eLearning Opportunities

When I worked for a former company we had a 40-hour hazwoper training mandate (a full week of training before a new employee could go into the field), and over 50 locations across the nation. Prior to this Virtual Classroom being set up we had safety managers flying around training people in small groups, taking up their valuable time, and some were not great trainers. By creating a virtual network of classrooms we improved consistency, sped up the onboarding time significantly, and saved tens of thousands. Still, quality compared to a live trainer was lacking. 

To counter this 1) we recycled iPhones and set up quizzes (retrieval practice events) throughout the training, 2) provided videos and required the class to provide safety analysis regarding mistakes made in the videos, 3) created hands-on training lockers that allowed the class to try on and use the equipment during the training in a controlled environment, 4) created an interactive workbook that kept the trainees engaged during the training, and 5) set up spaced retrieval practice and reinforcement to follow and begin each day. At the time the project ended we were on the cusp of sending mobile coaching directly to the trainee's phones via text during their off-hours and after training. 

The purpose of all of these accouterments to the primary training deliverable was to engage the trainees in a variety of ways and constantly keep them active. We won several best in class safety and training awards for our work and it was a terrific standard to keep within the industry. Sadly, it was not scalable. A class of 20 was our virtual limit, while classes of 50 were standard with a live trainer. 

All this being said, I wonder how universities will be able to justify their class price tags when they increase their virtual classroom offering. Will parents who were content to pay 20K to 50K a semester in tuition want to pay that same amount for classes that are primarily online? I think it goes back to what we found. How many other reinforcement tools and engagement devices can they integrate into the training to make the class more effective and justify the price? 

Since we found that our limit was reached quickly, that our quality suffered when we had too many students, I wonder if this new COVID era of teaching might allow smaller colleges and universities to flourish? 

And as an aside, I provided training via the virtual classroom many times from my office, my home office, from hotels on the road and from my parent's house during the Christmas holidays once. The flexibility can't be beat.