Course of Study

Online training is not the same as a webinar, and online training is not the same thing as eLearning or other forms of online learning. In this section we debunk misconceptions about online training, and we distinguish live online training from other genres of learning. In this section you’ll learn about workable schedules for live online training, how to provide preliminary information to your students, and how to establish your credibility as an online training professional.

• Getting Started
• Scheduling
• Defining Online Training

The online classroom is not the same as a face-to-face space. Techniques such as walking around the room, gesturing, and observing your students’ body language and facial expressions are not options. In this section you’ll learn how to establish a connection with each of your students, how to get students comfortable with the online platform interface, and how to make sure two-way communication is established right from the beginning. You will specifically learn how to effectively start and conclude your class, how to communicate with a broad and possibly international audience, and options for integrating eLearning and other materials with your synchronous online courses.

• Starting and Ending Your Class
• Communicating During Class
• Encouraging—and Even Demanding—Participation
• Integrating eLearning

Do you need to ship books? Should you use eBooks? How do you give out handouts? Preparing and distributing course materials for the live online class is not the same as making photocopies, stapling, and handing them to your students. In this section you learn how to deliver course materials—and how to present your content—in the online format. Then, we’ll turn to a discussion of how to re-create or replace classroom learning activities with activities your class can do online. Along the way, you will also experience informal and formal polling, as well as how to conduct an online quiz.

• Course Books
• Course Handouts
• Blended Learning
• Introductions and Icebreakers
• Lecture and Discussion
• Brainstorming
• Group and Individual Work
• Live Online Quiz

So, you already have slides, you say? Maybe so, but are they optimized for online presentation? The requirements are different for online versus in-person presentations. In this section, you’ll learn how to make sure the design of your slides conveys your branding—and your content. You’ll get a list of the types of slides every online presentation should have, you’ll learn how to illustrate your concepts with royalty-free images and iconography, you’ll learn to choose appropriate fonts and font-combinations, and you’ll build your all-important Introduction slide. In the hands-on section, you’ll experience how online software teaching can be some of the most interactive training of all.

• Before and Afters
• Layouts
• Branding with Colors
• Fonts and Graphics
• Hands-on Practice

Whether you are working within a large organization or university or you are setting yourself up as an independent online training provider, you will need some specific hardware and software to run your live online classes. In this section, you’ll learn the basic computer needs, facts about tablets and online platforms, the importance of redundant systems and backups, and rules of thumb about your Internet connection(s). You’ll get to test your existing audio setups, discuss the use of video, and learn about the options for online training platform software. And if you’ve never taught online before, you’ll get a chance to take the reins and actually run the online classroom.

• Training Spaces
• Computers
• Internet Connection
• Audio and Video
• Training Platform Software

Are you giving a speech? Conducting a webinar? Delivering a lecture? Online training may have elements of some of these, but our recommendations on tone, delivery, and style may surprise you. In this section you learn about writing and using a script or notes, specifics on microphone use, and a lot about verbal engagement.

• Speaking versus Talking versus ?
• Scripts and Notes
• Microphone Use
• Verbal Engagement

In this section of the class, you will deliver a 10-minute example, with the goal of displaying all of the online training techniques you have learned in the class. You will also participate actively as a student in other candidate’s online exams. Make sure you have prepared a brief lesson topic in advance. (The lesson should be very brief—what is important for this exam is not delivering a lot of content, but rather, demonstrating the online training techniques throughout your lesson).

Just as with any kind of training, quizzes are necessary in order to assess your students’ learning, and to assess your training effectiveness. In this section, you’ll learn how to create relevant, meaningful, accurate quiz questions, and also how to create polls for your students.

• Asking Questions
• Using Objectives
• Question Workshop