VIRTUAL TRAINING
Cindy Huggett, CPTD
When remote participants are fully engrossed in an online learning experience, they stay engaged in the virtual classroom. They keep their eyes on the screen, listen attentively to the facilitator and collaborate with their peers. They may lose track of time and may even lose interest in multitasking by ignoring emails and other notifications that vie for their attention.
But when something happens to disrupt the flow of the virtual program, participants may disengage just enough to snap back to reality, getting enticed by their surrounding distractions. For example, if someone’s dog barks in the background, it can interrupt the conversation flow. Or if the tech doesn’t work as planned and an activity goes awry, then it disrupts the learning process.
Those are major disruptions, but what about the minor ones that happen all the time in a virtual class? Things like having to find the unmute button when a participant wants to speak. Or needing to click on a link to get to an external collaborative whiteboard. Or waiting in awkward silence to get in and out of breakout rooms.
While each of those by themselves may not be a big deal, they can add up quickly. Many minidisturbances can equal a less-than-smooth event.
In my experience, there are several simple shortcuts that can help minimize these small disruptions to create a more seamless online learning experience for all. Most of these shortcuts can be used in any virtual classroom platform.
Here are four simple items to start with, each one reducing the number of clicks that a participant needs to take for interacting with the program.
It’s a best practice for participants to stay muted when not speaking. But when they need to unmute, there’s a lag time while waiting for them to find the button and click on it (if they remember to do so!).
The fastest way to unmute in most platforms is to simply press and hold the spacebar, like a walkie-talkie, to speak. This quick hit eliminates the need to use the unmute button because pressing the spacebar works just as well and is faster.
Note that on some platforms this keyboard shortcut may be CTRL-spacebar (or CMD- spacebar on a Mac), and of course it doesn’t work when the person who wants to speak is actively typing in chat (because in that case, the spacebar creates a typed space). Check your platform to find this feature.
In an interactive virtual class with discussion and collaboration, participants are frequently unmuted and talking. This equates to more opportunity for background noise to get in the way of clear communication.
But most platforms now have built-in audio settings for noise suppression or noise canceling. These controls are so powerful that they drown out even the most disruptive, interfering sounds.
Enable these tools in your virtual platform and teach participants how to use them.
A common interaction in virtual classes is asking participants to raise their hand in response to a question. This task requires them to first find the button, then click on it. If other reactions are needed (like the agree/disagree choices), then it may be two or more clicks to navigate to the correct option.
Several virtual classroom platforms now have “hand-gesture recognition” available. This feature automatically selects the “raise hand” button when someone on video raises their physical hand. Or chooses the applause reaction when someone claps.
Several variations on these gestures exist, depending on the platform. The common theme is that it creates a more immersive experience because a participant’s spontaneous, natural reaction (like lifting a hand) translates quickly and easily to a digital format (such as raised hand notifications) that’s visible by the facilitator.
Robust virtual classrooms include interactive tools like polling, whiteboarding, chatting and breakouts, and the most engaging virtual classes make use of them all. Sometimes, facilitators want to use an external program that offers even more features (such as a word-cloud poll or a whiteboard with enhanced collaboration abilities).
To access these tools during a virtual class, participants need to click on a URL or QR code to access the external program for use. Even if all works smoothly, it takes time to click on the link, to launch the program and, after using it, to get back into the virtual classroom.
A better solution, when external tools are needed, is to use the “integrated apps” feature of the virtual classroom platform. These apps combine the power of the external tool with the simplicity of the virtual classroom. Participants can use the tools without needing to click anywhere else or leave the learning experience.
These simple shortcuts may not seem like much, but combined they can help create a more seamless and engaging virtual classroom environment. They minimize interruptions, allowing learners to stay immersed in the content and focused on what matters most: learning.
The result is a smoother, more natural flow that keeps participants engaged and reduces the temptation to multitask or disengage from the virtual learning experience.
Cindy Huggett, CPTD, is a consultant and author whose books include The Facilitator’s Guide to Immersive, Blended and Hybrid Learning and Virtual Training Tools and Templates. Email her at Cindy@CindyHuggett.com or connect with her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/cindyhuggett/.
