Virtual employee training, also known as online employee training or eLearning, is a method of providing education and skill development to employees through digital and online platforms rather than in-person, traditional classroom settings.
It leverages technology to deliver training content, assessments, and resources to employees, allowing them to learn and develop their skills remotely. Virtual employee training has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility.
Curating content for virtual employee training requires careful planning and execution to ensure that learners receive valuable, engaging, and effective learning experiences.
Here are some best practices to follow:
Define Clear Learning Objectives
Start by identifying specific learning objectives and outcomes you want to achieve with the training. What should employees know or be able to do after completing the training?
Know Your Audience
Understand the backgrounds, skill levels, and learning preferences of your employees. Tailor the content to meet their needs and interests.
Use a Variety of Content Types
Incorporate diverse content formats such as videos, infographics, text, quizzes, and interactive simulations to cater to different learning styles and keep learners engaged.
Keep it Concise and Relevant
Avoid overwhelming learners with too much information. Focus on essential content that directly relates to the learning objectives.
Chunk Information
Break content into smaller, easily digestible sections or modules. This helps prevent cognitive overload and makes it easier for learners to retain information.
Use Storytelling
Incorporate storytelling elements to make the content relatable and memorable. Real-life examples and scenarios can help learners understand concepts better.
Provide Clear Navigation
Ensure that your virtual training platform has intuitive navigation so that learners can easily access content and track their progress.
Include Interactive Elements
Incorporate interactive elements like quizzes, polls, discussions, and group activities to engage learners actively and promote knowledge retention.
Regularly Update Content
Keep your training materials up to date to reflect changes in the industry, technology, or company policies.
Foster Collaboration
Encourage peer-to-peer learning by creating opportunities for employees to collaborate, share insights, and discuss their experiences.
Assess Learner Progress
Use assessments, quizzes, and assignments to gauge learner comprehension and adjust the training as needed.
Personalize Learning Paths
If possible, offer personalized learning paths based on individual employee needs and performance.
Provide Support and Resources
Offer access to additional resources, such as reference materials, job aids, or supplementary readings, to support ongoing learning.
Test for Accessibility
Ensure that the training content is accessible to all employees, including those with disabilities. Consider text-to-speech, closed captioning, and other accessibility features.
Gather Feedback
Continuously gather feedback from learners to identify areas for improvement and adjust the training accordingly.
Monitor Analytics
Use analytics tools to track learner progress, engagement, and completion rates. Analyze the data to make data-driven improvements to your training program.
Encourage Continuous Learning
Promote a culture of continuous learning by offering opportunities for employees to explore additional resources and further develop their skills.
Stay Updated
Keep up with the latest trends and technologies in eLearning and virtual training to ensure that your content remains effective and relevant.
By following these best practices, you can create a more effective and engaging virtual employee training program that helps your employees acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their roles.
The Value of Content Curation for Virtual Employee Training
Content curation plays a significant role in enhancing the effectiveness of employee training programs in several ways:
Quality Assurance: Content curation allows training managers to select and curate high-quality learning materials from various sources, ensuring that employees receive accurate and up-to-date information.
Time and Cost Efficiency: Curating existing content is often more time and cost-efficient than creating training materials from scratch. It reduces the need for extensive content development, saving resources.
Broad Knowledge Base: By curating content from diverse sources, employees gain access to a broader knowledge base. This can be particularly valuable for staying updated on industry trends and best practices.
Customization: Curation enables training managers to tailor content to meet specific learning objectives and the needs of their employees. Customized training can be more engaging and relevant to the target audience.
Faster Deployment: Curated content can be deployed quickly, which is especially beneficial when there's an urgent need for training or when responding to rapidly changing market conditions.
Engagement: Curated content can include a variety of formats (videos, articles, infographics, etc.) that cater to different learning preferences, making training more engaging and interactive.
Expertise Showcase: Curating content from industry experts or thought leaders can provide employees with insights and perspectives they might not find in internally created materials.
Continuous Learning: Content curation encourages continuous learning by offering a steady stream of relevant resources, allowing employees to develop their skills and knowledge over time.
Scalability: Curated content can be scaled to accommodate a growing workforce without significantly increasing content creation efforts.
Feedback Integration: Training managers can gather feedback on curated content and make adjustments as needed to improve the learning experience.
Alignment with Goals: Curated content can be aligned with the organization's strategic goals, ensuring that training initiatives directly support business objectives.
Time-Saving for Employees: Employees benefit from content curation as well, as it saves them time searching for reliable learning resources and allows them to focus on learning rather than information gathering.
Measurable Results: Many content curation tools and learning management systems offer analytics that enable organizations to track learner engagement and performance, allowing for data-driven improvements.
Adaptation to Change: In fast-paced industries or during periods of change, curated content can be quickly updated to reflect new information or strategies.
Overall, content curation can be a valuable strategy for improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and relevance of employee training programs. It allows organizations to leverage existing knowledge resources while staying agile and responsive to evolving learning needs and business requirements.
About LMS Portals
At LMS Portals, we provide our clients and partners with a SaaS-based, multi-tenant learning management system that allows you to launch a dedicated training environment (a portal) for each of your unique audiences.
The system includes built-in, SCORM-compliant rapid course development software that provides a drag and drop engine to enable most anyone to build engaging courses quickly and easily.
We also offer a complete library of ready-made courses, covering most every aspect of corporate training and employee development.
If you choose to, you can create Learning Paths to deliver courses in a logical progression and add structure to your training program. The system also supports Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) and provides tools for social learning.
Together, these features make the LMS Portals platform the ideal solution to curate and upload powerful content for virtual employee training.
Contact us today to get started or visit our Partner Program pages