Everything You Wanted to Know About VILT

Who doesn’t love virtual games and shopping, now post-pandemic we have also seen a massive surge in virtual teams, virtual meetings, and not surprisingly, virtual training. Most organizations are increasingly opting for online training and development programs to ensure uninterrupted learning. And this virtual training trend is the new norm.

Seems like a good time to go virtual!

Although VILTs have been around for some time now, there still is a lot of ambiguity around what exactly constitutes a VILT.

Virtual instructor-led training (VILT) is a form of synchronous online training delivered in a virtual environment with the instructor and learners participating in the session simultaneously but from different locations. It offers learners all the benefits of human interaction in a brick-and-mortar classroom without the hassles of travel, logistics, and space.

• VILT ≠ Webinar
• VILT ≠ Online presentation with polls
• VILT ≠ Conducting a classroom session using a conferencing facility

Virtual instructor-led training is neither a webinar nor presenting classroom material in a videoconference. Why not?

Though a webinar is also a synchronous training format, it is mostly a one-sided communication from the presenter to the participants. Participants are encouraged to share their opinions, and feedback, or answer questions through polls, but the main essence of virtual classrooms – collaboration – is missing in webinars.

VILT offers many benefits to organizations as well as learners. The main advantage of VILT is its ability to connect learners of different backgrounds from different locations on one platform. Let’s explore the other advantages of VILT:

• Convenience and flexibility (learners can engage at work, at home, or on a mobile device, wherever they want)
• Cost-effectiveness
• Ability to upskill employees
• Customizability

It’s a fact that classroom training can be highly engaging. But the good news is it is possible to replicate that experience in VILTs as well. Like the physical classroom, virtual classrooms also give participants the opportunity to:

• Participate and collaborate actively
• Engage in group activities
• Share their learning

The effectiveness of virtual classrooms hinges on 2 elements –

• Content
• Technology

Content is the most important component when it comes to any training and the same is the case with virtual classrooms. Even if you have existing classroom training material (PPTs, facilitator guides, manuals, etc.), you will still have to identify need-to-know content to be included in the virtual session. It’s important that classroom material is not used ‘as is’ as the virtual classroom needs to factor in the absence of the instructor and collaboration.

Organizing the content and activities to be used is a good idea in such cases:

• Before the training session – to build rapport and trust
• During the training for effective teaching – with different instructional activities
• Collaboration activities – to be used throughout the session

Several technological platforms are available with unique features that will help you conduct your virtual classroom sessions. Popular ones include:

All these platforms offer a variety of tools to enable information sharing and collaboration (replicating the environment of a physical classroom) – each with its own limitations and strengths.

The virtual classroom has very different challenges when compared to the physical one.

Establishing goals and ground rules are important for any classroom, a virtual classroom being no exception. In addition to being courteous in their communications, ground rules in a VILT session would include:

• Turning off phones (both office and personal)
• Not sending or responding to e-mails
• Actively participating in chats
• Asking questions

When we try to replicate the physical classroom training experience in the virtual classroom, some things may differ slightly because of the delivery format. However, the main principles for delivery stay the same. Let’s consider how Gagne’s 9 Events of Instruction can be used in VILT with the aid of technology.

With a little bit of planning and sound instructional design, you can make the VILT as effective as an ILT. However, there are a few things you need to put in place, such as making participants familiar with the technology platform, “planning” your spontaneous activities, and so on.

• VILT can be very useful when the training content is very complex and may require trainer intervention.
• VILT gives learners the freedom to learn from anywhere, at any time, and at their own pace. Unlike classroom training, which requires the instructor and learners to be in the same location at the same time.
• VILT can ensure interactive sessions (even though the instructor is not physically present) with learners asking questions, participating in discussions, and sharing their views.
• VILT can be used to provide customized content (such as study material, online modules, etc.) based on the learners’ requirements.
• VILT allows the instructor to track learners’ performance (using online assessments and polls) even while sitting at home.

