Virtual classrooms seem to be a very popular topic, especially among L&D and education enthusiasts. This method of delivery for learning is slowly entering schools, universities and workplaces. Just recently I’ve read an article where a primary school in America introduced a live online learning solution on a trial basis, and after a week it already proved to be very effective. They’ve found that it engages students in discussions which, at this school, turned into blogging; encourages sharing of ideas and sparks collaboration.

Training for work

Virtual classrooms – also referred to as live online instructor-led learning – have similar effects on adults training for work. I know this from firsthand experience because I took my first cloud based class just after I joined REDTRAY. I wanted to learn how to optimise my use of Microsoft Outlook so I could keep up with the large number of emails I was receiving and never miss out on important messages.

I signed up for a course and quickly noticed how engaging the class was and how easily I could learn exactly what I needed and wanted to know. There was no unnecessary overloading of my memory with too much information, which speeded up my learning.

The virtual classroom experience

I didn’t have to leave my office or my desk to attend the class which was really convenient, because I didn’t miss out on time out of work. All I had to do was to log in to the training session from my computer and have my headset ready. The trainer was on the other side of the globe but I could see her and hear her clearly, and also talk to the other students attending the same course.

I was shown how to do certain things in Outlook, for example, create rules for my messages so I could manage my emails faster and easier. Then pretty quickly the training session moved to the lab part (an online workshop) and I had to practice what I was being taught. In this safe environment, especially created for the purpose of the course, I was able to test my newly gained skills and see how I was actually doing. This was great because it turned out that I had many questions for the trainer while I was practising, and she was right there to answer them.

When I had a problem, the trainer either guided me by telling me what to do or she took over the controls and showed me again how to use the software to get the outcome I wanted (I really needed a simple way of organising and managing my Outlook messages). I was able to see the trainer’s desktop so it was easy to understand how certain tasks were done and then to follow up by doing the same things myself.

The surprising bits

Before I tried live online learning, I had preconceptions about virtual classroom training. I imagined it probably wouldn’t be as effective as face-to-face training and that it would feel awkward to take part in exercises when I couldn’t see any other students. To my surprise, the most enjoyable part was the fact that there was so much interaction among the trainer and the learners although we were taking the course from different places in the world.

This created a relaxed atmosphere and encouraged questions and the expression of doubts and concerns more freely. This way the trainer was aware of any issues we had and she was able to clarify them because there was no shyness or embarrassment among her learners. The one hour session passed very quickly. I left the session richer in knowledge, armed with the skills I immediately needed for my work.

The positive effects

I can understand why the school I mentioned earlier is experiencing the positive effects of using live online learning on their students so soon. The attention you receive when attending a live virtual class is much more focused as there are usually no more than six to eight participants in each session. In comparison, classroom training might hold as many as 20 to 30 attendees.

The online workshops, which are referred to as hands-on labs, speed up the learning process because students are gaining knowledge not only through theory but by applying it straight away in practice. And everyone knows that’s the best way to learn.

The interaction between the students and the trainer makes the time during the session fly by. To the contrary of most classroom teaching, virtual classroom training is broken down into short one to three hour sessions which helps maintain the high attention span of learners throughout the class. It also helps to avoid cognitive overload (too much information at one isn’t absorbed and remembered very well).

Now you know how live online instructor-led training can positively influence not only school students but also those who want to increase their skills for work. But there’s so much more to the virtual classroom than just what I’ve described here. For more insight, please come back another time.

Or, if my post didn’t satisfy your curiosity, you can watch a short video and see how virtual classroom session looks in practice, and learn about the benefits of live online learning.

If anyone else has experiences of virtual classrooms they’d like to share, please leave a comment below!