for Virtual Training
2. Select Technology
3. Design Content
4. Develop Activities
5. Work With Facilitators and Producers
6. Prepare Participants
7. Evaluate Results
Epilogue
References
List of Tools
Recommended Resources
Trademark Attributions
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Index
INTRODUCTION
My Journey in Virtual Training
When I designed and facilitated my first virtual training class in the early 2000s, I did it out of necessity. I was a one-person training department in an organization that had employees scattered around the globe. I discovered that virtual training was an efficient way to reach my remote audience without having to get on an airplane. I could deliver learning programs from my home office while my audience learned from the comfort of their own desks.
At that time, there weren’t any guides or how-to manuals, so I used a trial and error approach to figure out what worked. I took what I knew to be true about adult learning principles, combined it with my technology background as a Microsoft-certified software trainer, and jumped right in. I quickly learned that my virtual training programs needed to be fairly short, highly relevant, and extremely engaging. I also learned that smaller groups allowed for more interaction, and that it was important to get creative with the platform tools to encourage participation ( Figure I-1 ).
Thankfully, my company’s IT department had purchased an early version of WebEx to use for online meetings, and I was able to use its account for my training programs. I set up virtual classes on the platform and invited learners to join in. Unfortunately, we only had a license for five users at a time to be connected, so I regularly exceeded our allowance and had to pay overage fees. I had to figure out ways to partner with the IT team to make everything work. And I had to justify our extra investments to senior management for their approval and buy-in.
Does this sound familiar to you? Trying to figure out virtual training while having to partner with IT, working within constraints, and needing to persuade senior management to invest more in it?
One of my first online blended learning programs—a management development experience for frontline leaders—received mixed results. I designed a six-month program that included many distinct components: self-paced e-learning, live online virtual training sessions, and action assignments in between. The content itself was solid, but the structure needed help: I had made it too long and complicated, and had invited too many participants to go through at once. But it was a great learning experience for me! I took those lessons to heart and adjusted how I approached future blended and virtual designs.
Figure I-1. A Whiteboard Activity From One of Cindy’s 2004 Virtual Training Classes

After leaving that organization in 2004 and striking out on my own, I continued to incorporate virtual training into the learning solutions I created for my clients. I started training other trainers how to transfer in-person facilitation skills to the online classroom. I helped my clients convert classroom programs to online ones. I taught individuals how to use various technology platforms. I consulted with organizations that were moving to the virtual classroom, offering advice and assistance with implementation strategies.
Fast forward to today, more than 15 years after that first virtual training class. I’m still using virtual training out of necessity to reach a global audience, but also because it’s an effective way to learn. I’m still experimenting with creative techniques to use platform tools to engage participants. And I’m still learning new methods for designing, delivering, and implementing virtual training solutions.
Current Trends in Virtual Training
According to the Association for Talent Development’s 2016 State of the Industry report, 42 percent of all learning delivered uses technology-based methods, up from 38 percent in previous years. Instructor-led live online training—what I call virtual training—is approximately 10 percent of all learning delivered. That’s an almost 4 percent increase from five years ago, which is significant given the overall size of the industry.
Your organization is probably part of this trend—moving programs from the traditional face-to-face classroom to the online one. In fact, 86 percent of organizations either currently use or are planning to start using virtual classrooms soon (ATD 2017). So if you’re like most, you’re probably investigating ways to leverage technology, increase your reach to remote learners, create flexible learning programs, deliver better content in less time, and so on—all things that lend themselves well to virtual training. But you may be wondering if you’re doing it in the most effective way possible, or if you can improve upon the results you’re already seeing.
Those are all good questions to ponder as you survey the virtual training landscape. As the use of technology in training continues to rise, it’s important to think carefully about how virtual training will help your employees be more productive and ultimately improve your business metrics.
About This Book
When my second book, The Virtual Training Guidebook: How to Design, Deliver, and Implement Live Online Learning, was published in 2013, I told several friends and colleagues that it was my “complete manifesto” on virtual training—my written guide to how virtual training could be interactive, engaging, and effective. It took a holistic approach to successful online learning by including information on implementation planning, selecting a platform, a three-step design model, trainer skills needed for virtual delivery, administrative and logistical considerations, and the importance of preparing participants for a successful learning experience. It included several ready-to-use checklists and “how-to” tips for organizations.
One of the consistent compliments I’ve received about that book is its practicality—that it’s a resource designed to be used by practitioners in the field who need the nitty-gritty details and tools to get things done. My goal was to create a