Imagine training that actively engages participants and facilitators as they share and explore a new software product. They pose questions and debate the answers, they challenge assumptions. They revise documents, adjust numbers on a spreadsheet, and explore alternative solutions.
Were you imagining this taking place in a traditional classroom setting? Change your picture and imagine it in a virtual environment that can be instantly manipulated to meet the needs of the participants in reaching the training objectives. Participants can submit questions to the instructor, and can discuss issues among themselves without interrupting the flow of the class.
These features and many others are part of a delivery method that goes by a variety of names: virtual classroom, synchronous learning, online instruction, and many others. I refer to these events as Webinars.
As travel costs increase, and as “virtual organizations” become more common, robust virtual training, sharing and working together are also becoming more common. Webinars meet the demands of this environment. In this article, I explore Webinars and offer some ideas for making them highly effective.
What is a Webinar?
“Webinar,” of course, is a made-up word, back-formed from “Web” and “seminar.” In other words, a Webinar is a seminar that takes place on the World Wide Web. You might think of it as a specialized form of Web conference.
Like a seminar conducted in a meeting room, a Webinar has a start time, an end time, and a plan or agenda that describes the activity and the objectives. There may be one or more presenters, or even a panel discussion on the agenda. The presenters or panel members need not be in the same physical location — like the audience (the learners or other participants), they can be anywhere.
Technology
While all Webinars allow vigorous interaction between the participants and the presenter(s), the specific forms of communication in any given Webinar may depend on the technology available to support it. In my organization, we use Microsoft Office LiveMeeting (see Figure 1). My descriptions in this article are based on the capabilities of LiveMeeting — other software may provide different capabilities. However, what I present here will be useful with any tool that supports Webinars.
Figure 1 The Microsoft LiveMeeting interface
In addition to the appropriate Webinar software (which they will usually download at no charge), participants will need access to the Web, preferably a high-speed connection. If several people are at a single location, they may want to set up a conference-style microphone for making spoken responses to questions or discussion. In some cases, where participants are on dial-up connections to the Web, they may want to use a separate phone line (and perhaps a conference bridge) for spoken responses.
Ways to approach Webinars as training events
For my purposes in this article, there are three ways to use a Webinar for training. Each of these approaches has advantages and disadvantages, but any of the three can meet the needs of most organizations.
A didactic Webinar is similar to a face-to-face instructor-centered training session — in other words, a lecture. An engagement Webinar requires participants to become involved with the training and content, and to interact with the instructor. In an immersion Webinar, the learning centers on the participants.
Although each of these approaches has its distinct characteristics, when you’re designing a Webinar, just as for any training event, you can mix approaches. There is no rule that says a Webinar must be explicitly didactic, engaging, or immersive from beginning to end. Rarely does one approach stand on its own to compose an entire effort. Typically these overlap and blend.
The decision as to which of the three to use, or a combination thereof, depends on the course content, audience, trainer, training objectives, and the myriad of other issues that come into play when applying instructional design principles. The ability to exploit the different capabilities to make certain the training is coherent and effective in a virtual environment, is what can make a Webinar an ideal medium to support a successful training effort.
Didactic Webinar
The didactic Webinar approach is probably most similar to Instructor-Led Training (ILT). In ILT, the instructor stands in front of a group of learners (“the class”) and presents the content, primarily as a lecture. Though there is some interaction with participants, the main focus behind such training is that it is “teacher-centered.” The trainer determines the learning outcomes and the instructional agenda, and the trainer provides the required knowledge and content to the participants. An ILT will often use visuals and other graphics to support and enhance the delivery of the content.
Because Webinars have several presentation capabilities, a didactic Webinar does not have to be limited to a slide show. For example, it may include demonstration of software applications, or sharing of a Web site, among other resources. But in the end, a didactic Webinar is one where the information flows one way, from the instructor to the participant.
Didactic Webinar pros and cons
One of the most important advantages of a didactic Webinar, as opposed to a live or face-to-face classroom, is the ability to train many people in different locations at the same time. It is very easy for all participants to view a document or a software application of any sort. The didactic Webinar format is very similar to the way many of us were taught in school, so participants are used to the approach and know what is expected of them. The format is expedient, since the setup for such a Webinar usually focuses on the information the trainer needs to provide. Finally, didactic Webinars are not as resource-intensive as the other two formats.
