Three Tools That Empower Employee Online Training

There is hardly a company in business that’s not taking advantage of online tools and apps to achieve a sense of ‘business, as usual, ‘ during the coronavirus pandemic.

While taking everything online can ensure your business activities don’t come to a complete standstill if you don’t have the right systems and apps and your staff are not trained in their use, then a lot of time will be wasted and sales opportunities lost.

Employee training of new systems and processes is also likely to be self-paced during the remote working period of the pandemic, so investing in three specific types of systems for online training makes sense. First, your business needs to use video conferencing software – like Zoom and Skype. Plus, an LMS (learning management system) and authoring software.

Authoring Software

Online authoring software, as the name suggests, is a program designed to help you efficiently reuse, develop and design training material for eLearning capability. This software is invaluable for empowering non-techies to create courses, quizzes, video, reuse pdfs and documents that may be stored on your website or laptop.

Like most online systems, the best options are stored in the Cloud for security and ease of access by your team simultaneously. There are many providers, so make sure you do your research and check reviews on the best software for your business requirements.

Learning Management System

Another system your business shouldn’t do without is the LMS (Learning Management System). This is the platform from which your learning content and training materials are stored, accessed and managed.

These systems have become invaluable as repositories of all learning collateral and varying file formats like video, images, pdfs. Your eLearning administrators also use the tracking and reporting features to tweak user retention and identify which formats like multimedia lessons, and gamification elements, among many others, are prefered.

The LMS reporting can also provide intel on learning and training gaps and upskilling requirements. The LMS has been around for some time for correspondence training. There are many providers, including Easygenerator and Koantic. Do your research and look at reviews, as well as try before you buy.

Video Conferencing Software

To complement these systems, your business also needs to use live video conferencing software. A conference call where attendees are visible is nearly as good as the classroom.

To make sure your online instructor-led sessions go smoothly, learn how to present in front of your laptop camera and also how to use the software’s features. Zoom is trendy, and while it’s not the only video call software on the market, it is user friendly and intuitive. Skype has been around a long time and is proven.

A video conference call is similar to a webinar insofar as when you’re the presenter, you control the access and what is seen live. So if you love your PowerPoint presentations, you can use them and have a live visual of you as the presenter and a fun backdrop.

While hundreds of video conferencing software are available on the market, not all of them are geared towards teaching. Those that come preloaded with functionalities like virtual whiteboards help mimic an in-classroom session’s effects.

There is also the option of getting separate video conferencing software and virtual whiteboard setups. This way, you can get access to virtual whiteboards specially designed for online classes and offer features like the interpretation of mathematical and chemical equations.

Virtual Reality

Get ready to take your employee online training to the next level with virtual reality. VR Training is a game-changer for deeper engagement. Employees can carry out tasks in a VR environment, and the instructor or mentor can observe their progress. Using VR for learning is the next best thing to in-person training.

Conclusion

Moving your training online has probably been a work in progress up to now. Thankfully the technology is here to support remote learning, and when it’s done right, there’s no comparable solution – online eLearning is here to stay way beyond the pandemic and the need to stay at home.