Hi All,
A couple of months ago, I needed to pitch a live online learning product into our business as a viable solution to a particular challenge we were facing. The challenge being we needed to roll out a piece of software training quickly to 40 different sites nationwide. The window of time available and the budget available meant that any other option really wasn't suitable.
But knowing live online learning, particularly in this country is still a very new concept and that our organisation was still getting to grips with the very basics of traditional Learning and Development, I knew that there would be some resistance.
So I began to talk about the barriers with some trusted contacts inside our organisation and discovered that those conversations were all pointing to a common FEAR that existed.
I then created a Podcast with DPG's Mike Collins designed to help our organisation overcome those FEARS. There's a five minute clip of this interview on my Podcast channel, which you can find on the link below...
Regards,
Ady
Replies
Hi Duncan,
Ady here. Apologies for not getting back to you sooner.
Believe it or not, the majority of fears I seem to have come across come from within L&D, however, there are similar ones coming up from other stakeholders. I've summarised the main ones (with my responses below). Hope these help.
Live Online Learning will reduce face to face training and therefore take away some of my work. Will I be required any more (says L&D)? - I get this one and understand how this might be a concern. Live Online learning, if it is to be used, should firstly not set out to replace face to face learning but work alongside and complement what we already do. You can have, for example, an online session before a workshop, do the workshop, then have an online collaboration session to follow up a month down the line. Seeing this as another "channel" for us to deliver learning helps us to use more than one "channel" to facilitate learning. Secondly it should be designed and delivered in such a way that it is engaging and relevant. This requires the expertise of L&D. It's no different to the knowledge and experience required from us in the face to face delivery, it's just another delivery method and our input is still very vital.
With online learning, you don't get to see "body language" - This is my biggest fear too. How do you know people are listening, engaged and paying attention? In response to this, this can be difficult in face to face environments sometimes too. Someone can look attentive, but do they really understand? The lights are on but no-one's home type situation!! Also, if you ensure that your live online sessions are engaging and for small groups (some recommend 8 maximum) you can ensure that everyone keeps up and gets the most out of the session. There is also a thing called "online body language" which gives you some clues as to who is engaged and who is not. It's worth learning about this.
People don't know how to use it - Agreed! This is a really valid point. It's new technology, that people haven't used and there are likely to be some fears there. Best advise here is before you run any session, spend a few minutes giving people a guided tour of what's on the screen and how to use it. Better still, schedule some other sessions which are "An Introduction to Live Learning" where you can have some really interactive sessions showing people how it all works. Then when it comes to the real sessions, people are a lot more comfortable and therefore able to focus on the content that is being covered.
Will our IT cope? - Great question and you don't want any fears here. Yes technical issues can sometimes occur, but nowadays they are fewer and further between. I guess it's no worse than the face to face equivalent of people failing to arrive because the train broke down, or maybe the powerpoint projector or DVD player that failed on us in the classroom! Best advise here is to test, test, test, and make sure it works. Most providers of live online learning platforms provide trials that you can try before you buy. Use these to make sure the computers, internet connections etc all stand up to the challenge. Some require "plugins" to be installed so this testing process will help iron out these issues.
I don't know how to use it - Its'really easy to learn! There are many free webinars that you can attend if you're wondering how to get started in your organisation with live online learning. Attend some of those and see what tips you can pick up. What did you like? What didn't you like? How would you deliver differently? etc.
Hope this helps. I'd be interested to hear about any more barriers you seem to face with this Duncan and anyone else.
Thanks
Ady
Thanks for sharing this Andy, some really interesting points around how we can use live on-line learning to enhance face-to-face sessions and to up their impact. The angle is almost always around how we can use on-line stuff to replace face-to-face so it's great to step back a bit and think in these terms.
The FEAR you mention in your post is definitely something I have come across in my own organisation and I've got a fair collection of anecdotes now that demonstrate its prevalence! For me, it's important that L&D professionals do what they need to be do to become advocates of the method (when it's the right tool for the job!) We should be leading on all of the benefits it can bring to our learners and our organisations rather than the line around "we have to due to cost, time etc". When we can speak confidently with our stakeholders around the tangible benefits and at the same time address their concerns, we are then on a firmer footing. I think there a lot to be gained from activities like case studies and taster sessions i.e. demonstrating the tools and techniques in a scenario where there's nothing at stake other than the 60 minutes it takes to participate. Stakeholders have a right to see new delivery methods as a risk, it's our job to educate them and alleviate their fears.
In speaking to your trusted contacts, where did you find the biggest fear factor? L&D/stakeholders/learners? This is a topic that is close to my heart so would be great to hear a bit more about yours and others experiences : )