There are a number of potential negatives for employing a didactic Webinar. The didactic approach often doesn’t take advantage of the Webinar software and what it can do to enhance a training effort. Other disadvantages to consider are similar to the shortcomings of all ILTs, including limited participation by the class, and the fact that this type of instruction doesn’t always lead to good retention.
Engagement Webinar
A Webinar that promotes engagement is an interesting variation on the ILT. An engagement Webinar may be characterized as involving the participants in the learning. The participant becomes an active learner through dialog using the several different tools available in most Webinar software. The interaction between the instructor and participant, and the use of the different Webinar functionalities, actually composes the learning. Of course, it is up to the instructor to focus and align the dialog with the training objectives. Otherwise, inadequate direction of the Webinar dialog could defeat the purpose of the training. A classic example of engagement is a dialog between the instructor and the participant. Such an interaction allows the participant to exchange thoughts and ideas with the trainer, ask questions, clarify points, and raise different issues and alternatives.
Alternatives
While it is possible for a conference call or other simple approach to achieve some level of engagement, using a Webinar as the vehicle provides more learning channels. These include polling, question and answer sessions, breakout rooms, chat, whiteboards, and Web site sharing. Let’s explore these vehicles.
Polling
If one has been involved with training at any level for any period of time, inevitably one has encountered a training session in which the instructor has asked, “Are there any questions?” and nothing follows but silence. It’s not unusual to find a training class (face to-face or virtual) where participants are sometimes wary of speaking out. The polling capability within a Webinar may be a very easy and productive avenue to defuse that awkward moment. (See Figure 2)
Figure 2 The polling interface in Microsoft LiveMeeting
Polling provides the online instructor with the ability to create a slide containing a question, along with different answers as options. This is very similar to a multiple choice question. The participant chooses a response and sends it to the instructor with the click of a mouse. The polling capability can make a monumental difference in a Webinar, changing its character from didactic to an experience that involves the participants more significantly in the learning process.
The choices on a polling question can be straightforward, allowing for one correct answer among five or six choices. On the flip side, a polling question can have several correct answers, but requiring the participant to choose an answer (a forced choice) can lead to interesting discussions.
The Webinar software is usually designed so that the polling question is no more than a template. The trainer can create the questions and the answer sets, and use them anywhere throughout the training. One can often share the poll results with the participants so they too may see the final tally. For Webinars that will be repeated I recommend maintaining the polling questions as a file, to be used as often as needed from session to session.
Saved results from a series of polling questions help the instructor identify whether the audience is grasping the training objectives, or other issues important to the learning outcome. The instructor can easily judge when the situation calls for more exploration of an idea or concept, or for rehashing of learning some software functionality or fact. Typically, voting is anonymous, so no one knows who chose what answer. This type of interaction keeps students focused on the learning. Anonymity makes it possible for learners to admit, without embarrassment, when they are having trouble.
Question-and-answer sessions
Another form of engagement allows participants to submit a question electronically during the training. It’s not an uncommon practice for a trainer to entertain questions before, during or after training. During training however, a question from a participant could sidetrack the instruction, and though it may be appropriate to put the question in the “parking lot” it doesn’t always work that way. Webinar software allows questions without disrupting the session. Either the trainer or a session moderator can then exercise the option of answering the question immediately (if appropriate) or at another time in the training. The question and answer may be shared publicly with all the participants, or an answer may be provided privately to the person who asked the question.
This allows any participant to ask a question at any time. Additionally, there’s less of a chance that the participant will forget to ask the question, as can happen when the instructor takes questions only at the end of a session or course. It may be useful to capture these questions for future reference and perhaps even for a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) document. This type of interaction requires some thought and planning, both to facilitate handling the questions as well as to encourage newcomers to submit a question in this new format.
Breakout
Webinars can also enhance engagement by offering breakout rooms. Breakout rooms allow groups of trainees who need to meet separately during a Webinar to gather in their own virtual conference room, and then rejoin the main meeting. The participants can interact among themselves in a smaller venue, discussing different ideas, posing questions, and suggesting different alternatives. Subsequently, these ideas may be shared when reconvening in the main meeting room with the rest of the participants.
