406 Are You Ready to Replace Face-to-face Classrooms with Virtual Ones?

10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Thursday, October 1

Virtual Classroom

204

Virtual-classroom platforms are not new. In fact, there are probably people in your organization using these platforms right now for training, webinars, and meetings. But are you ready to make an organization-wide move to give up face-to-face classrooms for virtual ones, or is the prospect too daunting?

Now is the time to consider virtual-classroom platforms. Travel is more expensive, information is changing more quickly, workers are more tech savvy, hardware and networks are much better than they were just five years ago, and modern platforms such as Adobe Connect provide state-of-the-art virtual environments for engaging learners, wherever those learners might be. However, moving your classrooms online requires careful consideration and planning. It’s not free, and it’s definitely not simple. Drawing on over two decades of combined experience helping organizations successfully adopt and manage virtual-classroom platforms, Karen and Chris will discuss with you the questions and answers you need to successfully implement virtual classrooms that provide as good as or better training than face-to-face ones.

In this session, you will learn:

  • How to maximize the advantages of and overcome the objections to virtual classrooms
  • Important considerations for your team, including your trainers, your designers and developers, your learners, and your support staff
  • Key elements of a rock-solid implementation plan for virtual classrooms
  • About real-life case studies of organizations that successfully moved from face-to-face to virtual classrooms

Audience:
Training managers, project managers, trainers, designers, developers, and managers.

Karen Hyder

Online Event Producer and Speaker Coach

Kaleidoscope Training and Consulting

Karen Hyder, online event producer and speaker coach at Kaleidoscope Training and Consulting, has been teaching about technology since 1991, when she delivered instructor-led software courses for Logical Operations. She was promoted to director of trainer development, helping trainers improve skills and earn certifications. In 1999 she created a course for trainers using virtual classrooms, and helped launch The eLearning Guild Online Forums in 2004. She continues to host The Guild’s Best of DemoFest, and was honored with the Guild’s Guild Master Award. Currently, Karen provides coaching and production support for a series of online courses at Hearing First, a not-for-profit that serves audiology professionals earning CEUs.

Chris Benz

Director of Online Events

The eLearning Guild

In his almost 30-year career, Chris has been a trainer, instructional designer and developer, conference manager, award-winning writer and author, information designer, DITA consultant, project and department manager, operations director, and sales engineer. Chris is a co-founder of Duke University’s Certificate in Technical Communication program, a Society for Technical Communication (STC) Associate Fellow, and a past member of the STC Board of Directors. In his spare time, Chris likes to camp, canoe, and get in over his head on home-improvement projects.

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