Online Training Practices

Online learning can offer a wide range of benefits. However, the knowledge that a student is able to acquire this way depends not only on the course material that is offered, but also the practices used to provide them with this information. Here are just a few of the best practices of online training which help to better facilitate the e-learning process:

A supportive community

Teachers and e-learning establishments should encourage a strong sense of community amongst their online students. This will enable students to interact with one another and the instructors, as well as with the resources provided, making for an enhanced educational experience!

Clear expectations

Students should be aware of what they will be receiving from the virtual class instruction, and both parties should know the preferred method of communication and delivery of the core curriculum. For example, a teacher may prefer to email assignments to students, while another might choose to deliver it via the e-learning site instead.

Asynchronous and synchronous activities

It’s important to incorporate activities that are more interactive, as well as those that require the student to brainstorm and research a topic in depth. This can be an important differentiator in a company’s e-learning best practices mind set and thanks to the internet, students can now attend live virtual courses as well as complete coursework offline that can enable them to delve into a specific subject or skill set.

Effective usage of available resources

To get the most out of the online learning experience both the teacher and the student should take full advantage of the vast amount of resources that are available online. There are literally hundreds of online services that offer access to information, with Wikipedia being a prominent example. Instructors should seize the opportunity to enhance their content with online material or redirect students to additional web resources.

It's important to understand the difference between learning and training. Of course they are inextricably linked, but they are unique aspects of any educational process. Training is the giving of information and knowledge, through speech, the written word or other methods of demonstration in a manner that instructs the trainee. Learning is the process of absorbing that information in order to increase skills and abilities and make use of it under a variety of contexts. Whatever the goals, the quality of the learning will rely largely on the quality of the training, and so the role of trainer is very important as it can have a huge effect on the outcome of a course for the learner.

The characteristics of learning

As mentioned above, learning is the process of absorbing information and retaining it with the goal of increasing skills and abilities in order to achieve goals - but it's more than that. Learning is what we go through when we want to be equipped for non-specific and unexpected situations and the two are not mutually exclusive.

The characteristics of training

Training on the other hand focuses more on the development of new skills or skill sets that will be used. Training is the process each new employee goes through when joining a company to learn how to carry out the day-to-day operations, know how their department works and how job-specific tools operate in order to carry out their responsibilities. In essence, through training, we are not looking to reshape the behavior of an individual rather the point is to teach the employee or learner how things are done so that they can then carry out a process on their own.

Ideally, an e-learning environment will utilize both learning and training principles throughout its curriculum. This allows instructors/trainers to provide their learners with the tools to tackle current issues, develop life-long skills, improve on their problem-solving skills and utilize resources to the best of their ability.