Chat
Chat is another common Webinar feature, similar to kids passing notes in school (old habits die hard). Comparable to instant messaging, chatting between the instructor and participant, or among participants themselves, can take place during the instruction. This is typically an unsupervised interaction, since it happens behind the scenes in private during a Webinar. Encouraging networking, however, among the different participants, could make it possible for active learning to take place through collaboration among the learners.
Whiteboard
A face-to-face meeting, facilitated by a person, with a whiteboard in the background, full of ideas, diagrams, and pictures, is a situation we can imagine or in which we have participated or even led at one time. Whiteboards are common in today’s workplace and, when used properly, can serve as springboards for ideas and solutions. A whiteboard in a virtual environment works the same way. Working a whiteboard in a virtual environment is not a whole lot different than working a whiteboard in a face-to-face environment. A whiteboard is yet another effective Webinar tool to engage the learner. Using a whiteboard within a Webinar, the participants can share different annotating tools to create diagrams and flowcharts, highlight texts using different color markers, and incorporate shapes and designs in their annotations as you typically would with any “non-virtual” whiteboard. The presenter can give control to others to use the whiteboard during a Webinar, and whiteboards can serve as part of the actual training (brainstorming, graphics) or can be used for other purposes.
Web site sharing
Because Webinars can share applications across a network, they also have the ability to share Web sites. It is possible, when sharing a Web site over a Webinar, to annotate the Web site. Highlighting certain areas on the Web site will accent and bring attention to what is being covered on the site. These annotation tools may also be utilized on a PowerPoint demonstration. Using these tools allows for live interaction, further engaging the end user in the learning.
Engagement Webinar — pros and cons
As with any type of engagement during a Webinar, there’s always the risk of participants becoming unruly. Be it inappropriate electronically submitted questions, someone using the whiteboard improperly, or chats among the attendees where the topic of conversation does not pertain to the subject at hand, when an instructor is not totally in control, these options can distract from the learning. On the positive side, using the interactive capabilities inherent in Webinar software creates tremendous potential for a great and vibrant training session. These tools can grab the learner, and help to maintain attention throughout training.
Immersion Webinar
The third type of learning possibility in a Webinar is immersion. Immersion distinguishes itself from the didactic and engagement forms because it totally involves the end user. At the same time, it also allows the trainer to become more of a coach and mentor instead of someone who just delivers information, as in the didactic mode.
The most common example of immersion is when presenter capability is shared by allowing others to take control of the Webinar. For example, a presenter may demonstrate a software package as part of a Webinar. This is a very popular functionality within Webinar software. Though this is useful, it is possible to take it a step further and let the participants use the software, so that the participants become immersed in the software.
Instead of students sitting and watching someone navigate the software, the participant can take control of the software and, with guidance from the trainer, learn to use it “hands on.” This type of environment is ideal for a constructivist design, and lends itself to the learner being active, involved, and becoming absorbed in the learning.
For example, if one wanted to show a new feature or update in a software package predominantly used for an organization, a Webinar would be an ideal medium. A typical didactic approach would have the trainer demonstrate this new function. But for immersion to take place, the trainer would relinquish presenter rights and let a participant take control of the software as the trainer guides the learner. Allowing all the learners to use the software would be ideal (and possible in the case of small numbers of learners), but could also be very time-intensive. As the designer, you must consider the complexity of the topic, the time available for training, and the number of people attending the training. This type of approach, however, is sure to gain the attention and interest of those participating. It can also possibly shorten the learning curve. Despite the difficulties in a large setting, in a small to medium-size group it is doable and very attractive.
Immersion Webinar — pros and cons
There are some drawbacks to consider when developing a Webinar that uses immersion. Immersion is very time consuming; is most productive in a small group setting; and requires patience not only of the trainer, but also of the participants. Sharing the controls and letting someone move the mouse, enter the keystrokes, etc., is risky, but, when handled correctly, it can reap many benefits. The benefits to such an approach can be tremendous since it allows the participants to learn the software on their own terms with the guidance of the trainer.
What to look for in Webinar software
There are a few key factors to look for in a Webinar platform, in terms of what it has to offer in support of the three formats I have discussed.
First, does the software support sharing a desktop? Sharing a desktop allows the participant and the trainer to share software, a critical need in immersion.
Does the software support application integration? Application integration allows polling and the whiteboard (and other aspects of a Webinar) to work with tools on your desktop computer.
Can you count on the server being available? With so many industries going 24 x 7, having a reliable server for the Webinars is a necessity. If your Webinar application is hosted on someone else’s server (e.g., the vendor’s), this is not a trivial issue.
