With tools like Elluminate, Centra, and Live Meeting, realizing the full potential of effective distance learning is a matter of leveraging online visual, auditory, and interactive features in ways that promote learning. Many organizations are turning to the virtual classroom as the centerpiece of their blended learning strategy in order to save costs and reduce inefficiencies associated with traditional classroom venues. But like any technology, virtual classroom tools are only as good as the ways in which they are used. In this article, I’ll summarize my four step model for exploiting the features of synchronous e-Learning tools in ways proven to maximize their learning potential.
Which is better: Traditional classrooms or virtual classrooms?
Hundreds of research studies have compared learning in a classroom to learning from various forms of electronic distance media. Luckily you don’t need to look for all of those individual studies because in a recent meta-analysis Robert Bernard and several colleagues have gathered and analyzed them for you. (See the citation in the Resources section at the end of this article.) The histogram from that meta-analysis (shown in Figure 1) plots the frequency of effect sizes from over 300 of these comparisons. See the Sidebar if the concept of “effect size” is new to you.
Figure 1 Effect sizes: traditional classrooms versus virtual classrooms
Even though learning from two lesson versions (such as one delivered in the classroom and one delivered via synchronous e-Learning) may show statistically significant differences, the actual learning differences may be so small that the findings are of little or no practical importance. Unlike statistical significance, effect sizes indicate practical significance. Effect sizes of less than .30 tell us that any differences between the versions being compared are too small to be of practical relevance. In contrast, effect sizes of .70 and higher mean that the differences are large enough that there is practical benefit from adopting the better version. (Editor’s Note: A longer and somewhat more technical explanation of effect size can be found online in the ERIC Digest. See “Effect Size and Meta Analysis,” by Carol Boston at http://ericdigests.org/2003-4/meta-analysis.html.)
As you can see, the majority of effect sizes fall between -.50 and +.50. In other words, most of the research comparisons showed no practical learning advantages or disadvantages of electronic distance media over traditional classroom sessions. You can also see that there is a great deal of variability in the histogram. Some electronic distance learning classes resulted in much better learning outcomes than some traditional classroom sessions and vice versa.
The results of this review replicate hundreds of media comparison studies concluding that when the same lesson is delivered in two different media, there are no real differences in learning. The reason? It’s not the media that cause learning. Rather, it’s how the media are used. In other words, it’s the instructional methods — things like graphics, examples, and practice exercises — that lead to better or poorer learning, not the medium through which the lessons are delivered. The trick to successful use of any delivery medium, electronic or traditional, is to exploit the features of that medium in ways that lead to learning!
The DVEP model for virtual classroom effectiveness
Based on research explained in my recent books, I have developed a four step model summarized in Figure 2 to guide exploitation of the virtual classroom for best learning. In this article, I’ll give you some tips on how to implement each step, along with some resources for more information. Let’s start with an overview of the DVEP model. (DVEP stands for Define, Visualize, Engage, and Package.)
Figure 2 The DVEP model
Step 1 — Define
In Step 1 you begin by defining your business goals and the knowledge and skills needed to achieve them. As you plan your training, you consider the instructional methods you will need to achieve your instructional goals. For example, if you are building software skills you will need to show software demonstrations followed by hands-on practice. Therefore you will need to select a delivery medium that can effectively display demonstrations and provide for practice. You will want to assign learning goals and topics to the virtual classroom (VC) that take advantage of the types of instructional methods it can deliver.
Step 2 — Visualize
E-Learning in both its synchronous and asynchronous forms demands compelling visualization of content. As you can see in Figure 3 the largest amount of screen real estate in the virtual classroom tools is commanded by the whiteboard — a place where instructors can display visuals and where participants (in any physical location, either local or remote) can interact with those visuals.
Figure 3 The whiteboard dominates virtual classroom screen real estate
In Step 2 you select and design the various types of visuals you can use to best promote learning. Once selected, you follow evidence-based guidelines to explain those visuals using the audio, text, and cueing facilities of the virtual classroom.
