Causes VILT Is An Indispensable Half
VILT in Blended Learning: Why Virtual Instructor-Led Training Is Essential
VILT requires different teaching materials for learners and teachers as well as collaborative activities that are adapted to the virtual space. It’s not just a webinar, an online presentation with surveys, or even holding a classroom meeting with a conference facility. So what materials do you need and what role do they play in a successful blended learning strategy?
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Materials required for VILT
- An introductory ‘Getting Started Webinar’ with practical exercises to train trainers and learners
- Moderator PPTs that serve as visual cues
- Moderator’s guides with information on using the platform and carrying out activities with detailed instructions – duration, process, formats
- Participant guides to help learners join the session seamlessly by providing clear directions
- Handouts for participants such as worksheets to help learners complete individual / group activities. Handouts can also contain checklists, to-do lists, infographics, PDFs, and other practical work aids that learners can refer to as they work.
- Reference materials for activities / rework / next steps
Top cooperation activities
Make sure that your VILT session becomes much more than a one-page webinar or online survey presentation by using these collaborative activities wisely.
- Chats to enable communication between students and teachers. Surveys to collect opinions / feedback from learners, stimulate memories or summarize / summarize a learning point.
- the report Opportunity to help participants ask questions or share something with the instructor.
- Remarks to help learners enter an answer or choose favorites from a pool of alternatives.
- Whiteboards that allow teachers to draw, highlight specific parts, mark elements with color codes, and more. Learners can work on individual whiteboards and share them with the group, or a group can work together on a whiteboard in the breakout room.
- Breakout rooms Emulate the collaboration and peer-to-peer interaction of a physical classroom. They are virtual spaces where small study groups can meet to discuss, exchange opinions or take part in group activities.
Why is VILT an indispensable part of blended learning?
VILT is increasingly being used to close the vacuum created by the lack of classroom training – the mainstay of in-company training. However, when you think of VILT, you don’t think of a silo – here’s why.
1. Works well for introducing training or reassuring learners
Short VILT sessions are good warm-up sessions for upcoming training programs. You can have learners discuss what they know and what they expect from the upcoming training. Since the moderator is available, you can have your doubts clarified.
The moderators also get a precise idea of the existing knowledge of the learners. When VILT is used before training, learners can share the challenges they face, resulting in a sense of camaraderie.
VILT also helps break the ice between learners and is especially useful when your learners come from different teams / roles and need to collaborate on hands-on training for which they have been selected – on topics such as leadership or project management training.
2. Facilitates learning
VILT is one of the best ways to offer stand-alone training on topics where learners require the presence of a teacher or collaborative activities to gain their knowledge. This is especially useful for soft skills, sales skills, and onboarding.
Learners can role-play like they would in the classroom to see how their actions affect others. They can also meet in breakout rooms to discuss, develop strategies and work out solutions or solve cases – and insights can be shared in the main room.
3. Facilitates continuous learning through collaboration
With VILT, you can easily overcome the need to regularly bring all of your learners together in one place for training and collaboration. VILT sessions allow them to work together and refresh / deepen their knowledge without having to travel. Your lecturers can also meet several study groups in one place – this saves you an enormous amount of time and money. VILT is therefore a good alternative for workshops and events that require physical participation by the learners.
Your learners can have regular VILT sessions and maybe meet in person once a year. VILT is therefore not only suitable for refreshing knowledge, but also helps learners to practice their skills in groups and to exchange what they have learned and experiences.
Moderators can share new updates, clarify doubts, and offer guidance. If you have a small group, the teacher can spend time with each learner individually and provide individual feedback and support – which makes VILT a good resource for coaching and mentoring.
What is the difference between VILT and eLearning?
At the risk of saying the obvious, VILT and eLearning are as different as chalk and cheese. While VILT requires the simultaneous presence of learners and teachers, albeit from different locations, eLearning is purely self-paced and an individual endeavor.
WANT
- Way too much
- Provides direct, personal collaboration
- Lecturers can moderate the learning pace and clarify doubts
- Instructors can share additional information, examples, and anecdotes
eLearning
- One to one
- No room for personal collaboration
- Can only navigate between the slides and / or resources offered within the course
However, they have two things in common – both are online training formats and work well with your blended learning strategy (for pre-training reinforcement, training, and post-training reinforcement).
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Download the eBook Blended Learning – The Rapid eLearning Way for insights on how to start a successful rapid blended learning program. Also attend the webinar to learn how to develop holistic blended learning solutions for your team.
References:
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