What’s it going to cost (licensing) to run a Webinar? Though this article does not cover costs of a Webinar, that is always a key factor when making a selection. A flat rate can help reduce costs in the long term.
Does your Webinar service support audio and video? The ability to support graphics, be it in Adobe or PowerPoint, or a video, is an essential element of a Webinar service.
Is the Webinar software easy to use? Some Webinar software has a longer learning curve than others, but an intuitive interface is becoming more the norm.
Is the Webinar software easy to install and maintain? Though not the focus of this article, Webinar software should not be difficult to install. Once installed, an application should require only minimal technical support.
Other Webinar tools
In addition to features that support training, some Webinar platforms offer tools for handling logistic issues related to training. This includes registration capabilities for recording the names of those who attend a training session. The registration process may request attendees to enter their names and email addresses. With this information, the application may be able to generate an attendance report.
If a participant is not “behaving properly” during a training session the presenter has the capability to take away that individual’s right to chat with virtual classmates. The presenter may also report conduct issues via email, or may even expel the learner from training. These are rare issues, but they may come up in public Webinars.
Some Webinars have a holding place for participants who want to join a session but who were not given an invitation. It is possible to provide or deny admittance from this waiting area.
Telephony is the ability to integrate the Webinar software and the server on which it resides with a phone network to record a Webinar. The Webinar may be set up to call the users through an automated process. Additionally, the presenter can have the ability to mute or unmute a participant’s phone, or mute the phones for all those who are participating. Telephony is an important feature that allows the Webinar to more nearly simulate face-to-face training.
Color communication is a tool in some Webinar software that allows a participant to convey a frame of reference about the training. Next to a participant’s name on a screen is a drop-down box containing four or five different color squares. Each square indicates a response, a need, or a request, such as, “Please slow down the instruction,” “Please speed up the instruction,” or, “I have a question.” Each color could represent what the participant is thinking at the moment, and may be submitted at any point during the training.
There are a number of Webinar programs available, and several of them have tools that can work seamlessly with popular software packages such as Microsoft® Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. It’s not unusual to be able to set up a calendar appointment in Outlook and send out an appointment for a Webinar. Typically, the appointment is sent over email with an attached URL for the Webinar “location.”
Conclusion
Webinars are very powerful training tools in and of themselves. To begin to compare them to other media could be an entire article. It may be more productive to think of a Webinar as a tool that lets you use other media in a virtual environment. Think of a Webinar as an empty shell, capable of sharing just about any other media tool available, and providing a spectrum of interactions and involvement.
In that light, no matter what tools are used during a training session, they are easily accessible. Loading a PowerPoint slide show, a Web site, a Microsoft Word document, and a whiteboard into a “resource area” allows the presenter to use these tools at any time during the training. If you base the presentation of the different applications on the training objectives or the training script, or if you want to use these tools in no particular prescribed format thus taking advantage of the Webinar’s flexibility, a Webinar can be a productive tool.
A Webinar in conjunction with other media can create a very powerful learning environment. Using a Webinar in collaboration with supporting documentation, polling questions, and other media creates an environment conducive for learning. Including a well thought-out and planned presentation, subject matter experts (SMEs) who can answer questions on the spot, and demonstrating or even having the participants use the software (i.e., immersion), allows the end user to be involved and learn what is needed in a virtual environment. Is it as productive as a face-to-face ILT? That question could lead to some interesting research. A Webinar conducted by SMEs, with new learners monitored by a trainer, can generate a training effort which lends itself to a very productive learning environment.
Webinars may be recorded and posted to Web sites for download and later viewing. Those who miss the Webinar can access a recording, and so can those who simply wish a “refresher.” As our workforce and training efforts become increasingly virtual, a Webinar may be a powerful tool for training and education.
Are Webinars worth the time and effort to explore as a tool for your organization? If it’s a virtual company, then there’s little doubt Webinars can have a positive impact. When used correctly, as a free-standing tool, or as a tool coupled with other resources such as support documentation, SMEs, and videos, Webinars have so many features and so much elasticity, they should be able to fit any needs. For training, Webinars are a dynamic tool, able to adapt to different training scenarios along the spectrum from teacher centered (didactic) to participant centered (immersion) and everything else in between (engagement).