Step 3 — Engage
Experienced trainers know that frequent meaningful learner interaction with the content is the main path to learning. From polling options to direct messaging to break-out rooms, the virtual classroom tools offer a plethora of opportunities to engage your learners. It’s up to you to exploit these in ways that lead to learning.
Step 4 — Package
Success using any technical delivery medium requires an infrastructure that effectively prepares participants prior to the program, supports them during the event, and promotes transfer of learning to the job afterwards. Packaging the virtual classroom program requires attention to all of the elements that precede and follow your virtual classroom event.
Now that I’ve overviewed the DVEP model, let’s look at each phase in more detail.
Step 1 — Define outcomes, methods, and media
In the definition phase, you define your business goals along with associated knowledge and skills. Then you identify the instructional methods needed to achieve your learning objectives. Finally, you select a blend of delivery media that can best deliver the instructional methods you have identified.
Aligning your training to business goals is not unique to the virtual classroom so I will not devote space to that topic here. You will find more information on matching training to business goals in a forthcoming Training & Development article (June, 2005); please refer to the Resources section at the end of this article. Instead, I will focus on how to blend your instructional media and how to decide which instructional goals best match virtual classroom delivery technology.
Select the best blend
As I mentioned above, it is instructional methods that cause learning — not the delivery media. Not all media can carry all instructional methods. For example, some synchronous e-Learning tools have no facilities for displaying visuals. If your instructional goals require methods that involve graphics, these tools would not be a good choice.
To plan your media blend, begin by listing the main instructional methods needed to achieve your training goals. As an example, Figure 4 summarizes a blended learning plan for a training program designed to help new supervisors learn to develop and conduct legal hiring interviews. Each medium in this plan has been selected because of its strengths in delivering the instructional methods needed for the instructional goals.
Figure 4 Blended learning plan summary
As you think about which delivery medium to use for your various instructional goals, consider the following questions:
Does the learning outcome require time for reflection?
If yes, consider some form of asynchronous learning environment. For example, in our interviewing skills class, following the virtual classroom session participants complete an assignment to construct real-world interview questions at their work stations. This type of task takes time and reflection and is more efficiently completed at each learner’s pace and local environment.
Does the learning outcome benefit from high social presence?
If yes, consider a face-to-face classroom venue. In an interview class, learning to conduct effective interviews requires role plays. This is best facilitated in the classroom, where the learner can experience all of the social cues relevant to communication skills, such as interviewing.
Can the learning outcome be achieved by reading or independent research?
If yes, consider an assignment in the form of an article or Internet search. The interview class gives participants a pre-reading on legalities of interview questions followed by an assignment to email the instructor a completed worksheet in which they identify questions that are legally defensible. Pre-work such as this acts as an audience equalizer by giving everyone a common knowledge base when they enter the virtual classroom. It also allows you to use the virtual classroom for interactive work and discussion rather than for disseminating information.
When to use the virtual classroom
Use the virtual classroom in ways that take advantage of its main features that promote learning, including the whiteboard and other media projection facilities such as application sharing, audio, interactive tools, and breakout rooms. Reserve the virtual classroom for learning goals that are best promoted by:
- Display, explanation, and discussion of relevant visuals
- Interactions using virtual classroom facilities such as polling, whiteboard, and chat
- Collaborative work among small groups of participants
Of course, the virtual classroom may be selected for pragmatic reasons, rather than for its features that promote learning. For example, synchronous events tend to have higher completion rates than asynchronous venues. In addition, synchronous e-Learning is generally faster to design and deploy than traditional asynchronous e-Learning. Savings in travel costs and reduced time away from the job are two other predominant reasons organizations turn to the virtual classroom.
A word of caution! Misusing a medium for its pragmatic benefits soon gives that medium an undeserved bad reputation. If virtual classrooms are used only to deliver lectures, for example, the buzz gets around that virtual classrooms are boring, irrelevant, or a waste of time. Or if face-to-face classroom courses are repurposed for the virtual classroom with no changes to accommodate virtual classroom features, your outcomes and learner responses will be suboptimal. For that reason, use the virtual classroom for the things it does best: to visualize content, to promote interactivity and to facilitate collaboration. If your learning outcomes do not make use of these features, select a more suitable delivery medium.
