It used to be simple; get a group of people together in a meeting room and set up an overhead projector (remember them?) and your training event was ready to go.

But it’s all changed and changing. Virtual learning has seen to that.

More than ever, working practices come in all shapes and sizes. Employees are less likely to be full-time on-site than they were in the past and therefore less easily available to participate in static in-house courses. People with disabilities which prevent them from attending some in-house training with ease may benefit from more online provision as could shift workers, remote workers and hot deskers for example.

Multinational and global corporations who have work forces scattered over the world have been using technology like tele- and video conferencing, for many years. That’s often been at the behest of management to avoid the costs of traveling, accommodation and so on. Now they and their workforce use smart phone to access training.

These global companies (and more and more smaller outfits are concerned here not just the big ones)  are now more and more susceptible to the use of virtual learning to meet the needs of learners who are required to work as teams with people they may never actually meet and who are required to absorb the same corporate message whether in Tokyo, New York or Paris.

Imagine that you have to provide training to a group that has a particular access problem – it could be wheelchair users, workers in remote locations, sales personnel who are on the road, home-based workers or other. What learning activities would you suggest? What delivery method(s) you would use?

So where is it best for YOU to provide your training? What’s going to work best for your company in the future to upskill your workforce and keep it performing?

  • Classroom?
  • Desk?
  • Home office?
  • Dining room table?
  • The train?

Where do you envisage your employees will be accessing their learning next year?

Any ideas?