I subscribe to Seth Godin’s daily blog. Each day my email inbox is treated to a short – and wise – message.
In this recent post, Seth covers some useful assumptions for teachers that I thought spoke volumes with few words.
I found it worth reading.
And no, I do not have a working relationship with Seth Godin. I just thought this post was good enough to pass on to other educators.
As we emerge from isolation and return to ‘normal’, many in the adult education profession have debated what will the new ‘normal’ look like.
There is no doubt that our new normal will include more live, online classes. And why not? Live, online learning can reach more people in more places than face to face training can. As a facilitator of live, online sessions, I don’t need to commute and can be ready for work with far less effort. Who wouldn’t want this!?
But… live online learning is only a good idea if it works—that is, if outcomes are achieved.
In this post, I’ll share the top 3 things I’ve learned about converting face to face training sessions to live, online sessions that will ‘work’.
Live online learning is like classroom-based training that is facilitated using a virtual platform.
Like face-to-face training:
Unlike face-to-face training:
To work, both face to face training and live online learning require relevant content, engagement and active participation. But how we achieve these in live online sessions is vastly different from how we achieve them in face to face training.
At the start of any potential learning project, my first questions are:
“What must people be able to do, and what do they need to achieve this?”
The answers to these questions are especially important when converting face-to-face training to live, online learning. Since live, online sessions are shorter than face-to-face sessions, you’ll likely need to cut some content from your face-to-face program or find other ways for participants to learn it. To help you do this, consider:
Then, prepare the learning journey that your live, online sessions will be a part of.
Familiarise yourself with the live, online platform you will use. There are many live, online platforms and each one has a unique set of features and tools. To design and prepare for effective live, online learning, you must first get to know your ‘tech tools’—that is, the tools available to you, to invite engagement and sustain active participation.
The graphic below shows some popular engagement tools that are available on most live online platforms:
Check out the platform you use. Identify which engagement tools are available to you and learn how they work.
When COVID-19 first took hold and stay-at-home restrictions were introduced, many organisations scrambled to convert their face-to-face training to a live, online delivery mode. These organisations were applauded for their agility—errors in execution were understood and forgiven, given the quick turnaround time. Months on, the forgiveness of a fast turnaround has been replaced with an expectation of quality. We now expect providers of live, online learning to offer a quality learning experience that achieves outcomes. To do this, resources must be designed specifically for the live, online environment.
Face-to-face learning materials don’t always work when used in a live, online classroom. Here’s an example:
In a recent face-to-face conference, I presented a session on assessment validation. To get participants thinking about the session and what they would find useful, at the start of the session I asked them to discuss the items shown on the slide with someone beside them:
A few weeks later, the same organisation asked me to deliver the same session at a virtual conference. I had to completely re-work the resources to achieve similar levels of engagement in the virtual delivery environment. I started from scratch and redesigned the warm-up this way: 
Don’t try to re-work existing learning materials. Instead, I have found it easier to design new materials from scratch and incorporate elements of the existing materials as appropriate.
Effective facilitators of live, online learning must focus on three things at once:
Participants must also multi-task. They must focus on:
When converting your face to face program to live, online delivery, manage cognitive load by teaching one thing at a time.
For example, when introducing an activity where participants will use a new tech tool for the first time:
Here’s an example:
When facilitating live, online sessions using Zoom, I often use annotation tools. Before the first time I introduce an activity where I want participants to use an annotation tool, I first show how to access the tool. Next, I let the participants access the tool. Finally, I introduce the activity. To do this, I set up my slides like this:
As we settle into our ‘new normal’ post COVID-19, I look forward to returning to having a choice of delivery options, including both face to face and live, online learning.
Whilst live, online learning has been a great learning solution during COVID-19, it is not the best delivery mode in every situation. But, it is perfect for many, especially as we get better at designing and facilitating live, online learning that works. Therefore, live online learning deserves its place at the table beside other delivery modes such as face to face training, eLearning, work-based learning and other popular delivery modes.
I enjoy facilitating live, online learning, and enjoy seeing participants’ sense of achievement as they achieve program outcomes and become more proficient at using live, online learning tools.
