Beyond the Talking Head: Keeping Virtual Learners Engaged

Today we are attempting to teach learners in some of the most distracting environments possible — their offices, homes, you name it. How do we keep online learners engaged despite telephones; emails; IMs; work pressures; interruptions from friends, family, and colleagues; and a long list of other distractions that occur during synchronous virtual training sessions? Further, how do you ensure that learners are actually learning?

Virtual classroom has a tremendous opportunity to transform the way we teach and learn from afar. The technology is hitting a tipping point of adoption as more and more companies embrace virtual learning. However, the old convention of passive instruction is pervasive and threatens to become convention if we don’t act quickly.

Participants in this session will discuss the major challenges of keeping learners engaged in a synchronous virtual environment, and experience firsthand some simple interactive techniques for ensuring learners’ social presence, balancing learners’ cognitive loads, and focusing learner attention. These techniques include effectively applying common, but often overlooked, virtual-classroom techniques.

We’ll look at the key factors that will transform the way you think about virtual learning and how companies of all sizes can take advantage of these best practices to blow the socks off their virtual programs.
In this session, you will learn:
-Common reasons learners disengage in synchronous virtual environments, which factors you can influence and which factors you can influence
- To list at least five key considerations for keeping learners engaged and how to tackle them in your design and delivery
- How to weave elements of learner expectation, motivation, social presence, and accountability into a learner-engagement plan
- At least five tangible interaction techniques for driving learner engagement

Virtual Classroom designers, facilitators, delivery support, managers and strategiest.

In this session, you will learn: -Common reasons learners disengage in synchronous virtual environments, which factors you can influence and which factors you can influence - To list at least five key considerations for keeping learners engaged and how to tackle them in your design and delivery - How to weave elements of learner expectation, motivation, social presence, and accountability into a learner-engagement plan - At least five tangible interaction techniques for driving learner engagement

Brain Rules by Dr. John Medina The New Virtual Classroom by Dr. Ruth Clark Better Begins by Dr. Carmen Taran

		Christina Griffin Accenture View Profile