Who makes a good e-trainer

Can any trainer adapt to working online? Not so, says Don Taylor, Director of InfoBasis and host of the free monthly web seminars run by Learning Technologies: “There’s one type of trainer who is good in the classroom and hopeless online, and that’s the ‘classroom charismatic’. This person has the force of personality to succeed face-to-face, but much of the time is just winging it. Online, when neither party has the visual cues, it all breaks down. It’s so hard to get people to listen to you if you are not well structured and you’re just a voice. The good e-trainer does not need to be charismatic, but they do need structure and an ability to both get learners involved and respond to the audience’s needs.”

According to Taylor, part of the problem lies with our diminishing ability to learn through listening: “Four hundred years ago, people could listen attentively to a Shakespeare play lasting three and a half hours – we simply don’t have that attention span. The percentage of auditory learners is quite small, so you simply have to compensate with the right visuals. For the e-trainer, the voice is very important – some voices simply don’t work online. The speaker needs to be able to modulate their voice, vary the pace and carry their enthusiasm. It’s not acceptable online to be ‘umming’ and ‘ahing’ all the time.”

Tom Sandman is Training Design Consultant at QA Training. QA have been making use of LearnLinc’s virtual classroom software in their blended MCSA and Project Management courses: “We only take volunteers – we don’t insist all our trainers teach online. On the whole, trainers enjoy the change of mode – we provide them with broadband capability so they can work from home.”

QA has also been carrying out research, in conjunction with Middlesex University, on the profiles of successful virtual classroom students: “Virtual classrooms are best for students who have control of their diaries. The time of system administrators is much less predictable than that of project managers, as they are subject to all sorts of short-term emergencies. We have also found that reflectors really enjoy the sessions, perhaps more so than activists. We have users who don’t make a big active contribution to the sessions, but are busy listening and taking notes. They get a lot out of it. But maybe the most important factor is the extent to which learners are allowed the space by their managers to attend the virtual sessions at the scheduled times.”