Trainers find many problems when training people to use
online software as it is a lot different from traditional blackboard, books or
PowerPoint. You will find also find that students are not always sure what to
expect from online training, and the following reasons will show you why.
Linear
When using traditional methods such as PowerPoint or books,
training is more in a Linear
method. So you will get a PowerPoint slide and follow sentences starting from
the top as they arrive on the slide one-by-one until the slide is filled with sentences.
And then onto the next slide and the next sentence starts again at the top.
Linear training by explaining key words and short sentences can
be quite hypnotic and you will have to use a lot of conceptual skills to help
the students visualise
what you are explaining.
In order to keep the concentration of the classroom; firstly
you have to have explained a concept and managed to get the students to understand; then you have to
drag them back from the images that make sense in their heads back to concentrating
on the slides; then you need to provide some interaction so that the students
don’t fall asleep due to the sequential telling by the trainer. If you just
explain sentence-after-sentence one slide-after-another, you will very quickly lose the concentration
of the students.
As you can see from the way I have written the five
paragraphs so far about linear training, there has been minimal interaction so
you might be bored at this point. Imagine putting students through this for an
hour of reading slide-after-slide?
So if you are still using old school technology and methods,
then at every 5 minute intervals you will need to provide interaction or the
information will not sink in. By the way, could you see the word linear is
spelt out in the paragraphs above. Just thought I would wake you up. It was
boring what I had to write above, but necessary, so the big letters would have
given you some intrigue. You might even re-read the above again now and let it
sink in.
Problems with online training
The problem with online training is different. It is usually
training of a software programme or package. It is hardly ever linear in terms
of starting at page/slide one and ending at the final page/slide at the final
sentence. So you if you are the trainer that likes to just start at A and just
go through the motions to Z you will need to adapt.
With online training, you will need to create a script to make
sure you have your own linear training method. So you start in the programme
where you want, and take them through the screens in a sequence that best
allows the students to absorb the information.
Needless to say, most online training will involve a lot of
jumping around, so you must go slow and thoroughly through a section at a time.
Miss any steps and your students will not understand what has happened or how
they ended up at a certain screen in the software.
In a classroom
Training online in a classroom is different in comparison to
using traditional tools, as you would expect. If the students are just watching
you: clicking different areas of the screen, typing, amending and jumping into
new screens, it can be hard for them to follow.
Also, just watching can be very hard on the concentration. After
following you make 10 clicks and 5 amendments or passwords, this can mean the
student has to remember 15 different actions in a linear process, but through
different areas and different screens; this can also involve flicking between
two or more software packages too.
To let you know what this is like, play 15 moves in chess or
monopoly and then walk away for an hour and then try to exactly replicate every
move and option available chosen. It’s very hard to do and hard to expect any
student to remember and put into action later.
So break each section into bite size chunks so that students
can master each chunk. So wherever the student is in the software package, they
know what to do in that section and can piece together sections they do know
well; which will help them know which sections they need to master.
Over the telephone
In most cases when teaching on the phone or a conference
call, you cannot see what they see on the screen; so make sure you are more
descriptive in your directions.
Here is a way to practise. Describe step-by-step how you
would make a drink or pour a drink. Then list all the steps. Then an hour later
follow the steps and see if you complete the task without any problems. You might
do it well and have a perfect drink. Or you might miss a step such as ‘twist
the milk cap clockwise until the cap comes off, then pour the equivalent of
three tea spoons of milk gently into your tea making sure it does not splash
everywhere’. Forget this step and you have tea or coffee with no milk. Your
training will need broken down steps to help students in pretty much the same
manner.
If you jump a step, the student will panic naturally as they
want to keep up and follow you. They may not even say anything and click around
in silence and then before you know it be on a completely different screen to
you. Then you will need to stop and reverse the clicks, which means you will be
wasting valuable time.
Click and follow
By far the best way is for students to click and follow you
on their screen.
I have done this both in a classroom and on the phone with a
board room of directors. If a few people are sat around a screen, make sure you
have a dedicated person clicking the mouse, and one person on the phone on
their side as the main speaker for their group; with yourself on the speaker
phone as the sole voice so everyone can hear you giving directions and
answering their queries.
Go through each section one-at-a-time, and then give the
other side on the phone a chance to ask questions. If you get asked a question,
just show small simple things to questions if you know it won’t lead to more
questions. If you think it will lead to more questions or take a long time to
answer, say you will note it down and come back to it later as it will break up
the training sequence.
Practice
Just like any job, you need to practise a lot. Training
online is not natural, you have to re-train yourself and quickly get students
adapted at the beginning of the session to training in an online way.
So set the rules for the students to follow what you say and
how you will give them opportunity to speak and ask questions as you go along.
Script
Finally, make sure you have a script that you can test until
it works. I have done this many times to ensure it flows smoothly and students
can follow you seamlessly. It’s not easy to do. You just have to do it
over-and-over again until you get it right.
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