Elearning: Tips for webinars or virtual classroom
E-Learning and Webinars: Gone are the days when meetings and classes can't be held without a physical venue. You and I know what those who were conservative about embracing digital solutions faced when COVID-19 became wild.
Yes, some of them had honest reservations – holding hitch-free virtual webinar meetings is no child play. I often see people ask questions about how to hold engaging conversations that'd keep all attendee's attention until the webinar is over, avoid distractions, and significantly mitigate the possibility of having a technical breakdown.
Having run several webinar virtual workshops and meetings, I dare say it's not as difficult as people think. This article will not just answer the recurrent questions; you'll also learn other tips I've found helpful over the years.
We have quite a lot to cover, so let's get started.
ELearning and Webinar: Keep the meeting engaging.
It is good to identify the issues to be discussed and make a draft of the succession. However, you must keep the webinar engaging. So how do you do this? You could introduce the subject matter, the status quo of a problem, and afterwards call out for responses from the participants. While you make your presentation, ensure to keep it short but detailed. This sounds more like a chat, right? That is how the elearning webinar should be!
Let's get a bit practical. Instead of going the usual route of giving a dissertation-like presentation, tease your audience as a marketer would do to his potential buyers.
I mean something like:
We have discovered a problem, stated the severity, and opened the webinar floor to air their opinion of how to solve it. And if you already have a suggestion, you can add, "Here's my opinion, can we review it?"
In a nutshell, your webinar slides should be interactive. This way, it would sound like a chat, and you will significantly avoid oversights – that's how to stimulate everyone's interest.
Do the same for eLearning sessions also. Again, go a step at a time. But this time, design the activities to be self-paced. Throw out a question, and ask them to suggest probable strategies to fix it. If you're able to keep it conversational, you'll be shocked at the intelligent answers you'll get.
Here are other simple ways to ensure the active participation of your audience during a elearning webinar session:
Use a conferencing medium that is scalable enough for your anticipated number of attendees. You can consider trying out Zoom. It is a great tool for webinar and it is by default integrate into our elearning platform TheLearning LAB. Please do not hesitate to contact us for a free demo!
Keep a sharp eye on the conversation during the webinar, both the audio comments and the chats. At intervals, as required, halt the talk and run through the chats. There might be messages requiring your response. You being responsive will further motivate the participants to interact. Yes, you may not be able to respond to everybody. But at least, you can still skim to fish out the major points.
Read out the webinar chat messages if you're recording the cloud meeting. You'll need the chats to understand the flow of the discussion when listening after the meeting.
As much as you can, keep your presentations free of animations.
Not using animations or transitions in your presentation would help you keep the development time within a reasonable duration.
elearning webinar - elearning platform
Keep every webinar session short.
You must realize that humans have a short attention span. In my experience, it is better to keep it within one hour and one and half hours.
Endeavour to make presentations brief, so there'd be enough time for real-time discussion.
Make use of a headset/earphone during your webinar.
Using your PC's inbuilt microphone will not make the sound production come out nice. So, get either an earphone or a headset.
e-learning webinar - elearning agency
Give out your course materials on time.
The participants would find elearning easier if they have all the necessary course materials before the lecture starts. That way, they can match the contents with your explanations in the meeting and make their jottings.
Wrap-up
In every session you hold, the active participation of the audience. But if the crowd is large, it might be necessary to regulate the chat options. In any case, keep it interactive. And don't forget to cross all tees about your hardware.