The virtual classroom - synchronous e-learning seems similar to instruction face-to-face; however, the similarity can be deceptive. The designer, together with the instructor, must be aware of the information they lose when teaching online and they must have strategies for offsetting the loss.
Various organizations are incorporating the use of a learning management system into their training portfolio. Their software package enables the management and delivery of instructor-led training content online. The largest part of LMS tools on the market are Web-based to facilitate a 24 hour access to learning new business or training content and full e-learning administration.
Here you will explore four ways e-learning using an LMS tool can help improve your bottom line.
Method 1: Provide Multi-Sensory Learning.
Studying has confirmed that people learn in different ways. As a result, instructors must recognize that they need to present students with multiple teaching mediums for the student to be successful. These standards should incorporate visual, auditory and kinesthetic sensory inputs to optimize content absorption by the student. Then all learners use one of these inputs as their primary method of learning while the additional inputs are used as reinforcements.
The multi-sensory learning advantage is that there is a significant reduction in the learner’s total study time by accelerating retention and improving recall of the program material. Some multi-sensory learning applications examples in the online environment include, mentoring with technical advisers, online and off-line books, lecture notes, interactive simulations and collaborative exercises.
Method 2: Make Learning Interactive.
Ensure your organization in another way - utilizing the LMS to its fullest potential and that you are delivering education and training opportunities that will stick with the participants is to make the learning interactive.
For course designers are required to design content to be as engaging as possible. Derived from your budget and bandwidth, choose among video, audio, digital photos, animations, drawings and clip art to capture the learner’s attention. Engage the learner through thought provoking questions, case studies, surveys, analogies, quizzes and tests.
Another significant issue in keeping the learning interactive is to include real world examples, photos, sample documents, charts, and interviews to make the educational content relevant to the student’s job.
As a final point, you need to build in practice time as each new concept is presented. Include the occasional assessment questions after each major concept to test for understanding throughout, not just at the end. One successful device is to create case studies or scenarios in which learners are asked to apply the knowledge and skills learned rather than just demonstrating recall.
Method 3: Support the Learners.
Lots of organizations are unsuccessful in using their LMS to its fullest capacity. Characteristically, the LMS has loads of functionality that can help an organization support the learners in their quest to gain relevant education for their career.
Your LMS can send immediate confirmation, for example, when a learner enrolls in a course and the e-mail can include any technical details needed to get started, in addition to information about the required timeframe for course completion.
You can also support the learner by identifying who they should call or e-mail regarding technical problems, course questions and feedback.
There are some organizations that will support the learner by assigning a mentor who follows up and is available to assist with questions or problems. The tutor could be a previous graduate of the course, a subject matter expert or a super-user within the department who has mastered the task, skills or knowledge presented in the course. Within your LMS create a database of mentors for use in future courses.
Method 4: Monitor and Report the Results.
The main and greatest advantage of your LMS is the ability to review training statistics daily or weekly to see if your projections are being met. Consequently, you can use your LMS to compare the number of course registrations to completions.
Recognizing negative trends during your analysis, you could survey learners via phone or e-mail to identify obstacles that prevented them from starting or completing a course. You possibly will find out problems with the software, scheduling issues, work demands, course not meeting needs and so forth. After that, you can use this information to make immediate course changes or change the schedule.
| 
