Baby Steps into Virtual Facilitation

How am I going to make a living as a Virtual Trainer? I am clueless about the online learning platform. Teaching without direct interaction with the learners, is it practical? These are the worries of my good friend Zamri, whom I knew since my days in the Army. We both started our teaching profession in the Army about 3 decades ago. Zamri is very concerned with the current reality of the training business. Like many other businesses, the training industry is badly affected by Covid-19. Before Covid-19, Zamri's training business was doing very well. He is an expert in Occupational Safety. Among his clients were Multi-National Corporations and GLCs. Zamri has also been a guest speaker for our part-time MBA & Diploma programs. Our working adult students love Zamri's energy, passion, and vast industry experience.

A few days ago, Zamri called to congratulate me on my online training program via Zoom for a corporate client from Cambodia. Zamri knows that I am conducting virtual facilitation for my part-time MBA and Diploma students. 'Praba, how did you learn to be a Virtual Facilitator so fast? Zamri was curios. I told Zamri that I will be happy to share my experiences with him. I also reminded him about my constant learning about Virtual Facilitation from many sources. I strongly suggested for him to join the Virtual Learning Facilitation course conducted by Mohd Nadzrin, an amazing virtual learning facilitator.

Zamri assumed Virtual Facilitation as something very complex. He sounded worried. I reminded Zamri that we have gone through the various platforms for teaching. 'Do you remember the days we shifted from Overhead Projector (OHP) to PowerPoint? I asked Zamri. In the early 90s, PowerPoint for teaching seems like a big technology breakthrough. We all shifted comfortably from OHP to PowerPoint. I reminded Zamri that his vast experience and passion to facilitate learning is his biggest asset as a trainer. Virtual Facilitation Technology is merely a tool. I reminded Zamri about our Combat Management System Simulators (CMS) to train military personnel. CMS is a complex technology with various elements of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence. 'With good fundamental training, passion for self-directed learning and practice, you will be comfortable with Virtual Facilitation soon', I assured Zamri. I shared the wisdom from my VLC Coach, Mohd Nadzrin, ' a fool with a tool is still a fool'. We the facilitators should strive to master the tools to achieve our learning objectives. Like much Virtual Training Facilitator, Zamri was very concerned about engaging course participants in the virtual learning environment. I shared these basic tools that I adopted in my Virtual Facilitation with Zamri.

How to use Chat Room for Active Engagement?

What can we do to gain the attention of our virtual learners? This is what I did in my recent virtual facilitation on 'Project Risk Management'. I shared the Head Line of a failed project in our major national newspapers with my participants. I told them to imagine if they are the employees of the organization responsible for the failed project. 'How would you feel if your organization's project failure was the major national newspaper headline?' Please share your feeling in our zoom chat room.

That activity gained many of my participants' attention. My straightforward questions that require a simple answer from the participant's perspective encouraged engagement. Most of my Virtual Participants shared their imagined feeling in the chat room.

How to use Whiteboard and Annotation Tools for Active Engagement?

After the discussion about the failed project, I revealed to my participants I was one of the project managers in that multi-billion ringgit failed mega project. 'Being part of the failed project was a precious lesson for me', I told my participants. I shared common reasons, for project failure and the implications of these failures. I also showed research data on how effective project risk management could reduce the probability of project failures.

My next activity was for the participants to use the whiteboard and annotation tools to list their experience on why the project fails. Zoom's whiteboard options replicate writing on a whiteboard in a live classroom by displaying an empty canvas. By now my participants already familiar with many reasons for project failure. My next question was, 'based on your own experience, please write 2 major reasons projects failed'. I told my course participants to use the whiteboard and annotation tool to share their answers. With a little guidance, my participants were very comfortable with the user-friendly function of these tools. My participants enjoyed the 'playful' features of the annotation tool. Colorful drawing with symbols and diagrams attracted their attention, and they were very engaged in this activity.

How to use the Breakout Room for Active Engagement?

Group work in the virtual classroom, is it possible?

In a face-to-face class, it is common for group discussion among participants from unique backgrounds and experiences. Learners in the virtual classroom often perceive the interaction element to be missing. They are less likely to engage with others. However, there are many features in the virtual learning platform to help us design an interactive learning experience. I love the breakout room in Zoom. Breakout rooms are the virtual rooms where participants can have separate group discussions. You can create breakout rooms as long as you are the host. Before you can create breakout rooms, you will need to enable the feature in your account setting.

I divided my 40 participants into 8 distinct groups. I assigned them to be a member of a project team. I gave specifications for the project to the team. I require the team to select their project manager and determine 3 major risks of their project and develop practical risk mitigation strategies. I gave them my 'Project Risk Management E-Book' for reference. My E-book provides valuable guidelines to manage project risk per PMI Project Risk Management Practice Standard.

My course participants were very engaged in their discussion. The proposed project was very relevant and meaningful to them. Creating meaning is important to drive engagement. I visited all the groups to say hello and share my perspective with them. Learning from course participants is a privilege for facilitators like me.

How Polling Creates Active Engagement?

Polling is another interesting tool to encourage engagement. The polling feature allows me to create questions to assess my participants. I launched the poll at the end of my class as an open book group quiz. I reminded my participants that most of the questions were from my E-Book.

Ensuring engaged participants and keep their attention throughout the class is the key element of virtual learning design and implementation. The common 'Energizer Activities' that trainers use after lunch in a face-to-face class may not be practical in the virtual learning environment. It is easy to expect learners to remain focused on virtual learning. However, breaking the habits of multitasking and distraction is a monumental challenge. Psychologist Daniel Goleman in his book 'Focus', offers a groundbreaking look at today's scarcest resource and the secret to high performance: Attention. As a virtual facilitator, we should be prepared to compete with multiple sources of distraction to gain the attention of our learners. The good news is it can be done. Effective virtual learning facilitators with a well-designed course can maintain the attention of participants. Many Virtual Learning experts have documented their vast experience to guide us. With practice and learning from experience (including mistakes) facilitators like Zamri and I will soon be very comfortable with Virtual Facilitation.

What are your best practices for active engagement in Virtual Facilitation?