So as we settle into our ‘new normal’ post COVID-19, I’ll look forward to seeing more high-quality, live online learning.
A heartfelt ‘thank you’ to Donna Purcell, Sarah Hayes and Lisa Le Van for generously sharing their expertise in human rights and in education for people with disability.
Last month I facilitated a Train the Trainer program with a cohort that included people with vision and hearing impairments. These individuals are also experts in human rights for people with disability and are keen to share ideas about what we facilitators can do to ensure learning events work for all participants. They have invited me to share these ideas, and hope you will share them with others in your network. So please help us spread the word!
Here are their suggestions:
The single most effective way to ensure that a learning event works for participants with disability is to ask them what they need to make the event work for them, then find ways to meet these needs.
The client for my Train the Trainer program gave me four weeks’ notice that I would have attendees with vision and hearing impairments. Of the cohort of 12 participants:
Having this information ahead of time was essential, as it gave me time to prepare how I would adapt activities and materials.
Each participant has their own unique combination of experiences and learning preferences. The same is true of participants with disability.
There is no one-size-fits-all way to address the learning needs of participants with disability. For example, even though I had participants with vision impairment and two with hearing impairment, on my Train the Trainer program, each individual had their own preferred ways to engage in the learning.
Don’t single out participants with disability in front of others. Instead, find a private way to:
In a virtual online class, have these conversations using private chat. In a face-to-face class, find regular moments for unintimidating, private conversations.
In face to face training:
Figuratively, the notion of ‘clearing the floor’ simply means removing any unnecessary clutter that may hinder participants with disability from accessing the learning. Some examples of clutter include:
Here are some simple ways to modify common training activities so they are more accessible:
Participants with vision impairment may not be able to read or write on whiteboards or post-it notes, as is often required in brainstorms or design-thinking-based activities. Participants with hearing impairment may struggle to hear and contribute ideas when brainstorming in large groups.
A simple way for all participants to engage in a brainstorm is to have participants work in pairs or groups of three (no larger, if possible). This way, the participants with disabilities can contribute and use the complementary skills of their partner/s to complete the activity.
Research tells us that we absorb new information best by combining spoken word with image, rather than by using spoken words with written words.
However, when you have participants with vision or hearing impairments, these rules change.
Participants with vision impairment
Participants with hearing impairment
If the participants with hearing impairment use lip-reading as a tool, speak clearly, facing them. In face-to-face training, ensure participants with hearing impairments are seated in the centre of the room. This way you don’t draw undue attention to them when you turn to face them when speaking.
If the participants with hearing impairment do not use lip-reading as a tool, you may need to add more detail to your slides than you normally would. Alternatively, you could:
Small adjustments you make to your learning activities can make a big difference to participants with disability.
Have a look at Five easy steps to more universal design. This post has some useful starting points for designing accessible materials and explains the function of screen readers, which visually-impaired participants often rely on to read and interpret learning materials.
Here are some more tips:
When preparing for my Train the Trainer program, I used MS Word to modify the workbook for the participants with vision impairment. Here’s what I did, on advice from them:
Here are some options to make graphics work better for participants with vision impairment:
In MS Word or equivalent, we use tables to make content easier to read and to appear nicely on a page. But screen readers don’t read tables easily! So, to make your materials more accessible, convert any tables in your standard learning resource to text. If you must use a table, don’t merge cells.
Screen readers recognise document styles—Heading 1 for major section headings, Heading 2 for sub-headings, and so on. Use styles consistently throughout your document. This will make it easier for screen readers to do their job.
If possible, set up your workbook ahead of time and send it to the participant/s with vision impairment so they can read it ahead of time and bring it to class. Word is preferable to pdf or hard copy because:
WCAG is a set of internationally-used guidelines to help developers develop accessible online content. If you develop resources, use these guidelines to help you create more universally-designed resources.
If you remember nothing else, remember our first tip: when in doubt, ask! Participants with disability are the most authoritative experts on their own needs. If you ask, they will tell you what they need, and we’ll all have an insightful learning experience as a result!