There are many opinions about the pandemic, but one thing is true: it didn't come at the worst possible time. Technological developments had progressed so far that many people were able to continue work and school from home. The ability to meet digitally has been crucial. Zoom school and Teams meetings are two terms that have become part of the language. Technology has greatly modernized the way we think about digital learning. This article is about how to use this new mindset to further develop a quality digital education offering.
By: Lasse Hamre, Director of Business Development, Task Alliance AS
The pandemic forced many companies to switch to digital learning almost overnight. Today, the company's overall digital competence is miles ahead of pre-pandemic levels. Both course providers and course participants have developed enormously. This expertise is a good foundation on which to develop a refined digital course offering.
My recommendation is to start with the digital tools you have become accustomed to using. Moving the physical classroom into a digital meeting room is what we call level 1 digital training. It's nice to think that a level 1 course offering today is incredibly more sophisticated than it would have been just a few years ago. As the company develops its digital pedagogical competence, it may eventually need to develop a level 2 and 3 course offering.
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Level 1: The engaging digital classroom
Level 1 online pedagogy is similar to traditional classroom or meeting room training. The main difference is that we have removed the physical room. Instead, you participate via video conferencing from the location of the individual participant.
The most common mistake course providers make is that they don't activate the participants enough. Learning is an activity and you should always plan for that.
Use the possibilities offered by your video conferencing system: Ask questions and request answers in the chat, give group assignments and divide participants into group rooms and/or hold polls. In addition, you can use digital sharing tools. There are countless tools, many of which come in free versions for limited use. I'll mention a few: Mentimeter for voting, competitions, word clouds and more. Miro for collaborative tasks. Wonder.me for dialogs in small and large groups. Try it out and see if it suits your project.
Level 2: Interactive e-learning courses
While level 1 online pedagogy requires synchronous participation, that everyone participates at the same time, level 2 online pedagogy allows for asynchronous participation. In addition to taking the course wherever they want, the participant can take the course whenever they want. The easiest place to start is to record a video conference and then make it available online. Unfortunately, you won't be able to use chat, group rooms and voting when the video meeting is recorded. To create interactivity, you can develop e-learning courses instead.
There are a number of tools available for e-learning development. I recommend choosing an authoring tool that produces SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) files. This is an international standard for sharing data from an e-learning course to an LMS (Learning Management System). You will learn more about it further down in the article. Choose SCORM. You'll be better equipped to develop your company's digital course offerings to level 3.
Using an authoring tool, you can combine text, image and video with engaging learning activities such as problem solving, exploration or sharing, depending on what is possible with the authoring tool in question. If I were to give a tip, it would be to facilitate a high degree of interactivity and make sure you vary between deductive and inductive pedagogy. Too many offer only deductive pedagogy, i.e. you first present the course content and then give assignments to check that the participant has understood and learned. Unfortunately, this form is demotivating in the long run. Also use inductive pedagogy. You start by asking the participants. What would they do in this situation? Afterwards, you summarize with a recommended solution. Inductive pedagogy is often more motivating.
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Level 3: Systematic skills development of the entire organization through digital learning
To systemize digital learning, you need an LMS, a Learning Management System. From the LMS, the company will manage training activities and offer courses that contribute to the development of the business. An LMS keeps track of course participants, which usually means everyone who works in the company. That's why it's smart to choose an LMS that can be integrated with the company's HR system.
In the LMS, participants can access the course offerings. For example, e-learning courses that you have developed yourself or purchased from other suppliers. You can also store recordings of video conferences and other course content in PowerPoint, PDF or movie format.
When a participant completes an e-learning course based on the SCORM standard, the LMS will be able to register whether the participant has completed the course and possibly passed a certification test. In this way, you can keep track of the competence in your organization.
My recommendation is to choose an LMS that pushes out the learning content in the channels where the participant resides. You'll be able to send a course invitation by email and the participant can start the course by clicking on the link. Similarly, you can push content to smartphones and learners can take the course on the go.
TO THE END
Building digital competence takes time. Define roles and tasks and make a plan for how you will cultivate your learning culture. Online learning culture and infrastructure will together become an important force towards future goals.
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