With a little bit of planning and sound instructional design, you can make the VILT as effective as an ILT. However, there are a few things you need to put in place, such as making participants familiar with the technology platform, “planning” your spontaneous activities, and so on.

Here are a few tips to successfully migrate from classroom training to VILT:

• Gather all the classroom material and convert it to the digital format
• Convert text-based resources into videos and infographics that can be accessed at specific points via links during the VILT session.
• Help instructors and learners get familiar with technology (provide “how-to” guides)

• Showing them video trailers beforehand to highlight the key takeaways of the VILT session
• Using posters or infographics to highlight the various learning objectives of the VILT session
• Giving them pre-assessments to assess their prior knowledge on the subject. This will also help them recollect and revise the topics that have already been covered in the previous training sessions

• Online discussion forums
• Role-playing
• Group assessments
• Virtual breakout rooms

• Setting up the virtual classroom platform
• Scheduling and notifying learners about sessions
• Coordinating the live VILT sessions
• Collecting and sorting the analytics generated during sessions

• Videos
• eBooks
• Audio podcasts
• Digital handouts
• VILT session recording

As with any other training initiative, we need to have a robust process in place when converting ILT to VILT. The process has three main phases as shown below.

Follow these best practices for effective and seamless VILT session:

• When converting ILT slides to VILT, ensure that the information is short and crisp, you can factor for more slides than those in the ILT version.
• If opting for a blended approach it is better to organize ILT content into small digestible chunks of information.
• Determine content that can be consolidated/repurposed as job aids or reference material.
• Conducting a pilot test for inputs is always a good idea it will help you enhance the VILT materials and test activities.
• Ensure adequate interpersonal interactions.
• Use the same channel for sharing materials before, during, and after the sessions.
• Integrate multiple mediums to provide a seamless experience.
• If outsourcing, look for a vendor with a background in both ILT and VILT, to make it even easier for you. It’s us! CommLab India is your ideal partner for ILT to VILT conversion.

It is not possible to translate all the classroom activities into VILT. Hence, you need more planning and effort to engage your learners in a VILT session. Here are a few things you can do for a successful VILT session.

• Replace activities that can’t be converted and add appropriate transitions.
• Perform periodic “pulse checks” on attendees by telling them to use “raise hand” tool
• Don’t forget to provide breaks in between!
• Decide on modalities:
  • Polls
  • Chat
  • Breakout rooms
  • Annotations
  • Workbook activities

Polls

Polls will help you to collect learners’ opinions and feedback about a specific topic. They can also be used to:

• Stimulate recall of prior knowledge
• Recap/summarize a learning point
• Quiz learners on a topic just covered

Chat

Chats will help you connect with your learners by enabling textual communication. Chat can be:

• Used to facilitate one-on-one interactions
• Used to share global updates and instructions

Breakout Rooms

Breakout rooms are perhaps the most effective feature of a virtual classroom. It helps replicate the collaboration and peer-to-peer interaction of a physical classroom. Breakout rooms are like virtual rooms where a small group of learners can meet to discuss, share opinions, or participate in group activities.

Whiteboard and Annotation Activities

In its simplest form, ‘annotations’ enable learners to type an answer or pick favourites from a pool of alternatives and display the results in creative ways.

Worksheet Activities

Worksheet activities in the virtual classroom have been an all-time favourite for learners to have fun while brainstorming on strategy and planning, team building, communication exercises, leadership exercises, and more.

It’s but natural to have misgivings about learner engagement in VILT. But, thanks to advances in technology, VILT now has the know-how to offer tools and features that help replicate the real classroom, virtually! And with COVID-19, digital learning is certainly transforming the way organizations are looking at training.

And, before wrapping up, here are some tried and tested best practices to convert your classroom training to VILT.

Here’s an eBook that’ll help you understand VILT better – Virtual Instructor-led Training: A Beginner’s Guide – Explore the Art and Science of Replicating the Real Classroom Virtually.