The COVID pandemic has forced many colleges, RTOs and institutions on-line. In their haste to adapt, many have chosen on-line webinar or presentation platforms as the fastest way to offer ‘on-line education’. It is a shame that for many students and trainers, their introduction to ‘online training’ is a bad imitation of instructor led lectures, which makes for a very poor learning experience.
Commonwealth, state and territory WHS regulators; and ASQA have jumped on the ‘Zoom’ band-wagon to encourage RTOs to deliver construction white card training via “Connected real-time delivery”, as though this kind of ‘training’ is superior to other forms of e-learning. In fact, they have specifically prohibited RTOs from using ‘self-paced learning’ or ‘pre-recorded trainer videos’ for the delivery of the construction white card, despite having no evidence that ‘connected real-time delivery’ results in better learning outcomes.
Since COVID began I have had to sit through some of the most boring, brain-numbing presentations in my life, and this is very frustrating, because as a professional instructional designer, I know there is a better way for adults to learn.
High quality on-line training engages the learner, is student centred, and creates an immersive learning experience that stimulates lateral thinking and problem solving skills
Here are four reasons why we can say that webinars and on-line virtual classrooms are some of the worst ways to learn:
- Webinars are instructor led, and completely depend on the instructor passing on knowledge. They do not engage the listener or observer. Any learning that occurs is passive, not active. I won’t even call observers ‘participants’ because there is very little participation. For the most part they simply sit and watch a presentation, which may or may not be instructive or effective. A webinar instructor cannot see their audience. They don’t know if people are paying attention or falling asleep. Just because someone is logged in does not mean they are learning anything. They can’t easily poll their audience about their understanding of the material. They slog through, slide by slide, with no way to easily adjust their delivery of the content or even know that they should adjust it.
- Webinars and virtual classroom presentations are inconsistent. If the presenter has a bad day all the observers suffer. They might forget something, they might have a head-ache, there might be technical problems. Some presenters may be better than others. This is a real problem when the subject is about high risk activities or skills. What guarantee does the college have that the same information is delivered to every group of students?
- Webinars and virtual classrooms are inefficient. If a student already knows the information or some of the information being presented, there is no way for them to ‘fast-forward’ to the bits they are interested in, or need to learn. In addition, students who need more time to learn do not have that opportunity; if they miss something they may not be able to go back over the information. In fact, the regulations surrounding the on-line delivery of the Construction White Card only require a minimum learner presence of 90 per cent. That means that the student can miss 10% of the presentation! In addition, the college needs to pay the instructor repeatedly to present the same presentation.
- Webinars and virtual classrooms do not cater for the learners needs. If the student has poor English, has a hearing impairment, or eyesight deficiency, its often just ‘too bad’ for them. It is very difficult to provide support for these students, using a ‘real-time virtual classroom’.
So, in view of the above, why do so many people, including government regulators think that ‘online training’ means forcing people to log-in to virtual classrooms and Zoom webinars?
I believe its because they have never seen what high quality instructional design looks like.
Best practice online training
Immersive, e-learning environments create simulations and scenarios that force the learner to think, to solve problems, to respond, to react, to learn. Best practice e-learning is self-paced, because learning can only be done at the pace the learner is capable of.
High quality e-learning systems use randomised question banks and web-cam video response technology to ensure assessment authenticity and validity. Randomised question banks allow students to be offered a different set of questions every time; no two students get exactly the same set of questions, so they can’t cheat or share answers. Web-cam video response technology allows students to demonstrate verbal communication skills and perform practical demonstrations of skills in the workplace.
Government regulators have done a massive disservice to the industry by promoting ‘real-time connected delivery’ in the false assumption that this will lead to better learning outcomes, or solve the problem of inauthentic assessment.
There are many good examples of high quality online learning environments, and I believe regulators need to examine these models to see how they can be used to improve training not only for the Construction White Card, but for all industries.
Author: Daniel Wurm is lead instructional designer at EduBytes, and holds a Diploma in Vocational Education and Training, specialising in e-learning.
For examples of high quality instructional design, check out the Edubytes web-site
