Three Tips for Designing Second-screen-friendly Training Programs

Thanks to the support of the second screen, corporate trainingleaders have a powerful new tool to accelerate the results of their onlinelearning programs. While it seems like a simple addition, it can have aprofound impact on maintaining employee attention and increasing overallengagement through active learning elements. It’s not hard to see why.

Corporate trainers are using second screens during training toboost participation and interest by tapping interactive functions such asreal-time polling, quizzing, break-out study groups and discussions, andsupplemental materials like eBooks or digital outlines. In addition, use of thesecond screen fosters more personalized professional training. By encouraginguse of personal devices as second screens, employees can use familiar devicesto navigate their own learning path and access resources that spark theircuriosity.

There is another benefit to using the second screen in trainingprograms. It’s well known that interaction is a key element to driving betterlearning outcomes. The second screen supports this by giving learners access tomore backchannel and secondary content, context, and opinions as theycommunicate and engage in learning among peers.

For corporate training leaders who want to make second-screen-savvylearning sessions a part of their curriculum, here are three simple ways to getstarted.

Use company technology to introduce second screens

To acclimate employees to the second screen during trainingsessions, start simple. One way is by providing each learner with an audienceresponse device like a clicker, company laptop, or tablet. Initially, it’seasier for trainers to provide a compatible device to employees in order forthem to complete real-time training activities, like answering polls orquizzes, during a training session.

Based on engagement, sentiment, and employee comfort levelinteracting with second screens during sessions, it’s time to expand videotraining to include personal device use to support second-screen learning.

Set BYOSS expectations

Before allowing employees to use personal second screens tointeract with training materials and participate in real-time activities,training leaders should set “bring your own second screen” (BYOSS) guidelinesbefore each session.

These guidelines simply serve as an outline on how to use personaldevices during training sessions. BYOSS guides should define what parts of thesession require second-screen use and what device is best to use throughout theentire session. In addition, they should describe the necessary applications orprograms to download prior to training sessions to ensure that employees canseamlessly operate personal second screens during training.

Giving employees a basic outline of the second-screen activitiestaking place during sessions helps them make smarter decisions about whatdevices will be most effective to use during training. For example, if asession requires more intensive “side reading” activities, employees are morelikely prefer to using a larger second screen, like a tablet or laptop, tocomplete reading activities. If the session is heavy on real-time polling,tapping an answer is easy to accomplish using a smartphone.

Make improvements through data

Second-screen use provides trainers with a digital blueprint forreviewing an employee’s mastery of concepts. After every learning session,training leaders should evaluate overall virtual participation andsecond-screen use to understand what technology was most effective in engagingthe widest audience of employees and the overall interest in trainingcurriculum.

For example, the head of training at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) used newrow_ for training and keptcontrol of presented material to all of NOAA’s employees through an HD,production-quality stream from Washington, DC. Trainers were able to keepemployees actively engaged by quizzing them through text chat and interactivewidgets such as quick polls. This not only kept trainees focused during thelive session but also allowed trainers to gauge comprehension through anadvanced analytics dashboard.

Overall, NOAA’s use of second screens during live video trainingkept 90 percent of employees activelyengaged in the training. The answers provided from second screens via text chatand interactive widgets not only enhanced engagement, but were used todetermine certification based on the results found in post-traininganalytics.

In addition, by using an online learning platform’s performanceand activity analytics to review second-screen engagement, trainers can alsogauge whether the content delivery meets an individual’s needs based on outcomesor assessments.

Second screens are powerful, interactivecomponents that can drive greater learning outcomes and help trainerspersonalize employees’ path to learning. More and more companies are poweringup second screens to build dynamic online training programs that enableemployees to become active learners. By following these steps, trainers have astarting point for creating second-screen-friendly training sessions.