With the current situation and social distancing norms, more organizations are preferring online mode of learning or are looking to convert their existing ILT  to eLearning programs. In this blog, I will share few best practices on converting ILT sessions to impactful eLearning to impart knowledge and concepts quickly.

Introduction

With COVID-19 taking a grip over the world, organizations across the globe are forced to rethink as how they conduct business, how they train and equip their employees in a VUCA  (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world.

The current times are unprecedented and require smart and quick decision making on part of the senior leadership.

One of the key decisions is how to continuously train the employees.

While employees work from home, its important that the training is not interrupted. For this, a good approach would be to convert the existing classroom sessions or ILT to eLearning or Virtual training sessions.

Next, I will share some best practices.

1. Consider What To Teach And Identify The Learning Objectives

Classroom sessions are conducted over hours or days. It is practically not possible to cover each aspect of classroom session or ILT into an eLearning format.

Therefore, when deciding over converting the materials, identify the most important topics as well as the content that needs to be covered.

Identify the learning objectives for the subject matter to be taught. This would help in clarifying the must know vs nice to know content.

Then preparing the lesson plans and the course content would be the next logical step in the process.

2. Converting Role Plays, Group Activities Into Interactive Exercises

Understand that eLearning format does not have the provision to have detailed role play or group activity sessions. For these, the strategic approach would be to understand the objectives of the role play or group activity. If the role plays are to understand how a sales person should be trained to negotiate better with a customer, then in an eLearning context, this content can be presented as an interactive video or a series of process steps or a story that is presented visually.

If the objective is to help the sales person apply the skills and not just be aware of it, then a branching scenario or an interactive video with questions will be the best option. This would be a good option to consider when converting ILT to eLearning.

3. Consider A Variety Of Formats To Convert The Existing Sessions

Understand that eLearning format does not have the provision to have

Another good option of converting ILT to eLearning would be to convert the existing content into a variety of formats. These range from videos, to games to quizzes and other relevant formats that would be apt for an online learning experience,

Videos give the flexibility of not losing the essence of the original message. If the core messaging is on introduction to company leadership, the various aspects of the organizational culture then these can be recorded by the leaders and embedded in the online program.

4. Consider Learning Paths For Converting ILTs To ELearning

Learning paths are structured forms of learning modules or topics that are presented in a sequence to help learners understand the content in a logical manner.

A learning path can be created in the LMS by tying in several courses in a sequence. Learners can be enrolled in the learning path to help them know how many courses or topics they need to finish to gain mastery over a subject.

A learning path or journey helps learners track their progress in a systematic way. They gain control over their own learning journey. Assessments can be either formative or summative or a combination of both to help the learners know where they stand in terms of understanding the subject. This is an important consideration for converting ILT to eLearning format.

5. Go Micro

Microlearning is an impactful method of eLearning, where you have short bite sized learning nuggets for your employees. Microlearning can be used when you are trying to impart knowledge on “how”” of a process. It can also be tied into the learning path or journey. Microlearning can be provided as a precursor to your onboarding or induction or technical training programs or as a reinforcement after the training is completed. Microlearning can be implemented as a quiz or a short game or a video. When considering converting large ILTs to elearning, short byte sized microlearning would be a good option.

6. Blended Learning

You can also take advantage of the blended learning model when converting ILTs to eLearning. By combining Virtual training sessions and eLearning in a learning path, you allow the learner to take advantage of learning through Webinars as well as eLearning sessions. This is an important approach to consider as learners prefer to have a facilitator to explain them critical concepts.

Conclusion

To conclude, converting the existing ILTs to eLearning is the way to go in current times. Digital learning is only going to boom in the coming times, so its important to take advantage of the same.