Top Ten Tips for... Maximising Your Online Learning
In today’s era of flexible and hybrid working, online learning is becoming the norm across thousands of organisations. Offering learning and development opportunities in a flexible, employee-friendly way will help your employees grow and advance their careers, as well as ensuring your business stays at the top of its game by attracting high quality candidates.
Here at cHRysos HR, we think online learning is fantastic and comes with many benefits for both employers and learners – so whether you run a business that provides education services or are simply looking to up-skill your employees, read on for our Top Ten Tips on how to get the most out of online learning:
1. Provide the time to train
For learners who are studying alongside a full time job, it’s important to make sure they don’t burn themselves out by trying to do too much. If you are requesting that your team take part in mandatory training, then it is your responsibility to provide an adequate amount of time to complete it. If its additional training and education, then discuss with the employee how much time they will need and what resources they require.
2. Ensure they have the correct equipment
Providing access to the right technology is important to allow your employees to get their training done easily. No one wants technical hiccups to get in the way of their training time! If your employees are already hybrid or remote workers then they likely already have access to a computer or laptop. Therefore, you just need to make sure everyone is able to access your chosen online training platform and any other appropriate software. Your staff may also need support to navigate any new programmes they need to use.
3. Is your training accessible and inclusive?
When it comes to deciding which online software and tools you’ll be using for your training, make sure you consider which platforms are the most accessible. For example, are you able to provide live captions and subtitles for any learners who are hard of hearing? Think proactively about whether any of your team may need extra assistance with the activities you have planned and then alter these to be more inclusive wherever possible.
4. Create a content library
If your online learning schedule is likely to be repeated, either annually or whenever you acquire new staff members, there’s no point reinventing the wheel every year and creating a new course. Organise and store any of your reusable content online, such as training materials, tests and guidance notes – this will save you time and money going forward.
5. Have IT support on hand
Online learning can be an amazingly helpful tool but if technology isn’t on your side, it can be frustrating too! To help make the process easier for everyone involved, make sure you provide access to your IT support or tech-savvy employees who can advise your learners about how to overcome any technical glitches.
6. Utilise training webinars
A webinar is a live, web-based video conference that uses the internet to connect people to a joint session. Hosts can invite multiple people to join in and share their thoughts or switch to their computer screens for presentations or demonstrations. You can also introduce a Q&A session with questions submitted online. The joint learning method is an engaging way to learn something new because it feels more like an event and is a great way to create more of a classroom-style environment for learners at home.
7. Keep it engaging!
Not everyone will be enthusiastic about completing online learning courses, particularly if you’re implementing mandatory training for your employees. But it doesn’t mean the courses can’t be interactive and surprisingly fun and informative. Similarly to the point above, there are lots of tools and tricks you can use to switch up your training style to keep it engaging. Try using tests to evaluate knowledge retention during the session and get immediate feedback with polls. Why not also encourage small-group interaction with breakout sessions?
8. Tailor your training to individuals
When it comes to introducing learning and development opportunities, remember that no two learners will necessarily require the same training. A blanket approach to employee training and development simply won’t do the trick. If you are unsure about what kind of training everyone needs, then why not ask them? This could be included as part of your annual employee reviews or you could introduce new check-ins specifically relating to education and learning.
9. How is it going? Take time to evaluate and review
Throughout the learning journey and once your team have completed their training, it is important to take stock of the training to see how the learners are getting on. Make sure you check-in with your team at regular intervals! Are they finding the software easy to use? Is the training having the desired impact? You can also look into whether your online learning portal allows you to get detailed reports on session attendance, test results and evaluations.
10. Celebrate your learners!
Just because your employees are undertaking their training remotely, it doesn’t mean you can’t reward them in other ways or congratulate them on completing the training. For example, could you hold an in-person graduation or awards ceremony for the learners? By taking the time to celebrate these achievements, you are showcasing your commitment to employee development and may even encourage other team members to think about their future learning goals.
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cHRysos HR Solutions are a UK wide HR training and consultancy company offering CIPD accredited qualifications, Apprenticeships, Training and HR Services to SMEs. For more information about how cHRysos HR can help you or your teams successfully achieve further qualifications, contact us on info@chrysos.org.uk or call 03300 562443.