7 Ways To Increase Virtual Training Efficiency With LMS
In this article, let’s look at 7 Ways to Increase Virtual Training Efficiency With LMS
An LMS is a software application that helps virtually deliver training in hosting, organizing, and assigning courses to learners. Though it might seem like a repository for storing eLearning courses and learning resources, it is much more than that. Even if learners are trained in a virtual conference tool, they need to have access to an LMS for their learning activities. Therefore, LMSs come packed with robust features for scheduling, tracking, and all-around learner support. No wonder statistics show that 72% of global corporations believe that having access to an LMS gives them a competitive advantage.
Let’s look at how you can use an LMS to improve the efficiency of virtual training.
1.Use LMS for Scheduling and Reminding
Even though most of your virtual training sessions are performed using web conferencing tools (Zoom, Skype, etc.), most LMSs have the ability to integrate with the tools. This simplifies the set-up process for Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) sessions. All you have to do is arrange a training session, and your LMS will automatically take care of all reminders and notifications that need to be sent to the learners.
Besides scheduling sessions, the LMS can send notifications and reminders about upcoming assessments and deadlines as well. By taking over all this administrative work of managing training, the LMS frees you to focus on the actual training.
2.Organize Pre-assessments
Pre-assessments help identifies learner’s strengths and weaknesses by assessing their knowledge of the current training topic. They help understand specific learner needs, thus streamlining the training process. An LMS can help you with adding pre-assessments to your training. You can build pre-assessment questions right within the module and follow up with multiple-choice responses. The LMS will track the responses of the learners and provide you with a detailed report on them.
3.Make Pre-Training Materials Available
Your LMS can be used as a repository for a variety of materials required for Virtual Training – training material on how to use the different features of the virtual training platform, facilitator resources (presentations and guides), as well as learning materials for participants (handouts and worksheets).
All of these resources are stored in a secure location and can be accessed only by the uploader and learners who have access to the specific training course.
Read: Benefits Of A Learning Management System In Corporate Training
4.Provide Hands-on Exercises/ Simulations/ Assessments
Spice up the training session with hands-on exercises and simulations. You can provide assessments and quizzes within the LMS to evaluate learning progress. You can also gamify the learning process, with games and elements of gamification (leaderboards, scorecards, level-ups, etc.) to engage your learners and improve the training outcomes.
Assessments being an important part of the training, you need to host them on a platform that not only allows learners to complete the assessments but also keeps track of the time spent, number of attempts made, correct and incorrect responses, etc. More on tracking in the next point.
5.Tracking Progress and Assessment Results
The purpose of an LMS during your training is not to simply rest in the background. Modern LMSs are known for their tracking capabilities that allow training managers to track the progress of individual learners and analyze the assessment reports. Here’s how tracking works in an LMS and how you can leverage it:
Learner Progress – Virtual training is not confined to a single VILT session; it needs to be followed up with materials and resources, sometimes in the form of eLearning courses. LMSs can provide you with statistics, charts, and visuals that show how much your learners have progressed through individual courses. So you will know if a learner is fast, or really slow, or simply stuck in a weird place. This would help you modify and improve your future virtual training sessions.
Assessments – The LMS can even tell you how many learners attempted the assessment, the average success rate, the highest and lowest scores, as well as the time spent on a specific question in the assessment. This would help you determine which learners are lagging behind, needing additional support.
Feedback – The best way to track the effectiveness of your virtual training is by asking your learners for feedback regarding the training session. Your LMS can do that for you and gather critical feedback and review from learners that will help improve your upcoming training sessions.
6.Follow up with Post Training Resources
Your LMS can be a repository for a wide range of post-training resources (a recording of the virtual training session, micro modules created from it, PDFs, etc.) that will help implement continuous learning.
7.Provide Learners with Access to Experts
Many LMSs have the ‘talk to an expert’ option, thanks to which learners can communicate directly with an expert and clarify their doubts. No two learners are at the same level of competency, some needing additional help and support. The LMS remembers that and therefore, is capable of bridging the gap between learners and the experts, for a more effective virtual training experience.
Conclusion
Virtual training is the new normal, there is no argument about that. You can go with either synchronous or asynchronous virtual training, depending on your training needs. Either way, an LMS needs to be a constant tool in your training process.
Teachr is the best virtual training LMS software for organizations. It involves everything you need to set up training scenarios for your employees- face-to-face learning, or online and blended learning. Also, it is easy to set up and use.